I did it for several years.. probably sold about 1000 things. It is easy to do, eBay leads you right through the process. I quit because feedback rules changed and because it is hard to find things to sell anymore (unless you have an estate to dispose of) plus I just got burned out.

Depending on what you are planning on selling you might also look into Etsy.com (vintage items, craft supplies and handcrafted items only).

We've sold a lot of stuff on both EBay and Craig's list.

Ebay for the smaller stuff, Craig's list for the big things, like furniture, a boat, and a couple trucks.

I wouldn't call it an occupation if you sell your own stuff, although I did sell handmade crocheted baby christening sets for a couple of years - just for fun.
But to do it for a living??....it's very time consuming, and you have to keep buying stock to re-sell. Then, if it doesn't sell - you're stuck, just as if you had a bricks and mortar store.

I did a long time ago, and made pretty good $$ when things sold. eBay's made so many new changes and rules, that it hardly seems woth the trouble. It use to be fun...and it's not anymore.

Tried Craig's List...and it's to annoying to have to weed through all the crap emails and stuff.

A local gal started a Facebook Group(Online Yard Sale) for our area and I'm been selling on there! It's worked out GREAT!! In less than 2 weeks, she already has almost 3,000 members!! Not sure if I can post a link, so I'm just going to copy/paste the URL here and you can check it out!!

http://www.facebook.com/groups/237377362961246/

I agree that it's not necessarily the best way to make a living. It's definitely time consuming. I think the businesses that do best on ebay are ones that have a separate website. IOW, you have a web based business and you also list on ebay.

I also agree that selling on ebay now isn't as easy as it used to be. That is to say, actually posting a listing on ebay is much easier than it used to be -- uploading pix and doing html code is now all built in. But the actual act of selling and making money is more difficult due to changes they've made over the years.

I do still sell some stuff though. I make a little money selling things I don't need anymore or odds & ends I pick up at garage sales that I'm confident will sell well.

My son left a high powered but stressful job and started selling art on Ebay, it's been 3 years and he's living very well and not stressed. He goes to auctions, buys low and sells them on Ebay. I've sold items also, I find it easy but I hate wrapping so my husband does that. We've only sold about fifty items.

I'm an active seller on ebay. I have sold thousands of items there. It is fun and you do make $ if you learn how to list.
I don't like the new feedback rules either and a few other things that some sellers do.
Right now my problem is finding stuff to sell again.

We used to do it and find our stuff to sell at auctions. We did pretty well but it is a lot of work. Since the rules changed, Canadian postage went up, it isn't worth it for us. Do you have Kijiji in the States? It is free to list things there. Your buyers usually will live in the area and come to pick up things. I've bought a bit on Kijiji and the sellers have met me at their door and I haven't gone into their houses. If we did it, we would sell from our garage.

I quit my job at the school and started selling on EBay. I enjoyed it but postage kept going up. After a year I quit selling and got a job.

I have been selling on eBay for several years now. I do make a little money, but mainly just do it for fun. I love to go to garage or estate sales and pick up things to sell. Fees are getting pretty high, especially now that ebay takes a percentage of the shipping fee as well. I try to find things that are small or very light weight.

Since I retired I took up photography as a hobby. I have bought nearly all of my photo equipment on Ebay or the Goodwill Industries auction (www.shopgoodwill.com).

When I am looking for a specific lens or accessory I look for an older camera that is listed with extra lenses and accessories. If the group contains any of the items I need I buy the set, keep what I need then sell the rest on Ebay as individual items. I am not gonna say that I have made a lot of money, but I have saved a pile of money getting the things I want in this manner.

Fortunately all the products I am selling will fit in the USPS Priority mail boxes so I know ahead of time exactly what the shipping charges will be, and if you pay the postage online the postoffice will pick the item up at your house. That makes it very easy.

I would offer one word of caution. If you are going to do business online open a separate checking account just for your business and list it with PayPal.

With PayPal the customer never gets your bank info. They pay PayPal, which in turn deposits in your account and you can confirm receipt of the payment even before you ship the item.

By having the separate account, even if a hacker were to hack into the account, the most they could get is your hobby money, not your household budget money in your primary account.

I sell occasionally, mostly to get stuff out of here and get a little money for it. I started out selling my late husband's chemical engineering books. Tried to get my son to do it for me, but he insisted that once I learned how to do it myself I'd have fun with it. He was right! Fortunately, my early experiences were successful, and that encouraged me to list more things.

Books are still my favorite items to sell because they're easy to pack and ship. I'll sell for a few weeks, then go more weeks without listing anything. Right now I have three dresses listed. Clothing is easy to pack, too--and it doesn't break!

The KT used to have a chart showing who sells on eBay and what their eBay names are. Do we still have it?

Years ago there was a software program that you could use to watch your auctions. Whenever there was a bid, our computer would ring ka-ching. It sure was fun.

It's very easy, the Ebay site leads you step by step. All you need is an Email address,a bank account, and a digital camera. Why a bank account? Well, Ebay charges fees both ways, when you list something, and when it sells. I wouldn't consider it an occupation , it's more like a hobby. I sold about twenty items over the course of a year, but got tired of it and have been inactive a long time. It can be a lot of fun. I didn't make a lot of money from Ebay. And I posted an awful lot of cute antique-type items that never got any bids. So I'd say try it, but don't expect to make loads of cash.