Scavenger Life Episode 282: Always Evolving

That slab is huge, I would like to eventually have an all in one building eBay business, storage, shipping, photo studio and workshop.

Hi everyone! I could not find the register option on my phone browser. After I found it on the PC I was able to go register on my phone. It is so nice to finally be able to post from my phone! I never could post on the old blog from any of my devices.

Good week of sales here. Without posting my actual numbers (haven’t crunched them this week), I had an item sell for $250 (a replica wrestling title belt I’ve had for the last 20 years or so in a box in my basement), and steady sales all week.

It was nice to use the ebay money this week for a little fun, as my wife and I paid off a new sofa, and bought tickets to a show this week with it. My ebay mentality is that the money stays in the account until after taxes are paid (because we don’t need that ebay income, and I have invested so much of it back into inventory, I need to make sure that our taxes are properly paid when they’re due), so it was nice to cut loose from that a little bit and buy a couple things early.

Had a good listing week as well, I hit 1342 items in the store at the high point (Saturday), but 10 items sold on Sunday. I’d like to hit 1500 before black Friday, but that feels a little too optimistic at this point.

Congrats on the new page and the beginning of that building! Looks massive!

Week Oct 23-29, 2016

Total Items in Store: 750
Items Sold: 18 (3 Amazon)
Cost of Items Sold: $136.44
Total Sales: $588.84
Highest Price Sold: $85 (1975 Visconti Sforza Tarocchi Deck)
Average Price Sold: $32.71
Returns: 0
Money Spent on New Inventory This Week: $0
Number of items listed this week: 16

Solid week, keeps me on track. Like R&J mentioned on the podcast, a lot of $20-$30 items “bread & butter”. My big sale of the week was a tarot card deck. A lot of talk on the blog (when it was a blog) about tarot cards – I had never had/posted any, but found a lot at an auction that included some deck plus books about tarot cards. I paid up for the lot at about $80 total, but my quick on site research showed the lot was worth it. Sold this deck for $85, have another listed at $225, another at $30, and then the lot of books for $125. We’ll see what happens.

The updated site looks great! My blog/forums are built on WordPress as well, and I love the platform.

Our Store Week October 24–30, 2016
Total Items in Store: 233
Items Sold: 5
Cost of Items Sold: $3.00
Total Sales: $140.35
Highest Price Sold: $49.05 (Lego Set)
Average Price Sold: $28.07
International Sales: 1
Returns: 0
Money Spent on New Inventory This Week: $30.00
Number of items listed this week: 26

Sales Review: One of my slowest weeks ever, with the lowest average price that I can remember. Moved some super old inventory though that I was happy to see leave storage.

Customer Issues: None.

Scavenging: Took a break from scavenging this week and concentrated on listing. I was able to put up 26 new listings (many for multiple quantity items) this weekend. Spent some time refining my workflow, and organizing my inventory.

My Store

Hey R&J,

Congrats on all of the new projects – including the evolution of this one! I’m a long-time anonymous poster, but thought I should get in on the ground floor of all this forum-y goodness. Look forward to chatting with everyone who stops by. Here’s to peace and prosperity for us all.

Cheers

Ugh. Coming off of two or three REALLY slow weeks for me. I think this weekend ebay finally “found me” again, as I had a few decent sales come through.

October 24-30, 2016
Total Items in Store #1: 755
Total Items in Store #2: 28
Items Sold: 9 (7 on store #1, 2 on store #2)
Cost of Items Sold: $30.04
Total Sales: $536.89
Highest Price Sold: $135 (vintage swiss back pack)
Average Price Sold: $76.70
Returns: 0

My wife and I recently opened a second account, primarily for selling untracked items like patches, postcards, slides, etc. That way we can still sell them, without impacting the shipping/handling metrics on our primary account. We’re testing it as “her” store, letting her do everything from start to finish, from listing to shipping, so that she’ll have a good grasp on everything if I take ill, get hit by a bus, etc.

