How do I make money on kijiji? Buy more than one item from the same person...

The key to making money reselling on kijiji is fundamental... buy low.. sell high - just like the stock market.

How do you sell high?

Well - you either ADD value (fixing it, making it more marketable, etc.) or you simply are aware of the value of items and can pounce on a good deal when you see it.  Here is a classic example of an "oh my gosh" moment where I had to have this item... (I've had a few of these in the last few weeks.. kind of like in cartoons when the toon has dollar signs appear where his pupils used to be)

I saw this IKEA (yes, I know) dining table and two chairs for sale and I was like ka-ching!  They were asking $50 at the time.  A quick search on the IKEA website told me that the set retailed for about $350... excellent..




I knew this one would go like hotcakes.. it already had 90 some visits and it was newly listed.  So here comes surprise tactic #14 - offer to buy something ELSE the seller is selling - even write them an e-mail from the other (less desirable) ad.  By using my other techniques for grouping multi-items... offer on several of their items at once to reduce your overall expenditures.  In this case, I also offered on a baby swing - which I didn't need but knew at the price I was offering - I could at least make some money.. but the real value was if I could sway the seller to sell to ME first.. and.. it worked.  Psychologically and logistically it's a heck of a lot easier to sell to one person rather than a whole bunch of people..

So, using my 1/2 retail value formula I know I could sell it for around $175 so this was a no brainer.  It stayed up for a week without any firm bites so I was concerned.. but I eventually got a buyer who offered $150.. done deal. :) (oh, and I sold the baby swing for a tidy $10 profit on the side)

Summary

Purchased: $70 ($40 for the table - $30 for the swing)
Sold: $190
Profit: $120

Oh my gosh - a Kijiji thief is on the loose!

No joke - this was posted on kijiji yesterday:

Yesterday I posted an add for free furniture and stuff. My add specifically said that everything was in the backyard and to help yourselves, as well I posted a sign at the front door saying everything in the back help yourselves.

 

Unfortunately I stepped out for 20 minutes around 6:45 and a lady decided to let herself into my house and take MY dining room set that was not up for grabs...hence why it was not in the back yard!

 

Thankfully my roomate got  the license plate number so if I dont hear from them or anyone that can help by tomorrow evening I will run the plates and go from there.

If anyone has any idea who this was please contact me ASAP...all I know is aparently her name is Diane?

 

Thanks for any help.

What the heck??  Seriously?  Oh man.. that is BAD.. I hope the guy found his stuff in the end.. 

Week 3 - Recap

Week 3

Number of purchases: 3
Purchases: $40
Modifications: $0
Sales: $175

Profit: $135.00


Slow week - not a lot of action - moral of this story - don't buy for the sake of buying.. buy the right things.. not necessarily a lot of things.

Pretend that your items are loved and cared for...

So - most people would think that people shopping on online classified sites are looking for a bargain... yes, I would say mostly this is true - but sometimes it isn't.. I would say a lot of buyers out there are looking to pay a reasonable price for a second hand item.  These people are not to be confused with the ruthless - offer them pennies kind of person (aka me)

At a garage or yard sale, though - people know you're desperate.. you've taken the effort to haul your %#$@ to the curb and now you don't want to take it back inside.  They've got you exactly where they want you... sure, they'll offer $5 for the piece of heirloom jewelry you're selling.. (sigh)

Online, however, you may have the upper hand.... let's say your coffee table is sitting there... you are enjoying said coffee table.. you have no real NEED to sell it, do you?  Okay - maybe you DO need to sell - let's say you have a pile of stuff in your garage or basement you need to sell.. the typical person would:

a) haul out item
b) take a picture
c) list it online

no no no no no... all wrong.

The minute (as a buyer) I see...

1. Garage walls or floors
2. Unfinished basement walls (insulation/vapour barrier)
3. A layer of thick dust

... I KNOW you are not using/loving/caring/wanting that item anymore and I can get it from you for nothing. So please even if you have something in your garage.. put it somewhere in your house to take a picture, stage it like it's in use and Bob's your uncle (where did that saying come from anyway?)

Anyway - that said.. staged my own coffee table for sale.. it was a great size for us and we started to use it again but the look was all wrong.  Sold it to a lovely woman? who asked for delivery - again was nervous - but it worked out and I made $55...

