Super saver Sarah Willingham has shown us how to save in the supermarket and pinch the pennies when it comes to holidays, and today she's back with some marvellous money making techniques.

Selling on eBay! 

  • 1.    REGISTER. To sell on eBay you need to register first. It is easy to set-up an account once you’ve read through this page (it will only take 5-10minutes to go through): pages.ebay.co.uk/help/sell/seller_account.html  
  • 2.    WHAT SELLS?  We are all sitting on £450 worth of unwanted but highly sellable items. See what’s selling right now on ebay pulse.ebay.co.uk and get rummaging through draws, lofts, hidden cupboards and garages!
  • 3.    RESEARCH. A good website for researching your item is pricingresearchonline.com. It’s quite a young site and the value is still given in $$ but the overview is real and still worth looking at. 
  • 4.    WAYS TO SELL. Click the Sell button at the top of any eBay page, and this will take you to the sell page. ENTER KEYWORDS. A keyword is a word used by search engines to find relevant web pages. Good keywords will help a browser on GOOGLE land on your page. Select whether you want a quick sell or an advanced sell. I always use the Advanced sell because it gives me more options. Sarah says: Enter KEYWORDS which will add value to your item. Example: Blackberry curve, excellent condition, Smartphone, Mobile, BB messenger. 
  • 5.    TITLE. Give as much information as you can whilst stating the Brand name, type of product and its condition.  
  • 6.    CONDITION. It’s very important to list the condition of syour item honestly. Specify whether the item is either Used or New. Additional condition terms are: BNWT= Brand New with Tags, BNWOT = Brand New without Tags, BN = Brand New, BNIB= Brand New in Box.
  • 7.    ITEM SPECIFICS. If you’re selling clothing; this is the bit where you enter the size, colour, style and length of the garment. 
  • 8.    DESCRIBE WHAT YOU ARE SELLING. Sarah says: Treat your description as an advert for your item. Really sell it! And remember to *preview* your text before submitting it as a listing to check for any typos!
  • 9.    VISITOR COUNTER. This counts how many times your listing has been viewed. You can keep this visible or invisible – it is entirely your choice. 
  • 10.    PRICING. If your item is brand new sell it at 20% less than retail price. If your item is used slash it to 50%.
  • 11.    CHOOSE HOW YOU’D LIKE TO SELL YOUR ITEM. Generally sellers select the online auction tab which automatically appears. Keep your starting price modest, don’t be too greedy and don’t undersell either.  60% of items sold on eBay are sold at a fixed/ buy-it-Now price. Set your starting price. Then click ‘Change reserve price’ and here you enter the amount you want for your item. If you don’t set a reserve price on a pricey item you will lose money. Please note that there are fees associated with setting a reserve. To find out more visit: pages.ebay.co.uk/help/buy/reserve-price.html 
  • 12.    HOW MUCH WILL EBAY CHARGE ME FOR SELLING? The cheapest way to sell is by auction, with a 0.99p reserve price or lower and using the free selling features. This means you only end up paying the final value fee which is a flat 10% across anything.  The good news is that eBay offer free listing weekends every few weeks. So when you register for an eBay account look out for free listing days: www2.ebay.com/aw/marketing-uk.shtml?_trksid=m570
  • 13.    DURATION. If you want to end a BID on a Sunday night and capture buyers browsing over the weekend & evenings then it’s recommended you start your 7-DAY BID on the SUNDAY before at 20:00. I always prefer a 7-day listing period.
  • 14.    POSTAGE. If you price too high buyers will not bite and if too low you’ll be out of pocket.  I recommend a 5-day dispatch. Under promise and over deliver. Weigh your item on your scales at home, enter the weight on the Royal Mail website, select your packet weight and select next, a list of price finder results will load.  Sarah says: If your item is of value make sure  you send it special delivery/recorded delivery. Always, always use trackable mail!
  • 15.    PAYMENT. PayPal is eBay’s preferred method of payment and it is also recognised as Buyers preferred method because it is free for buyers to use and the most secure way to pay. eBay and PayPal provide both buyer and seller protection details so you are covered if something goes wrong providing you follow certain easy steps. It is free to set up a PayPal account, and you pay a small fee each time you receive funds. Learn more: www.paypal.co.uk/uk 
  • 16.    FEEDBACK. This is SUCH an important part of eBay!! Keep an honest, open dialogue with your buyers and be prepared to offer a  refund. Manage expectations: “Hi there, Thanks so much for buying the blackberry mobile. I’ll send it out tomorrow afternoon.” 
  • 17.    RULES FOR SELLERS. Once a BID closes it is a legally Binding contract. To find out more about your responsibilities as a seller click here: pages.ebay.co.uk/help/policies/seller-rules-overview.html
  • 18.    WHERE DO I GO FOR MORE HELP? The Help Centre is a good one-stop shop for all your general questions.
    The Safety Centre is a great source of information if you want advice on selling safely, and if you want advice straight from the horse's mouth, try the Answer Centre where eBay sellers answer your questions.