As mentioned above, we’ve had a REALLY slow last two or three weeks, going from one or two sales a day, to one or two sales a week. This is the first time we’ve experienced slowness like this since we really started getting serious about listing back in May or June. Pretty humbling, but we just kept listing, and waiting for it to come back. Fingers crossed it stays through the holiday season now…

On the topic of access to Ebay data. Unsure but a thought what may influence that. I think Ebay owns TerraPeak which you get a full years worth of archival data BUT it is subscription based. Then they also make data available to WorthPoint which is from a year back to about 5 years or more. So think Ryanne may be correct. They “sell” the older data to outside sources and even to a company of their own. So if the “old” data is a revenue stream for them, you would think they would be reluctant to just give it away. But no facts to back this up. Mike in Atlanta

Love the new forum! Thank you for providing it.

I was posting as flippin’awesome for the SL comments, but I’ve registered under my real name for this forum.

My week:

10/23-10/29/2016

Approximate # of Items in Store: 280
# of Items Sold: 16
Average Cost of Items Sold: $8.37
Total Sales: $1,464.24
Highest Price Sold: $375 – Women’s Coat
Average Price Sold: $91.52
Returns: 1 – $112.50
Money Spent on New Inventory This Week: $0
Number of items listed this week: 22

Had a slow start to the week, but had a couple of $$$ sales on Friday and Saturday. Keeping my fingers crossed that the buyers will keep them. We shall see.

Wow! That was fast – congratulations! I was trying to figure out how to do something this morning and did a key word google search limited to scavengerlife.com for some information on a topic from a previous discussion. The keywords brought up the link on Google but when I went there, the discussion was gone. Am I missing some link to get to the discussions or are they gone forever?

Total Items in Store: 677
Items Sold: 14
Cost of Items Sold: $150
Total Sales: $549.85
Highest Price Sold: $59 (Pair of Alden loafers, not best condition)
Average Price Sold: $39.27

This week was one of my slowest in two years, the prior week was one of the best. I totally get why there are conspiracy theory’s…I really want to come up with one right now…but I am going to keep plugging away and things will sell…

Jay and Ryanne, congrats on the building and employee! You guys have been working hard (as usual).

FBA changes – my take. First I went to “inventory”, then “inventory dashboard”, then “inventory age” . That will give you an estimate of Long Term Storge Fees broken down per item. Much different than $.30 per item. I sorted by Est LTSF.

I left everything that was toy or game related that I thought might sell well for Christmas. I pulled all the items that I sent in thinking they would sell eventually for less than $20. Examples of items I pulled – vacuum bags, light bulbs, older computer items, cassette tapes, long tail books, dog leashes. All these items I only had a few of each, I bought them only because they were new, and I sent them to Amazon only because they might sell eventually and I would not get charged a storage fee.

In the past I would scan anything that was new while sourcing. I would buy it as long as I could make $5, after all fees, I didn’t pay much attention to ranking. In the future I will pay closer attention to ranking

In the ebay to amazon experiment, the FBA rule changes don’t really affect me. I was already fairly picky when it came to what I was sending in. I did have a few items that the market changed drastically that I was sitting on, so I dropped the prices to current market instead of waiting for the pricing to come back up.

Total Items in Store: 525
Items Sold: 10
Cost of Items Sold: $35
Total Sales: $702
Total Profit: $667
Average Price Sold: $70.20
Average Profit: $66.70
Highest Price Sold: $200 Marantz Professional Audio Recorder. Sold BIN full price.

First off, my art buyer last week paid! Yay! This week I had some awesome high dollar sales. I look forward to sharing them on Wednesday.

About that Marantz Audio recorder – I got it at Goodwill on one of my “I only have 5 minutes” trips. I saw this gallon size ziplock bag full of junk along with a weird pedal assembly sitting on the junk shelf at Goodwill. Misc electronics always catch my eye. After digging through the bag and doing some basic research, I realized I had hit the motherload! There were TWO of the audio recorders with AC adapters, two external microphones, and the pedal is a dictation pedal as used by court recorders. All told, my list prices were almost $600. My cost – $4 for the whole bag.

I’m getting back on the wagon with listing. This weekend my wife recommended that she start driving when we go places and I can list while she drives. It worked out really well – once we got to our destination I felt more relaxed because I accomplished some work, and she realized that driving helped reduce her anxiety by getting her mind off things and away from her phone. From here on out I’ll be giving the term “mobile listing” a whole new meaning.

Have a great week everyone!