Summary

Purchased: $0 (I can't remember - so long ago..)
Sold: $55
Profit: $55

Dirty people earn less money

Did my title catch your attention?

One basic rule that kijiji-ers across the land are breaking - much to my satisfaction - they do not CLEAN their items before they sell!  wtf dudes... can you imagine going into a store to buy say a piece of furniture and it's covered with fingerprints, grape jam, old pieces of tape and unrecognizable crap?  Probably not, right?  Well, why on earth would you assume someone will buy your item online in that condition?  Seriously people... if you are dirty.. you will earn less money.

That said.. I LOVE buying from dirty people... they obviously don't value the item they own so they will most likely be trying to give their stuff away.  Plus, the items show like.. well, garbage so if you can see through the grime, you can make a real pay-off.  It is important at this point to differentiate dirty people from clumsy or careless people who damage their items.. stay away from these folks like the plague.

DIRTY

So anyway - this dirty ole bachelor guy was selling a dirty table (not that the guy himself was dirty, but his house was dirty, etc.. read hoarder) I forget what he was asking for it - but I negotiated him down to $35.. he wanted more for it but was probably confused by the lack of interest/offers.. so he accepted.

CLEAN

Geordie brought it home, I scrubbed it clean, Geordie waxed it.. that is literally all we did.. we re-listed it the following day for $100 and had a full price offer that night.

OH - this reminds me.. make sure you stage/show off your item in it's best light.. put a pretty decorative such-and-such on top and try and take photos on an angle.. let your inner artistic director come out and try a variety of shots until you find ones you're happy with. If I had an awesome camera - maybe I could take even BETTER pictures?  hmmm.. something to think about.







Here are the final deets on my tidy little score:

Summary

Purchased: $35
Sold: $100
Profit: $65

People will collect just about anything...

Okay - so this is a weird one... as part of a multi-item.. I got this chest/ottoman/box for $5...

 I thought it was interesting looking online and when I got it home I was like ... ugh.. ugly moustache (family saying for super ugly)

My idea was that I would rip it apart and paint it .. make a toy box or something out of it and re-sell it for a few bucks.. or keep it if I liked it enough.

So I went to go and start my deconstruction, flipped the box over and... saw ...



this

Electrolux?  What?  Why on earth would a vinyl chest have Electrolux written on it.. I put the chest back down and went on my computer to check..

I discovered a site http://vacuumland.org/ where people gather to talk about their collections of retro vacuum cleaners?  really?

Even MORE surprising is that people used buy these types of storage ottomans to store their vacuums in plain site instead of in a closet, etc.. novel idea.. I can see why it never caught on.  Anyway, these vacuum cleaner collectors apparently go crazy for these things to complete their "sets'... case in point.. this one dude had his full collection of complete sets.

http://www.vacuumland.org/cgi-bin/TD/TD-VIEWTHREAD.cgi?4085

and here is the same set as mine!!

Anyway - hilarious... I talked to Luke who said that his mom had an identical "hassock" at her house.  I thought for about a day about trying to find such a collector and scoring the $150-200 they pay for these hassocks.. but who am I kidding?  I don't have that kind of time to waste/spend.. SO, I re-listed the item about a week later for $20 and had buyers right away.. crazy..  Good luck to the guy who bought it from me!

Summary

Purchased: $5
Sold: $20
Profit: $15

Week 1 and 2 - The Result - Show me the money!

I had intended to do a weekly breakdown and summary of profits after a series of posts.. so here is the week 1 and 2 results of this experiment:

Week 1

Number of purchases: 8
Purchases: $102
Modifications: $10
Sales: $335

Profit: $222.00


Week 2



Number of purchases: 4
Purchases: $60
Modifications: $10.17
Sales: $215

Profit: $144.83


So - with a reasonable amount of effort.. you can make between about $100-$200 a week.. You'll see that I've slacked off in future weeks but I'm learning that you don't need to do high volumes of sales.. you just need to be savvy and choose the *right* items to sell.. ones that can turn you a good profit versus just buying something because you know you can make $10-20.. I'm starting to not even consider it if I can't make at least $40.. and so.. the story continues..

