EBAY & SALES How Do Buyers Know It's On Sale? Only When They View Item!

It just came to my attention that on eBay when people search or browse if you happen to have an item on sale they are NOT seeing the sale price on the list they are viewing. Customers have to actually click into your item then they will see the sale price inside your listing. This piece of information was a bit disheartening as far as my big plan for running sales from now until Christmas goes. I must say though no sooner did I learn of this then I also learned hours later that eBay had been alerted to the talk in FaceBook groups of this concern and were basically putting thought into making it better. Good to know eBay is listening and also taking sellers concerns seriously. 

So now today I was supposed to be working on my own Friday challenge on a FaceBook group that I recently started "Let's Get eBay Motivated" (a motivational group for sellers to help each other, well keep motivated).... I have only managed 7 new listings today because much of the day was spent brainstorming ideas and doing a little research on new ways that I am not currently using to help get the word out that we are running this big holiday sales. I already use FaceBook, Twitter, and I really just haven't delved too much into the Pinterest thing, it just doesn't seem to be my thing. I did manage to come up with a couple of ideas. One is just mostly putting an old idea into action finally and the other is a play on an old idea I used to do years ago, but a bit of a spin on it. 

The first thing that came to mind was utilizing YouTube finally. I have used it a couple of times to show that battery operated toys were working properly and what they did. I have also used it to make a couple little videos about scrapping/recycling metal for cash (something else we do), and of course I dipped into recording and uploading thrift & yard sale hauls. I am planning now however to make some videos to help promote the news of our holiday sales & the big savings to be found. I am still playing with ideas though as I know it can't just be "Come see our sale" nobody wants to watch that. Have to either come up with something silly or informative to draw people in THEN let them know about our eBay store & big sales..... 

Then the other thought I actually did start putting into action tonight. Totally up in the air how it will go, but I don't stand to lose too much if it is a complete flop. Penny Auctions WITH Free Shipping too! I know its a little risky. I did it with small inexpensive items that are very lightweight with First Class USPS shipping. I put 4 of these up tonight so far and am going to add 2 more before I head to bed tonight, or tomorrow morning at the latest. In the title I put briefly what the item is but also used a lot of that normally precious keyword space in title to mention the holiday sales and the words KICK OFF letting buyers know these penny listings are to kick off holiday savings in our eBay store. Inside the listings I also added info about the sales as well and a link to our store so they can click through easily and see what the discounts are, on what items, and how deep those discounts are..... We shall see how this goes. I have high hopes that it will at least not be a total waste of time & money though. 

These are the listings I put up already:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Toy-Frogs-PENNY-1-Cent-KICK-OFF-Our-Huge-Holiday-SALE-Store-FREE-SHIPPING-/261337080338?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item3cd8e76212

http://www.ebay.com/itm/6-PINK-Girls-STAR-WANDS-Party-One-Cent-PENNY-Holiday-HUGE-SALE-FREE-SHIPPING-/261337114406?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item3cd8e7e726


 http://www.ebay.com/itm/PALM-TREE-Ice-Cube-Tray-PENNY-1-Cent-KICK-OFF-Holiday-HUGE-SALE-FREE-SHIPPING-/261337100780?pt=Bar_Tools_Accessories&hash=item3cd8e7b1ec


  http://www.ebay.com/itm/Pink-Purple-SNOOPY-Duo-Lip-Gloss-1-Cent-PENNY-Holiday-HUGE-SALE-FREE-SHIPPING-/251386259140?pt=US_Makeup_Lips&hash=item3a87c9e6c4

I am going to add two more tomorrow for a lipstick and a body glitter roll on key chain. The main goal of these is to attract buyers into our listings so they then click on our store link to view & see about the sales going on at the time. Fingers crossed.... Looking forward to eBay adjusting how the sales currently work though so that our customers actually will see the sale price reflected on the list that comes up when they browse or search on the site. 

Any thoughts, ideas, questions, etc. Please leave a comment. I love hearing from everyone! 
Now I am heading back on over to eBay to do a little more work before heading to bed and calling it a wrap for the night...... Nice to be back to blogging :)  

UPDATE as of 12/9/2013  Since writing this I have noticed many times now where the correct price when on sale is showing up when searching eBay for an item. I am not 100% sure if this is permanently corrected on all listings/sales or if it is something eBay is playing around with the idea of implementing and it is not showing on all yet. I am going to look into it further and will update accordingly. I am happy to be able to post this update however that at least it is looking like now when we run a sale the buyers when browsing eBay will see the ACTUAL SALES price without having to actually click on the item before the price showing up. If this continues this way I will be very thankful. 

People say that eBay does not listen to it's sellers but I beg to differ. I know that certain eBay employees actually frequent eBay groups on FaceBook and do read what we are saying and do actually try to work in the ideas that they are able to and that make sense to help eBay grow. Also when eBay sends the surveys, don't ignore them. Tell them your ideas, let them know how you feel. What is on your mind could very well be on hundreds of others and if thousands of members are saying the same thing eBay will notice and try to accommodate when feasible. You might just be one person, but together when speaking up our voices our very loud!!! 

One other thing since writing this. I have been making use of Pinterest a bit more in the last couple of weeks. I am not 100% sure of how much of a difference it will make in the long run, but I have seen some short term results. Nothing concrete however when I pin things it is bringing in traffic and I do know for sure a couple of buyers had found me because of coming across my pins/boards and they followed the item over to eBay. So I will continue to utilize them as part of my social media marketing. 

Update What That Router Wound Up Selling for In Our eBay Store

I know, I know it has been forever and a whole lot of days since my last blog post. I have been super busy and completely dropped the ball on the blog. That will change now however. I will be back and hopefully I can manage to keep everything going without going nutty.... ha ha ha... 

So the last blog entry was about one of our hauls mainly for our eBay store. At the time I had mentioned that I picked up a Cisco Wireless router for a buck at one of the sales and what it should sell for according to researching closed items on eBay.... 

It sat in our store for a little bit, and had been put on sale a couple of times with no bites. Then in September I had it listed for 79.95 + shipping. It sold with Best offer for $60.00 + $8.55 shipping to a buyer in Canada. They received it, left feedback and were happy with their purchase. 

At the time I had it listed, before then, and since then the very same routers have been listed by other sellers and many have sold for only 19.99 some even lower. So what made mine sell for so much. Opinions vary but I would wager to bet it had something to do with the many photos I posted of the item, the white background in photos instead of a floor or a busy background, not only a positive feedback history but the types of feedbacks customers have left, the detailed yet not overly done description, no fancy html inside the listing so easily viewed on all devices, good keywords in title and so on. 

Find SOLD listing here :  Cisco Valet M10 Wireless N Internet Router HotSpot With Easy Setup Key wifi

This is one of the reasons why I LOVE BEING AN EBAY SELLER!!!! However the #1 reason I love selling on eBay is it allows me to be a work at home mom! 

Keep an eye on our blog here again as I am back and hopefully you will find something that interests you in my rantings & writings and truly I hope something that helps you along your way!

