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After traveling for 30 days and not shipping until we returned, we had 108 items to pack. Luckily we were able to find every one of them and get them out the door. Some of my favorite and best sellers were vintage hats.
Podcast: Play in new window | Download
Heads up for the Carpet Obsessed or just those that want to brush up on design and origin:
https://onlineonly.christies.com/s/design-carpets/lots/253
Eve, thanks so much for the link. Lovely pieces.
Welcome home! Must have been fun to have so many items sell while you were gone and having fun elsewhere 🙂 Such cool items too, love the green rug sale! My May has been a bit slow, but random things sell in Maine too. Cheers, MM (link to youtube sales video below, not sure how to embed it)
https://youtu.be/x1Xbgk07GeE
Great video! My May is pretty slow so far also. Gotta keep listing! -Sonia
Great info on your video. Thanks for sharing. Didn't know about the Dansk flatware, cool, thanks.
Love your videos too Kay. The Scandinavian design tips you have given are great.
Ryanne & Jay's clock is so awesome. Totally worth repairing and repainting. I love how you will ship just about anything. You're amazing.
Here is my dog video and some stuff I sold.
https://youtu.be/vuPdvMchfDs
Great video. Thanks for sharing with us.
Collies are such beautiful dogs…
Love your dogs!
I must confess: I fast-forwarded to the doggie part. Awesome footage, with a great background track. 😀 Going back now to see what you sold.
Boy did I just scramble to fix my multiple level screw up. Sold a bunch of old mugs on auction but forgot I didn't change the shipping calculation. So when they sold I pkgd them all up and when I went to pay for shipping I realized half of them were going to Cali for almost double the price of what I charged. I hate 1lb few ounces. 2lbs gets expensive for priority. So I thought of those 8x5x4 boxes that will fit in a padded mailer but I didnt have any. So I took the shoebox priority box and marked 4" tall on both sides and then just cut across the middle. It was very easy to make 2 boxes out of it that fit in my padded flat rate envelopes. So now I'm not out money. And I kind of like that idea. I may make more of the boxes.
My hats off to you Ryanne. I don't see how you ship so much after a vacation. I was tired after my 11 boxes of similar items.
Anne, that was ingenius. I am saving that idea!
I am intrigued. I will have to try this. I absolutely love those padded flat rate mailers. I never thought to combine a box with the mailer.
I keep a stockpile of boxes to put in the envelopes (7X5X4), but I'm spending about 30 cents a box. It's still worth it to me, but free is better. Great Idea..
I always meant to buy smaller boxes but just never did. But .30 is a lot for a cheap item like the auction mugs I had. I'll still box most of my mugs that go for higher but for lower cost items I'll make my freebie boxes.
So if you mark the USPS Priority shoe box 9.25" in from the edge from both sides while laying flat, you get two perfect length boxes. You have to cut twice because if you cut in the middle only, the 2 boxes will be 1/2" too tall and not fit in the envelope.
After cutting, you can take the box resizer tool and set it to 2.5" and zip around the new bottom to size the box to perfect length flaps.
It takes about 2-3 minutes to make 2 boxes this way.
More good ideas for using USPS packaging: http://youtu.be/4F-S2wjHhNI
Last night I just cut the box straight across the middle to make two pieces. Then I marked it at 4" from the bottom not counting the flaps. Then I cut on all corners to make top flaps and that's it. Mine fit fine. Although now doing it both flat and partially built, it seemed easier for me to cut thru the one layer of cardboard and rotate and easier to measure since I had a flat bottom base.
Ah well you can always just leave the flaps longer so they overlap. My shipping anal-ness won't let me overlap the flaps if I can avoid it. Lol.
It pains me every time I use the resizer tool, no matter how thankful I am for it.
great stuff; what is your ebay store called?
if you email us, we'll tell you.
TheScavengerLife@gmail.com
Another newsworthy note regarding the economy from the AP:
http://bigstory.ap.org/article/965e48ed609245539ed315f83e01b6a2
Truly a sad read. My wife and I all the time discuss how other people we know who make half of what I make seem to have more than double what we have. The only logical assumption is that these people have tens of thousands of dollars of credit card debt.
As for me, yeah I can pay a $1000 emergency. I've been doing it multiple times a year for the last few years but they've been more than $1k a pop. It's like Karma can sense my bank account growing and must do something about it. Lol!
