I have spent endless hours trying to find the simplest way possible to eBay while being a stay-at-home mom. I have compiled a short list of time-saving tips directed at these multi-taskers like myself!

Stay-at-home moms can earn some great "mad money" by taking advantage of the venue that eBay offers. In some instances, SAHMs actually have an advantage when it comes to finding merchandise to resell. When other people are "at work" so to speak, you can take advantage of those Thursday and Friday neighborhood yard sales with baby in tow. Some of your local community libraries have book sales a few times a year. This is also a great product sourcing destination that also has rock bottom prices.

Here are some of my best mom tips to save time, energy and money:

1. Invest in a crock pot so you can be cooking all day long. Moms love to multi-task!
2. List only when little ones are napping. Mistakes can be costly.
3. Use PayPal Shipping to avoid trips to the post office altogether!
4. Buy a BIG mailbox.
5. Purchase small items for resale so you can get the packages into your mailbox.
   
6. Get the older children involved in shipping, matching invoices and delivery confirmation receipts, --anything to get them involved and part of the process.
   
7. Clean the children's closets for nice, gently used outgrown clothes. Sell them on eBay and buy new clothes!
8. Sign up for a PayPal Debit Card. It is a mom's best friend at the gas pump with a baby or toddler.
9. Sell your children's old video games, books, etc. and buy them that PS3 or Wii they REALLY want. Added bonus: heroism.
10. Set up a play area for toddlers while you take pictures or pack and ship your items.
    
11. Invest in a laptop computer to carry with you from kitchen to living room to bedroom.
    
12. Buy bubble envelopes and self-adhesive shipping labels to save time.
13. Invest in a postal scale to avoid the guess work and delayed items due to miscalculated shipping. Worse yet, avoid customer paying for the extra shipping cost to retrieve the item because you guessed the item is 1 oz. and it is really 2.
14. Make sure first-class packages with delivery confirmation are at least a fourth of an inch thick to avoid  (you guessed it) more postal fees.
15. Create a free e-mail address (like Yahoo! or Hotmail)  that coincides with your eBay user ID to avoid confusion.
16. Clean out a closet or chest of drawers to keep your inventory. Children have a way of destroying new shiny things.
17. Map out yard sales in advance to avoid wandering aimlessly through neighborhoods looking for them.
18. Don't tell the yard sale owner you intend to resale on eBay. The price WILL go up.
19. Download eBay's free seller tool, Turbo Lister, to save huge amounts of listing time. HUGE!
20. Stay organized and on top of delivery confirmation receipts and invoices. Print the invoices, punch holes, tape or staple delivery confirmation receipts to the invoice and keep them in order by date. Put them in a 3-ring-binder for easy finding when a customer asks for the shipping status.
21. When in doubt, click "Help" at the top beside "My eBay". eBay has a wide range of help items. They want you to succeed because they succeed as well.
22. Take care of yourself first and drink PLENTY of coffee or caffeine. =)

I hope you learned something from my guide. If you did, please don't forget to vote so it will go to the top for other beginning eBay stay-at-home moms to read!