This Saturdays Haul - Estate Sale Finds 4-27-2013 & Some Info - Tips for eBay

We have decided we are going to start sharing our finds from thrift shops, yard sales, estate sales, and of course storage auction wins also. Yesterday we went out hunting estate sales, yard sales, and one decent size church rummage type sale. We spent about $50.00 (probably closer to 51.00). We got goodies for our eBay store & some goodies for ourselves and the kiddos as well.

I am going to try to share what some of the items cost us and what price they sell for on eBay as I research sold items and start getting ours listed. So far I did a little bit of researching on this haul and below the video you can see some of what I found. This was a decent haul overall. I must say the best part is the hunt. Yes, we do love being able to sell online & locally and make a living, but the funnest part is the hunt for items.... whether it be items to stock our eBay store or items for ourselves. Hunting those treasures down always equals a fun time for us!

 

Then And Again Treasures eBay Shop

 

The Valet wireless hotspot router thing was at the same sale we got the bottles at. I almost missed it as I had seen it out of the corner of my eye it was under a table kind of out of site. I figured it was an out dated useless type of electronic and assumed it was going to have a sticker of 10.00 or more on it. This is one of those items though that prove it is worth taking a close look at everything as you are out hunting those treasures. Turned out it had 1.00 sticker on it. I decided for 1.00 I would give it a shot, worst case scenario I would break it down and scrap it out if it was useless or broken. After making this video though I opened up the box to find out it is completely brand new, never been used... sealed up. Then I researched sold listings on eBay to find out that this little gadget sells pretty much every time one is listed and will fetch us between $55.00 - $70.00 plus shipping. So this ONE item will cover the entire cost of our haul plus a few bucks in the green! WOOOHOOO! Gotta love when that happens.

 

The old man paper mache type statue thing we did a little research on and asked the members of one of our most favorite FaceBook groups "Thrifting With The Boys" and one of the members knew right away what he was and they have sold a couple like him (but I believe a little better than him) and sold for around $18.00. However with mine I don't have high hopes of getting much more than 9.95 plus shipping on him. Funny how it worked out that the item hubby and myself thought was most interesting turned out to be the item that was the biggest flop. Well I shouldn't say flop considering it cost us a whole 10 cents and even if we sell at 9.95 that is still a lot of profit compared to the 10 cent investment.

 

The vintage iron I did a quick bit of research on and I am not overly impressed so far with this one either. Especially since I spent a bit more than I normally would hav (2.00) on it. I have not been able to track down one like it with the Thermodon brand name on it on eBay sold listings. I am going to have to research it a little more using other sites to find out more.

 

The Bobbie Brooks sweater I show in the video that I absolutely love and am not going to part with.... cost me a whole 25 cents! I get chilly easily so I like having a decent amount of sweaters & jackets even in the summer for when the AC in stores or restaraunts is on full blast so I can be comfortable. I researched the sold on Bobbie Brooks sweaters XL, just for the heck of it. I found the prices for sold ones range from $1.00 up to $20.00. Seems sweater vests with cute designs do the best, and next regular sweaters but again ones with cute designs. This is not something I would actively look to purchase for reselling but for a 25 cent investment I might be willing to give a Bobbie Brooks in an XL or bigger a shot if I come across one especially if it has a cute design or is a vest style. This one is going in MY closet though.

 

The children's VHS movies I purchased for a quarter each. I did get a few others that are not kids, a couple Yanni ones I am going to give a try at selling those. Normally I would not purchase anything other than children's as far as VHS movies go. I am waiting to get a decent amount together and put in a lot. They do sell well in lots of multiple movies. Same theory on children's books as well. If can group many by same show/characters, or with books same author... this will increase what the lot can be sold for. I also am going to start doing children's DVD movies this way as well and adult ones too but making sure to group them with some kind of theme, such as a "Horror & Suspense" lot or "Horror & Sci-Fi". Many times if something is not a big seller on it's own it is a good idea to see what the difference is in sold prices if you take those items and put them into lots, selling multiple of a certain type of item at one time.

 

As you can see in the video there is a ton more for me to research. Some of the items we are keeping - like the blocks which were for our daughter, some of the clothes were for me and some for our son. The way kids go through clothes it is great to be able to get a shirt & an outfit both for $2.00 total BIG MONEY SAVER thrifting & picking up kids clothing at yard sales. I will sell children's clothes online as well, but plan to do that when I can put multiple items together.... yep another "LOT" type of item. The bigger the lot the bigger the profit.

 

Try searching sold items on eBay and keyword "childrens clothes lot" or "boys clothes lot" "girls clothes lot" you get the idea. You will be pleasantly surprised. Especially if a seller takes the time to match up outfits. For instance listing 50 articles of clothing but making outfits out of the lot or most of it. Match up a shirt with a pair of shorts, if a girls lot to make it even better add a matching accessory like a hair tie, or with both boys and girls you can give the outfit a matching pair of socks to go with it. Many times you can find boxes of socks at yard sales for kids and people ask just 10 cents or 5 cents a pair, offer them a few bucks for the whole box and usually they will take it. Now you will have a huge supply of socks to match with outfits for your kids clothing lots you want to list.

 

Okay, this was supposed to be a blog post about this Saturdays haul and now has went into all kinds of other info as well. If anyone follows me on FaceBook or even this blog here you all know how once I get typing/talking I just don't stop ha ha ha! I hope something I share though can either inspire someone to start earning money through eBay, or scrapping, or maybe something I share helps someone to save some money, or helps them to know to grab a certain item when they see it at a thrift store. I love to write & share information both for fun & to hopefully be of some help to someone out there.

 

Now it is time for me to get to work actually listing some of our finds to our eBay store. Stop by and take a peek - and remember we are now trying to add items DAILY!!! So you should always be able to find new & interesting goodies each and every day.

Collect Scrap Metal For Recycling On A Walk = A Little Extra Cash & A Little Fun

Hi there everyone.... I know we have been MIA as far as our blog goes for a while now. Life has been really really busy between our scrapping & hauling business, and then of course the ever growing eBay business too. However, family keeps us just as busy as work, especially with us expecting another baby girl on September 28th 2013. I am going to try my hardest to at least get a post or two added each week from now on. Sometimes written & other times I will be sharing little videos we are starting to upload onto YouTube. Now we are far from video experts, VERY far from it, but we do hope that you enjoy them.

Here is a video we made today after locking our keys in the truck and having to walk back to our house. We played a little game to make the walk a little less miserable seeing if mommy or daddy could collect more metal "scrapping aka recycle" items.

Our First Storage Auctions Attended & Unit Won in 2013

We got lost Thursday looking for the storage auctions and only caught tail end. Friday we went to a bunch of them. I believe in all we saw 33 units (actually about 29 some got paid up and were taken off list). Many were dud units, one when opened was actually EMPTY! Some only had 1 box that looked like stuff people just didn't feel like throwing away.
This made me think about something though - if you ever rent a storage unit - when you leave make sure you take EVERYTHING don't leave junk behind because you might have something with info on it like SS # or something and even though people are SUPPOSED to return things like that to the office after they win a unit, who is to say that everyone does? What you think will go into a dumpster might just get auctioned off..... That's what it got me thinking about .