Retro,
As the old saying goes "it's only when the tide goes out that you find out who's been swimming naked"
I can totally relate about Karma sensing your bank account growing – Karma is taking $15K from me for dental implants this year. This getting old thing is highly overrated IMHO. 🙁
Jeanette, that is a great quote. Ha! I suspect we have all been a bit naked from time to time. Those unexpected emergencies do pop up all of our lives. So why don't we expect them? It's like not being ready for Christmas. Doesn't it come on the same day every year?
Welcome back from vacation and glad that your store did so well in your absence!
Wanted to ask how often people go in and tweak SEO words for their listings. I know it can be useful, I haven't done it for a long time but think I should. I have some nice items at great prices, but just don't see the traffic I'm hoping for. Things are selling somewhat routinely, but not blazing sales by any means. I'm a Top Rated Plus Seller offering 30 day returns, etc.
Curious what others do regarding SEO, encouraging positive feedback and more to increase traffic. I continue to list, am close to 500 items now. I have learned a lot here and am grateful. Thanks! Candace
About six months ago, we all had a somewhat confusing conversation about how to update SEO keywords in an eBay store. We followed people's suggestions and so zero difference. No bump in sales. We just do the research and list as appropriate.
It's smart that you have nice items at great prices, but it's important to judge if you think these are items that are actually sought after everyday. We have nice items too, but we have no illusions that they are very niche.
At 500 items, I'd expect you to sell about 30-50 items a month. This is obviously a guess since I dont know what you sell, but I feel some sellers have unrealistic ideas of how much they should sell. If it's more, then you're already doing great!
On Amazon, the sellers who move multiple items a day are selling very practical items at insanely cheap prices. They may have volume, but their profit margins are razor thin.
You need to balance the logic between volume and profit. We're in the camp of being patient so we make large profits per item. Our volume is about the amount of listings in our store so there's more to choose from. We each choose the strategy that works for us.
Being a Top Rated Plus Seller and offering 30 day returns is the baseline. It's like saying you have a high school diploma. If you have a lower rating, then it hurts you.
Try to experiment with SEO, etc. Let us know how it goes. I'd love to hear the results.
I have now 200 items on eBay because of the limitations. Retired several low price, low margin items with less but a lot more profitable (if I sell one or two of the new will give 50% more profit than the ones I retired).
Also, I am selling close to 30 items a months and was about to pass the $2k sales, which I will not make it in may because of the impossibility to list (vicious circle).
eBay was receptive for the first time to increase my dollar allowance in June though.
I go in and tweak keywords sometimes, not regularly. As you sell you learn more about a good title and when I learn something new I will go in and change things sometimes. If you google ebay SEO there are some good videos and blogposts about this topic
Hi, Jay,
Thanks for replying so quickly. Glad to know about your own experience with SEO key words.
So far in May I've sold 15 items for a total of $274 plus change. I might reach 30 items or more this month. I think I'm somewhere in the "average" range.
You're right about the idea of sought after items. Not everything listed in a person's store is sought after. I'm sure I could empty my store fairly quickly if I sold for just 3x what I paid but I try to do a bit better than that. And I am more content to wait for the higher price than not.
The most reasonable thing I know to do is continue to list and try to price fairly. I do look at previously sold items when preparing to list.
If you have time, can you tell me if you do anything in particular to encourage feedback? Thx again, Candace
In our early days, we stressed about getting feedback. Now we don;t even think about it. About 50% of buyers leave feedback without prompting. And I;d rather have no feedback than bad feedback. I feel like pestering buyers opens us up to negative feedback.
Candace one thing that I think may increase the likelihood of getting feedback is leaving the buyer feedback. I used to wait until the buyer left me feedback. Now I leave them positive feedback as soon as they pay. I have it set up automatically. As Jay said there it's not good to pester they buyer in fact I get annoyed when I seller pesters me for feedback.
Interesting!!!!!!!! Some comments:
(1) Tote Bags: I have about 10 vintage Tote Bags like the one in the cast. Mine are technology related. They are just about collecting dust. Could never imagine to put them for sale, thank you!!
(2) iPad Nano: I have one highlight green, my companion. If I found another would keep for myself 🙂 Chaning my mind now
(3) Channel Master: Had one slightly newer, sold a week before coming back to eBay on a garage sale. Regret, remorse.