Hi, First time to post here.
New employee…. Beware of payroll tax laws!
For example… Illinois Unemployment Auditor told us to put the kid who mows the business lots to start paying him though the payroll system. Because he did not have an established lawn mowing business, we could not pay him as Contract labor.

Just FYI.

Regarding the lawnmower boy – you are responsible for issuing him a 1099 form. It’s not your responsibility to insure he has a established business. He is not an employee and doesn’t belong on your payroll. The only liability you should have is if he gets injured on your property (another BIGGER reason to bite the bullet and pay an established grounds company).
Here is an interesting article on the subject that will point you in the right direction to determine the rules: http://markjkohler.com/1099-rules-for-business-owners/

• This reply was modified 9 years, 5 months ago by Retro Treasures WV.

Yay! So excited to have the new forums. I can see myself spending a lot more time here now. Here are my numbers for the week. A good solid week. My goal right now is $100/day so I’m fairly close this week.

Total Items in Store: 1174
Items Sold: 26
Total Sales: $657.57
Cost of Items Sold: $53.5
Average Price Sold: $25.29
Average Cost of Item: $2.06
Highest Price Item Sold: $64.95 Francisccan October Pattern Set of 4 Dinner Plates
Number of items listed this week: 37
Average age of items in store (in days since listing): 194
Average number of days between listing and selling this week: 86
Median age of sales (in days, between listing and selling): 44
Sell-through rate: 2.21%
# of Hats Sold: 16

I had an interesting find over the weekend thanks to the SL podcast. I went to an estate sale and, after combing the house a couple of times, I looked up on a wall inside an office and noticed a giant 4ft slide rule. I had remembered reading here that slide rules could be collectable and I’d never seen one so big. It was the last day of a 3 day estate sale and everything was half price so I paid $10 and took it home with me. It turns out that these giant Pickett slide rules were used as teaching aids in classrooms. There’s even a 7ft version. The 4ft version sells between $250 and $350.

I love my new username!

Week: 10/23-10/29
Total Items in Store:814
Items Sold: 9
Cost of Items Sold: 56.40
Total Sales: 557.29
Highest Price Sold: 275.00 Sansui Turntable
Avg Price Sold: 61.92
Returns: 0
Money spent on new Inventory: 21.00
Number of items listed: 46

New site design is great! This is my first post. I have been following the podcasts for about a year, always learn something new. I really appreciate everyone’s openness and willing to share! The Sansui turntable had a couple of small issues, otherwise it would have sold for more. Fortunately, the buyer was local, so I didn’t have to pack it!

Total items in store: 291
Items sold: 17
Cost of Items Sold: $98 thrift + $27 retail + $100 consignment
Total Sales: $717.40
Avg. price: $42.20
Highest price item: $149.99 Burton Jacket and Pants
International sales: 1
Unpaid items: 2
Money spent on new inventory: 0
Number of items listed: 21

My best week ever!

Oct 23-29
Total Items in Store: 225
Items Sold: 8
Total Sales: $368
COGS: $61
Highest Price Sold: $129 Ralph Lauren King Comforter ($30 thrift store)
Average Price Sold: $46
Returns: 1 (for size, buyer pays shipping)
GSP: 1 to Canada
Money Spent on New Inventory This Week: $5 for a vtg camel hair robe
Number of items listed this week: 8

First sale over $100! I think it may also be my highest ASP ever. Also my first sale of a wall decor item – vtg finished crewel embroidery.

Definitely a decent week, though it’s definitely slowed down from the previous weeks in terms of sales volume.

I love the new forum!! Thanks J&R!

Total Items in Store: 374 etsy
Items Sold: 9
Cost of Items Sold: $53
Total Sales: $323
Highest Price Sold: $75 (prom dress)
Average Price Sold: $35
Returns: 0
Number of items listed this week: 25

ebay is not listed because I sold zero on there–thank goodness for etsy (btw, 5 of the items sold on etsy were also cross posted on ebay, so it is not as if I keep my best stuff for etsy.)