Then a bunch we knew people were just bidding us up so we didn't play the game. Figured okay you want it for that much go ahead and try to make money on it LOL.
Second half of day I stayed home and John went by himself. He almost had a real good one but we had given ourselves a budget and only brought that much cash with him (thats how you keep within your budget no matter what lol). This time we were wishing we had brought an extra hundred on top of budget - like a just in case their is an awesome one kinda spare money but oh well.

At the last facility he did wind up winning a unit. Paid about $50 more than he was wanting to (but still well within budget). So now after taxes and all we have $351.00 invested in this unit. Unfortunately it was seriously missing that WOW factor ha ha ha.
We did some math though and it will probably take the vintage poker table (after we refurbish top which is not hard), and the leather chair & ottoman plus maybe the Hammock we found to break even. Then we will make a little profit from a couple telescopes, some bric & brac, and some plush for Halloween and Motorcycle/Biker plush Teddy Bears etc. So we MIGHT be able to at least double on this one, but we were not overly thrilled with it. They can't all be amazing though! Hopefully next time.

Other things we found in the unit: Books that were just too dirty to be anything but garbage, a ton of Christmas decorations most just dollar store or homemade and not good homemade, an entertainment center (we can resell that probably for 50.00), a long wood table but its missing its glass pieces, not sure what we will do with that yet. Some electric tools we have to test still also were in there. We have a small pile of old Christmas cards, some paperwork etc. with personal info we are going to hand into the office their on Monday so they can return to the previous owners.

Oh I almost forgot there was this neat little chair in there. It is a folding chair and is obviously vintage. We just took some quick photos of it. It has a metal tag/plate that has two little nails/tacs to hold it onto back of the chair but the writing is oriental so we need to figure it out still. It looks like a child size chair. The blue flip flop is there to show size its a womans size 6 or 7 shoe. The other picture has my husbands large McDonalds drink.

 

 

 I like the chair, but not sure if it has any value. As of right now all we know is it is cute and in good shape other than needing a little cleaning/dusting and some of the screws/nails are a little rusted on the heads from age.


Sometimes you find things in units that just don't go together. This unit was one of those kind of units. There was a glass pipe in there wrapped in a towel (certainly some type of drug paraphernalia) and also in the unit was a bunch of Jehovah Witness materials, books etc. These two things just didn't seem to be a combo that made sense to me. Certainly not the strangest combo we have found, but one to make you go hmmmm and scratch your head a little.

Well now time to turn this unit around and see if we can manage to at least double the money. Looking forward to the next auctions and hopefully will have lots of wonderful finds to write about.

Winners Of Our First Blog Contest - Better Late Than Never

Sorry to be a little late on this but we have just barely been able to keep up with our eBay shipments as we have been battling this evil cold/flu thing that has not only hit our house once now but came back and knocked me and my daughter on our butts AGAIN for almost a week now. The men of the house have been lucky and this time around our son only had a runny nose and hubby managed to not get sick at all. NO FAIR!

Well as fun as it is chatting about being under the weather I am sure that is not what everyone is really interested in. I am sure there are two people out there who are curious about their PRIZES! We ran our first blog contest, but did not do that great of a job promoting it. That is okay we live & we learn. We only had TWO OFFICIAL ENTRIES so there are two winners. With only two people being entered all we did was gave them the numbers 1 & 2 then for each of their entries wrote on pieces of paper, crumpled them up and put in a bowl. My son picked the Grand Prize winner out of the bowl........ and the Grand Prize winner is.........

The first person who entered and they actually had MANY entries due to they completed almost every option to enter the contest they possible could.

OUR GRAND PRIZE WINNER IS CORY BOUDREAU one of our Twitter followers.

Then because there was only two people entered there was no reason to pick any more out of the bowl by default the only other entrant would obviously win 2cnd place.

OUR SECOND PLACE WINNER IS: User: Vanwyckkelsie (that is the info from email address I am not going to enter the entire email here due to spam/junk mail issues I don't want her/him to have email plastered in the middle of a blog post).

I am getting ready to send them their WINNING EMAILS and they can claim their prizes and receive within 24 hours of claiming.

Thanks for entering. We hope next time around others will now see that YOU REALLY CAN WIN BLOG CONTESTS. Actually I personally love blog contests because I feel my odds of winning are a lot better than lotto, or other raffles with big companies.

Thanks again... and keep an eye out NEW CONSTEST COMING VERY SOON!!!!!

Below is the list for the winners to choose their prize from 

GRAND PRIZE: 

The Grand Prize WINNER gets to choose from this prize list below - The Grand Prize options 1 & 2 are open to BOTH US and International Winners.

Grand Prize Option 1 - $15.00 (usd) eBay Gift Card

Grand Prize Option 2 - $10.00 Cash Via PayPal

Grand Prize Option 3 - (For U.S. Residents Only) - Surprise Basket Of Goodies (Value Minimum of $20.00 usd)

 

SECOND RUNNER UP PRIZE LIST : 

Second Place Runner Up gets to choose from this Prize List - 1st and 2cnd options available to both U.S. and International Winners.

2cnd Prize Option 1 - $10.00 (usd)eBay Gift Card

2cnd Prize Option 2 - $7.00 Cash Via PayPal

2cnd Prize Option 3 - Small Surprise Package Of Goodies (Value a Minimum of $10.00 usd).

We Will Be Doing Drawing For Our Blog Contest 2/2/13

There was not too many entries for the blog contest for January. I did not do a very good job promoting the contest actually. Next time around I will do better I am sure.... Anyways with a handful of entries I am just going to put the entries into a hat (each person still gets the amount of entries they earned) mix them all up and draw one out for Grand Prize then so on.... So be sure to check back tomorrow and see who the big winners are.

How To - Add YouTube Videos To eBay Listings SIMPLE VERSION

   After spending over an hour trying to figure out how to add a simple YouTube video showing how an item works to one of my eBay listings I decided I would do a short blog post and try to save other sellers the hassle I just went through. This is not a YouTube how to, it simply covers the steps to embed the video into an item listing.

