How To Sell Your Unwanted HR Stuff on eBay — For A Little Extra Cash, More Space & Piece of Mind
by Alan Collins
I just finished selling on eBay some old HR stuff that I no longer use. I cleared a total of $356.50, after eBay’s fees.
And I’ve concluded that If I do this one billion more times, I’ll become the next Bill Gates!
Clearly, I’m not going to get rich from what I just sold. But that wasn’t the point.
The real reason I did this is because I’m a pack rat. I don’t throw away a whole lot. As a result, I’ve got all piles and piles of old human resources stuff that I don’t use taking up valuable space that I can put to better use.
So I decided to take a couple of hours to clean out all this crap on a Sunday night while watching Desparate Housewives. When I look back on what I did, all things considered, I was able to clean up my space, gain some piece of mind and make a couple hundred bucks in the process. Not bad.
Just in case you’re curious, I sold off some old HR and leadership books, some well-used CDs by Dr. John Sullivan on HR, some cassette tape albums by Steven Covey, John Maxwell and other leadership gurus. This is stuff I’ve accumulated over the last 10 years and it’s either dated or no longer used. I was frankly amazed that some of this stuff sold. So, I’ll definitely be doing this again.
Do you have old, unwanted HR items cluttering up your bookshelves, your attic, your files, your office or in your basement that are worthless to you?
If you do, then you may want to try the same thing. Just set aside a few hours to pick out the HR items you want to sell, write them up and post them up for sale on eBay. You might find your HR junk…er, stuff is not as worthless as you think.
If you need some help, here are some simple tips for selling HR items successfully on ebay:
1. Check out your bookshelves, attic, and your files for HR stuff you own.
Both at home and at work. These could be old books you haven’t read in ages, HR or leadership-related CD or DVD collections, VHS tapes, etc. Pull all this together in one box. Based on my experience, you should be able to sell 90% of this stuff on eBay. To get an idea of the kinds of HR stuff that sells on eBay, go to the HR Career Builder.com website — this entire site consists of nothing but listings of the new and used human resources-related books, tapes, CDs, etc. that people just like you are selling on eBay.
2. Start your auction at $1.00.
If your stuff is any good, it will create a bidding war. Of course, you can’t expect people to buy your items for what you paid for them. But who cares, if you’re not using them and they’re worthless to you. To get an idea of what your HR stuff is worth, use the eBay search engine to check out what they’ve sold for previously. Not all the items you have will be listed. But a lot will. You’ll be surprised.
3. Use pictures.
The most time consuming part of this for me was snapping pictures and uploading them onto eBay. But, It was worth it. I used my cheap digital camera and it was just like uploading family photos online. You’ll be able to increase your chances of making a sale if you can post a picture of your items in your eBay ad. This will give your potential buyers an idea of what your things look like and their condition.
4. Provide detailed description.
As your potential buyers will not have chance to take a look at your items before they make a purchase, it is a must that you give them detailed description about your items. Describe the item’s condition or any accessories included in the purchase. If you’re in doubt, just model (don’t copy exactly) your description after someone else on eBay who is selling the same item.
5. Timing. Deciding when to end your eBay auction bidding is very important.
Based on what I’ve learned, you’ll be able to generate the best bids if you end your listings on weekends or in the evening. I ended mine on a Sunday night.
6. Check your email regularly.
People who get interested with your HR listings might send you emails with questions. Ensure that you provide answers back promptly by checking your inbox at least once a day. Remember, when you are able to give these people great answers to their questions, they’ll stay with your auction and likely bid up the price more.
For me, this was a great experience and a lot of fun. I’ve sold on eBay before, so I’m not exactly a novice. I got a kick out of watching people bid up the price for my items. Like watching the lottery, though not nearly as lucrative.
If you’ve never sold on ebay before, there are lots of free resources online to help you. Just google “selling on ebay” and you’ll be swamped with information.
However, if you want to turn this into something more, you might want to check out “How To Make Money Money on eBay” which tells you how you might be able to leverage this into a side business you can work from your laptop in your spare time while keeping your HR day job. For more info CLICK HERE
Alan Collins is CEO & Chief Editor, SuccessInHR.com. He was formerly Vice President – Human Resources at Pepsi where he led HR initiatives for their Quaker Oats, Gatorade and Tropicana businesses. His new book, The Unwritten HR Rules, will be published in June.
CLICK HERE to comment on this article.
© SuccessinHR.com
[...] Go here to see the original: Make More Money in HR #2: Sell Off Your Unwanted HR Stuff on eBay … [...]