eBay MoneyMakers: Sell Well from Home or Mobile plus $25 Gift Card Giveaway

The O'Brien family: Tristen, Baby Jack, Amy (photo courtesy: Business Wire)

I've been swimming in the coolest body of water for over ten years now. It's called, eBay and it's the world's online marketplace. You can find the most hard-to-find, popular, unique, and affordable items in the world on eBay...from the comfort of your own home or on-the-go with a mobile device. Here's my story:

Enough about my story. I wanted to share with you the inspirational story and video of a family who used eBay to help them through a tough period in their lives. 

About the Family:
The O’Briens of Westfield, Ind., Amy and Tristen, were in a bind when Tristen unexpectedly lost his job a week after their son Jack’s birth.

The O’ Brien family had just relocated for a job that was eliminated soon after the move. With a new baby, the two income family had dropped to no income and needed to generate cash quickly. The O’Briens turned to eBay to sell household items to fund their day-to-day expenses. Once Tristen’s selling proficiency increased, he turned to clearance and vintage items to resell to make additional income. He maintains a blog at http://www.theebayentrepreneur.com/. Tristen is now employed and the family continues to sell on eBay to fund their wish list, including a trip to Disney World.

How cool is that?

I think the one thing I took from this story is the idea that there are several options and tools right at our fingertips. The tools may be online and/or offline. The items, in a closet and/or stored in the garage. All one has to do is utilize those tools and plant the option to flourish in this world. The O'Briens took a tough situation and turned it into a profitable solution for their family.
What's even more wonderful about this opportunity is the convenience factor. Listing and maintaining an eBay auction can be done on your mobile phone. You know, that little gadget that most of us can't part with. Here's a tidbit:

• More than 1 million listings are now made every week through eBay mobile as people take advantage of the speed of uploading items they want to sell, and enjoy the reward of extra money for their holiday shopping.

“Whether families are facing financial uncertainty or want to turn their household treasures into extra income, eBay makes it fast, easy and fun to do so,” said Anna Suarez of eBay seller marketing. “With eBay mobile, people realize they can take their selling on the road with them, and maybe even do a little buying on the side.”   

Later on in the week, I'll be sorting through a pile of jewelry to sell on eBay. I'm working on saving for, what I call, a "big girl camera". I want a Canon or Nikon so that I can capture even more momenta than I am now. I also want to use it for events and experiences to take pictures for sharing on my blog. It's an attainable goal, considering the amount of items unused I have lying around the house. It's kind of thrilling watching items sell and reaching a goal.

{prize}
$25 eBay gift card

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Answer this question in the comments section:
What project, vacation, goal would you fund with extra funds?

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Tweet:

Buy "it". Sell "it". On @eBay. Win a $25 eBay gift card from @IamKeonte. http://bit.ly/M2KeBay 

**Important**
You MUST leave a valid email address. The gift card is sent via email.
Winner MUST have a PayPal account to use it and the gift card cannot be used in China.

{giveaway rules}
Giveaway ends 12/12/2011 at 11:59 PM EST. Must be an US Resident, 18+. Must perform required entry before additional entries can be counted. Please leave a valid email address. Winner will be chosen using Random.org and have 48 hours to respond to confirmation email. Another winner will be chosen if there is no response.

About eBay Inc.
Founded in 1995 in San Jose, Calif., eBay Inc. (NASDAQ:EBAY) is about enabling commerce. We do so through eBay, the world's largest online marketplace, which allows users to buy and sell in nearly every country on earth; through PayPal, which enables individuals and businesses to securely, easily and quickly send and receive online payments; and through GSI, which facilitates ecommerce, multichannel retailing and digital marketing for global enterprises. X.commerce brings together the technology assets and developer communities of eBay, PayPal and Magento, an ecommerce platform, to support eBay Inc.’s mission of enabling commerce. We also reach millions through specialized marketplaces such as StubHub, the world's largest ticket marketplace, and eBay classifieds sites, which together have a presence in more than 1,000 cities around the world. For more information about the company and its global portfolio of online brands, visit www.ebayinc.com.   

Disclosure Information
eBay provided me a gift card for sharing this information. I was not required to make a video, but I wanted to share my story. The opinions and views are my own.