Scavenger Life Episode 351: Being Frugal Is Not A Secret Club

03/04/18 – 03/10/18

Items In Store: 2,242
Items Sold: 22
Cost of Items Sold: $75 (around)
Total Sales: $695
HIghest Price Sold: $52 (Johnstone & Murphy shoes)

Average Price Sold: $31.59
Returns: 2
Money Spent on New Inventory This Week: $ 72
Number of Items listed this week: 0

The sales felt slow and low dollar, but at the end of the week it was a good week. Anytime i am close to $700 with my store at this point is a good week. The promoted listings continue to help.

Mark

Store Week 3/4/18 – 3/10/18

Total items in store: 1615
Items sold: 21
Cost of items sold: $25.39
Total sales: $731.87
Highest price sold: $140.00 (Sami Laplander Fur Boots)
Average price sold: $34.85
Returns: 1 (size)
Money spent on new inventory this week: $24.40

I went to the only estate sales I could find this weekend. It had lots of beautiful items, but they were definitely priced accordingly, and way too high to resell. But as usual, there were a few good “hidden value” items, that were priced low and I know I can sell high. I love that my experience has taught me to look for these items!

03/04/18 – 03/10/18

Items In Store: 877 + 513 + 193 + 1057 = 2,640 items in store
Items Sold: 24 + 11 + 9 + 8 = 52 items sold
Total Sales: $429 + $184 + $264 + $167 = $1,044
Highest Price Sold: $65 Fendi Shoes, $50 Vtg Italian Flip Drip Coffee Maker, $45 Lilly Pulitzer Dress
Average Price Sold: $20.08
Returns: 1
Money Spent on New Inventory This Week: $ 60
Number of Items listed this week: 70

For the next couple weeks, we are getting our house ready to sell so I’m going to stop buying inventory for a while and list things from my house. I’m going to be busy packing and purging and hopefully getting things listed.

Mrs. Frugalwoods’s book is really good. I haven’t listened to the interview yet, but I preordered the book because I love her blog. Early Retirement/Frugal Living isn’t rocket science, but you’re right that most people don’t want to hear what it would take for them to get there. We’re an open book on numbers and we’re open that we’re frugal, paid off our house asap, at this point work mainly for health insurance and not income, etc. We still get the “oh, I could never do that”. Whatever. We aren’t exceptional people and we did it. It’s pretty basic math really.

This country needs real financial education and it needs to start early. I teach my own kids about finances, early retirement, frugality, debt avoidance, etc. and they learn by listening but also by doing. Jay is correct that a lot of problems in this country could be solved by an open conversation about numbers! I tell my friends that the people who look the richest are often one payment away from bankrupcy, and the person dumpster diving bags of coffee beans on the side of the road (me lol) is often the person who actually has the money 😉 Appearances don’t tell the truth, but numbers do.

Great to hear the podcast again! I too am sometimes flabbergasted by how un-agenty people are willing to be over their own lives sometimes.

I had a fairly lame week. The buyer of my awesomecool MCM coffee table started a return due to its getting gouged in transport… really too bad and I should’ve added more cardboard (especially to the top) in retrospect. So we agreed on a $250 partial refund. That item was still profitable but taking the hit this week makes things look bleak. A lot of lower-dollar sales… can’t complain, glad to clear them away, but all the same it’s not that exciting.

Sales: CAD$901, 11 items, COGS $106 –> item profit $644
Expenditures: $356 (includes partial refund above) –> cashflow after tax $251
Listed: 3 items, $440 book value. This means I have been eating the seed corn last week & I better get to sowing in this one.
Notable sales: best sale was a toner, $20 –> $230.

Yeah, and the legs could be removed so I shipped them separately. It should’ve worked, it’s my own fault it went wrong as I didn’t have enough thicknesses of cardboard (but lots of bubble wrap).

