In my last blog post, I shared my experiences buying and selling retired Girl Scout badges in Facebook groups. This is an easy way to sell your excess items that your troop no longer needs, as well as raise funds for your troop or for a child’s Silver or Gold Award. *Please note: I know that this is not an official approved fundraiser, but this is cash. You can buy your supplies and new badges/patches by selling the excess you already paid for with troop funds, and reinvest it into new things your girls need. The girls already earned this money, there is nothing wrong with getting it back.
Photo used with permission and altered on Canva
I have been selling on eBay on and off for many years. When needed, I have bought a singular badge or book from the platform because I did not have time to wait for someone on Facebook to tell me she had what I needed. A quick eBay search for the discontinued Girl Scout badge or patches I needed saved me time. And as you busy leaders know, that is an incredibly valuable asset. Maybe I have to pay an extra dollar or two, but it saves me a trip to the Girl Scout store or time waiting for someone to get back to me. In my opinion, that is worth the extra postage or cost on the item.
If you wish to sell your retired Girl Scout badges and patches on eBay, here are some tips for you to consider.
Selling Retired Girl Scout Badges
- Before listing, see what badges you are selling have listed and sold for. Doing your homework is imperative to making the sale. If the badges have sold for $2.95 and you want to sell it for $4.50, be prepared to wait a while for it to sell. The only way to get that much money is if you are the only person with that particular item.
It is easy to spot someone who has no clue about the Girl Scout items they are selling. Their prices are ridiculously high. I am all for trying to make a buck to pay your bills, but asking $10.00 for one badge that someone is selling for less than half of that is not going to close the deal.
2. Take a clear and clean picture. I cannot emphasize that enough. I was recently searching for an item and I saw an item for sale and all around it was animal hair! I passed.
I have seen many items with blurry pictures.
Again, I passed.
eBay prefers that you use a white background. This is not a big deal…just use a white linen napkin and take the photo on your phone. In fact, the easiest method that I use when I sell anything is to find the item on eBay, click on “Sell Similar”, take my photos and edit and crop them. Then I save it for later and make changes to the title, shipping, etc. to suit my needs.
3. Use the Right Keywords. When people are searching, they use particular words. See how others have listed the item and create your own title from this. If you found the item, then those words are ones you should use.
Postage and Tracking
eBay wants its sellers to track packages. If you purchase your items on eBay, you will receive a shipping discount that is significant than if you brought it to the post office yourself. Full time sellers know this, and that is way you will see shipping from $2.50-$3.50 for a single retired Girl Scout badge. It is not that the seller is trying to make more money from the sale, the person needs to keep their seller rating and send your item via First Class mail. Not having tracking will affect their seller rating.
Photo from Pixabay
When an item is mailed First Class, you will receive a tracking number from the seller to prove that the item was mailed. In case it gets lost, then you can contact the seller.
Some sellers have free shipping and others charge the cost of a single stamp. That is their choice to do so.
How to Buy Discontinued Girl Scout Badges on eBay
I am sure that most of you reading this are familiar with how eBay works. It is quite simple to search for what you want and find it if someone is selling what you need.
I personally prefer “Buy It Now” if I need something, simply because my time is valuable and I do not want to get into bidding wars with someone and honestly, I want it now, not a week from now.
If there is an auction, put in your Max Bid and wait. You will be notified if you are outbid or if you have won.
Photo from Pixabay
Please pay buyers promptly after you have won an auction. This will get your item to you faster. Once the item is received and you are happy with it, please leave feedback for the seller. This is how other can gauge if this person is a quality seller.
Leaders can find discontinued Girl Scout badges easily if you know where to look.
Have you purchased retired badges on eBay? How did it go for you?