(4) Ratchet: A month ago purchased a lot of antique heavy tools on my weekly on line Auction. The ratchet sold a day after I listed. I learned a lot about such tools. Incredibly – like anything else in America – there are sites, collectors, history, market. I managed to find mine with serial number and the most crazy things for a tool. It was purchased not by a collector though, someone who wanted/needed to use it.
(5) Samsonite Bag: In the same yard sale I have sold one of those, it ass dark black, together with other ~20 similar bags. I think I got $12 for everything 🙁
(6) Dutch merchandise: great ideas for me to bring things from Turkey to sell, thank you again.
(7) Oregon U pennant + Harvard mug: I have a large flannel beautiful Harvard pennant from my Step Father from the 70's. I have it stored forever. Will look for it and list it (whenever eBay allows me). Getting traction on Etsy.
Funny you should say that, Jay. One time I did check with a buyer just to see how she liked a formal gown she'd purchased. I think my interest in the lady's satisfaction caused her to decide to return it since it was "exactly" what she was looking for. If I'd left things alone, she may have kept the gown! I did get a 20% restock fee on it, but I'd prefer she'd have kept it. Now, I steer clear of asking. About 50% of buyers seem to leave feedback automatically like you said and that's appreciated. I don't go looking for it, though. My early experience "cured" me. Some people do send cards or stickers on their items asking for positive feedback, but I wonder if that is more of an annoyance to the buyer than it's worth. I appreciate your replies today–thank you. Anyone else have thoughts or experiences regarding obtaining (positive) feedback? Candace
I send a nice THANK YOU card everytime, Doesn't ask for feedback or anything, does not seem to have changed anything for the people who would not give feedback. For the people who give feedback though, they add nice words about my packaging, and this is now a piece of my store brand (premium packaging).
I was sending a card thanking them for their purchase and (Please don't forget to leave 5* feedback.) Then I heard on the podcast a lady saying she hated for people to do that so I quit. I'm not getting as many feedbacks as I was when I was including the card.
If the card was working for you then why not continue. Not everyone hates getting a thank you card that also asks for feedback. Or see if sending a thank you card without asking for feedback works.
"wasn't" exactly what she was looking for…
Candace
No, I think you had it right the first time. She probably used it for a function and then returned it to you once she was done. Pretty cheap "rent" for a nice formal dress.
Hey guys, I'm currently waiting for my number to port over to Ting. I used your referral link, so hopefully that mostly pays for your phone bill this month. 😀
Thanks Christina. Ryanne just had to have an issue with her phone fixed and Ting was awesome. Fixed the issue immediately. I really want them to stay small and independent because its the best customer service we've ever had with a phone company.
Hi there, Retro,
Before the dress came back to us, my husband and I were both thinking that the woman may have used the dress and then decided to return. But, she didn't have it very long and when it did return there were no signs of any use whatsoever. It was in good enough shape to re-list as was. So, I do believe that she felt she wanted something different. We were SO relieved when the dress returned in the same shape we sent it. And, I agree with you. I think some people do use eBay formal clothing as cheap rentals. It's a risk sellers take. At least the dress was in great shape and the restocking fee was properly assessed.
Thanks, Paulo, for the thank you card idea. Nice touch!
Candace
Hi, Nancy,
Thanks for your comment about feedback. I'm of the same mind as you. I don't know how much difference it makes as regards feedback I receive, however.
From the start, I have left positive feedback for buyers who pay immediately–that's a big plus and I think deserves positive attention. I don't wait for people to leave feedback for me. I feel they did right by me to start, why not say something nice right off the bat.
For the very few stinkers that have passed my way, I simply don't say anything. One very nasty person I had to block. In that situation, eBay backed me and removed their feedback.
Overall, buyers have been decent. But I think we all come across someone we wish would never have found us in the first place. May those people be far & few between! Candace
Hello,
Has anybody here ever tried Storage Locker auctions?
Yep, we've gone to a couple storage auctions. Doesn't make sense. Why bet several hundred dollars or more for items you cant see? I'd rather scavenge items that are a known quantity.
There was one guy who commented here last year who said he loved storage auctions. But other sellers say it's almost always just junk. You end up taking half of it to the dump.
and remember that it costs money to haul mass amounts to most dumps–I consider it a waste of time myself, keep in mind that television show about it is completely phoney with planted items, all that show did was drive bid prices upward.