Hey Ryanne and Jay. Mobile phone user. Just a few things I’ve noticed so far since you asked for our opinion. It took me forever to find the register option. Someone else mentioned this too. When you hit the menu button it doesn’t show and you have to find the arrow and its hidden under there. Secondly, if I’m being honest, I don’t think most non core group people are going to register just to make a comment and since you have YouTube comments disabled, you will probably get far less people commenting. And some people don’t even watch if they know its a hassle to comment. And comments show up badly for me as a phone user. They are vertically long and in a line on the right. It makes reading them hard when there’s two words on a sentence. I’ve seen this on other sites as well. It may jusr be a style choice. And where did the mp3 downloadable option go? That’s usually how I listen so I can still use my phone. Having a video not linked to the forum is tricky too since you have to remember the title to match it up. Once there though , do you want people to break their comments up into sections or just keep their general post together as an overall weekly update the way they have been doing it? I just want to know how you want us to do things. Ok so that’s all the things I see for now that can be improved on. I think many nice things about your site too but those won’t help you as much right now to work out the kinks. Good luck with all your endeavors.

Congrats on the new blog, love it!

Thanks for all the great work and new blog!

I’ve never posted my numbers before, but, since I started with GoDaddy last week, I’m now able to get that information much easier. So, here goes:

* Total Items in Store: 455
* Items Sold: 23
* Cost of Items Sold: $54.37 = 24.42 + $29.95 for my son’s old suit
* Total Sales: $363.53
* Highest Price Sold: $29.95 (for my son’s old suit)
* Average Price Sold: $15.80
* Returns: 0
* Money Spent on New Inventory This Week: $0
* Number of items listed this week: 0

Mostly, I’ve sold low dollar value items this past week, but probably more items than normal.

My kids had half days due to parent teacher conferences, so I didn’t list anything. I took photos and started some drafts, so I should get moving this week.

Store Week 10/23-10/29

Total items in store: 839
Items sold: 10
Cost of items sold: $8.80
Total sales: $288.96
Highest price sold: $54.99 (Men’s Born shoes)
Average price sold: $28.90
International Sales: 0
Returns: 1 ( Shoes that apparently didn’t have the correct insoles and then fell apart the first time worn. Ugh! They looked a little rough, but I definitely wouldn’t have listed if I’d thought they were that bad! I just took her word for it and refunded the whole thing and let her keep them. Bummer!)
Money spent on new inventory this week: $23.00

Hello! Sarah here! Decided to use my store name for the new forum (which is great, by the way).

I didn’t include it in my numbers, but I also sold a fire helmet last week for $100 that unfortunately hasn’t been paid for. It’s been 3 days with no word so I just opened a case. But the good news is that I found a GREAT estate sale this weekend and bought tons of stuff. The lady was an eBay seller/collector/maybe hoarder and her family was liquidating everything for way cheap. Lots of good stuff. They apparently had several buildings to sort through, so they haven’t touched a lot of it. Looking forward to part two in the spring!

Love the new website! I will start sharing and commenting since its so easy now. 🙂
Average sales this week. I need to work harder to get my total items in store up. As soon as I break 1600 I drop back down due to sales, not a bad problem to have but still frustrating. Also wanted to mention I’m in the beta program for “not as described” returns. Its amazing!! I am loving it!! I hope they plan to roll this out for everyone soon. I’ve always fought and won cases for item not as described so having these new return options available has really reduced my stress.

Week Oct 23-29, 2016

Total Items in Store: 1620
Items Sold: 68
Cost of Items Sold: $204.00
Total Sales: $1703.01
Highest Price Sold: $79 Petunia pickle bottom diaper bag
Average Price Sold: $24
Returns: 3
Money Spent on New Inventory This Week: $180
Number of items listed this week: 60

Hey guys, per Ryanne’s request here is my latest what sold video. Enjoy!

Ebay Sales Update #28 October 01-15, 2016

I just figured out the tiny right hand reading issue. When I turn my phone horizontal it looks normal. But I can’t comment that way because the keyboard pops up and I can’t see anything. If I flip my phone back vertical it starts the comments at the top again. I think I’ll keep listening to the podcasts but my commenting days may be over. Overly complicated for me. I miss the old blog. Sorry . But I hope others are having better luck with it.

