The Newly Rich

When you hear “personal assistant,” selling some of your less-prized possessions is probably not the first thing that comes to mind. But it should be. Go ahead and put it on your “top 10 things you should first outsource” list. Here’s why:

1. You can make money. This is important if the costs of outsourcing are making you hesitant.
2. It’s non-urgent. That means both low-pressure for your assistant, and something that you’ll probably never get around to doing yourself.
3. As a side benefit, it helps you unclutter your life. We all need that.

While you can get half the benefit by having a virtual assistant list and manage your sales, much of the hassle of selling things online comes from getting your booty out of the chair and over to the post office after the item is sold.

On Hank’s first day, I dropped a stack of technical books on the table.

“Punch in the ISBN for each of these books on Half and Amazon. Find any that are selling for more than $10 and list them on the appropriate site. Take the others out to the recycle bin.”

The next time I handed him a few tech gadgets I had sitting around: an extra bluetooth mouse, a wireless router, etc.

“Search eBay history to get an average price for these items, and list them with a minimum bid of $5 and a ‘Buy it Now’ price just a couple bucks above the average selling price.”

That in itself saved a chunk of time. But for me, the bonus came when the books and items sold. I give him enough cash to cover the shipping and he takes care of the rest.

We’ve made over $300 in the past couple weeks. I’ve spent almost no time myself, and Hank’s time has cost less than $50. And now there are a few less books and boxes taking up space on our shelves.

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