Week of 3/4-3/10
Total Items in Store: 1,881 (Up 36% YOY)
Number of Items Listed: 121
Number of Items Sold: 84 (Up 9% YOY)
(Includes 5 Etsy, 0 Bonanza, 0 TrueGether)
Weekly STR: 19% (Down 5% YOY)

Total Product Sales: $2,210 (Up 37% YOY)
Cost of Items Sold: $375
Highest Item Sold: $100 – Dolce & Gabbana Italian Butterfly Pocket Denim Jeans
Competition: Highest Priced Sale: Troy wins the week and Troy leads the year at 6-4.

eBay Clothing
# Listed: 1,133
# Sold: 53
STR: 20%
ASP: $26.20

eBay Shoes
# Listed: 119
# Sold: 5
STR: 18%
ASP: $26.96

eBay Hard Goods
# Listed: 629
# Sold: 21
STR: 14%
ASP: $24.49

Etsy Hard Goods
# Listed: 149
# Sold: 5
STR: 14%
ASP: $34.46

It is nice to see our Hard Goods start moving again now that we took FedEx off of our listings. I need to call eBay (again) to get an update on the issue. Also is nice to see Etsy start to pick up as well. Overall, sales were strong this week (as opposed to soft – loved hearing you use that business term Jay!)

Loved your discussion on the reaction to people that hear about the Frugalwoods. It amazes me that most people have these reactions when they hear of someone doing something out of the “norm”. Rather than just absorb what that new style is, see what may work for them to improve their own life, and to let that person have that life…most people attack it. They see it as a threat to them for some reason.

I have had this with our new career in eCommerce. I’m sure you have had it as well. I get it when I talk about my journey to being a thru hiker, or when I talk about people I have seen that have biked across the country, have hiked over 5,000 miles in one continuous loop, people who make a living on penny stocks, etc. People always seem to say what is WRONG with that life, or why they can’t live it, rather than celebrate that someone has that life. You don’t have to agree with all lifestyles, or adopt everything you see, but if your automatic reaction is to reject new perspectives, then you will cease to adapt…and no longer grow.

“You want things but are not willing to do the things to get there.” – Amen to that. People love to want what they see in their social media feed, but don’t want to do the actions to get there. And it is usually simple. Not always easy…but simple.

“Everyone has to find their number.” – Double amen to that. Set goals, live how you want, but know the number it takes to get there.

Week of Mar 4 – 10
* Total Items in Store: 1182
* Items Sold: 18
* Cost of Items Sold: $45.61 + $6.15 Commission
* Total Sales: $401.56
* Highest Price Sold: $100 Hand carved wood mirror
* Average Price Sold: $22.30
* Returns: 0 (1 cancelation)
* Money Spent on New Inventory This Week: $40.25
* Number of items listed this week: 55

Not a bad week for me, and my listing number was pretty awesome. I did go to an auction this past week, but I’m trying to keep my new inventory low. I’ve been able to make great progress on my death piles this year so far, but now I’m left with the stuff that needs to be repaired, tested, or cleaned, so I have to focus.

Great podcast. As far as financial independence, I never really thought much about our numbers until my job moved away and I started selling on Ebay. I used to make more than my husband, but, with the help of my Ebay sales, we have been able to stay in our current home by cutting back.

Our kids are teenagers and our oldest will be off to college in a year and a half. Perhaps we can think about downsizing our house and lowering our expenses. I know that my husband would love to leave his job and do the Ebay thing with me, but that won’t happen with our current mortgage.

Weekly numbers for March 5th – 11th

Total Items in Store: 195
Items Sold: 13
Cost of Items Sold: $38.56
Total Sales: $391.89
Highest Price Sold: $93.94 (Mr. Coffee Cocomotion)
Average Price Sold: $30.15
Returns: 0
Money Spent on New Inventory This Week: $88
Number of items listed this week: 96

It was a slow sales week for me, until Friday when things picked up a bit.

