Some people have mentioned to me that they have never tried Listia. I'm going to talk briefly about why I like it. I'm not paid to do it, just giving you reasons why I use the site more than ebay.
The biggest reason is because most of the credits I've ever gotten on the site have been free. I think I have spent a total of $6 for credits, and really didn't have to. I can earn a lot of free credits on there every day. You may notice I tweet random auctions on my twitter. I do it once a day or so. The reason is just simply tweeting me that gives me 10 credits. Not much but it adds up. Remember those David Freese cards I showed off recently? Cost me 78 credits, or 8 days of sending a random link via twitter. The downside of linking twitter is if you win, it broadcasts it to the world (they have access to tweet for you, which they only do if you win). It sucks when winning stuff for people, but it gives a heads up on what I might talk about. 10 credits may not seem like much, but how about 50? Taking less than a minute you can share an auction on Facebook (I usually do the same one I'm tweeting, its easier). If you don't want to pest your friends, do as I do (which is why you hardly see posts about Listia on my FB wall), you can send it to only specific people. In my case (and it takes 30 seconds tops) I change it to "Only me" and so nobody else can see the post. Boom, between FB (who doesn't post for you) and twitter, I can get 60 credits a day minimum just for 2 minutes of work. Randomly they give you 2-5 credits just for checking in, sometimes 15 credits for feedback, and maybe others I have missed. Occasionally you'll see "Share this on Facebook for 100 credits (or sometimes 150)" and I do everytime. I broadcast it for everyone to see in the off case someone joins via my link, then I think I get extra points. Plus that happens at most once every couple weeks, not daily like the auction links.
So how do you make the big points? Recently I noticed videos have skyrocketed in points. Last year they were 7-9 credits for each one you watch. Now they are 25 credits, no matter the length. Few are 30 seconds, some are about a minute, some up to 30 minutes. I spend about 10 minutes total watching them, getting anywhere from 100-200 credits. The good news is you don't have to keep it on the page as its running, so you can check twitter on another tab or something while its running. Since I like seeing new ads or ads in general, I usually watch them.
The biggest credits though come with doing surveys or free trials. Recently I got 15,000 credits for a free trial to Next Issue. The catch was sign up for the one month free trial and read two magazines within 48 hours. That's it. I did that, then cancelled the trial about a week later (but still got to keep it for a month, and still got the credits). Be careful though as if you end trials too soon they can rescind the credits (its never happened to me, but they warn you. Most of the trials I have done were free ones, but sometimes there are offers for ones that cost real money. FTD usually has an offer around the holidays, which is good if you were planning on sending flowers. Disney Movie Club usually has an offer, if you need another reason to join it. Just take your time and read the offers carefully then decide if its worth it. The $6 I spent total on credits plus all the free credits I've earned has gotten me over 130 transaction (some multi-card deals), so I can't complain.
If people use your referral link, that person sometimes get extra credits when signing up. That is why I have linked it on here before. Once they buy or sell an item (I think its sell) I would then get bonus credits. I think I would get bonus credits for every sell that person does. That is why I promote it on here.
Then of course is selling items. I will admit I haven't done this yet, but they do give you a bonus for selling items, as well as the credits you get for actually selling the item. For the most part, I would use the site mainly for cheaper things you don't expect to make much or don't want a lot for. Remember, you get credits, so you aren't getting real money. You can't cash them out, so the only way to use them is to buy things. For the most part auctions for cards normally start at 499 credits (but as you've seen in my posts, quite a few don't), you have to determine how much is it worth to sell it. I equate 1,000 credits to $1, which by most standards is actually low. Some judge the going rate of credits by what the gift cards sell for on the site. My way I use is simpler for me. Just going by my way though, 499 credits would roughly be 50 cents if someone bids, and that is about the cost of a stamp. So anything you make above that would go to packaging and envelopes, then profit. So maybe putting 4 or cards together in an auction could net you more profit. Of course they offer more than just cards, they are like ebay but use credits instead of money, and don't have seller's fees either. However the flip side is Listia is nowhere near as big, and the selection is somewhat limited. Just on the cards, there is about 10,000 or less auctions at any given time. You also have less ways to sort auctions (I wish I could limit the auctions to see only 2,000 or less credits and no Get It Now sales), but can sift out the auctions that charge for shipping. You may want to look and browse around a bit to see if its worth your time. I look at most of the auctions, but usually do searches for "Royals" "Maddux" and "Missouri". Missouri and Mizzou get very few hits, while Maddux fluctuates between 20-100 entries, and Royals averages between 50-100. So as you can see, the selection is limited, but again, mostly free credits and who knows what you could find.
You also can earn XP points and badges on the site, which to be honest I haven't found much use for beyond telling if the seller is active and is trustworthy. If you have disputes, they seem to be settled rather quickly, within a couple days, sometimes hours. I have had I believe 3 disputes in a year, one was a seller's mistake (accidental posting), one was the fault of the seller (forgot to send item), and one was the buyer's (ME) fault. I accidently hit the "GOT IT" button before getting the item (it was my first win, and I thought it was asking if I understood the details of the transaction, silly me). All three were settled very quickly and without incident (I never got my item, and forfeited 1,000 credits, but I got over it and conceded it was my mistake). I've never got a damaged package or card, so I can't say how smooth that will go, but I assume it would be like ebay. Most auctions on Listia the seller doesn't include tracking or insurance, but again, in over 130 wins, I've never had any problems beyond the way the seller packs the item. Here is a link if you decide to join, again I am letting you know I will get bonus credits and so will you. You will get them when signing up, I will get mine if you decide to sell items. I'm not asking you to sell anything, I am just stating what either of us have to gain from it. https://www.listia.com/signup/4098073
In closing, I will admit Listia isn't for everyone. I was a member for over a year before I started to use it. Actually the only reason I used it was because I thought I would win a few things to show off on my blog, then once I ran out of credits I would stop visiting. It turns out I visit the site quite often and never ran out of credits nearly a year later. My advice would be this, try it out for a couple weeks. If you sign up and have the credits bid on something you might like. If you are just browsing and don't sign up, keep track of what you see and like. If you don't think its worth your time after a couple weeks then skip it (but I would go ahead and use the credits before stopping, I mean they are free!). If you like it then keep going back, and who knows, maybe you'll find something you have been trying to find. I mean it is a new avenue of searching for cards (and other items) afterall.
I had something else to mention but it slipped my mind, if I think of it I will put it in a future post, and edit this too.
Thank you for reading, and have a great day. If you have used Listia and have anything to add, feel free to comment, or if you have any questions.
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