I opened the closet door and three boxes fell on me. That’s when I decided to take action. Not only would I clean the closet, I would sell some of the items on eBay and make a nice pile of cash.

    Armed with my trusty guide book (Absolute Beginner’s Guide to eBay, fifth edition by Michael Miller), I confidently set forth to sell.

  I reviewed the steps online at eBay, and of course printed out instructions (6 pages). I dutifully followed the steps and suggestions in my guidebook:

 1) I researched the items and set reasonable prices. ( I consulted the printouts from an antiques expert who had assessed the items (4 pages).

2) I took pictures of all items (3 days of work and reconsideration)

3) I wrote accurate descriptions of each item

4) Set up a PayPal account

5) I offered free shipping (a tactic the guidebook assured me would attract buyers). (1 day of work 3-5)

8:00 p.m. the st day: My listings completed, I sat back to await the offers. I signed out of eBay.

8:30 p.m. – Did I remember to check “free shipping on each item? Better check. I signed on to eBay. Printed out copies of each listing (six pages, one hour). Signed out of eBay.

10:00 p.m. – I wonder if anyone has seen the listings? I’d better check. Signed on to eBay.   10:30 p.m. signed out of eBay (1/2 hour).

For most of the remaining six days of the sale, my schedule looked like this. I woke up at night and fought the urge to check the listings at 3:00 a.m. more than once.

Each time I signed on to eBay, I found something else I just had to print out, just in case my computer crashed.By the time the sale ended, I sold only one item, and my desk has a new 250 sheet pile of printouts, not to mention the 364 page guidebook. So much for cleaning out the clutter.

I was delighted to have sold the one item, not because it was profitable, but because the purchaser really wanted the item. It would have been much simpler, cheaper and far more efficient if I just gave away the items.

That’s what I did with the remaining unsold items. At last they have homes and I’ve gotten my closet shelf back.

Let’s see, should I shred the printouts I no longer need? I wonder how long that will take. What should I do with the guide? – of course, I’ll just put them on my shelf.