I am going to discuss how Ebay can change the way you live your life. It may sound like a stretch but I am serious. So many people fail to salvage the value of unused items in their life and especially their farm. There is another way, let me show you how to make money, maybe even build a business. I have been an avid user of Ebay for well over decade. I became an Ebay Powerseller when that meant something and became a Top Rated seller when that program first started. I have literally made my living on the online flea market world of Ebay.

I am going to hopefully give you a taste of living your life in a different way. One of my goals in life is to encourage more freedom and independence by encouraging small farms and homesteads. That is the main point of this website along with telling my story. You may think Ebay doesn’t fit that model well, but you would be surprised at how well the two go together. Ebay is a major market accessible by anyone with an internet connection.

 

Here is a little of my backstory. I moved back to Missouri in 2002. I came here with my two little brothers and moved into a house that had basically been abandoned for a couple decades. My parents and probably myself have varying degrees of pack rat syndrome.  The Bevier property we moved to was once my families home in the early 80’s, everything not valuable enough to make the move to Kansas stayed behind. It was an Ebay perfect storm, I needed cash, there was stuff, I made it happen on an old computer and a dial up internet connection.

I sold all kinds of things most people discard in their lives. Old radio tubes check, zinc canning jar lids check, old magazines check. You get the idea, almost anything is worth money if you sell it in the right way. It gets a little better than selling old items though, it can transform how you actually think and live your life.

If I lived my life like the average American when something broke I would just toss it. I cannot do that, I have a very strong aversion to waste. This set me down the path to reclaiming the value of Items that others feel have no value. For example; this fall I washed out one of those cheap styrofoam incubators and left it outside to dry. Well those geeseholes found it and chewed up the Styrofoam body. The item is shot right? Not really it still has a good heating element ($10) a thermostat ($10) two windows ($5×2) and a cord ($2). As you can see many items are worth as much or sometimes more dead than alive. Ebay gives you the power to reclaim that otherwise lost value. I had originally purchased that incubator used for $15 and used it for several years.

This works with anything of value with removable pieces. Many people still repair items, sometimes people get sentimental or are just frugal. They need these used parts. This of course works both ways, I will often hold on to an item I like until I can find the part to repair it. Many old items are much better built than new items. Repairing an item with used or cheap parts off Ebay or other sources like Craigslist can save you a literal small fortune. I am not rich enough to buy what I currently have in perfect working order at market prices, I wait for the deal and repair as needed.

Why not recoup the remaining value of items you no longer need, use or just don’t want. When that microwave dies do like I did and think outside the box. That microwave will likely have good parts remaining. Most microwaves have a fan, a light, a motor for the turntable, control panel, motherboard, wiring, and many other pieces that are worth money.

I even surprised myself a couple years ago when my microwave died by selling the remaining good components for more than I purchased the replacement microwave for.

You can go from loosing everything when an appliance or even an automobile dies to making money. Yes it is very possible, I am living proof. I have made money when my car dies and my microwave stops working. This isn’t a secret, you now have the knowledge, use it. I really think this makes for a better life and you can even look at the bigger picture, this does make a better world. Why use up a resource that was already used to create an item again, Reuse is the second best of the three R’s that were ingrained in us 90’s kids.

Taking it to a New Level

Remember that I stated I make a living off Ebay? Well I still do and Ebay has been one of my financial legs since becoming a free self employed man in 2012. I really became self employed a long time before 2012, but I had a hold out part time job to make sure I was stable. I also wanted to be vested in the retirement plan offered to employees of the State of Missouri.

Still think online sales have nothing to do with being independent and living in the sticks. Let me show you what works for me. As you probably already know I live in NE Missouri. If you want a less densely populated area you have to go to the deserts in the west, or places very cold. Everything East of the Mississippi has a higher population density on average. I grew up here and in Kansas. I often forget what others call the sticks is where I grew up.

Guess what? I still get mail delivered to my house everyday but Sunday. Even UPS and Fedex deliver here. I am also right on the edge of cell service. These things give me the same services as those city slickers without the bad neighbors and other problems. Yes my internet is slower, and more expensive, but it works(most of the time). My mailman knows me by name, knows the schedule and provides excellent service. For all intensive purposes I can easily compete with someone from Chicago or even New York City. These services level the playing field, and let the obviously better rural location shine. Even before cell service extended to my location I still worked using satellite internet. I have a tall antenna to get dependable cellular signal currently.

I have some severe advantages over my city dwelling competition. Yes they have the cheap unbelievable fast internet. They however have to live in their crowded spaces with the lack of freedom. If I want to throw a junk car in the back 40 I can. If I want to keep chickens in the front yard and cattle in the back I have that option. The cost of living in rural areas is also substantially lower. You can have these freedoms now easier than ever before even with the price of land going up.

It isn’t just limited to Ebay, there are many other online marketplaces, Ebay is just one of the best. Craigslist is also great, it however has some limitations when you live in a rural area many miles from the local Craigslist city. Amazon has some advantages as well, but doesn’t work as well for selling used parts and odd items. I actually make more money on Amazon than Ebay, but it all started for me on Ebay.

The busiest time for my online sales is winter, the busiest time for my farming is the summer. I can work online during a rainstorm, or snowstorm comfortably. The match is great, and it gives me the freedom to make a good living without leaving the farm.

In 2015 I added an office to my backyard to handle my online business. I used a 16’x24′ rent to own shop. The reason I went this route is for speed and a tax advantage for the rent to own building. My office moved from a dedicated building at the sawmill to the master bedroom of our small house on the farm when we moved here. It was nice to get that bedroom back and have a better and bigger dedicated area to work out of again. I will be adding a mini warehouse addition this year. Again, this is where the rural advantage comes in, I don’t need any permission to build or put anything on land I own here. No inspections, no permission, it is called freedom. Try that in most cities.

I hope I have encouraged you to at-least consider this as an option. It has worked very well for me and my family.