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Since last summer, we have been working on piles of unlisted items that had taken over our house, front porch and storage areas. If you’re a scavenger, it’s very easy to buy more than you can list. We call them “death piles” because it’s so depressing to have this junk taking up space and making us feel overwhelmed.
When we started our eBay business, we would go scavenging three or four times a week. Sometimes more! We were so amazed at what we could find for cheap that it felt like free money. Plus we were worried that each day we didn’t go scavenging meant that awesome, cool items were being bought by other people. We were missing out! So we bought and bought. Sure we were listing and growing our eBay business, but we could easily bring home 40-80 items after a morning of scavenging, and then maybe list 20 items on a good day. Do the math. More was coming into our house than going out. We’ve even rented storage spaces, but this is hiding things. If the items aren’t listed, then they’re never sell. These items are just a drain on our energy.
As we’ve evolved as scavengers and business owners, we’ve learned to have a longer term vision. Unless the US stops it’s voracious appetite for “stuff”, we know that there will always be more stuff to scavenge. We’re never missing out. In the past couple years, our scavenging has become adventures. Even entertainment. We seem to find the best stuff when we let serendipity take over.
We now list everything we get within a week or two of it entering our house. At the same time, we’ve been listing the “death piles” that surround us. We’re not perfect, but it certainly feels more manageable. Our death piles are disappearing. Sanity grows.
In this episode, we mentioned the following links:
- Ben told us about this museum that found a priceless Nazi code machine on eBay for $10.
- Bonanza is turning 8 years old. We synced our eBay store up to them a while ago and it’s a nice small stream of sales for no effort.
- Cyndi from Amazing Taste says:
Did you know you can apply to have your Paypal fee lowered? There is a tiered system for $1 – $3000, $3000 – $10000, and $10000 and up.
Here’s how to apply for the Merchant Rate:
Log in to your PayPal account.
Click the Business Profile icon beside “Log Out” and select Profile and settings.
Click My money.
Click Merchant fees under “More financial settings.”
Click apply now near the bottom of the page.
Complete the Merchant Rate Application and click Submit.
- Dan and Lisa of NewVintageNY are hosting a collector’s show and flea market in Albany, NY. They’re free admission for any scavenger who shows up and says the secret word: “Trash Elf” . Here’s more info.
- Thealbanyshow.com has the info
- 65 Congress Street, Cohoes, NY 12047
- Sunday June 19th 9am-2pm
- Facebook page for the show
- Facebook page for the location of the show
Hope you had a good week!
Our Store Week June 5-11, 2016
- Store #1
- Total Items in Store: 3806
- Items Sold: 32
- Cost of Items Sold: $71
- Total Sales: $889.21
- Highest Price Sold: $80 (Knee Brace)
- Average Price Sold: $27.78
- Returns: 0
- Money Spent on New Inventory This Week: $200
- Number of items listed this week: 72
- Amazon FBA Store
- Number of items sold: 23
- Amazon total sales: $473.92
- Amazon FBA Fees: $295.58
- COGS (shipment to FBA included): $30
- Net profit after COGS: $148.34
- Sold 3 items for $80
- Store #2
- Total Items in Store: 1010
- Items Sold: 12
- Cost of Items Sold: $21
- Total Sales: $419.28
- Highest Price Sold: $68 (Cutco knife)
- Average Price Sold: $34.94
- Returns: 0
- Number of items listed this week: 16
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Bonanza:
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