To make this simple - YouTube has changed the code they give you and it does not work in eBay auctions.So instead of going crazy like me trying to figure out why it isn't working just follow these simple steps

1. Go into your youtube video you are wishing to add to your new item listing. This is assuming you know how to use YouTube videos (if not wait for my more detailed blog post coming soon)

2. Switch your auction listing to enter html code instead of standard

3. Decide where you want your video placed

4. Now it is time for a little copy and paste & edit 2 simple spots in the html coding

COPY THIS HTML CODE AND PASTE INTO YOUR EBAY LISTING

 <p align="center">
<object height="385" width="640"><param
 name="movie"
 value="http://www.youtube.com/v/XXXXXXXXXXX?fs=1&amp;hl=en_US"><param
 name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param
 name="allowscriptaccess" value="always">
<embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/XXXXXXXXXXX?fs=1&amp;hl=en_US"
 type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always"
 allowfullscreen="true" height="385" width="640"></object></span></strong></p>

You notice the XXXXXXXXXXX  - NEXT STEP IS TO REPLACE THOSE X's WITH YOUR 11 DIGIT YOUTUBE VIDEO NUMBER

(I found the most simple way to do this was to go to video and simply copy the 11 digits right out of your web browser from the url to your video)

ASSUMING YOU HAVE ALREADY PASTED THE CODE INTO YOUR AUCTION BODY (in html editing not standard) THEN ONCE YOU REPLACE THE X's YOUR GOOD TO GO!

Now this is NOT like other html editing that when you switch back to "standard" editing in your eBay listing you will be able to see the video. THIS PART HELD ME UP FOR A WHILE. I kept thinking I was doing something wrong. Turns out I just could not see it. If you are done working on your item then just simply go onto the next step in the listing process and you come to the page where you can "edit" "submit" or "preview" - at this point PREVIEW your listing. This is when you will be able to see the video in your listing.

I have included my video to the listing that took me over an hour below. So to save you some time just follow the simple steps above and you will not have to go insane like I did. Hope this helps someone out there. If you have any questions please don't hesitate to contact me here on my blog, through my email, facebook, twitter, or any of the many social media networks. I am easy to find and always willing to help in any way I can. BEST PART - NO I don't CHARGE A DIME..... I don't always have the answer, but if I do I am more than happy to share.

UPDATE: 4/18/2014  - There is an option on YouTube videos to use the old coding. REMEMBER TO SWITCH the code before copying and pasting into your listing. I will be writing a more simplified & updated version of how to add youtube video to your listing on ebay VERY soon. If I have time over the weekend I will do, but with it being Easter weekend and having 3 little ones... it might not happen until during the week. 

Special Thank you & credit to pinkfloydtrader of eBay for their very helpful guide. Whom I learned how to do this from.

$10 Garage Sale Find Becomes $200 eBay Sale

My Big eBay Sale Of The Week

 

I wanted to share something to be on the lookout for when your out shopping garage sales, church sales, etc. Many times they will have a large amount of unused cards for sale. Cards are a pretty good seller, especially if those cards have envelopes and are in good shape. I got really lucky at a yard sale in my neighborhood when I noticed some really nice greeting cards, post cards and tons of envelopes. They were Avanti cards which are made in the USA and are very nicely made and normally have colorful envelopes to go with them. I noticed they were 3 for 1.00 and I passed the first time but then decided to go back and ask how much for all of them. They said 10.00 for stand they were in and all cards. I did not even bother to haggle as this was an awesome deal and I was happy to hand over $10.

 

So far from this deal I now have a really nice wood display/storage rack. I listed the Avanti cards all in a lot and I got a best offer of 50.00 less than I had set the price for. I had it set to auto accept offers of at least $200 as I thought that was an incredible return on my investment. Less than 24 hours later I had my sale and the buyer paid right away. Below I have included in this post a couple pictures of the cards. You can see the actual eBay listing here: Avanti Card Lot Auction on eBay

 

Now in addition to that nice stand I own now, and the really nice turn around on the cards - THERE ARE STILL MORE! Yep there are still at least 200 or so postcards still that need to be listed, and about 50 or so more greeting cards of other brands all with envelopes too. There is also at least 15 - 20 or so small gift type tag cards. So I figure by the time I am done I will have at very least turned $10 into $300 or possibly more AND I still have the wood stand I think I will keep for me.

 

 

 

Come again soon.... I haven't been keeping up on my writing so well in the last couple of weeks, but I am going to try to get back into swing of posting almost every day. I love sharing ideas, tips, tricks, and passing along any info I discover in order to help others.

What, Did I Hear Right? "Breast Enlarging Gum" Turn That Up!

 

Okay just when I thought I had certainly heard it all I am proven wrong again. I am in my truck this morning and hadn't adjusted the radio to my station yet. There was a man and woman talking about breast enhancement. At first I thought it was a commercial but then noticed from how they were speaking that it must be one of those contests they do on some stations to win a breast enlargement surgery. I was not paying too much attention and the volume was on low. Just as I was pulling into the parking lot of a local store I swear I hear the woman on the radio say the words "breast enhancement gum". Needless to say my first thought was "HUH?" and immediately turned up the volume. I had to have heard something wrong, right? You would think, but what on earth wording about breast enhancement could possibly sound like "GUM"?

 

I pull the truck into a parking space still paying close attention for the word gum again and sure enough she said it again "GUM". At this point I am awaiting the punch line, but the only one cracking jokes is the male radio host. The female voice is completely 100% serious and not for comedic value. She is serious because she is talking about a new product she had heard about. I still was thinking it has to be a joke and I somehow missed the punchline. My second thought was, "If this is for real my goodness what are the ingredients and how much damage are they going to do to the rest of a womans health?

 

I somehow managed to forget about this for most of the day. I just got busy and I forgot to jump on google when I returned home as I had planned to. Then early evening I stopped by dollar general and had to buy some first aid supplies, something with our metal scrapping business is of great necessity. The medical supplies and something the cashier said reminded me of the gum. I started telling her about the crazy thing I had heard on the radio this morning. Her feelings were the same as mine. Immediate shock & amazement and then the thoughts of what on earth is in this gum? I mean what could the ingredients be that instead of spending thousands of dollars on a dangerous surgery you can chew gum and your chest will not only grow, but become firmer as well. My husband had been waiting outside so as I exited the store I practically yelled across the parking lot about what I had forgotten to tell him I had heard on the radio this morning. I tell you when you yell something out about breast enlargement and the word gum peoples heads turn. I know the expressions well on their faces, I had same one on my face sitting in my truck this morning when I heard it for first time.

 

Now this time when I arrived home I was sure not to forget to open up Google and type in the curious keywords for search "Breast Enlarging Gum". Sure enough lots of returns popped up and right in the top 3 was one I decided I would check out as soon as I actually was finished putting groceries away. No need to tell you about where I put my stuff away or what fun I had cleaning out my fridge.... Lets talk about when I sat back down to the website that was awaiting me.

 

I had found the gum on a website by the name of http://zoftfulfill.com there was a lot of info and I read the majority of the first page and then still I had many questions. At the bottom of the page there were two options one of which to find out more about the product and one to buy it right then. I can't imagine anyone would actually be like "oh sure you say it works and its natural it must be so - sign me up". Even though I did read on that first page it was natural and worked etc. I still wanted to know more about it. Mainly I wanted to know what made it work? How does the gum make you need a bigger bra and not a whole new wardrobe in a bigger size? Which actually the man on the radio this morning had said something about making bellies bigger eating something or another. I can't remember word for word but mainly along the lines of chewing gum with sugar might make you gain weight in turn increasing bust size just like donuts will make your waistline larger.