Got a good amount of listing done last week and have 60 more items to list after a good sourcing weekend. My area Salvation Army locations ran a deal where all winter clothing items plus anything with long sleeves was 5 for $5 so I made the most of them selling all long sleeve shirts for $1 each.

My prep and listing process is definitely improving and becoming more efficient though, which is a huge plus. I think 500 items is achievable by the end of March as long as I don’t have something that comes up and sucks away my time.

As always, onwards and upwards!

Week of March 4-10
Total Items in Store: 210ish
Items Sold: 13
Total Sales: $509.90
Highest Price Sold: $60 (candlesticks)
Average Price Sold: $39.20
Returns: 0
1 Global Shipping sale of cooking supplies to England.
$ spent on items this week: More than $60+

I found a stash of ~100 of the same new item for 50 cents each, so I went for it and bought them all. Others have been selling them on eBay for about 10 bucks apiece with cheap and easy but “free” shipping. I am hoping for a (very) slow nickel x 100. If I can just sell a dozen, I’m in the clear.

Items listed: About 15

Pretty grateful for this week for my little store. Two of these items sold after I marked them down, egged on by eBay’s “your items are in buyers’ carts” message.

Forgot to add cost of good sold: About $55-$60. I try to aim for 10% COGS, so this is almost there.

Looking forward to hearing the On Point episode.

I don’t know that we’ll retire ‘early’ but we will retire comfortably. I feel like we are among the most frugal non-retirees on the block. Almost everyone in my office and almost everyone in my spouse’s office buys their lunch every day. We almost never do. I don’t think many if any of my neighbors would stop on the side of the road to pick up ‘trash’, but I would. We buy used clothes and shoes for ourselves, not sure many other people would. Things like that. The financial choice I see and am concerned about: People’s college funding plans for their kids. Are they saving? I think college debt will derail a lot of people – students and their parents who signed the loans – in the next few decades. Plenty of people I know have $50,000-$120,000+ in debt. I know that university isn’t necessary, and community college is a great start, but the pressure around here to attend a ‘good’ private or out-of-state college and live at it for 4 years seems to have overridden concerns about consequences and will limit future choices – exactly what Mrs. Frugalista is saying, I think.

I use eBay $ to get to certain specific goals faster – paying off a loan, saving for a car, or a trip. My next goal is to use it to max out our Roth IRAs every year. It’s a challenge I enjoy and it doesn’t really feel like work most of the time.
In fact, I’m starting to get hooked. I spend time listing, and pretty soon – cha-ching! Pretty addicting.

I haven’t had a chance to listen to the podcast yet, but I just wanted to chime in on people hating the frugality movement. A lot of people are not just against it, but are outright hostile in their attitudes towards it.

If you do not wish to own a car, go out for expensive meals and drinks, own clothing that is very expensive, you are viewed as having something wrong with you. If you are not constantly aspiring to have a lot of money, live outwardly “well,” you are not living life right. If you are in the extreme in your beliefs that you are fine with the minimal amount you have, whatever that is, you are targeted as being mentally ill and are constantly questioned for your stance on living as if you are not able to parse your own life for yourself. You get talked down to like a child for your beliefs.

I can understand people wanting to get the most out of life as they can, especially when they have normal jobs and all there is to do is to buy stuff with the money earned during the limited amount of vacation times provided and weekends. I get it. Nevertheless, not everyone lives under the pressure of this way of living, and does not have to fit into this one mode of dealing.

Total Items in Store: 423
Items Sold: 18
Cost of Items Sold: $104 + $31 free shipping (including one $12 whammy)
Total Sales: $375
Highest Price Sold: $48 New plate https://www.ebay.com/itm/232386798097
Average Price Sold: $21
Returns: 1 for $85 ouch (Buyer misread listing and mistakenly thought getting quantity)
Money Spent on New Inventory This Week: $0
Number of items listed this week: 0

