Mercari: My New Favorite Site/App

 Recently I've been getting into knitting. I had bought some yarn a while back for a specific person to make something out of and when I tried out a new stitch than I had been doing, I realized I did not have enough yarn to complete the project. I had bought the yarn on Amazon so I went to order some more but they were out of stock! I did a general search and found out that all the stores that carried it were sold out. So I did what I usually do in these circumstances, turn to Ebay.

Ebay is great when you are trying to find something that is no longer being sold in stores. If it is a newer product, you can even find brand new unopened packages. I did find some of the yarn I needed but it was very expensive, like four times the amount I paid on Amazon. I figured before I bought that, I would do a little more searching. And so I cam across Mercari.

Mercari is basically another Ebay. Individual people sell things on their website and app. It doesn't look like there are auctions (actually something I don't usually use on Ebay anymore) but you can barter with the sellers on price.

I found someone selling the yarn in bulk, 4 rolls of it. I only needed 2 more but the price at this bulk level was much more reasonable. I figured I could either save the yarn for another project or resell the ones myself that I don't end up using. Problem solved.

Of course AFTER I made the purchase online I received an email from Mercari saying "Get $20 off your first purchase on our app". Well that caught my eye. Of course the finer details were of a purchase of $50 or more but that is still too good of a deal to pass up. If you make sure your purchase is exactly $50, that is almost 50% off.

So I thought about something higher priced that we were wanting. It dawned on me. For a while now, my husband and I were wanting to get some more joycons for the Nintendo Switch but given it wasn't a NECESSITY and that the prices are ridiculously high, we hadn't made the purchase. So I thought I'd give it a try to see what there was. Lo and behold, there was the exact colors we wanted (green & pink) that said brand new unopened box. And the price? $67. These sell for $80 retail, sometimes as high as $90 for those colors. We jumped at it. All in all with taxes, shipping, and coupon we paid $53. A STEAL.

That enough is reason to sign up for Mercari and at least make one purchase. But then I saw that they offered $5 in credit after you make your first seller listing. Easy. I already have things listed on Ebay so I just recreated one of those. Boom $5 credit. Found another thing we wanted at a cheaper price than retail.

But wait, there's more! They also have a referral program. Refer someone and get $10 credit after they make their first purchase (and $40 after they make $100 in sales, but that's a bit too ambitious). I love doing this trick when you have a partner that you can kind of rig referral programs for. I referred my husband and we found something else cheap that we needed. Now this one does take some waiting because just making a purchase doesn't do the job. We had to wait for the item to arrive and rate the seller to close out the sale for the credit to be applied. But still. It's a deal.

Anyway, I will definitely still be using Ebay but I love having an alternative to go to. Plus, it seems like maybe they will send out other deals as well. 

But try it for yourself! Sign up with this link and get $10 off your first purchase!

After the Wedding, Making the Money Back

It's been a while since I've done a new post, my life has been crazy busy!  In my last few posts on saving money for your wedding, I want to talk about ways to recuperate the funds invested in such an expense.

For a wedding there were probably a lot of decorations you ended up buying.  Many of these are reusable items but you may not ever have the need to use them again or you bought too many for just a home.  You should consider reselling these items.  I use eBay but you can use craigslist or a similar website or have a garage sale!

Things I'm Reselling From My Wedding:

• cake stand
• vases
• candle holders
• string lights
• unused accessories (shoe clips & jeweled belt)
• tablecloths

If you're not sentimental about your dress, sell that!  There are many brides looking for a good deal on a great dress and don't mind if it's used and you could make a lot back!

Sell back any and all that you want!  As you know, there are hundreds of brides looking for anything wedding, why not make back some of what you spent on it?

Make Money by Selling Your Old Stuff

Lately my dad and I have been cleaning the house and finding tons of old things that we don't use anymore or never really needed in the first place.  Some of them are even still in the original packaging!  And I know we aren't the only people that have things lying around that we don't need anymore.  But instead of throwing it away, sell it!  And I'm talking about every little thing.  Somebody out there wants it.  You should see the types of things that sell on ebay, even used gift cards with no balance left (I guess people collect them, but that's weird to me).