 

Basically from what I have learned even I am tempted by this gum. I am sure many women out there that are not 100% happy with their size and want to increase it or not happy with firmness etc. will certainly be tempted to try this product, especially when they read the part about "Puberty". Yep you read that right.... Puberty is how they explain what the "over 13 safe and carefully chosen herbs" do so women "Don’t suffer any longer with small or sagging breasts. Get the larger, fuller, firmer, more attractive breasts you deserve". They honestly have me 95% convinced from reading the website that not only does it sound like a safe method to try but also that the gum will actually produce results.

 

See us women know very well that one of the first signs of puberty is when our breasts begin to swell and get very sore. I read this statement on the website -  "During puberty, the female body naturally produces estrogens that promote the development of new tissue. These hormones determine the size, shape, and fullness of a woman's breasts. Lower levels of these hormones result in smaller, less developed breasts." and I must say that actually makes sense to me. Just think women who cannot afford to drop thousands on surgery, or are afraid of the risks of such a drastic cosmetic procedure or they just are worried about what people will think about "fake breasts" can now chew gum and let their body naturally grow their chest into a larger and firmer look. I like the sound of that don't you? Also it is not only for small chested women, it is for any woman that is not happy with sagging, or firmness is just not as good as it could be, or they are just not as full shaped as they would like. Seriously how many women does that cover?

 

Now if you want to try this gum out please look into it further. This is one site http://zoftfulfill.com and there is a lot of information there. However keep in mind this is a site that also sells the breast enhancing gum and probably one of many (I cannot be sure it is the one I went to in order to satisfy curiosity). They are obviously going to have all high opinions about how well it works and not mention any bad effects it might have. Oh which by the way, I did see a link about other extra benefits but I didn't read on that far as of yet.

 

As with anything you consider whether it be a medication, a diet, excersize routine etc. please read up on it before jumping in. Make sure you are very well informed about anything you are going to be putting into your body. Everything I have written here is as someone who just heard about this miracle gum this morning and have only out of curiousity went to one website to find out what it is. Of course if I really decide to try it I will be checking out other websites, opinions and asking my doctor as well if he has heard of it and what he thinks.

 

If someone has really discovered a way to make chewing gum that truly works to make any kind of noticable difference in the size, shape and/or firmness of our breasts you can expect that in the near future 9 out of 10 women you run into are going to have nice full & firm breasts along with great breath!

 

* If I decide to actually give this a try I will run a separate blog and link to it from here. Yes, if I actually try this supposedly amazing chewing gum I will share my results with you as I go. This is extremely outside of my comfort zone of what I would normally share with anyone outside of my closest family & friends but if I try it and it works I know others would love to know so they can give it a whirl. On the other hand if I try it and find negatives to it or doesn't work at all then I only feel it is right to share so others don't waste their time. At this point I am thinking it sounds promising.

Storage Auction Regret - When You Wish You Had Bid

 

Personal Opinions on Letting Good Lockers Get Away

 

I haven't written anything in a few days and I had really been shooting to post something each day in 2013. I am sure I will more than catch up here in the next couple of weeks as I start posting more "How To" type blogs. For tonight though I want to talk about the storage lockers that get away.

 

Anyone who has every bid on units knows what I mean I am sure. When you have a bunch of auctions to attend in the day and early on you pass up on some that were probably pretty good bets just in case something better comes along. Big mistake usually, at least for us that is. I would be curious to hear from other buyers about the topic actually (leave a comment and tell us about it).

 

Today we went to different facilities each location having a small but decent amount of units. We really thought the odds were in our favor today. However it apparently just was not meant to be. Then again I really think we just hesitated too much, passed over pretty solid bets and at decent bids to wait for units later in the day. See you always bring a certain amount of cash with you and you will wind up kicking yourself if you surpass your budget and then miss out on that "Perfect Unit", but I am here now writing this so you can learn from my what I call - Rookie - mistake here. The "Perfect Unit" rarely exists and more than likely you will wind up at the end of the day going home empty handed and kicking yourself for passing up on a handful of perfectly decent lockers that you could have easily turned a profit on.

 

So they cut the lock - the door opens - you look inside and determine BY THE UNIT YOU ARE LOOKING AT NOT THE WHAT IF LATER UNIT - "Can I make A Profit? Do I see a Profit in this unit? How much am I willing to go on this unit? Then don't even think about the unit that might come along. Think about what is in front of you and work with the current. If you win and say you have spent your budget for the day. Then just get to work and don't even go on to other facilities or units to see what could have been if you had held out. This is how I feel at least. It is actually a good practice in life in general. Live each day not thinking about the "What Ifs" "What Could Have Beens" "What Might Happen Ifs" its one thing to dream, but these statements go hand in hand with regret and second guessing yourself. Not healthy in life, not healthy in units.

 

So tomorrow is another day. More units, only this time north of us and some we have never been to before actually. Tomorrow we are not even going to think about the "next facility". We are going to focus on each unit and what we think we should bid on that unit and what kind of profit it will be.

 

Don't get me wrong there are times in which you will want to hold out. Depending on if your heading to an area that you know some history on the units and are waiting on a special unit you know about.Also if you are really looking for say a unit with a lot of boxes or a lot of furniture and you come across a unit that is real good but not what you are looking for. Then I would say to think it through and come to final decision (quickly before bidding is over). In no way am I saying to jump on any unit just so you win something, NOT AT ALL! I am saying don't pass up multiple units that you see your profit in just because you want to find that big score. Remember the bread and butter of resale is normally in the smaller items that you sell more often not the big rare items that are occassional. Use that logic when choosing what units to bid on and when to wait it out.

 

Okay - enough of my rambling for one night. If you made it all the way down here I must say THANK YOU for reading this. Hope you were able to get something out of it even though it is more of a personal rambling on about my feelings on a subject about storage locker bidding and not a how to or anything real useful............... Next time we will get to more "Bread & Butter" Of Blogs.....

 

HAVE A WONDERFUL NIGHT - TIME FOR ME TO GET SOME SLEEP - CYA ALL TOMORROW AFTER THE AUCTIONS

 

Head On Over To Our eBay Auctions - Link At Top Of Blog - Lots Of Prices Slashed Tonight BIG SALE - And Accepting ALL Reasonable Offers Too

1/10/2013 FOLLOW UP: We decided to wait one more day. We worked on picking up a bunch of scrap metal & taking it apart today to have ready to cash in tomorrow morning. We figured the units were kind of real far today and not many at each facility. Since we run into many where people pay last minute we figured instead of possibly just wasting a lot of gas we would work toward earning more investment money so tomorrow we can go to a couple with a bunch of units. One facility has 21 units going up for auction tomorrow. You can bet we will be there with bells on tomorrow....... Hopefully soon to come blog post about a great storage locker we win tomorrow.............

My Dad Wins Storage Unit & A Lesson Learned Hard Way

 

Well it is very late tonight, but as everyone knows the goal is at least one blog post a day. Tomorrow I plan to write about Storage unit auctions and the how to's and such since a lot of people ask us about it I figured it is time to share some info.