Interesting topic. As far as relatives go, it’s good of you to try to help them learn to be more frugal. It’s best and most effective though to offer help when they are ready to hear it. As for us, I would say that we are not quite your version of frugal. We don’t drive new cars or eat out a lot. We are very heavy on retirement savings. But, we do spend a lot of money on the kids’ lessons and activities. As the kids grow during teen years they get more an more expensive. We also pay a sh*tton of taxes and housing related expenses. I’ve suspended buying inventory and all of my Ebay money will go to the quarterlies coming up, as we’ll lose $15k in SALT itemized deductions under the new tax law. We also typically splurge once a year on a vacation somewhere really nice. If we spend $ it’s on the kids enrichment or on experiences. Sometimes when you talk about traveling, I secretly wish you’d spend a little to see or do things while you were there. Memories are priceless.

Interesting week on Ebay. I’ve been sick all week, so just shipped and didn’t list. Watched more TV and movies than I have in a year – recommend 3 Billboards Outside Ebbing, MO. I had very good results with the buyers with items in carts reductions. 5/7 items sold. mostly RA items. I tend to price on the high end, so I could afford to drop. I sold 9/22 of my .99 auctions. Two or three sold for .99, the rest pretty low dollar, but some over $10. Unfortunately, one managed to have free shipping. Friends, I swear to you that did check this before launching those auctions. Could have been my mistake or a sticky box. I think I did just recoop my purchase price on all items. But, it also generated activity. Over the course of the last year, I have gone away from list it and forget it and more toward anticipating holidays and keeping the store as active as possible with the time I have.

Ebay is trying to accomplish quite a bit in a short period of time, and they need to pay for it all. I find that seller profits are being chipped away little by little – the now puny shipping discount with Ebay labels, try free shipping, try free returns, reduced TRS plus fvf discount, higher fees. The onus is on us as sellers to make sure we are sourcing and listing items that still make sense having enough meat on the bone. 2X the money might no longer make sense for me unless very high dollar. $10 items probably don’t make sense. Not a great time to have a big pile backlog, but something to keep in mind going forward. I really appreciate the what solds people produce. Wish there were more good ones on Youtube. ThePaperCastle is active again, one of my favorites. Have a great week!

Week March 4-10, 2018

Total Items in Store: 903
Items Sold: 23 (2 Amazon)
Cost of Items Sold: $193 (18.1% of sales)
Total Sales: $1,068.92
Highest Price Sold: $155 (Civil War Photo – https://www.ebay.com/itm/192127654597)
Average Price Sold: $46.47
Returns: 0 (1 NPB though)
Money Spent on New Inventory This Week: $406
Number of items listed this week: 34
Promoted listings test: 12 sales, $569.97 (53.3% of total sales), $35.14 fees (6.2% of sales)

Very good week for me, driven by 4x $90+ items selling – the Civil War photo (https://www.ebay.com/itm/192127654597), a pen salesman kit (https://www.ebay.com/itm/201651483166), Allman Brothers LP box set (https://www.ebay.com/itm/192439993584), and a box of pre-WWII drafting pencils (https://www.ebay.com/itm/202253433673). The pencils were part of a lot I bought at an estate sale and I had them all grouped together – a buyer asked if I would sell just that one box for $90 (had the lot up for $225); of course I jumped at that and still have the rest to sell that are all profit now.

Second straight weekend of not going out and sourcing… instead kept my head down listing my backlog of items. Got 34 items up this week after 52 last week. Didn’t get everything listed, but made a very significant & noticeable dent in my piles/baskets of items.

Here are my numbers for this week:

Total Items in Store: 2190
Items Sold: 37
Total Sales: $822
Cost of Items Sold: $76
Average Price Sold: $22.22
Average Cost of Item: $2.07
Highest Price Item Sold: $78.95 Truxton Sega Genesis game (found in a big box of games that I paid $10 for).
Number of items listed this week: 46
Average age of items in store (in days since listing): 310
Average number of days between listing and selling this week: 154
Median age of sales (in days, between listing and selling): 57
Sell-through rate (for the week): 1.69%
# of Hats Sold: 26 (70% of sales)

I haven’t posted for a couple of weeks but things have been surprisingly busy on the eBay front. The prior 2 weeks to this one I had over $1,000 in sales each week which was pretty great. This week I was on a business trip and I had long handling times which probably has a slight impact on sales.