But how should you sell your things?  Well there are several options and that all depends on what you are trying to sell, how many things you are trying to sell, how much you want to get for it, and what your own selling preferences are.  Here's a list of some of the ways to sell things, what it's best for, and the pros and cons.

Garage Sale
Now this is not one that I have experience with but obviously most people now what a garage sale is and how it works.  You have to be willing to part with items for very cheap, but if you have a lot of things to sell, it can be worth it.  Make sure you set up early because that's when the real shoppers come out.  And also it pays to advertise (yes that means you might have to invest some money into advertising but it will attract a lot more people and get you more money in the end).

What it's best for: Selling large volumes of things.  
Pros: You can sell a lot of your things quickly
Cons: You have to give up your Saturday or Sunday.  You have to pay for advertising.


Ebay
This is what I use most often.  Take a look at all the things I'm selling: http://www.ebay.com/usr/dancecarmenh.  Now ebay's not for everyone.  It takes a lot of practice learning how to get your items noticed, learning how much to charge for everything, etc.  But I've been doing it for many years and like it because it just takes a little time to set up and then I just have to wait.  Do all those things sell right away?  Certainly not.  I've had to relist things many times but eventually it sells (like I said, somebody out there wants it).  You get 50 free listings a month.  I only sell small items on here because I'm nervous about pricing the shipping for large items.  If there are a lot of similar items for sale, I make sure mine is the lowest price at least by a few cents.  This gets it more noticed since most people put them in order by price and usually that will start a bidding war that will drive up the price by the end of the selling period.  I may do a more in-depth look at how to sell on ebay later but this is just an overview.

What it's best for: Selling small items
Pros: Once you get the hang of it, it's really simple.  You're in control of prices.
Cons: You can lose money if you don't plan correctly.  Sometimes you have to deal with annoying people.


Amazon Listing
I listed my first things on Amazon a couple months ago and still haven't sold them so it's a learning process.  Take a look: My Amazon Listings.  Why I chose to list these on Amazon?  Apparently they're worth a lot of money and they're my guinea pigs.  So far, I'm not liking it because it's taking so long to sell.  But it might be worth the more money I will get than the price I would have listed it on ebay.  There are a lot of restrictions and rules on Amazon as to what you can and cannot sell as an individual and it has to sell for quite a few dollars to be worth it, unlike ebay which you can make money by selling things cheaply.

What it's best for: Selling things that are worth a lot.
Pros: Amazon gives you the price for shipping which should definitely cover it.  Large base of customers that trust this site more than one like ebay.
Cons: Can take a long time to sell.  Fees are more expensive than on ebay.


Sell to Amazon
Ever look at an item on Amazon and it said, "Sell Us Your Item"?  For certain items (I've generally seen it for electronics), Amazon wants to buy them from you to resell.  You only get Amazon credit not cash but it is quick and easy and they pay for shipping.  Generally you can get more money by selling it yourself, but it is easier.
What it's best for: Selling things quickly.
Pros: Quick and easy and hassle-free.  Don't have to deal with buyers.
Cons: They give you far less than it's worth.


Other places to sell things:

• Used movie, CD, book, and game stores often buy your old media.  Only worth it if you have a lot of items because they just give you around $1 or less per item (Check out Rasputin in the Bay Area)
• For books, especially textbooks, check out book buyback sites.  It's instantaneous and they pay for shipping.  Bookscouter.com compiles a list of places for you.
• For furniture, try antique stores and used furniture stores.  They buy items too.
• For jewelery, if the piece is unique then go to antique stores.  If it's generic, you're probably better off selling it to places that buy for the gold or silver and gemstones.  Make sure you shop around though.
• For large items, Craigslist.  Good old craigslist.  Be cautious on this site, but it's great for things like large furniture, bikes, cars, etc. that have to be sold locally.

 Taking the time to clean stuff out and sell it can make you quite a few extra dollars.  Let me know of any other ways you like to sell your old stuff or any areas you might like me to explore further.

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