 

For tonight, before I head to bed I will leave you all with a story about how even with storage units, the old line "Never Judge A Book By It's Cover" stands true!

 

In November my father decided he wanted to spend his day off following an auction caravan with us. We all went to a few facilities and just was not anything that we really saw worth bidding too much on. We had to hold dad back practically he was a little over zelous and just wanted a unit so bad it was hard to talk him out of just blowing his money on just ANY unit.

 

Toward mid afternoon we wind up coming upon a unit that apparently most people were just not feeling like dealing with. It was kind of stuffed back in a short narrow hallway, very dark and it looked as if someone just shoveled everything in their home into the unit, literally with a shovel it seemed. Most everyone else walked on to the next unit to get an early look except my husband, myself and one other gentleman, who we figure out was a regular in the county we were in that day. The bidding started real low and I thought we were going to win it for just $20.00 but then the other gentleman decided he wanted it too. I think the fact that we were interested perked his interst - this happens a lot actually. We do it too, sometimes if someone seems real keen on a unit it sparks us to bidding too.

 

We wound up winning the unit for $100.00 at the end of the auctions at that facility we went to cash out (this particular facility didn't even collect the cleaning deposit) so we got our reciept and decided to lock it up and head to the next place. We were running out of time though as we were going to have to call it an early day since our scheduled babysitter could not stay too late. We decided to leave dad at the next facility and head back to ours to start loading the truck. We knew it was going to take two trips and was about almost an hour from home.

 

Well we are loading our truck and right away we notice certain things that we know for sure we can turn around quick and already have our hundred back and be into profit. This is always the best part - when you are part way through emptying the unit and already seeing profit. Next thing I know dad is ringing my cell like crazy. It was on the seat in the truck and I hadn't realized I missed about a dozen calls from him. He wanted to bid on a unit but wasn't sure if he should. He was trying to call us for an opinion. By the time I got back to him it was too late. Over zelous as he was this day he couldn't help himself. Luckily he only spent 120.00, it was late in the day and the crowd was hot and just wanted to go home for the most part.

 

He was very excited and explained to me how he got an even better unit. How it was completely loaded with neatly packed boxes and antique furniture, lots of tires with alluminum rims etc. Now if you recall from above we are all over an hour away from our homes, and we already have a 2 trip unit as it is. Now dad has won a unit that is 4 times as much stuff as ours AND has a bunch of furniture in it. My dad also has a pick up like us, but his is one of those small pick ups. He didn't even have his trailor and we were getting ready to head home and relieve the babysitter. Bad bad planning here on dads part.

 

The facility gives dad until Monday to get the stuff out, ours said the same to us. It was a Friday and I find it is pretty common with Friday auctions places will give you the whole weekend. So we go load up the rest of our unit on Saturday and then head over to meet dad at his to help him out. Oh my, now this was the first I had seen his "Gold Mine" as he called it. He was right there was TONS of stuff. It was easy to see he would make his money back just scrapping the alluminum rims alone. He had never considered though when bidding that he needed to factor in gas. With all the stuff he had and our truck practically full it was going to be yet another trip for BOTH of our trucks to finish his unit on Sunday as well.

 

To make a long story short and get to the point of this story.... We get everything back to our home (yes his unit came to our house too - thanks Dad). He was so excited and happy with things he saw I didn't have the heart to tell him what I had already discovered while the guys were unloading the unit and I was re-packing boxes to make more room. Most of dads items were boxes of holiday decorations, the glassware that said made in Italy that he thought was so wonderful actually was pretty recent and I had noticed the "Big Lots" price tags on them.

 

The bad planning and him not wanting to make yet another trip forced him to not pack his truck as well as normal and he lost a PS2 game system and games on the highway (totally destroyed), thankfully did not cause an accident or hit anyones car. Overall dads unit was a lot of work, a lot of gas money and A LOT of time & labor and most of the stuff is still at my house.I did manage to scrap the RIMS after he had me list them for over a month because they were Jag rims and he was convinced they would sell for way more than scrap. So to date I have managed to double his money and actually saved me a bunch of money since I now have enough gift wrap, party supplies, and every holiday decoration you can imagine to last for at least 10 years or more. I only recently told him what happened that day.

 

Dad got overly excited, and thought because we paid $100 on a real messy looking unit and had told him how we would make at least a grand back on it, that in turn if he got the neatly packed unit with the antique furniture (also still got that some of it on eBay now actually) he figured he would make double what we would. What he didn't notice were key signs that the unit was mainly Dollar General, Big Lots, knock off type items and a bunch of holiday decor (from same type stores). Now IF his unit had been closer to home then I would agree $120 was not bad at all for what was in it. However when you factor in distance, how many trips, labor, time.... Then in the end you learn that the untidy 2 trip unit that you could "see" certain things because they were not even in boxes was a much better bet than the neatly packed mystery items unit. Needless to say Dad hasn't bid since that day on any units.

 

Now the reason I have told you all this story. I wanted to share this with everyone who is thinking of going to storage auctions so they don't make the same mistakes my poor dad did. The most important lesson learned here is - It doesn't matter if the unit is ONE DOLLAR - if it is located 1/2 way around the world and your going to have to make 6 trips and need a team of people just to unload it - is the profit REALLY going to be worth it? Probably not, you might find a hidden GEM but in reality it is doubtful. So please everyone use common sense, and don't be too over zelous!

 

HAPPY HUNTING - AND GOODNIGHT

Research & Selling On eBay & Item To Re-Sell I Wont Pass On Anymore

 

Even though I have been selling online since 1997 and have used all different selling venues both online and off I honestly tell you that there is no way in the world to know everything about everything! However a very smart thing to do is dedicate a certain amount of time each day, or week to researching what is selling.

 

This evening I spent a good deal of time researching. I like to do at least a little research every day. There is so much to remember and even though I make lists I cannot sift through all of them while out treasure hunting. I find that by going through and seeing what others are selling over the years I have been able to remember more and more all of the time. Sure a lot of times I take a chance if the price is right, a lot of what I do is actually based on getting lucky. I always ask myself "If I get this will I at least be able to make my money back on it?" Of course I am not in this to just break even but what would be worse is losing money and this is why before taking a chance I ask myself this question every time.

 

 One Of The Most Interesting Things I Learned Today

I didn't just happen across this on eBay. I belong to eBay groups on FaceBook and other places. I scan through the groups to see what everyone is sharing & I am active in some of them. I have a favorite but that is for another blog post this week. It was in my favorite group that I came across this information about the Picture sleeves (the thin paper envelope inside the cardboard sleeve of 45 records aka record sleeve). I will be looking more closely at 45's in the record section from now on.