In regard to the lifestyle discussion, I know what it would take for me to quit my full time gig. I’d need to move to a different state to get my cost of living down. It’s not going to happen right now because I have my family to think about. For most people considering the Frugalwoods lifestyle, there are going to be some significant concessions required and the vast majority of people aren’t going to consider those concessions worthwhile. Understandably. I think the most important thing is that people need ton know that there are other lifestyle choices that most of us can make to considerable change our lives (especially our later lives). That way at least people are making a conscious decision about which path they are going to follow rather than just blindly copying what everyone else does.

Regarding Public Schools teaching skills such as balancing a checkbook, etc…
I teach high school and 2 of the schools that I have taught at (Tennessee) offer Dave Ramsey curriculum as a personal finance credit (required) which I think is awesome. Just thought I’d share that. Great podcast!

Numbers for the week of 2/4/18:
Total Items in Store: 137
Items Sold: 15
Cost of Items Sold: $55
Total Sales: $562 + shipping
Highest Price Sold: $109 (Fiesta Ware)
Average Price Sold: $37.46
Returns: 0

A solid week for me.
I really enjoyed this weeks podcast. I agree that money seems to not be a “polite conversation” topic. But I am one of those people who finds it one of THE most interesting things to talk about. I’m lucky because my Dad is someone who I can talk numbers with…investing, goals, taxes, retirement. He was definitely a hobby investor when we were kids growing up. Back then you couldn’t Google ticker symbols and get nice little graphs. He would track individual stocks and make his own. He’s not a lecturing type, but he taught by simple example (always paid for cars in cash) had a few key bits of financial wisdom he repeated to us as kids. His most famous “There are 2 kinds of people in this world, people who pay interest and people who collect it”.
MrsKensington – The reckless abandon with which people are racking up college debt amazes and worries me. I am trying to teach my kids (oldest a Junior in High School) something different than the going mentality on this…but it is obvious I’m going against the grain. There is literally no long term number crunching going on. No questioning of whether the amount of $ invested in the education actually makes sense for the increased income potential, or even whether there are viable jobs in the places you’d want to live in once the degree is earned. Frustrating.
T-Satt – Regarding the FedEx SmartPost increase, I contacted eBay for Business holding out on the feeble hope that this is a pricing error. Gave them a hypothetical package of 4# 15x15x15 going cross country (a price change from around $13 last year, to currently $38 with the eBay discount). The Rep I spoke to confirmed this pricing IS correct. 🙁 Ryanne – would you be willing to check and see what you come up with in this scenario? You’ve said you haven’t noticed a substantial increase. Is the calculator on your account really not giving you such inflated pricing?

Thank God my kids are in a good school district that teaches finance with an actual checkbook that the kids must use throughout the semester to “pay” for things and learn about “late fees” and rent, etc. Their grade is based on keeping a good balance in their account and not going in the negative. All 4 of my kids have taken the class and are really good with spending.

We homeschool, my wife had our last two children at home with a midwife, and we run an ebay business selling dirty old used shoes. The “Oh I could never do that” attitude comes about with anything out of the social norm. We get that kind of reaction all the time. Most people are lazy, non-committal, and don’t want to take personal responsibility for their lives plain and simple. We’re more than willing to accept the responsibility and potential outcomes for our decisions. As they say, freedom ain’t free.

If we don’t have enough money we find a way to make more. If we can’t afford something we find a way to get it cheaper, find a suitable alternative, or do without. That’s life.

We share our story with anyone who asks with complete honesty. I don’t think most people know how to process pure honesty in this day & age of get rich quick and lose weight fast schemes. If they don’t want to listen that’s fine with me. That just leaves more opportunities for us!