Thank you Jay and Sue, your comments make sense. Really clear also for me to focus on getting better on what we do.
Thnx much
The world is full of items that are not worth putting on ebay.
Sounds like another mug!
I love storage auctions. You have to have an area to sort, and you have to sell on different avenues. Yard sale for $1 items. Craigslist/Facebook for furniture. Ebay for collectible items. I have not purchased any in a while because I have been focusing on ebay, but I definitely will in the future. It is like one huge box lot. If you have never been, go to several before you buy.
So good news and bad news.
The good news is that I have been hitting listing hard this week and crossed 300 items for the first time.
The bad news is that I have a freaking cap on my listings! I got cut off at 301! I have been an ebay member since 2000 and have been actively selling now for 6+ years, but in spurts until this June when I ramped up and started reselling. I have a basic store, top rated seller status, and perfect feedback.
I am wanting to hit 500 listings over the next 2-3 weeks and upgrade my store. So frustrating!!! On phone with ebay now to try and sort this out.
How has everyone else dealt with this?
Ah well problem solved. It seems that because I have been a member since 2000 was the problem. All old accounts from that era were grandfathered into the new "cap limit" system with a cap of 300 items and 15k in inventory.
They assessed my account and said I could have basically whatever I wanted so I asked for 1000 items and 40k in inventory to get me through the rest of this year and they gave me 1000 and 45k. Also they said Once I get close to that I can call in and they'll give me whatever my next goal is without issue.
Cool. I've found that eBay raises your limits really fast once you have a couple months of successful selling data.
Retro, you can call every 30 days to ask for an increase, and I would suggest doing so. Plus, back in the winter, I had Ebay do a review of my store, which was very helpful. The CS Rep suggested goals for my store, and I was able to get my limits increased over the next couple of months. He suggested that I always stay in the middle of my limits, and not wait until I was so close to the max.
I had the same experience as you Retro T. I had a very old account. They upped my limit when I asked but the auto increases haven't happened so I just call and they increase it again for me.
Retro, my experience was similar to yours. I started my original account in 1998. My new account, which I use as my business account, was initially stalled by listing limits. I called twice and each time the limits were raised based on the longevity of my original account. Now the limits are raised automatically as I get close to each one. I've found it to be a smooth process.
Loved seeing everything you sold. But that tooth pulling artwork was amazing and put a huge smile on my face. We did that with one of our kids when he was little. LOL
Re: Feedback.
Doesn't automatic positive feedback defeat the purpose of feedback? It would be like the buyer leaving positive feedback before they received the item. And from what I gather, it's impossible (and actually against the rules) for sellers to leave anything but positive feedback for buyers.
How can sellers evaluate a buyer (or person making an offer) if every buyer's feedback is an automatic message? "Great ebayer!!!" This also seems to totally defeat the purpose of feedback. Ebay feedback that sellers are encouraged to give is at best useless and at worst a system that blinds sellers to possible bad actors. I'm not stressed about it, but it seems almost Kafkaesque.
Maybe most of it was in my head but Watchcount seemed to help me assess buyers. I don't miss it as much as I thought I would, but every ten sales or so, I catch myself thinking it would come in handy.
I agree that its useless for eBay sellers to leave feedback for buyers. It's a throwback to the old system.
When eBay sellers could leave bad feedback for buyers, there would be bitter wars over transactions on the feedback. Once eBay realized buyers would see eBay as a hostile place to buy (and other selling platforms were moving in), they took away seller's ability to leave only positive feedback.
We just do automatic positive feedback when a buyer pays because its the most efficient thing to do. On Amazon, sellers cant leave any feedback for a buyer (AFAIK).
And yes, Watchcount was asked by eBay to remove the ability to see a buyer's history.
I got into a few of those feedback wars with bad actors back in the day–I think ebay should do what etsy does–no feedback for buyers, it is indeed useless although I do leave it for payment rendered. As for the Watchcount thing, I don't get why ebay gets less and less transparent for its sellers, this leaves a bad taste in my mouth.
The only reason buyers leave feedback is because of the old ebay system. If it weren't ingrained in people to leave feedback, no one would.
Case in point – Amazon and Bonanza. I've never received a single feedback at either place.
In reality both seller and buyer feedback is worthless. The only thing a buyer can screw up is not paying. There is a defect for that.
All seller issues are typically tied to "item not as described" cases, which there is a defect system for. If the seller resolves it, no problem.