 

 

1. Those old 45 records I am always passing on because I just have never gotten into figuring out which records sell - well they have another selling point. One that actually stands to make a HUGE profit if you come across some of the rare ones. Like this one below

 

The Supremes Heart Belongs To Me Picture Sleeve

 

and here is the actual eBay auction in which it sold

The Supremes Heart Belongs To Me Picture Sleeve

 

 

 

Also it is not just a rare case. I searched for 45 Record Picture Sleeve in closed auctions. First I searched high to low. Learning Beattles is one of the real good ones, Supremes, and basically a lot of well known names. Go ahead and give it a whirl searching high to low. Then I searched low to high. Seeing if there was a ton of 99 cents ones that closed with no bids. I found that the low ones, the not so special ones also sold. Much lower prices but this would answer that question I always ask myself about will I at least make my money back. Then I searched the most recent closed listings. I did see ones that didn't sell but I always take into account that you have things that ended at a bad time, seller has bad feedback, or bad pictures/description.

 

 

Overall I am looking at this as an item I really don't stand to lose on. I like those kinds of items. Not as much as I would like to find Supremes or Beattles etc. I will be picky and I am sure I will miss some that are hot that I didn't remember. If the price is right, usually I can get them free or up to 25 cents each and thats a pretty right in my book, then I think I am going to give these a whirl.

 

 

I will do a follow up after I list some and see what the outcome is. Watch for the soon to come (in the next few weeks) blog post about how this newly learned information turned out. From the RESEARCH  it seems that this is going to be one of those things I never over-look again and might just find that rare treasure down here with so many records just tossed to the curb and to Thrift Stores each and every day. A lot of thrift stores even throw a ton of them away. Hmmmm dumpster diving in the future for records? Hey if I can find I $3000.00 piece of paper in a dumpster with old records in it. I will jump in head first, and not even care who is looking......... Like you wouldn't???

 

 

Seriously though..... try some keyword search research with this newfound information & see what you can find in your area or maybe its in your attic or closet right now collecting dust...... 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

3 Items That Sell Very Well On eBay & Where To Find Them

  

Your not going to make millions with these. However you can earn a decent profit by buying cheap and reselling on eBay. This is just a quick short list of 3 items that have a real good sell through rate and are not that hard to find.

I highly suggest to always research auctions closed in the last 60 days on eBay before making any investments because trends can change quickly and I wouldn't want you running out and buying 20 of something that has gone cold or it is just the wrong time of year to be selling it. Trying to figure out things to re-sell on eBay is a question I get very often from friends, family and strangers alike. I don't mind sharing information as the web is a very large place to sell, as is eBay and I doubt sincerely these types of items will become harder to sell just because I share the ideas with others.
 

 

ITEM LIST & WHERE TO FIND THEM

 

1. SCRABBLE TILES: I learned around 5 or so years ago that scrabble tiles (just the tiles not whole games) are a good seller. Crafters purchase them in lots in order to make jewelry and other items. The items they make they are able to sell for very good prices (just keyword search on eBay for scrabble tile bracelet or necklace or the sort to see examples) - Older tiles either in the dark red color, black or the normal tan with dark brown letters both sell really well.STICK TO WOOD TILES not the plastic ones. The bigger the lot the higher the price.

Where to find:

Any kind of yard, garage or estate sale & thrift/consignment shops also.

What To Pay?

I buy the games for $0.25 cents to $3.00

How to best sell them on eBay: Make the lots at least 300 (is my opinion) unless it is a very old game then a smaller lot of 98 tiles would be fine to turn over for between $15 - $20. Break your tiles up into lots putting all the ones from the older games into a lot together (also the different colors separate red ones into one lot natural into another and so on). BIG LOTS do BEST - Take GOOD PHOTOS. Make sure all the tiles are facing with letters up. I like to show both sides as well. The more photos your lot has showing the details of the tiles the better price you will get. Also as mentioned the bigger the lot the better the final price. Recently I saw a lot of 1000 tiles sell for $90. 300 tiles at 29.00 - 400 tiles at 39.00 just keyword search scrabble tiles and you will get a good idea.

Myself personally I always buy any scrabble tile game I find that is under $3.00 for the game. Sometimes I will spend a little more depending on how old the game is or if they are red or black tiles, something like that. I NEVER buy the plastic ones so I cannot give advice on those. I have now noticed too that the Wood trays in the game that you put the letter on are ALSO SELLING. They don't sell for as much but since you are going to have them you might as well put them asside and when you get a decent amount list the tile holders in a lot as well. I figure if you can make even more by selling those as well, there is no point in just throwing them away.

2. Mens Hair Regrowth: This is one that I only found out recently. If you do a keyword search on eBay you will see that pretty much anything "Mens Hair Regrowth" will sell very well.

Where to find?

Close Out Stores, sometimes places like Dollar Stores as well. You can find these at yard sales but it makes me leary not knowing how they were stored when buying at a yard sale.

What To Pay?

Personally I look for ones that are $5.00 or under. Rogaine is a good name brand if you can get any Rogaine product new for under $5.00 I would grab it. Off brands sell as well though. For instance key word search on eBay closed auctions for "CVS Hair Regrowth" you will notice even though off brands have a very good sell through rate.

3. Ballet Slippers: Another recent item I have found that has a real good sell through rate is Ballet Slippers. Especially black ones. Not just for dancers but many women like a nice pair of black ballet slippers to slip into their purse (aka Emergency Flats) - For when you break a heel or just have been wearing your heels way too long and the feet need a break. Ballet slippers fit even in small purses.

Where to find?

Garage,yard,estate sales & Consignment/thrift stores (also can find actual packs of "emergency flats" and other types like them at close out stores as well)

What to Pay?

Me personally - I will pay up to $3.00 for a nice pair in great condition. If they are new in a box or packaging I might with some go as high as $5.00. This is something you need to keyword search on eBay to get an idea of brand names to look for and special colors etc. Now at the close out stores I will go up to $4.00 (again depending on brand) for new actual "Emergency Flats" and other types like them.

(Remember when putting a title on your auction with these and in your description to not just single out that they are ballet slippers for danice BUT also great emergency flats as well) This way you are expanding your buying audience for those that have not thought of using them for that yet.

MY GOAL: To help others by sharing some knowledge I have acquired selling online on and off since 1997. I hope that others will take this advice and use it to earn some money themselves as I know times are hard. This Does Not Mean However Permission To Copy or Sell My Lists,Guides or anything found on my blog. Please use the information to grow yourself a successful business or to earn a little pocket money with easy sell items or advice you find. Plagerism is illegal and just not nice.THANK YOU very much for understanding

*note: All tips are things that I have found to work for me. Offered both inside the USA and Internationally. Some I do free shipping some I don't. I do not charge high handling costs and I do combine shipping. These things need to be factored in when deciding what will sell best for you.

Step By Step How To Earn Money With Broken Lamps

 

Before our family got back into selling online we spent a couple of years growing a business doing Hauling & Metal Scrapping (aka Metal recycling). We are known local "scrappers" and we have continued to do this even now, although not on a daily basis. We get questions all of the time that range from - where do you find the items you scrap? to How to take certain items apart to make the most money? I have never written instructions on how to disasemble an item to earn a profit before, so please bare with me.This will be the first of many to come.I will be trying in the future to make them more like instruction format. This guide is just going to cover a simple item to dismantle and turn in to your local metal recyler for the most profit, and what to do with leftover non-metal parts.  
 