Items in Store 963
Items Sold 18
Total Sales $729.00
COGS $48.02
Total Profit $680.98
Average profit $37.83
Average sales price $40.50
Highest sale: Coogi Sweater for $250. Paid $4 at Goodwill for it.

Man it was so fun to find and sell a Coogi sweater. I probably could have held out for more, but I’m happy with that amount.

Saturday the weather was better so I spent some time in my storage shed cleaning, organizing, and condensing listed bins. Does anyone else enjoy condensing bins? I love doing it! There’s just something satisfying about emptying a bin, making a stack of empty bins, and seeing nothing but full bins on the shelf. It is invigorating and makes me want to go list stuff!

Speaking of listing, I haven’t listed for almost 3 weeks. My pipeline keeps chugging out money to my pocket, which is quite nice.

Have a great week everyone.

March 4 – 10
Total Items in Store: 1399
Items Sold: 23
Total Sales : $600
below yearly average of $655
below 2017 total sales of $769
Highest Price: $65 (1970s Bulova Accutron N3 Date and Day Watch)
Average Price: $26
Returns: 0
Cost of Goods Sold: $115
Costs of Goods Purchased this Week: $0
Number of Items Listed this Week: 42

It hasn’t been a great week of sales. My volume of sales are about average, but my average price stinks. On top of that is a high COGS from a couple bad buys. I’m going to start sharing my 365 day sales average as well as my 2017 weekly total sales to better reflect how well or poor I’m doing.

I had LOTS of best offers this week. I entertained most of them, countered a lot with realistic prices and had to outright decline several. Much like a lot of things on eBay, they come in waves. I try to stick to my guns with reasonable price decreases, but when sales are slow it’s really tempting to take those half price offers.

In thinking about this week’s discussion about frugality, I went and checked out my credit card purchase over the last month. I went out to eat a total of 6 times for a sum of $160. Ewww. It’s weird because I’ve always viewed the act of going out to eat a rare treat to do maybe once every other month. In my mind, when I think of going to a restaurant for dinner, I guess I’m forgetting how often I’ve been going lately. I need to get a handle on those kinds of purchases again I suppose. I understand the frugal lifestyle, though. And it’s something that I strive to adhere to. Though it can be hard when your partner doesn’t completely believe in living frugally. But I think she’s beginning to come around.

Retro,

Our number were similar this week.

Coogi sweaters – one of my favorite items. I don’t know if ypu were here or remember, but about 2 years ago i got a whole tub of vintage Austrailian sweaters and hats at a garage sale for $50. The sales on those were crazy goid. If i could find something like that again!

Condensing listed bins – a favorite of mine too. You reclaim space (which is high in demand and scarse) and save money by not having to buy new containers! I love the outcome, but i dont always like the work involved. But it is always worth it.

Mark

Listening to the podcast as I post. I have been battling a sinus infection for two weeks, so I haven’t been as active with eBay as I should have been. Two weeks ago sales sucked, but I felt so bad I didn’t really care. Last week was much better. Got my best scavenge of the year so far from an online auction. Three IKEA Henriksdal chairs with covers for $1. Like new-two of the covers are still in the packages. I actually got them to use, but they are just too big for the space (and my husband HATED them). I have them listed on Facebook right now, but I’m probably going to have to do CL or eBay to get them out of my house. Feeling better this week and hoping to get back into the eBay groove and tackle the death piles. I did hit a new milestone last week with 1,000 listings!

eBay week of 4-10

Total sales. $201.64
Items in store. 996
#of items sold. 14
Avg. sale. $14.40
COGS. $7.21
Returns. 0
$ spent on new. $36.57
#new listings. 25
Highest sale. $51 vtg Toshikane peacock earrings (auction)

Doublythumbs,

Yes, I think that is one thing that makes it difficult – your partner is not as frugal as you. My wife is somewhat frugal, but my kids have that consumer mind set. Also their competetive gymnastics is not cheap. I think agreeing to a budget for things and sticking to it is the key. It just gets hard when things change fast.

