$40 For a Vinatage Final Fantasy VII Game

So, a week ago I listed an old game we've been carrying around forever on Ebay. I did some research before I listed, checked what was currently available, and checked completed listings that had sold and for how much. Turns out these old vintage games are worth a little money. Especially if it's a big title, and for those of you who don't know about video games Final Fantasy VII is a huge classic. What did it sell for you ask, $40 on the Buy It Now option.

Now, this game was in great shape, all the booklets were in it, the discs had no visible scratches or wear, but the back of the case had a crack in it. I believe in being honest in my descriptions, and made sure to mention the scratch, and took a picture of it. I started the bidding out at $20, with the $40 Buy It Now price. My listing was simple "Final Fantasy VII, EUC" (EUC stands for Execellent Used Condition). On the last day bidding was open someone snatched it up at the Buy It Now price, and paid me. Here's the picture I took at the back.

Now, this is the only older game that we have laying around, but it does bring it to my attention that Vintage Gaming items, and really most Vintage items are big sellers right now! These are an emotional buy, the buyer sees these things, and thinks "Oh boy did I love insert item your selling when I was kid." Fond memories return, and they decide they just HAVE to have that certain item. Emotional buyers tend to spend more money on items, vs. everyday needed items. People buying those things they need just want a good deal, which isn't bad as long you got a better deal when you bought the item. So, while I am still going to focus on finding good, used, name brand clothing, I'm also going to be keeping my eye out for some other fun, vintage stuff.

Which brings me to the next part of my post :) I also scored 5 pairs of women's jeans for $25 at a garage sale yesterday! Two pairs of Silver jeans, and 3 BKE's, both are popular and expensive brands, and really one pair alone is $100 new! Each pair is in excellent condition, no tears, stains with a slight bit of wear at the bottom where jeans drag across the ground. Heck, one pair didn't even look like they were ever worn! Of course I don't know that for sure, so I still have to list them as used, EUC.

 I think I should be able to easily sell these for a nice profit on Ebay, in fact I'm hoping that one pair along will cover my cost for buying them, and the rest will be profit. Shipping is expensive on jeans, so I will also have to factor that into my price and listing. About $8 - $10, so make sure to watch that if you ever sell any yourself! I don't have any photo's yet, and I haven't got my listing together, but when I do I will share in another post. I also have some more Disney, and name brand kids clothes laying around that I'm going to put together some listings for and share with everyone.

The best part about selling that game is that I have sold $80 worth of stuff for January! Again, this was all stuff that was in my house collecting dust in a box somewhere. I have more stuff laying around, and I plan on getting more things on purpose with the intent to sell, so I'm very excited to see where Febuary takes me!! Happy money making everyone.

2nd Job & Ebay

So, it's been awhile since I've been on here. Mostly, I've been thinking, and re-collecting my thoughts. I also finished a semester in school (FINALS!), had a small break, and now I'm in FIVE classes. Since my last post, I've put more thought into what finding $20 a day means to me now, and what it could mean down the road.

First decision I made was to cut back on the DS business, and refocus my efforts on a steady paycheck instead. Yes, direct selling was fun, yes I loved and still love the product I sold, and yes the interest from people is still there. My problem was that my family needed at least $300 a month, for sure, to make the budget even. Unfortunately, selling is an iffy business, and I'm not the best at it. Combine that with 1 terrible party, 2 cancellations, and only 1 successful party (made $70) in a month......... and I had to come to a decision. I decided to apply for a part time job at a gas station that I go to pretty much every day. They have the best fountain drinks in town! I know all the girls that work there, some for about 5 years, I get along with them all, and I knew the job wouldn't demand as much from me physically. Long story short, I applied, got the job, and now work an extra 12+ hours a week, for about $170 every two weeks.

Alright, that's halfway to my $20 a day, or $600 a month. The problem is this a short term solution at best. I can not, and frankly will not, be able to maintain this for more than a year tops. The time I'm losing with my son breaks my heart. The fact that he is home with his father (our mutually agreed on decision) is the only thing that makes this tolerable. Well, that and the fact that it's actually a change for me. It's different than my other job, the hours aren't bad, and I like meeting people.

Next phase? Well, more thought, and experimenting has gone into this as well. Since I started this blog I have tried selling things around the house that we don't need/want/use. I've done this a few different ways, Facebook buy/sell/trade groups, garage sales, and Ebay. By far the easiest, and best selling venue has been Ebay. I read about selling on Ebay a few years ago, and actually got so intimated by what I read that I turned away from it before I even tried it. MISTAKE! Now, I'm not saying I'm going to get rich of this, at least not right away ;) but I have been able to sell around $150 worth of cr.... er stuff from around my home. It's a win win, I don't want or need this stuff anymore, someone else does, they buy it, and I get back some of the money I put into it. By far the hardest thing to "get right" when you start out selling Ebay is the shipping costs!

Okay, so this phase is done. Selling off stuff I already had. So now I will move on the next stage of this Ebay stuff. Purposefully buying and selling stuff. My decision has been to start with clothes, kids, womens, mens, I don't care. As long as it's:

1. Name brand
2. Popular style
3. Good shape
4. CHEAP CHEAP CHEAP

So that's the main direction this blog will begin to take. I want to chronicle what I'm doing so that I can look back and see what I did right, and what I did wrong. Hopefully, eventually, others will find this blog, and it will help them (you!) as well. Now, this will not be the only thing I talk about in terms of making money on here. Maybe I'll talk about saving money, or other ways to make money, or hey! maybe I'll just vent on here some day ;)