All feedback should go away. It is useless.
I had an odd thing happen today. Got my first bad feedback in over 1 year. The buyer claims I sold him a glass mirror that was advertised as polished stainless steel and unbreakable. I guess I was really wrong and didnt think to just advertise as unknown mirror material. I have sold a few camping mirrors like this and they were all stainless steel. I admit to rushing and making a mistake. Why did the person not demand the money back for his purchase if he was that upset? He wont respond with a picture or any response. I asked him if it was broken when he got it. No answer…..no reply. He just left bad feedback that sounded as if I scammed him so evil and dishonestly. Yet he doesnt want a refund?
worth calling ebay and telling them what you told us. a good message to send is 'i'm happy to take a return or send a refund if i've made a mistake'. ebay will want you to say that if they are going to consider taking the feedback down.
We also rarely get neutral or negative feedback, but when we do, it's the same experience you had.
The buyer doesn't ask for a refund or want anything. They don;t respond to messages. They're just being grumpy.
Our method is to write the buyer and offer a full refund if unsatisfied. Even if they don't respond, you can then call eBay to see if they'll remove the feedback since the buyer is not asking for a refund. Why would you want to keep an item that you don;t like?
Sometimes this works and sometimes not. Unfortunately that's the buyer's right to have a negative opinion. It wont hurt your sales.
Hey Jay and Ryanne and fellow scavengers, here's my latest sale update video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=knGA76sp6wQ
Why I am glad that I don't put all my eggs in one basket–1 sale this week on ebay, but 7 so far on etsy!
I started my Etsy as per your tip and the other colleagues Sue. A lot of traffic, preferred items every day. Fingers crossed to have my first sale there.
My eCrater Store is twice the size of eBay. Bonanza is larger too.
Confident they will start contributing soon.
Today Amazon and Grailed are helping to keep growing (slowly) the $2000/month sales. If those two get traction, I can go back to growing again.
Also, ABOUT THE NEW AMAZON CONSTRAINTS, the newly restricted products If i simply restock them (any one I had listed before), it still allows me to increase from 0 to whatever.
Also, other variations of the softwares I had and never tried to list, it allows me still. So this gave me good room for my arbitrage income (each product gives me 100% margin)
good to hear you started up at etsy Paulo, my only tip is that you consider promoted listing and use media to promote your store–that is the trade-off for cheaper costs at etsy
Whoa is it just me or is the ebay selling process different now? First where did my saved templates go? Secondly it's all white washed and some may prefer this look but it makes me miss stuff since there's no color or line break up. I don't like it! Can I revert back to the old style? I may get used to it and love it but right now it's scaring me away.
You can find the templates here: http://cgi5.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ManageTemplate
I suggest bookmarking the page
Thanks, Simon. That's good to know. I did bookmark it.
That link does not work for me… I get a "Page Not Responding" page.
I'm having to copy and paste from old item pages to recreate in the new system. This is mainly because I've created line drawings of clothing articles showing where we measure. Those drawing are imbedded in the html of the item description area with a link to our Dropbox file holding the drawings.
We also can't find how to save these new listings as templates.
I'll probably just copy the HTML into word processing documents in case eBay changes something causing me to loose my work.
Cropping is trickier, I take pics of barcodes so I can toggle and type the number in on the upc field but now Everytime you toggle back it erases what you've typed. Well hell Everytime I click anywhere on the screen it erases my upc. That's a glitch. Font size and colors are gone from the typing area, etc. I have a lot of listing that may not get done today until at least the upc part is fixed.
font sizes are still there – you just have to click "more" to get it (at least I think it's called "more" – it's a link on top of the text box. I *love* the new interface. It makes listing much more pleasant. Hopefully they will fix any big glitches like the upc one you mention soon. – Sonia
I don't like a few things about it and I agree I prefer line breaks for my tired eyes and the template being gone is definitely a hassle but I do find its faster and I love the category finder. After you put in your title and hit the find category button it finds it for you while you stay on the same page. No leaving for a pop up window. With anything you play by the rules and adapt.
Count me as a big fan of the new listing page–way faster, IMO.
I just got done listing a few items and I'm thrilled with the new listing page. The old page felt like it was written for a version of Internet Explorer from 1998. The new one seems to operate much better plus "Or Best Offer" is not selected by default any more!!