Mark

Here’s my numbers for the week of March 4 – 10:

total active listings: 893 (I never remember to get them as of Saturday, so they are from this moment)
Total number of items sold: 17
total gross sales (not including shipping): $308.40
Total COG: $15.13 (just the cost of the items, not the ebay & PP fees)
Total Net after COG & Fees: $256.30
Average Sales Price: $18.14
Total number listed this week: 107
Total number listed from death 2017 pile: 29
total dollar amount listed: $3268
total average sale price of items listed: $37.22

I’m pretty stoked about this week. My overall sales dollar volume went up. I believe that is in part, a result of me listing items for a higher value. I still have the pressure to list and need to get my inventory up to 2000 as fast as possible. My immediate goal is to be able to generate $600 net per week. And I need the inventory to be listed to achieve that. right now its off to the post office. I just had a pretty decent Monday morning in combination with a sweet etsy sale over the weekend of $155 (including shipping) for a complete set of World Book Encyclopedias (all 50 pounds of them…UGHHHH). In fact, that sale was the high sale of the week. I picked up the books at the goodwill bins and paid around $4.50 for the set at 15 cents per linear inch by the binding. All the other book buyers out there pass by the things I’m looking for, crafting and hobby books, old cookbooks, bibles, and encyclopedia sets. So, it works out pretty well.

I have one eBay store where I sell wholesale replenishable home goods and i offer Free Shipping and I can tell you it is by no means FREE for the international buyer to get it shipped from the GSP center in Kentucky to wherever they are at. When I am printing the shipping label to get it to the GSP center in Kentucky I can see how much the buyer paid for shipping…and it’s almost always a crazy amount of money! I’m starting to wonder if offering other international shipping options other than GSP would be cheaper for the international buyer and boost my international sales.

Another at home hair-cutter here – my daughter has been cutting my hair since SHE was 6! She begged me to let her cut my hair since she was 4 or 5 and by the time she was 6 I finally gave in – and she did a great job. I do go in every couple of years to the regular hair dresser but generally my daughter cuts my hair. I used to cut her hair but now she cuts her own hair too and does a pretty cute job of it.

Mark – how do you do with Coogi mens jeans and jean shorts – I come across them a lot and most of the time I pass on them. Should I be picking them up?

Enjoying the discussion about frugality in the podcast and comments above. As scavengers, we see the end result of our consumerist society. I often go to the Goodwill Outlet, which is likely the last stop before the landfill, and it is quite disheartening to see the sheer quantity of items that go through there on any given day. Despite the crowds of shoppers there, I estimate most bins are still 3/4 full when they are pulled off the floor. I find some satisfaction, at least, in rescuing some treasures from the trash and through ebay finding them a new home.

I managed to have a strong sales week, despite being on the road – big thanks to my partner for his willingness to do my shipping while I was away!

The strong #s were thanks to a few larger sales, the biggest noted below (purchased for $12 in an online auction):

03/04/18 – 03/10/18
Total Items In Store: 757
Items Sold: 25
Total Sales: $1,458.77 (shipping not incl)
Cost of Items Sold: $52 (a bit low, as I sold some items that came free to me, as well as a few items of old stock from a shop I closed in early 2017)
Highest Price Sold: $660 – Stella McCartney Crocheted Purse – https://www.ebay.com/itm/NWOT-Stella-McCartney-Falabella-Cream-Crochet-Pompom-Chain-Purse-Hand-Bag-Italy/322938092511
Average Price Sold: $63.23
Returns/Refunds: 0
Money Spent on New Inventory This Week: $85.06
Number of Items listed this week: 0 (traveling)

I enjoyed the podcast, and now forum, conversation on frugal living; it’s a favorite topic, and I like getting into the nitty gritty, numbers, etc, cause that’s how you can see to get it done. I became aware of FI as a thing a few years back, “late” in life compared to many I now read about who are pursuing that path. And I could consider myself doubly behind in a sense, having turned out something of a serial gig employee/entrepreneur, rather than a “good job”/steady paycheck/$100K salary kind of person (I mean, someone who studies Art History and Food System Sustainability can only go up, financially!). I’m easily on the path to making better money than I did working for non-profits and small businesses, all while managing my own time and not having to report to an office in office clothes. I’m happy, and I love my lifestyle.

