Often times people to stop to realize the income potential of their "junk". And, when they DO decide it might be worth selling, they never give eBay a second thought.

As I preach over and over again to my customers, don't ever think that you have something that nobody else would want, unless you've really taken the time to do a little eBay research.

I've sold my wife's old tea pots, bowls, AOL CD's, books, etc. that we no longer had a use for. And, it usually brings a lot more cash to the table than a yard sale or flea market sale would.

Most items in good condition will bring a pretty fair price on eBay if you take just a bit of time to locate the correct category for that item.

Then again, there are times when you may have something that really doesn'tlook all that great. What should you do then?

Well, depending upon what it is, you may want to sell it "as is."

Case in point is a lamp I'm getting ready to auction off. (My wife brought it home to me the other day.)

It's obvious that this lamp is old. It doesn't work (that I know of,) and it has a bit of tarnish on it. But, I'm NOT going to try and "spruce it up" before I put it up for auction.

Now I don't know squat about lamps. But

I'll dust it off, and take a couple of pictures, but it will be sold "as is."

Why? Because someone that DOES know about lamps, will exactly how to clean this particular item up in the CORRECT manner, so as not to damage it.

They will know it needs work, and they will know what, and how to bring it back to the condition it should be in.

One of the "biggies" these days is the "country" look in home decor.

So, look around. See what you might have stashed away in the corner of your garage, in your attic, etc. Don't want it any more? Just drag it out, dust it off, and sell it on eBay.

Someone is sure to be looking for just the item you no longer want.

Pete Egeler is the author of "Dumpster Diving for eBay Profits," and a twice-monthly newsletter entitled "DDNews." You can check out either of these by visiting his web site at: http://shmyl.com/ciaa You can also email Pete at: pegeler@glorymountain.com for more information.