Reselling Antique Furniture

DAY 11

So - this was by far my favorite purchase .. I was really sad to let it go.  It's always a good idea to buy things that you wouldn't mind having in your own house.  Unfortunately, this lends itself well to keeping/hoarding things as they pass through the queue.  This is dangerous.

Anyway - I ended up finding this antique dresser from a nice lady as a multi-item.  I ended up buying three of her items (I will write about those in later posts) I loved this dresser and so did a lot of other people too - although I was first to respond so it was MINE.  Luke asked me the other day how I find these good deals since when he looks it's always just junk.  Well, you have to be consistent and scan often.. if you can catch something within say the first 30 minutes or 20 or so views - you are usually golden.



She ended up effectively selling this to me for $15 (lumped in with a lot of other stuff - people lose track of what they actually sold an item for - isn't it grand?)

Basically - I cleaned it, touched up the paint, went to Home Depot and bought a pack of brushed nickel knobs for $15, removed the horrible paper drawer liners, and then hubby waxed the drawers so they slid easier et.. voila!

I listed it in within one day for $70.  This REALLY confused one buyer who had missed out on the first listing.  They e-mailed me and wondered why I hadn't responded to their first e-mail of interest and why the price had jumped substantially. :)

Usually this isn't an issue as there are a lot of different buyers who rarely see all the items available for sale (you'd have to be someone like me to see duplicate items, re-lists, etc.)  By the way - re-listing your own items twice is BAD.. and against the rules.  Obviously everyone wants to have the newest ad on page 1 but if you read the fine print of these ad sites, you cannot have a duplicate ad.  Some people do it anyway - at least try and change it up a little if you are going to cheat!

We ended up selling AND delivering this piece to a lovely same-sex couple in Orleans.  :)  I did explain that I was not interested in delivery due to the issue stated in my last post BUT made an exception in this case and crossed my fingers.  No problems though - full price payment - no complaints - they loved it - happy ending for all.

SUMMARY

Purchased: $15
Modifications: $10.17 (didn't use all the knobs)
Sold: $70
Profit: $44.83

The Dangers of Delivery

DAY 10

So - I've put off writing about this since I was too upset for many many days.. but now I think I'm healed enough to discuss it.

After reading this blog, you may think that I'm a heartless, cruel person who is only out to make a buck - well, you would be wrong about that.  I love kittens... break for squirrels crossing the road... feed the poor and heal the sick...  okay - so maybe no healing, but you get the idea.

Anyway - I am especially a sucker for a poor child, a hard working single mom, a military family, the list goes on and on.  So when someone needs my help - I have a hard time saying no and mostly trust that people do what they say they'll do.  I know I know... I should know better - living in a big city and all.. I guess I DO know better but I suppose it's my upbringing from a small town that takes over.  If someone in town lied to you - everyone would hear about it and their name would be mud forever.

Here?  Not so much.

Long story short - I got a wicked deal ($35) on a HUGE country style dining set... took it home, cleaned it up and took pictures.  It was a lovely set really and in very good condition despite not being to my own personal taste/style.  I had seen similar sets being listed for anywhere from $300-$400 online - used.  I figured I would give it a shot at $150 and see what happened.  I had a lot of interest right away - one lady who HAD to have it.. e-mailed me, called me to discuss and everything.  So, she wanted the set (or so she said) but then asked for us to deliver because she didn't have a car.  Poor her, didn't have a car - of course we could deliver it - no problem.

So Geordie and Luke (first shout out to Lucas - COO East End Operations) packed up the van with the table and six chairs, drove to her house and when they got there....



<dramatic pause>



she said she only wanted the chairs for $80

ugh.

This was extremely unfortunate - having lugged all the furniture across town for her to re-negotiate on the spot - VERY UNCOOL kijiji lady!!  VERY uncool.

Somehow - Geordie ended up negotiating with her to take the whole set for $120.  Still a good profit, but it sure left a sour taste in my mouth.  The moral of this story - DO NOT DELIVER YOUR GOODS UNLESS YOU HAVE THE MONEY IN HAND FIRST - or are willing to return with your items :(

Summary

Purchased: $35
Sold: $120
Profit: $85