Wendy talks to Ben from Voodoo Vintage & Estate in New Orleans. He’s been finding some very unique NOLA items at estate sales and selling with great success through ebay. All it took was one phone call from Wendy to convince him that opening an eBay store was the right thing to do!
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I loved this interview with Ben. It's clear to me now that there are people who are natural scavengers. They've always been scavengers. I don't think the love of scavenging can be taught. All we're doing is adding eBay into the mix, which is just a way to sell without all the overhead of a physical store.
I'm glad Ben said that getting started on eBay isn't hard, but it takes a lot of work. It's not for babies. I recently posted the "manifesto" basically saying th same thing: http://ebayscavengers.blogspot.com/p/manifesto.html
Thanks for sharing your store with us Ben! Looked over your store and it looks great! I especially like your Ouija Board Listing … "FROM NEW ORLEANS SO YOU KNOW IT'S CHARGED WITH MOJO!"
That LITERALLY makes me want to buy it, but being a reseller obviously I'm way to cheap to give you your asking price! Ha Ha!
Great show!
BK
Thanks y'all I definitely had fun being part of the podcast. It's funny I don't think of it in terms of scavenging its all about identifying value and recognizing the abundance that surrounds us and how to make it work for you. In a way I agree that there is a certain gift that it takes to think in these terms no matter how you label it.
It really feels like a secret society in some ways because when you are armed with this knowledge you can do so much. I look at people going around and collecting cans and they too are living off of the waste stream the only thing that makes eBay scavengers different is that there is another formula. I also look at the people miserable with their jobs and wonder if they only knew how easy this was if you only put the work in
I guess also that I think a huge differentiating factor in my mind is ones ability to research and acquire the knowledge of value and also be able to get into the mindset of a collector. Jay you always say list list list and obviously that needs to happen for it to work but I think taking the time to research and learn about as much as you can really makes you informed in such an advantageous way. So my addendum to that would be research research research figure out what is sought after and what is worth.
In this process I have become a vinyl collector and audiophile. It's been extremely helpful in sharpening my eye to what "collectors" of all sort are looking for and what meets the premium criteria.
Anyway keep up the great work! Always really learn a lot from you all. Also jay it is pretty hilarious but when I look up a vintage jacket or another article of vintage men's clothing I almost inevitably get a picture of you modeling the exact same item in my search results.
Great store and Podcast Ben. I bet New Orleans is a great place to go picking!
Hello everyone,
I was wondering about opening a store. I have 200 items listed thus far all fixed. I get charged. .30 per listing. it seems only smart to open a store. I looked at the limits… It says on the ebay page that there is a limit to the listings? 150, 500, 2500. Is this true and if so how do people get over 2000 items on to their store? Thanks this podcast rocks, and great interview w Ben. I enjoy the interviews…it really gets a person pumped to go check out their own areas for treasure!
Thanks again,
paul
hey paul
check out the ebay store fee calculator to figure out what store works best for you—
http://www.fees.ebay.com/feeweb/feeillustrator
we realized that the highest level was more economically advantageous to us. i don't think there are limits to listing, we have almost 2800 items in our store. i think the limits are how much the store fee covers.
Paul,
The selling limits seemed to be intended to make sure people do not get overwhelmed who are relatively new to ebay. The more you sell eBay will reasses your limits and raise your limits. I believe they start you at 100/month. I have been selling pretty regularly for 9 months and they have raised my limit to 480. This might change when you open a store though. Great question.
-Charles
another good podcast. I just posted my first items on ebay today. Thanks for the inspiration to turn my crap from the basement into some cash. Sending out my 1st order tomorrow! $6 sale! Hahahaha
The experience you will gain even from a $6 dollar sale is invaluable. Keep going, the key is to find items cheap enough and be able to sell for $20+ range.
Thanks Steven! All items were free and just checked my paypal and it's at $120! I listed 50 items yesterday
Thats awesome. I have learned the hard way of over paying for some items. When you start hitting garage sales etc., you cant hardly go wrong for 25 cents or 50 cents. Least from my experience.
Sigh…
Yeah, learned the free shipping lesson the hard way today. Charged $10 for Australian shipping (which should have been $52!!!!). I thought stickers would be cheap to send. What a dumb ass.
Any tips on figuring out shipping cost before listing?
Gotta blow it, to know it! Hahaha
hey there
you can use the USPS shipping calculator for figuring out prices here–
http://postcalc.usps.com/
also, ebay provides a calculator by size and weight on all your non-free shipping listings. hope that helps!
I just weigh the items, pad the numbers by .5 to 1lb depending on how much packaging is needed and let eBay automaticaly calculate the shipping price.
Since I'm focused on small items most stuff just goes into a padded flat rate envelope which is only $23.95 to send anywhere internationally and $5.95 domestic.
Ryanne/Mikey
I really appreciate all your help!