...are something I would prefer to do rather than do Internet begging. I just cannot see myself posting a link to my PayPal account so that my readers, who feel in a giving mood, will send me money for nothing. Yeah, I guess I provide a sort of a service with this blog, but certainly not one worth your money. Besides that I don't need to beg, ask, or wish for it right now anyhow.
Instead of begging for money though, I do find myself, at times, willing to try to earn something by way of selling things I have on hand. No, not like in a business, just like in selling things which I own for which I have little use, or like in a hobby paying for itself. Sort of like selling your old gold clubs, or a painting you no longer want or never liked (but were stuck with until Aunt Ethel, who gve it to you, passed away), or something of which you have more than one and need only one, and so on. What I do is try to sell things to be able to fund my hobbies.
So, since I keep and breed snakes, I sell baby snakes, or try to do so. Since I keep and breed fancy mice, I would sell them to if I could find a buyer. I also like to go to tag sales (in essence estate sales, or complete contents of home sales - not garage sales) and buy things that catch my eye. Sometimes I keep em, sometimes I sell em so I can buy something else. I have also sometimes sold firearms, ones I no longer want for the most part, and in order to buy another. Now and again I sell something else I have on hand. I do not ever expect to become a millionaire by selling through online auction houses such as Ebay.com, GunBroker.com, or my own hobby related site http://hometown.aol.com/gbarthgwt/liherphobbyists.html (especially not that one since it has not produced a single sale for me in well over a year).
In order to get those sales accomplished, I use the above sites for the items I sell. Ebay is probably the best known of them. The thing I like about Ebay is just that, it is well known, therefore it is well used, and if you have good stuff for sale it usually sells quickly. The thing I do not like about Ebay is that they refuse to allow you to sell certain items through use of their service. For example, while I can sell many firearms accessories, and even some gun parts, via Ebay, I cannot sell a firearms using Ebay. Nor can I sell live animals over Ebay.
For firearms sales, heck for most firearms related sales, I use GunBroker.com. I used to also use AuctionArms.com, but to me, it seems GunBroker.com gets the job done better.
As you can see, for trying to sell baby snakes and such, I use my AOL homepage. Not much luck there, but there is lots of competition. I do better selling at local reptile shows, but sure don't sell many there either. Most of the snakes I have bred then are either traded or given away. This year though, I will have to pay some sales tax to NY State as I did sell a few snakes at the New York Metro Reptile Expo, in White Plains, NY. I probably owe the stae of NY about $15 - $20 in sales tax at about a .0850 tax rate (varies based on where the sale was made in the state). So, no I am not getting rich, but these sales, especially the sale of the baby snakes, do help me get money to fund my hobby -when I can sell them. I actually pay sales tax to NY State on most of the items I sell, like those baby snakes. I am not really in business; but in order to sell at the reptile expos, you are required by the show organizer to have a tax ID number, therefore the state winds up getting its bite. I am not too certain though that I am required to pay sales tax on personal items I sell on Ebay, such as the old text books I am trying to sell in order to recoup some money I spent at college over the past few years (yes old timers do go back to school just like Rodney Dangerfield). Heck, I was already taxed on the books, but I guess I'll have to check to see if I get double tapped.
Besides paying for the items I want to sell, and then paying taxes of the sale amount, I have to pay for auction listing fees, auction end of item fees (a commission based upon for how much the item sold) and so forth. It is not usually all that much, since I sell things that don't cost all that much. Registering for the auction sites is pretty easy. I also registered for payPal so i could send and accept payments by credit card, they act as a sort of credit card payment broker for those of us who do not hvae the ability to process credit card payments (to bad I cannot take or make payments on guns though them).
I am trying to sell some items right now. I have ongoing auctions at Ebay and at GunBroker, and I still have a couple of snakes for sale on my own site. If you are interested to see what I am selling, please go to these links:
My Auctions At GunBroker:
http://www.gunbroker.com/Auction/SellerAuctions.asp?User=26544
My Auctions At Ebay:
http://search.ebay.com/_W0QQsassZgbarthgwtQQhtZ-1
My Auctions at LI Herp Hobbyists:
http://hometown.aol.com/gbarthgwt/liherphobbyists.html
Of course, all of this also costs me my time, and effort, sometimes my gasoline and other travel money, but since it is a hobby sort of thing, and is fun for me, the expense is okay - especially if I recoup some of the expenses by selling something. Maybe someday I'll find that one in a million antique at a tag sale, and I'll make my million on Ebay or at Sotherbies, but I tend to doubt it.
All the best,
Glenn B
