What's your Trash may be another man's treasure. Sell your clutter on EBAY.

Before you throw it away, or give it to charity, consider selling it on ebay first. Don't put your values on what you might be able to make money selling on ebay. I have sold things I think are absolute trash and made money on these items.

For Example: 100 used wine corks. My husband began saving these corks, and had our friends save corks, because he intended to make homemade wine. He never did, so I listed them on ebay. They sold. We didn't get rich, but we made $ with what most people consider trash.

Another example: We had a corner of our house stacked to the ceiling with crazy, inappropriate gifts. They were nice things, from nice meaning people, but just not for us. I dumped, er sold, a glass and silver tea set, a 'liquor pump', an ugly figurine, a pair of snow boots, etc. last Christmas because my husband's job layoff left us broke after bills, but we made enough money to buy our son a digital camera with the money.

Sell all that clutter! Go through your closets. Lost weight? Plus sizes sell well on ebay. Also, anything that you have that's "too good to throw away" is an indication it will probably sell on ebay.

Sell mistake or impulse purchases when you can't take it back. I sold vitamins (sealed) from the supermarket. I've sold the Diabetic test strips bought on sale that didn't fit my machine. I've sold the wrong baby formula. I sold the swimsuit that looked great in the store and horrible at home. I've sold the shirt given to my husband that was 2 sizes too small. (all these items were like new). Sell those watched DVDs &The computer games your kids have conquered &Whatever your mother in law gives you. Sell it!

Pricing: You are not Macy's. You are not a garage sale. Price accordingly. Research what items are going for (completed auctions) and list a bit cheaper. Everyone loves a bargain, so you'll get bids unless it is something overstocked on ebay. When setting prices, Do not say to yourself "this is worth $300 brand new" and price it at $300. You will pay too much for the listing and no one will bid on it. (If someone says it's a waste of time to sell anything on ebay, ask them if they've tried and then ask what they priced things at.) BTW--reserve pricing is for high ticket items only.

Gallery photos? Yes, if it is a clothing item. Otherwise ask yourself, "will people care what this looks like or are they shopping by title listing?" If they want a specific thing, they will click on your picture. If they are browsing, you need to pay for the gallery photo.

Timing: I find ending sales when people are home get the most money. The best day I ever had was Veteran's Day. There wasn't anything on TV so people were shopping.

SHIPPING: Don't guess. Weigh everything. I've only lost on ebay when an item cost too much to ship. Extremely heavy items are not suitable for sale on ebay unless you can deliver it yourself or list it for local pickup only. Do yourself a favor and get a digital scale for mailing to save money and print your shipping labels on ebay.

Pay Pal: If you don't trust PayPal you should not be selling on ebay. It is ridiculous to computer print all the labels, then stand in line and pay cash for postage at post office (like I see lots of people do.) Also, make sure you calculate how much your boxes, etc. will cost you. You can save yourself money by shipping via Priority Mail and ordering free boxes from ebay. You should also recycle (see below). Print your shipping labels on ebay and DO NOT HAVE THEM LIST THE ACTUAL COST OF THE POSTAGE. You can then build in a shipping charge without havingto justify it.  Offer to ship all items under 13 oz. First Class Mail, and never ship anything Media Mail unless it contains some media: magazines, books, software, etc.

RECYCLE! Ebay is the ultimate in recycling, so recycle boxes from your local stores. Print labels that say "Recycling saves our planet" and stick them to the outside of the box. I've never had a complaint about a gently used box that ends up in the buyer's trash can anyway. (But don't use smelly, dirty boxes...only nice, clean ones.) Ask your local retailer to save you a few.

Feedback: Guard your seller status. Beware of feedback. I've been hit with negative feedback when the other person was ripping me off (sent me bootleg software). I've been hit with negative feedback for making an honest statement (item took 10 days to receive). It is now my policy not to leave any feedback until I receive it. It is taking longer to build my rating, but I do not have any surprises. I've also been ripped off by two sellers and did not pursue it or leave negative feedback because of retaliatory negative feedback damaging my reputation. It's a small percentage: Out of 186 transactions I've only found 2 that did not ship what they sold.

Above all: Don't put your own values on what you sell. My friend gets hand-me-down clothing for her kids. As a devout Christian, she doesn't let her kids wear certain items of clothing. Does she throw them away? No. She sells them on ebay...and she has many happy customers. Remember Catholics can't use birth control but their Church invests in making birth control pills for the rest of us.

SAVE YOUR MONEY, BUY FIRST ON EBAY. You are part of the ebay commerce stream. The more you shop on ebay, the more listings go on ebay, the more is available on ebay. Use the money from all that clutter you sold to buy what you really need. I always shop ebay first, then go elsewhere. I even bought my car (a 2005 PT Cruiser) on ebay and my husband's (a 2000 Range Rover). So far, I've had no regrets. Happy selling!