Oh MY…I don’t think I’ve ever been to a Forum before! You will be my learn “something new this week”. Wondered why I didn’t see Sunday evening post come into my inbox. Thanks for always evolving and keeping us on our toes. Going to listen to you in the morning while I knuckle down and do some serious listing. I have to clear my dining room fast of death piles…Thanksgiving is at our house this year!!!

RR Store Week Oct 23-29, 2016

Total Items in Store: 998
Items Sold: 8
Cost of Items Sold: $4.25
Total Sales: $114.94
Highest Price Sold: $29.99 (WWII Navy Dance Program)
Average Price Sold: $14.36
Returns: 1
Money Spent on New Inventory This Week: $0
Number of items listed this week: 23 new/96 Sell Similar

Happy Halloween everyone! It’s my favorite day of the year!

Feel so good to get back to regular listing. Once I got caught up on all my stale old listings, I started cracking into the piles of stuff I brought over from the old house. I listed some records, and two of them sold in less than an hour. Weird, as there are multiple copies for sale, some much cheaper than mine. Woke up yesterday to another record sale, plus a cool shirt.

My one return last week wasn’t even a true return. For the first time ever, I couldn’t find an item that sold. It was a pair of postcards from The Beverly Hillbillies, sold for $28.99. They weren’t with the rest of the postcards, so I tore up my entire office looking for them to no avail. I messaged the guy with my apologies, then gave him a full refund. He was super cool about it; I told him that if I find them, I’ll sell them to him at a significant discount.

I’m digging the new look and the forum! The new avatars will take some getting used to, but that’s no bid deal. Already seeing some familiar faces!

*Paul*

Hi J&R
I haven’t posted in a while because I wasn’t able to reply (possibly issues on both ends).
Well, Just wanted to share some advice on the concrete slab just poured.
Depending on the type of concrete, it can take up to 6 months to properly cure (harden).
If you have a choice, don’t be so quick to start framing or blocking. Give the concrete time to cure before putting a load on it. When builders continue building on the slab quickly, small cracks appear often times. The builder’s call this “settling”. One of the main reasons for the cracks (beside premature loads) is the chemical reaction. If you put your hand on a concrete slab curing, you will notice it’s warm to the touch. This chemical reaction dissipates the water (moisture) in the concrete. When the water is gone and the chemical reaction is still continuing, then cracks start to form. I could not see the prepping of the pad, but if done correctly it should have been bug sprayed then a visqueen membrane that seals the soil from the bottom of the concrete pad. This will also prohibit the concrete pad from getting needed moisture from the soil during the chemical reaction time. So, a good idea is to lightly mist a water hose (not a heavy stream–don’t want to create voids in the finish surface) over the pad daily (hove much depends on the outside temperature). Just a little advice. Also, check the contract because most concrete slab contracts have a clause that allows them to be off level 1/4″. This doesn’t seem much, but wait until you’re installing the flooring.

My first time posting on the site.
Jay and Ryanne, I really appreciate the work you two have put into your blog. It has been a tremendous help. According to my dashboard I am up 138.6% over a year ago, and a big part of that is all that I’ve learned here.

So here’s what I’ve sold recently:
Week Oct 23-29, 2016

Total Items in Store: 388
Items Sold: 27
Cost of Items Sold: $50.75
Total Sales: $705.52
Highest Price Sold: $80 (1930s portable coffee maker)
Average Price Sold: $26.13
Returns: 0
Money Spent on New Inventory This Week: $19
Number of items listed this week: 21

I’m trying to get more items in my store but I haven’t been listing like I should. It seems like the week days have been fairly slow but then sales start popping on the weekends. My favorite item sold was also my highest, a 1930s Gibizita alcohol fueled portable expresso maker bought at an estate sale for around $3.00. I thought it was a portable stove at first until one of the helpers opened it up and showed me the coffee strainer and the directions, which were written in Italian. In my research I only found two that had been sold previously, one for $31 and another for $55. I listed it for $85 BO and took an offer of $80.

Happy Halloween!

I am so excited about your new blog page. I can finally post without having to be post as “anonymous”.

My eBay page had a glitch all weekend, so I missed all the potential weekend sales and lost some momentum. Most of it is fixed now besides the “Stats”. Those are still missing. The eBay reps said sales should start happening again within 72 hours. Glad I got four sales today. I was really starting to sweat it, so I opened an Etsy Store.

