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Make Money Cutting Up Magazines And Selling The Pages On eBay

A few weeks ago I got an email from a woman named Avril Harper. Avril sells clippings cut from books and magazines on eBay and does a pretty good business.

I've seen people listing ads cut from magazines on eBay, and even bought a few over the years. I also see bins of clippings at antique shows and booths in antique malls. Proving there is a market for these clippings.

Anyway, I've always thought it was just a matter of cleanly removing the ads and then packaging them for sale. After all, most of the time I see them in plastic bags with a stiff cardboard backing.

The truth is I never gave it much thought, but there is more to it.

Sure people buy ads because they are collectors of the items shown in the ad. Others buy ads as decorator items, but Avril says people will also buy news stories.

From looking at her examples, the news stories bring more money than ads!

Avril has written a book about selling clippings and cuttings on eBay. I recommend you get a copy. Even if you aren't planning on listing clippings, you're probably surrounded by them. Seems like a great way to get started on eBay, or add some revenue from a source you've been ignoring.

A few comments on the book before I give you the link. . .

This book doesn't have navigation in it meaning you have to scroll through to the different chapters if you want to check something later. Not a big hassle, but I prefer to see navigation in a PDF to make it easier to use.

This is IMPORTANT. In Avril's book, she explains how to cut up old books in order to maximize prof1ts. For the average hbook you might find, you'll probably do better cutting it up. But there is an exception.

At the turn of the last century it was common for hardware stores to print comprehensive books. The books were basically reformatted catalogs from different makers combined into a bound volume. Cutting them up will lower the value IF they contain complete catalogs from certain highly collected manufacturers.

Here's an example. A hardware store in New Jersey put the entire Lionel train catalog into their book in 1902. The book in good condition will bring $12-1500. Cut the book up and you won't get a hundred for the section from Lionel, and I doubt anyone wants the sections showing hardware meaning you'd get less.

Gun and toy companies are the catalogs I know to look for inside these old bound volumes. There may be others so research larger books before cutting them up.

Don't confuse these larger bound volumes with books showing only ads. For example the Wanamaker stores published a series of books called the Wanamaker Diaries. The diaries had a few basic articles surrounded by advertisements from the companies Wanamaker carried.

The Wanamaker Diaries would be a good choice for cutting up.

One other thing about Avril's book. She is English so some of the grammar and spelling are odd, but not enough to make the book unusable. Her methods will work in North America. Maybe even better because we have a larger, more mercantile society. (That means more books and magazines for you to cut up, and more people to buy the cuttings.)

Good stuff to get you thinking about this, and you can get started simply enough. Spend an hour reading her book so you know what types of ads and articles people want, and then get some magazines out of your garage, or go to any yard sale and start cutting them up.

Here's a link to Avirl's site

Terry Terry

PS if you start cutting apart magazines, there are a few ads I want. Anything from a Kentucky furniture maker named Delker showing train layouts. From the mid 1920s. Also any advertisement from 1915/16 from Quaker Oats offering a Lionel Train set. The Delker ads have no value, but I'll pay postage and a small reward. I'll pay $100 for the Quaker ad. More if it actually shows the two train sets and has an intact order coupon.

Link to Avirl's site

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Terry Gibbs has taught over 7,000 people how to make a good living on eBay. Terry's most recent eBay instruction manual is The Auction Revolution . The Auction Revolution is your guide to eBay and beyond. Here on Iwantcollectibles.com, you will learn about buying and selling antiques and collectibles, and about eBay.