How to Make Money by Giving Gifts

I used to spend thousands of dollars every year on gifts.

Wedding gifts, anniversary gifts, birthday gifts, Hanukkah gifts, Christmas gifts, special occasion gifts...you name it, I spent money on it! And with all this gift-giving, I was bleeding money!

Don't get me wrong - I'm not against giving good quality gifts. It's just that with so many people to buy for, I was spending a sizable portion of my take-home pay every year!

Take the first year I was divorced, for instance. Since I wanted my daughter to know how much I loved her, I spent nearly $400 I didn't have on new toys, games, dolls and clothes for Christmas. $400! On one child!

Sure, there was a fair bit of guilt tied up in those gifts - after all, her parents were freshly divorced and all.

I decided at that point, I was going to start saving a bunch of money on my gift-giving. I never thought I'd be making money on giving gifts, however!

How did I start making money by giving gifts? Well, it took some creativity, but I found a way. And if you follow what I did, you'll be making money from your gift-giving, too!

I had been using eBay for awhile. Mostly, I sold off relics from my failed marriage and other crap I hadn't used in years. Soon, however, I ran out of my own stuff and needed to get more stuff.

So I checked out the wholesale section on the site. There's all sorts of stuff there, from toys to clothes to electronics to just about everything else you can imagine. They're sold in groups (referred to as "lots") at very attractive prices. I saw a few lots with jewelry, toys and games - all of which I knew my daughter would love.

The only problem, though, was that the lots cost more than I wanted to pay for just a few items.

But a friend encouraged me to buy the lots. He said that I could sell whatever I didn't wrap up for my daughter.

So I did. I bought a few lots, reserved a few items for gifts and listed the rest on eBay.

But I didn't stop there. My friend had opened my eyes. I started going to rummage sales and bag sales (where I stuffed as much as I could into a paper bag I paid $2 for). I kept a few of the items for my daughter and sold the rest online.

In truth, not everything sold for me on eBay. The stuff I listed twice without a buyer went into my own garage sale. I donated the stuff I had left over and nabbed a pretty nice tax deduction.

So, what did I give my daughter for the second Christmas since the divorce - and how much did I make? I gifted her with a skateboard, hair clips, earrings, a necklace, pewter unicorn charms, a backpack and five CD's. I made around $500 by reselling the extras. Not a bad little gift to myself!