I will add to the Amazon thread about what I am doing there, in response to your question regarding whether to bring the items back or leave them.

Debbie

Congratulations on the new website, Jay and Ryanne! Sadly, It feels so foreign to me; not sure I can adjust. But what a week of huge changes you two have had; wow! New employee. Beginning to build the storage building (will it be climate controlled?) and so many other things going on. Best wishes.

Total Items in Store: 321
Items Sold: 16 (15 ebay, 1 truegether)
Cost of Items Sold: about $40
Total Sales: $410
Highest Price Sold: $103 (Sterling napkin ring from Westpoint Military Academy)
Average Price Sold: $25.31
Returns: 0
Money Spent on New Inventory This Week: $50
Number of items listed this week: 36

I set up an account on Truegether and Bonanza. I sold some things on Bonanza last year, but it fell off my radar after I went on vacation last fall. I never put the store back to active when I returned. *shrug* Oh well. At most I only sold one item per month there.

I never know if I should include in COGS when I sell personal items, (things I did not source with the intention of selling). I sold off some of our old homeschool curriculum, and broke even on it. If I include it, then COGS is more like $80. But we would have bought the curriculum regardless of ebay.

• Ebay
• Total Items in Store: 5,816
• Items Sold: 108
• Cost of Items Sold: $145
• Total Sales: $2,058
• Highest Price Sold: $60 (Size 58L Blazer)
• Average Price Sold: $19.05
• Returns: 4 (clothing)
• Money Spent on New Inventory This Week: $50
• Number of items listed this week: 85

Last few days before we take off on our cruise, due to the election, the kids can travel over a week and only have two days absent from school. Still nervous about leaving ebay running while i’m gone but it will be a good test to see how things will run with me gone. Not going to leave amazon running (sans FBA), I can do without ebay but not amazon.

Great looking pad site, you guys will love having all of your inventory in one place. Interested to see what you guys do revamping your storage system. Good luck with the employee, I hope she works out. If she works out and turns into a competent helper she will take a huge load of work of you guys so you can focus on something else.

Like the new forum, all of the avatars look like rorschach blots. Will have to find a good picture.

Sold this book on Amazon, had it in inventory for a little over a year. Section Quizzes, Chapter Tests, and Authenitic Assessment $423. No idea why it sold so high, will probably get it back as a refund.

Concerning Amazon FBA, don’t get too excited about 4th quarter. If you sell toys, electronics, DVD sets or other “gift” type stuff it will move. I think you will be fine leaving books, cds or dvds in over the 4th quarter and if you have to bite the cost of returning it later then it’s worth the risk. If you have more of the bathroom hardware, odd ball electronics, or other large items then I would take the free return or .50 return. I ended up returning or destroying around 3k items.

Amazon will always offer a deal when they make a change, so these free return deals or due to the increased storage change starting the 1st of November and the earlier change was in regards to the long term storage fee change. Also, i’m betting the next change will be an increase in the return cost. They are losing a lot of money sending items back for .50 a pop.

Numbers for end of October
Total Items in Store: 670 (646 last month)
Items Sold: 38 (50 last month)
Total Sales: $662 ($1030 last month)
Cost of Items Sold: $113 ($143 last month)
Highest Price Sold: $42.95 Alaskan Star Oil Rig Paper Weight
Average Price Sold: $17.39 ($20.60 last month)
International Sales: 4 gsp / 1 non gsp
Number of items listed: 50 (29 last month)
Spent on new inventory: $84 ($76 last month)
Returns: 1 (box of Upholstery Nails (wrong color)

Some recent sales.

The Paper weight I had purchase recently at an antique store in Kalama, Washington for $4, it sold GSP to Canada: http://www.ebay.com/itm/191991835971.

I sold a mixed lot of beads that I almost donated, but they went for $20: http://www.ebay.com/itm/191865901821.

An African Woven Sisal Kiondo Basket Purse I got for free from a pile of leftovers at a flea market went for $28.95 (free shipping): http://www.ebay.com/itm/201651544343.

And a Missouri Pacific Lines Railroad Plate I had sold for $34.95. These normally go for a lot more, but this one had areas of surface loss, but it still sold pretty fast, so my price might of been low: http://www.ebay.com/itm/201693150940.