I can crank out drafts on the pc with the new layout. Love it!
I listed 34 items with the new listing page yesterday. Today, it is back to the old listing page. What happened. Is there a way to get it back? I love not having to "go to the next page" and the pictures are easier to rearrange.
I always do whatever I can to make the customer happy. Refunds or a replacement item if i have it are my first response to an unhappy buyer. My return policy is "30 dAy no questions asked returns". I really dont have many unhappy's ….once in a while I make a small mistake which can seem like a big deal to a buyer. In this case I had no chance to do a thing………no contact was made. It was an immediate negative feedback with no message or requests. I think the reason I have had only 4 negatives in 7 years is because I am an insta refunder or return taker. Not too many sellers are like that anymore. Oh by the way…….this person is an eBay member for less than 6 months with a total of 5 feedbacks.
That's a good policy. We also do 30-day returns for any reason. Makes it simpler. But bad feedback can happen. It's usually not about you; it's probably something going in in their life.
No big deal. Just keep selling and flush it out.
I think I may have scored today! I got a vintage Made in USA wool and leather letterman's jacket for….$1! It's still in the pile of stuff I got and I haven't researched it yet, but I've got that thrifter's high.
That's a great feeling. Ryanne and I had a great time scavenging earlier this week and had that feeling for a full day.
Here is a short but interesting article that may shed a little light on slumping sales especially if you offer a lot of clothing and a little good news for the home decor items. Also make sure you clcik on the middle link in the article about the Amazon Effect hitting these stores now. mike in Atlanta
http://www.msn.com/en-us/money/companies/since-no-one-is-buying-clothes-here%E2%80%99s-what-stores-are-selling-instead/ar-BBthARw?li=BBnbfcL
This is just a continuing of the saga that the US is overflowing with stuff. Not only do we have too much stuff pouring out of our closets, they keep making more to sell to us.
These stories reinforce our strategy of scavenging and selling weird, vintage stuff. The stuff that isn't being made anymore.
That is about right Jay. Also, the article is consumer retail oriented. We have considerable studies, books talking about market stress, or overflow as Jay puts it.
Not only the China/India scenario, we also have Romania, Pakistan, Indonesia. Even designers (who would say 2 years back we would have Eemenegildo Zegna made in Romania? Even more succesfull lines).
The flip side is the Long Tail market that Jay also mentions about.
Just paraphrasing the Long Tail market theory, we have each day more and more people looking for more and more unique, special, individual, exclusive, rare, vintage, or antique items.
This is true under several business and market perspectives.
One example in my area, people looking for Windows XP-Vista-7-8.1 path to save about 50% of the cash to have a legal version of Windows 10.
People looking for previous versions of Office that are more than enough and way cheaper than 2013 or O365 versions today to do everything related to productivity needs.
And I am focusing on items with real personal or professional neex/use.
Consider the novelty or collectibles, not to mention the fashion factor (for those who follow, stronger fashion trend worldwide is the "Fashion is Dead" trend, that states all creation and creativity on fashion has been made and produced, so no need to go and buy more of the same "new collections", go second hand and thrifting and you will be ahead of fashion)
See the color the summer (1950's orange) and so on.
Went out of town and popped into a fancy Goodwill. It was so organized it really felt like a retail store. All the shirts were divided by color and had their own circle rack per color. And 3 dollars for a t shirt. I stayed all of 3 minutes and bounced. It felt too weird in there.
On the flip side I sold a plush from my local GW for 70 dollars. It went west coast so it would have cost my buyer 30 dollars for shipping but I share the shipping discount so it was almost half that. I can't imagine paying that much to ship a plush bear. My week was dead slow and then yesterday I had a flurry of sales.
I am planning a trip to unexplored thrift in a new to me city. I look at higher priced stuff as potentially really big profit or really fast profit items. The higher prices might be a sign of how fresh the stuff is in the store. One of the stores I loved 3 weeks ago was really stale today. They aren't putting new stuff in. They have $1.50 shirts and $3.00 pants but there is nothing there now.
Anne was that a GW "boutique?" that is where they send their fancier items around here.
I don't think it was but Ive never heard of a GW boutique. That would be interesting to at least see. I like the junky goodwills and I'm glad I gave two great ones nearby.