Day 2 = Bust :(

Okay so today is day two of my new theme, finding 20 dollars a day. Today I was trying to earn my $20 through my direct selling business. Yes, that's right, I'm "one of those people", but actually I enjoy it! I've been trying this for around a year. I was with one company, and I didn't like it, so I switched to another. Now, I don't want to violate any of my terms for being a consultant so you will not see me name the company I sell for. Besides, this blog isn't about selling, or running a DS company, it's about finding 20 dollars a day ;)

So, to move on. I sell for this company, and normally I make around $50 - $70 on average when I have a party. Interest was high for this one, and I was really hoping I could finally break my $350 in sales threshold I seem to be stuck at. Well, that didn't happen! Long story short, about every body ended up having to attend an activity for their kids, or family :( This meant only 2 people came, and I collected 1 outside order, with a total in sales of only $60. Which means I made $15 in commission, but, I put $20 in gas to get there, sooooooo B-U-S-T! The good news is that my awesome Hostess is going to talk to her friends and family that couldn't make it, but wanted to order and try to collect more orders over the week. Then mail me the orders and money. So, down the road I should make more, and I just hate when a Host doesn't earn free stuff from their party! Fingers crossed she can get to the mark and get herself some free stuff, she has 4 kids so she can use it!

After this disappointing day I've decided that I should make a "plan" so to speak for tomorrow. Now, I have a small son, and he has already outgrown a lot of his things. So tomorrow I'm going to post some of the nicer things for sale on some Facebook Buy/sell/trade sites local to my area. In case you are wondering, these are "groups" that have been created by people for FB users to post things for sell that they no longer need, want, use. Other FB users scroll through the offerings, and buy things that they want/need. Here are a few thoughts to keep in mind if you are interested in trying this yourself:

1. Many of these sites have A LOT of members! So items can easily get lost in the multiple postings that different members put on there.
2. Good news is that many allow you to "bump" your item. This simply means that you leave a comment on your item(s) that moves your item back to the top of the page, or "bumps" it.
3. Buyer Beware! You are buying these items from individuals, and not all will be honest or fair. Some post pictures of items that do not reflect the actual condition of the (it's actually dirty, faded, broke, etc.) True story, a friend of mine traded some items with another woman for some sheets for her sons bed. Turns out they had BED BUGS! Yuck! When she confronted the woman, she admitted that she knew there "was a chance" the sheets could be infested. Smh, I don't understand some people!
4. Seller Beware! People will swear they want you item, promise to show up at agreed time/place to get said item. Then not, or ever return your messages or calls. Very frustrated. You will also get people who will give you an insulting low price for your item, then say mean troll type things when you refuse them. Ignore those people!
5. Putting an item for sale, doesn't mean it will sell. I've listed items I thought for sure would sell fast and easy, and they've sat forever. On the other hand, I've sold things within minutes of posting them, and had people asking me to hold it for them if the first person doesn't get it. Nice!

Overall selling things on FB isn't that hard or that complicated, and can help make a fast dollar sometimes. If you are wondering how you can find these sites, ask your friends first. Many will probably already be members of different sites, and can "add" you to the group themselves. Next you can search for groups through FB. Go to the search bar at the top of FB, and type your town's name and then buy/sell/trade. If that gets you nowhere, try different variations of each. Also try your county, state, etc. Once you find a couple it gets easier to find more. 

Try to make some rules for yourself before you start though. Like: how far will you drive? Will you deliver, or will they have to pick something up? What's the lowest you will go for that item (don't tell them, but know in your mind)? Will you meet people somewhere? Where? Nothing to complicated, but it helps to establish these rules before you go into this so you don't wind up spending $10 in gas for $2 item!

Well, that's it for today. Tomorrow is a new day, and I've got my game plan ready, and I'm going to try, try, and try again! I'll let you know how it goes, and I'll share what I did, how I listed my item, and if it worked. Goodnight all!

Finding $20 A Day: The Start

Okay, so what is "Finding $20 A day"? Well, I'm working on it!

Here's the back story. My husband and I are struggling right now, like hundreds of thousands of other families, so of course M-O-N-E-Y is on my mind...... a lot! So, yesterday, we were broke. I needed to get a few things at the grocery store, and some other items. We are broke, because the battery in our truck went out last week, and we bought another one for $85. And that was the cheapest one! So, this week I realize, hmmmm I forgot to take the old battery back to get our $12 core charge back. Then I think, hmmmmm, the piggy bank looks promising, I'll go cash that in as well. After heading into both places, parts store and bank, which are right next to each other, I walk away with $21 in my pocket.

I know some people are thinking, $21 big freaking deal, well for us it IS a big freaking deal. That's enough money for a couple days, or two things of milk and a pack of diapers, or enough gas to drive out of town for a job interview, or, well, you get the idea.

Back to the story, as I'm walking across the street to my truck with my little boys hand in mine, I feel the nice lump that money is making in my pocket. I think to myself "Gee, wouldn't it be nice if I could make $20 everyday?"

LIGHT BULB!

I am intrigued and excited about this idea. If I figure out how to do this it could mean an extra $600 a month back into our families budget. How huge is that! Pretty huge for us anyways ;) Somehow telling myself to try and find $20 a day, sounds sooooo much easier than, make an extra $600 this month! I've been reading a lot of business, selling, financial, blah blah blah stuff lately, and they all agree that breaking your goals into smaller more attainable "steps" makes it easier for you to reach that goal. I suppose that by calling it "$20 a day" seems easier on my poor mind and body than the big picture.

Of course, I don't think it's going to be easy, or even that I will really start at $20 a day. Here's what I do know though, if I never try it will bug the heck out of me forever! First though I need to do some thinking on 1. How will I do this. 2. What am I willing to put out in terms of time and effort 3.A bunch more Questions that will pop up as I go along.

So, try I will. I may start with the more attainable :/ I hope :/ goal of $5 a day and work from there. After all, it's not everyday I have a battery to take back, and change to cash in. ;)