-Steve in Richmond, Calif.

Congrats on the new blog. Just a couple of things I noticed on the new blog. I wasn’t able to register on my Android..had to do it on the pc. Also, the posts offer a download of the podcast on the PC, but that option doesn’t show up on the mobile. I actually download the mp3 to listen on my ipod if I’m traveling as to not use up the data on my phone and I wasn’t able to do that on the mobile site.

Congrats on the new storage area. You guys just gave me a good idea!

Margaret

Hello everyone.
I just registered and wanted to know if there is a way to make the font bolder so I can read the other posts. The background is very bright and the font now looks thin and patchy.

Total Items in Store: 684
Items Sold: 56
Total Sales: $1,420
Average Price Sold: $25.36

Another strong week. Good to see the new site and forum.

Another forum feedback point: When I finish typing a reply to a reply that is far down the list of replies, it always brings me back up to the top of page to the original post, instead of leaving me where I was.

Store Week Oct 23 -Oct 29
Total Items in Store: 375
Items Sold: 17
Cost of Items Sold: $30
Total Sales: $621
Highest Price Sold: $150 Hudson bay blanket & $120 vintage box kites
Average Price Sold: $37
Returns: 0
International Sales via GSP: 1
Money Spent on New Inventory: $164
Number of items listed this week: 44

One of my best weeks ever because I put my head down and listed. It’s good to see the results of focused work, especially when “work” means hanging out listening to music and researching weird stuff.

I was super psyched by the box kites — I found two curious items made of sticks and paper and in the back of a closet at an estate sale still in shrink wrap but with no labels attached. I didn’t know what they were and neither did the guy running the sale, but since I paid practically nothing for them I took a chance. The only visible writing on the paper was ‘flie’ and Decateur, so I googled those words and discovered I had two Hi-Flier Box Kites made in Decatur, IL probably in the 1960s. The last one on ebay sold for $40, but I listed mine at $60 each. Received low offers and then one guy bought them both for full price. Sweet!

Ryanne and Jay, you two are such an inspiration. Thank you so much for all the work you do for this community you’ve created. Good luck with all your new adventures!

This is Kate — changed my name with the switchover.

I love that there’s a forum! So psyched! Thanks!

The interface isn’t easy for me, but I expect I’ll get used to it over time. I’m on another forum which uses phbb, but I don’t know if phbb plays with WordPress or if it’s its own thing.

Q4 is when stuff on the home front starts ramping up (holidays, sick kids, etc.) and I always need to pull back from sourcing/listing/selling a bit. Just have to remember that’s why I’m doing this — for the flexibility.

I’m really interested to see how your experiment with hiring an assistant turns out! Love the new blog.

I’m catching up on podcasts. I think you’re going to love your new building. We call them “shops” in Oklahoma. 🙂 We bought our dream home about 18 months ago. Enough room for all 6 of us and 3 acres for our future milk cow and zip line. 🙂 But the dreamiest part was the 30×40 insulated shop out back! My husband gets a small shed for his lawn mower and tools but the shop is mine! It has a regular door and a big overhead door so I can drive in and unload treasures. It also already had a sink (running water) and electric. Last summer my husband surprised me with having his friend put heat and air in it! You don’t have to tell me, I know it’s an eBayer dream come true!!! I love my shop. And it allows me to be so much more productive and completely separate my business from our home.

Total Items in Store: 319
Items Sold: 7
Cost of Items Sold: $10 (used) + $69 (new RA)
Total Sales: $225
Highest Price Sold: $68 (Set of new cocktail napkins and plates – paid $36 in summer)
Average Price Sold: $32
Money Spent on New Inventory: $15
Number of items listed this week: 1

Hectic life outside of Ebay this week and a pretty quiet week on Ebay. I’d just love a full day to peacefully list on my own. My inventory overflowith a bit into laundry space. We are also having random internet connectivity issues – so frustrating because it’s some devices and not others. Started about the time of the DDOS attack, but as far as I know most other users are ok. Burned a few hours at Apple, calling the cable company, and buying a new router, yada yada.

Thanks for your work on the blog! Have a great week.

*edit* reply was meant for Jay but when I hit reply it moves it to the bottom of the post.