Been super slow for me. But I only have 153 items (which is the most i've had) 2 boys graduating, no time to scavenge and leaving for Spain next Friday for 12 days. Wondering how to handle my low item store while Im gone. I know J&R extend the shipping time, but wonder if it's worth it with only 153 items? Would appreciate any advice. Also have been discouraged in the GW and other thrift shops here in Houston- just too darn pricey. I look for the 3x return when I buy. TIA for any advice.
I have around 230 items in my store and had close to what you have last year when I traveled for several weeks. I changed the handling time to 3 weeks and sold several items. It's easy to change handling time with the bulk editing tool, I would totally do it. There's nothing like selling things while you're off having fun!
Yes, just put an extended handling time. Last Christmas I only had about 100 items up and I sold a few items while I was on vacation. It truly is amazing when things sell and you are away from home.
I am also low volume. For departures of 7 days or less during the year where I’ll have good cell coverage, I do the extended handling (and emailing buyers like Jay & Ryanne do to give them the option of canceling) and it has worked fine. For June and July when I have extended camping trips and/or travel where a daily check on my selling account may be difficult I go ahead and end my listings, then simply relist everything when I get back. If it were me going to Spain for 12 days, that’s what I would do so I wouldn’t have to worry about it. And be sure to do it at least 24 hours before you leave so you don’t get a last minute purchase that you have to worry about boxing up and shipping when you’re headed to the airport. As for sourcing, areas differ as to where there is fruitful picking and it also depends on your preferred inventory items. I very rarely find anything worthwhile for resale in thrift stores and I wouldn’t spend any time in them at all if I also didn’t shop for myself. Yard sales, flea markets, estate sales, and auctions can be better sources, depending on the area and what you want to sell.
Anybody using this? It's pretty cool. http://finalfeecalculator.com/
Thanks Mike, that's a good one.
Venezuela is now where retail arbitrage is hot due to empty grocery shelves:
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/business/2016/05/21/venezuela-how-the-socialist-paradise-turned-into-debt-and-hyperi/
Being friendly and patient with thrift workers pays off. I went into my favorite local Goodwill yesterday and as soon as I entered the cashier said " We've been waiting for you to come in all week! Our manager has a big box of size 15 & 16 mens shoes in the back for you to look at. You're the only person that will buy those sizes."
Huge box with 8 pairs of shoes and boots ranging from 14-16 in size. Union made Cowboy boots, red wing work boots, like new waterproof Columbia hiking shoes…why yes I shall take the entire box.
I've never advertised that I resell, but all the employees there know and are really awesome and helpful.
I once had an employee I was friendly with hold back a pair of Levis Big E jeans for me (value at the time around $250) I flipped her $50–she looked a little stunned, but I felt that in that case it was the right thing to do.
I was talking to a woman stocking the shelves the Goodwill closest to me yesterday and I told her I resell on eBay. She has a friend who does so as well. We got to talking about pricing and found that all the items donated are sent to at a regional warehouse for pricing. I also found out when the trucks come in and items are put out. However if something is not tagged with a price she gets to price it. I had just found an Etienne Aigner handbag the she tore off the the tag and gave me a 40% discount. I later found a pair of Big Boys US size 5 made in England Doc Martins shoes that were not tagged. Priced them at 50% of what the other boys shoes were priced at. It can pay to get to know the employees and managers at the thrift stores.
From Midwest Junker
Sadly some of the above scenarios can and will get these employees fired.I suppose each employee makes their choices however please keep in mind that Goodwill employees many people who have difficulty being hired elsewhere or may be developmentally disabled and have difficulty making good choices. I observed this happen to a very sweet girl who clearly had some cognitive downfalls. What she thought was being nice to the customer was viewed as theft by Goodwill. My heart ached for her when I saw the manager walk her away from the register one day and I never saw her working there again.I was thankful I was not the customer wishing for her generosity.
I believe the managers of the Goodwills in my region have some leeway in pricing to make the sale at their store rather than have the merchandise end up at the Goodwill Outlets. She was actually pulling the merchandise that would go to the Outlet if it did not sell by the next day to put together in one place so the customers didn't have to search for that color. They had also changed their rules back to more 50% of and $1.99 days after having cut down on them and loosing sales. It seems they are starting to listen to customer complaints about pricing after loosing so many customers.
Sales this week were great, no slowdown was noticed. We also had some decent sales in terms of the number of items over $25. I'll be making our What Sold video probably today and posting it for you here later!