A simple basic lamp, it is an item you can find many of. When a lamp stops working most people do not bother trying to repair it and just toss it out to the curb, or in a dumpster. When your out running errands you probably see at least a few out for trash a week. This week when you see them instead of passing them by decide to throw them in the back of your truck, or in the trunk of your car. An average lamp does not have tons of metal or extras for recycling, but they are out there aplenty and what you can get from them will add up. Also I will share with you other ways to make money with an old lamp that no longer works.

 

Ok, so now you have some broken lamps. Some might have metal bases, some might have a big glass bottom, some may be made of wood. Any lamp that the base is not broken, try to dismantle and keep the base part in one piece. The reason is this.... if the base is NOT metal I will be sharing with you other ways to use that part of the lamp to add to your profit from the broken lighting.
 

The first thing you will notice is most lamps are as simple as unscrewing a few different sections. You will also notice that besides the part of the cord/wire that you always see, there is also a good amount of wire that runs through the inside of the lamp. Removing the wire from the lamp in most cases is very simple once you unscrew the pieces of the lamp the cord in most cases is as simple as pulling it out away from the other pieces. Also in most cases at this point the majority of your lamp is taken apart. Sometimes you may have to cut the end of the cord if you cannot get the plug end through. Cut as close to the plug end as possible. Put your plug ends in a container dedicated just to those and do the same with your wire. Most lamp cords are considered to be #2 wire. Which falls in the middle, it is not the best priced type of wire but not the least either. Set aside the base and anything else that is not metal in a separate pile.
 

Now you will need a magnet. A really good trick to getting a magnet that is really strong but will cost you nothing is to take apart a speaker. Inside speakers there is always a magnet. The bigger the speaker, the bigger and stronger the magnet. This is just a quick tip on one way to save money by getting a much needed supply completely free. Now take your magnet and test it against each piece of metal. Even if the metal appears to be the same, test against each separate piece. I have found many of times there will be a lamp that appears to be brass but then turns out the biggest pieces stick to a magnet, which means those pieces are actually in fact steel. Now any parts that stick to a magnet put in a separate pile that is just for steel. Steel will wind up normally always being your biggest pile. Many people only want to bother with the precious or semi precious metals, but trust me when I tell you don't pass up on the steel, as it can be the bread and butter of your scrapping paycheck.
 

Now take any metals that did not stick to your magnet. You want to figure out what these metals are. Most places you will be taking your metal to will also help you when you are in doubt and as you are learning your way around the scrapping ins and outs. Never be afraid to ask questions. Now here for one example I will use brass. It is one of the more common precious metals you will find with lamps. Now the pieces that appeared to be brass and did not stick to the magnet, while they may really be brass they could also be something else such as aluminum or die-cast. The best way to tell if it is really brass that I have found is to take a knife or an old screw driver tip and scratch into the pieces, if they have a brass, yellowish metal underneath where you have scratched.... then you have brass and it should go into a separate bucket or tub just like your wire, and your plug ends buckets. Now what if it wasn't yellow underneath? If it turned out to be just average metal color under, then how I always tell is if it is a softer bendable metal then what you most likely have is alluminum, if it is very hard but breaks easily when hit on the ground or with a hammer then that is die cast. Both of these types of metal should also be separated into their own piles or buckets.
 

Now once you have tested all of your metals from your lamp and separated all the components, you will see the best thing to do is continue filling your buckets, or tubs for a while until you have at least a few pounds of each item. I personally like to have at least 500 lbs of steel, 10-20 lbs of plug ends, 10 lbs or more of wire, etc. I am sure you get the idea here. Really it depends on a few things. How close is the recycler to your home? How does your recycler feel about small amounts? How much space do you have to store up your metals before turning them in? Finally, what kind of transportation will you be taking it in. See if you only are working with your backseat and your trunk in a small car you will want to turn in more often smaller loads, but if you have a truck then it would be better to wait and save up a good amount and turn in less frequently.

 

Now all that should be left at this point is possibly a lightbulb, and whatever the base was made from if it was not a metal base, also possibly a lampshade. If the lampshade was in good condition or could be cleaned then that can be sold exactly for what it is, a lampshade. If it is a simple lampshade you can always add some trim or buttons, etc. and dress it up to make it a better sell. I have never tried selling lampshades on eBay but might be worth looking into. Myself I save them for once a month yard sales or local swap meets and flea markets.
 

Now the lightbulb, this is only if you really want to go all the way with the metal right down to the tiniest bit. I personally throw away the lightbulbs, however they do have a little bit of metal on the bottom of them, and normally that metal is aluminum. Test with your trusty magnet to be sure. Be sure to wear gloves for this part also. Now you don't want to just smash it and get little pieces of glass everywhere, and also many times lightbulbs can have gases in them that just is not a good thing to be breathing in. Take an old towel or old piece of clothing and wrap the bulb inside, lay it on the ground, now you can smash it with a hammer or any other hard object. Unwrap from towel carefully over a garbage bag or can to ensure not getting glass everywhere. Carefully, remove the little piece of metal. If when tested it did not stick to magnet then you have a little piece of aluminum, which this type is refered to as "sheet". Sheet should have a bucket all of its own. Another example of sheet metal is the aluminum siding on a mobile home, or possibly a metal shed if not magnetic is normally sheet aluminum. Those are examples of bigger pieces of sheet, what you have from the lightbulb is a very small amount and will need to be saved up a very long time to amount to anything, but if you don't want to waste any metal and have the space for a tub or bucket to dedicate for it, you might as well do it.
 

Now down to the last bit of the lamp. If you had a ceramic base, or a base other than metal. Ceramic bases can be turned into a planter normally very easily. When you look at it all by itself you will realize right away what I mean. Also if the base is unique enough you can take a working lamp that is not that pretty or interesting and mix & match by taking apart the working one and using the parts and wire with the nicer more interesting base, making an all new lamp you can resell. Be careful if making another lamp to look up a "How To" guide on eBay since you will be working with electricity and you don't want to make any mistakes. Also bases can have fake floral and plants put inside of them to make a nice table decoration. Wooden bases many times are great to use for other crafts, I am not big on turning the wood ones into other things currently, however if they are in good shape I do sell them at meets, and yard sales. I have found there is usually a buyer for everything and anything as long as it is in good shape.
 

I hope this helps someone getting started scrapping metal. I am sure I have not answered every question you may have, but if not don't be shy use the comments section I will reply. I just wanted to do this first guide on scrapping a simple, basic, and easy to find item. I will also be writing guides on other household items and how to take them apart for recycling profits very soon. Keep an eye out for more guides to come. Also if you have any questions or have a specific item you would like me to write about, just let me know. This is how I personally take apart a lamp. Many scrappers have their own ways. I just know what works for us and am happy to share any advice I can give to help someone else turn scrap into a few bucks, either for pocket money or to start a business