*2nd edit* How do I change the my grape ape face/ galaxia fighter/ fat guy dancing in a tu-tu avatar? No options in my profile.

Amazon sales for October beat last years by a little under 3k, and we sold 363 unit less than last year. So selling less but making more at the moment. I haven’t seen a dip in sales since the announcement or much in terms of price changes. However, we price aggressively and run a program that keeps us in the top page of results, typically we aim for the four or fifth price position.

• This reply was modified 9 years, 5 months ago by michael d.

Hi guys, can someone tell me…if I offer free shipping on something, someone places an order, and then they ask about getting it there in an expedited fashion and I have it set for FedEx Smartpost…can I offer them to pay for expedited shipping? Is there a way for them to send me additional funds for shipping after the sale has already been made?

I think the best way to do that would be to cancel the sale and then re-list the item w/ the requested shipping service. The other way you could do it is simply have the buyer send the extra money via PayPal but that’s risky and against eBay rules.

It’d be better to offer free, economy shipping as the default option for your listing and a secondary option of calculated, expedited shipping when you list

Hello. Junk Picker here.Been following you guys a long time. Amazed at what you are doing!
You have youth on your side which is a good thing. keep going! I unfortunately have a 20 year old mind/brain with a 70 year old body. I know now what that saying the mind is willing but the flesh is weak is all about! Ha! Been doing ebay awhile but only as a one man op. maybe i’ll post some of my selling info in the future. regards.

Another solid week. We are running between 4500-5500 in any given 7 day period. So excited to see you guys growing and building! The site looks great and I am loving posting from my phone. Hopefully I can be more active now that I can post from mobile.

Getting the feel for the new forum. Very nice to be able to comment from my phone. Thank you guys so much for all you do? I can never get over how much you two have going on!

Oct 23 – Oct 29

Items in store – 672
Items sold – 29
Cost of items sold – $ 73.10
Total sales – $ 1212.74
Highest price sold – $ 199.99 Dulcimer
Average price sold – $41.81
Returns – 1
Money spent on new inventory this week – $139.62
Number of Items listed this week – 32

Best week yet… Some high price items definitely helped–a $200 dulcimer ($4 at Goodwill) and a $125 vintage Tommy Hilfiger jacket ($8 at a thrift shop).

Love the new forum!

Week of: 10/23-10/29

Total Items in Store: 465 (approx)
Items Sold: 7
Total Sales: 290.96
Highest price: 69.99 (Vintage Green Day Shirt)
Average Price Sold: $41.56
Returns: 0
Cost of Items Sold: $27
Money spent on new inventory this week: 0

Week of: 10/16 -10/22

Total Items in Store: 380 (approx)
Items Sold: 5
Total Sales: 80.98
Highest price: $28.00 ($28.00Mens Tommy Bahama shirt)
Average Price Sold: 16.19
Returns: 0
Cost of Items Sold: $16
Money spent on new inventory this week: 0

Hi all! Congrats on the new site & new building project. Lookin good! I haven’t gotten to listen to the podcast yet as I am on vacation. Two weeks of numbers above. The first was an abysmal week of slow sales. However, that week was not lost as I was getting ready for a trip and bulked up my store with new and relists. Second week is vacation numbers. This is the first time I’ve left my store open while on vacation & changed the handling time. Thanks for the tip Ryanne & Jay! It’s really working out. To think of all the money I’ve left on the table while I’ve taken trips…ack! Sure is nice to hear a cha-ching while on vacation! This week is looking good too. Another week of vacation and then home to mail out.

Hi everyone!

I think I am putting this under the correct episode.

Ryanne was talking about getting 1 years of all sales history from eBay when you do a sold search. I personally do not enjoy having subscription fees for anything. I am not a fan of monthly bills for tools so I have looked for other solutions. I found an iPhone app called “Completely”. I found it when it was free but I think they have an under $10.00 one time purchase fee now. I get 1 year of sales history for my eBay searches and it will also take me to the original eBay listing so you can get the details complete with pictures of the original postings.

Here it is, the Completely Pro for eBay on iTunes. Says it’s $3.99. Wish they had something like this for Android. Thanks Squirrel!

Does anyone know if I can run iTunes apps on my MS PC?