Make Money

  • 1.    Get paid for your opinions! Make from £40 to as much as £150 for two hours of genuine work. Spend an afternoon registering with various market research companies for consumer studies. Some will take longer to register than others but it’s worth the time!  Be honest about your information and never ever sign-up under false names. You will be emailed market research invites and asked screening questions to determine eligibility. Be persistent and genuine and it will pay off!
    www.sarosresearch.com
    www.marketresearch4u.co.uk/register.htm 
    www.inspiredopinions.co.uk
    www.claret-uk.com
    Medical Market research studies. Make from £50 to as much as £150 talking about your medical condition. Medical Market Research interviews are exactly the same as consumer interviews but the only difference is that instead of big brands wanting to ask you questions it’s pharmaceutical and medical research companies. When registering for market research companies you must state your ailments /condition in order to be considered for a medical research study.
  • 2.    Swap shop No money is involved and you can swap unwanted items for the stuff you want. Get the kids, friends and family involved!  Organise this around someone’s house or in the local community centre. It is so much fun and a genuine way to swap what you don’t want for something you do want! Online Swap Shop.  You can also swap your unwanted items online and earn swap points. You can redeem your points against things you do want. Registration is quite easy: www.swapshop.co.uk
    www.iswap.co.uk/home/home.asp
    www.swapz.co.uk
  • 3.    Sell Offline! Write your notice/Advert and stick your ad in local shops, libraries, community halls/spaces, schools etc. These are usually free or you may have to part with a small fee of £2 or so. Sarah says: Don’t forget to speak to your neighbours as well.
    Car Boot Sales The Car boot sale is not embarrassing anymore!! And you don’t actually have to have a car boot to sell from - a picnic rug will do just fine! Go to www.carbootjunction.com and choose a location you want to sell.  Get to the pitch early, set-up and offer car-boot price,  *Some car boot sales may charge a small fee for your pitch. Sarah says: Set a money target in mind. People by from people so be friendly, upbeat and offer carrier bags to every buyer!
  • 4.    Sell Online & in the local paper for FREE?  Place an advert online and in the local Loot/Bargain Pages newspaper for one week. Very easy to set-up on www.loot.com *Fees apply to Motor, Property, Pet, Travel ads. We do have an exclusive money-off voucher deal with the Loot for you for a picture ad. * See vouchers below. 
  • Sell online. Sell on as many websites as you can! There are many, many sites you can sell on. Here are a few that come to mind *charges may apply. london.craigslist.co.uk
    www.gumtree.com
     www.amazon.co.uk
    www.preloved.co.uk
  • 5.    Dog walking or Pet sitting? Make up to £25 an hour. Put the word out to friends and neighbours. And register on dog walking  websites like www.dogwalkingnow.co.uk   Use the site to promote yourself and get work. There is a monthly charge of £15.99 but you would make that fee back in no time. *We have an exclusive money-off voucher deal for you with www.dogwalkingnow.co.uk. * See vouchers below.  
  • 6.    Rent  a Room. Make up to £100 a week! Do you have a spare room? Can you create one? Of course they’ll be some initial adjustments to make in the short term but it will be worth it! There are websites worth registering with. It is very straightforward to register with Spare Room and it is free to run a basic ad. BUT it is the bold adverts that get twice as many clicks and these cost £9 per week. *We do have an exclusive money-off voucher deal for you with www.spareroom.co.uk *See vouchers below.  A simple helpful guide to taking in a lodger is available free of charge: www.spareroom.co.uk/lodger.  
  • 7.    Could my home be the backdrop for a TV Drama or Advert?  Make up to £1000 renting your home as a film set. It does not have to be an 8-bedroom mansion many adverts, TV dramas and film scouts need ordinary looking homes to set scenes.  Register your home with companies like www.itascalocations.com  free of charge. However, you will need nice photographs of your property. Sarah  Says: Register with as many companies as possible you don’t have to be EXCLUSIVE to any one company. Don’t limit the potential money you could make!  Remember to try other companies there are so many sites available. Here are a few examples: location-collective.co.uk www.locationpartnership.com.  *Commission charges will apply.
  • 8.    Rent your garden.  Make from £2 to £25 a night. Do you live near a big music festival or event? Register your garden free of charge on campinmygarden.com/campsites/new. It is a simple registration process which you can do in less than 15minutes but you will have to upload pictures of your garden and give a good description.  Until the end of 2011 it is free to advertise gardens, accept bookings and make bookings on www.campinmygarden.com. However, *In 2012 it will still be a free site but a small commission charge will be taken when bookings are confirmed.  If you live in London this could be a real way of making extra money over the Olympic period.
  • 9.    Rent your parking space.  Make up to £25 a day renting your drive. Do you live near a city centre or an airport? Even if you don’t you can still make up to £100 a month renting your drive! All you need to do is sign-up to sites like www.yourparkingspace.co.uk  and www.yourparkingspace.co.uk. Sign up is free with  www.parkatmyhouse.co.uk but they charge commission charges. Registration is easy on www.yourparkingspace.co.uk , they do not charge commission but they do charge an annual fee of £15. The annual fee will mean your parking space will be advertised for one year with no hidden costs. *We do have an exclusive money-off voucher deal for you with www.yourparkingspace.co.uk *See vouchers below
  • 10.    Make Money by selling your Talents! Make up to £50 a day. People learn from people and you might just have the skills/experience people are looking for? You don’t have to be an academic teacher of 30 years to teach. You can lend your skills and experience in any subject or hobby.  Put a notice (advert) at your local post-office, library and Newsagents/Supermarkets and even on Gumtree. But to be perfectly honest selling your talents is all about word of mouth! Get talking about your talents to your community!
  • 11.    And sell your talents by being a real extra. Make up to £100 a day. Casting directors are always looking for REAL-looking people. You don’t have to be a 6ft model to be booked as an extra for TV, film, or adverts. Sites like www.castingnow.co.uk will allow you to register on their site where you will be able to apply for casting jobs as they’re advertised. But you will need to upload photographs of yourself. It will take less than 30 minutes to register. There is usually a monthly charge for these sites however *we do have an exclusive money-off voucher deal for you with www.castingnow.co.uk *See vouchers below
  • 12.    Are you a Carer? You may be entitled to £44.35 a week. There are pensioners out there providing care and support to their spouse, partner or family member or friend and are unaware of Carer’s allowance. If you are providing 35hours a week of care for someone who receives Attendance Allowance then you may well be entitled to support. *Ring the Benefit Enquiry Line and request a Claim Pack 0800 88 2200 OR you can contact job Centre plus OR Print your Claim forms from: www.direct.gov.uk/en/CaringForSomeone/MoneyMatters/CarersAllowance/index.htm
  • 13.    Can you rent a space? You can make up to £60 a week.  Broadly speaking a great deal of pensioners are sitting in homes with spaces they could rent; if you are not keen on a permanent tenant that is perfectly okay rent your garage space or maybe your parking space. Begin by talking to neighbours, friends and family and even put notices in shops. Let your community know about your space!  Also, what about hosting an exchange student for a less than  two months?  For an idea of what is expected from you to  host an exchange student visit: www.ialc.org/accommodation_code.asp and www.hfslondon.com

