In cleaning out my life, I’ve been focused on getting rid of as much as I can, for the highest turnover possible. I didn’t realize the amount of added stress I placed on myself by placing such sentimentality on numerous items. I bordered on hoarding. Growing up poor, I learned to saving every last scrap, which translated to holding onto things beyond their prime utilization.
My life became storage with a bed placed in the middle of it.
Needing to move, the purge began. In this process, I’ve returned items to stores for credit and created piles to donate and discard.
When items were in decent condition, I’d set them aside to look up their value online. I’d then dedicate a day to eBay research, and I’d put items up for sale or auction if there was potential to make more than $7 from it. I lucked out when I posted a doll online.
Turns out, an old gift from an ex of mine paid off when I listed it on eBay. We apparently were dating when Monsters Inc. was popular, and he got me this doll. We broke up shortly after, and the doll joined the rest of the items in my “ex box.” When I was organizing items to toss, I came across it in almost perfect condition!
See! Proof that it sold for a lot. When I looked it up, I originally saw it selling for around $35, which would have worked for me. I think there’s some kind of rarity that runs for this particular doll, so fair warning, when you have a rare item many internet strangers will try to swindle you.
I lucked out with this listing, and I want to share with you what I think worked for this.
- First, the item was in pristine condition, it had all the original pieces. Many of the same listed dolls were missing the original pigtails and socks.
- Second, the item still functioned – it still made said all these phrases, etc.
- Third, I labelled it pretty accurately and based it off the title of other listings
- Fourth, my photos were pretty good. I did a lot of these macro shots , and had detailed photos in good lighting.
- Last, I took a photo of the label for clarity and to prove the item was genuine. (See examples below)
Hopefully you can dig up some gems in your junk. And forgive me, as I’ll be posting like this every now and then, because I’ll be mostly bragging…
Good luck on your auctions!