Exclusive Money-off Vouchers

Dog walking
 www.dogwalkingnow.co.uk
WEB OFFER: One Month Free Registration. Saving £15.99
VALID FROM:  Monday 26th September
On the Registration page QUOTE VOUCHERCODE savewithsarah
Sarah says: Warning: you must make sure you cancel your subscription before the end of the month so you don’t get charged for next month!

Be a Real Extra
www.castingnow.co.uk
WEB OFFER: One Month Free Registration. Saving £15.99
VALID FROM: Monday 26th September
On the Registration page QUOTE VOUCHERCODE savewithsarah
Sarah says: Warning: you must make sure you cancel your subscription before the end of the month so you don’t get charged for next month!

Sell unwanted items in local newspaper & online

Loot
www.loot.com
TELEPHONE OFFER: FREE photo advert for 1 WEEK in print and online. Saving £5.
CALL: 0871 222 5000 to place your advert. Open 8am – 6pm
VALID FROM: Monday 26th September until Wednesday 28th September at 6pm.
QUOTE VOUCHERCODE savewithsarah
Terms & conditions:
Offer valid for private advertisers on phone bookings only.
National Offer
Valid for all sections apart from ads placed in Motors, Property, Travel and Pets
Calls cost 10p/min from a BT landline, calls from other networks/mobiles may vary

Rent a room
www.spareroom.co.uk
WEB OFFER: FREE Bold advert for 1 WEEK
VALID FROM: Monday 26th September until Monday 31st October
On Registration page QUOTE VOUCHERCODE savewithsarah
*If you have already registered upgrade your ad to a bold advert.
Terms & conditions:
One use per person

Rent your parking space
www.yourparkingspace.co.uk
WEB OFFER: FREE YEARLY REGISTRATION. Saving £15
VALID FROM: Monday 26th September * from 11AM to Monday 3rd October
Complete the Registration form and click ‘Register’. Don’t pay anything just email info@yourparkingspace.co.uk quoting savewithsarah with your full name. Your advert will be activated free of charge.
Terms & conditions:
No more than one parking space per registration.