I’m on board with frugal scavenger life style but I came to it late, my 60’s. Now at 71 I’m happily selling on ebay to supplement my retirement income. Every dollar I don’t spend is one I don’t have to earn, one and a half with taxes. Lots of us can’t pass up instant gratification. A case could be made that if you sacrifice and work hard and then get run over by a bus leaving a million dollars in the bank you would have missed the benefits. I think it doesn’t have to be black or white. People can adopt some of the frugal habits to start and seeing the benefits, grow into the life style. Sorry Geezers ramble but I do enjoy the podcast, look forward to it every week.

I posted my numbers above but now I have a chance to chime in about for gallery and other topics. Two things that we’ve done that are relatively frugal are: build a log cabin by hand with the trees on our land I never took out a mortgage on it and we’re having our daughter who is a junior in high school take college courses for free now, which count towards high school graduation but are also excepted, in state, as college credits. When she goes to college she will have two years of college work done and be able to go right into working on her senior level classes for whatever her degree will be. Also, we did go to California and visit some schools out there, but none of them were interested in excepting The college credits from Minnesota, even though their credits from accredited schools. So, we had her visit the local public colleges and university here in Minnesota and found one, U.M.D., that will pay for half her college tuition is long as she keeps her number one rank in high school and graduated valedictorian. So, we figure she’ll only have to pay for room and board for two years and when your tuition at the very most, and that’s assuming she doesn’t get other scholarships. The same school as graduate programs in her degree field (Chemical engineering). For post graduate Programs in chemical engineering, the school will pay for your tuition room and board and to give you $14,000 your stipend. The goal here is to have little to no college education death upon exiting with a degree.

03/04/18 – 03/10/18
Total Items In Store: 1,040
Items Sold: 52
Total Sales: $2,008.79
Cost of Items Sold: $359
Highest Price Sold: $105 backpack
Average Price Sold: $38.63
Returns/Refunds: 2

Taking a trip to the Dominican Republic this week with a couple friends. My first vacation (not scavenging trip) in a while – and I actually am putting the store on vacation as well as extending my handling time since we’re without wifi for most of the trip and I usually get a lot of questions/offers. I used credit card points gained by a travel card which I use for all of my thrift buys to purchase my airfare. And since we’re staying at my friend’s parents’ condo, lodging is also free. A frugal-ish trip and much needed. I’m excited.

In response to Sonia….

We checked out Stanford, she may apply. We are aware that there are fantastic offerings from private schools. However, I don’t anticipate her ACT/SAT scores will be high. She has a brain impairment and anxiety disorder, both mean she has trouble testing. Her pre ACT came back at 23 out of 36. She will work to improve it, but we are not expecting great test scores. She also has significant health problems, so being close by for undergrad years felt like a good idea.

We want a school that really wants her and is accommodating. We checked out Harvey Mudd, of the 5 consortium colleges in CA too, thinking they would be a great choice. We were shocked by the admissions agent who literally told me, “Harvey Mudd is not the place for her”, when I explained her medical problems and need for accommodation. I felt like saying, “have you heard of the Americans with Dissabilities Act?” But it would have fallen on deaf ears.

The IVYs are so competitive. Seems like such an added pressure to me. Im looking for a school that wants her and is willing to serve her. Somewhere small and nurturing.

Oh and someone mentioned travel to Europe earlier. We have been sending our daughter abroad to Europe in the summers. We have had a variety of foreign exchange students. The kids become friends and visit each other in the summers! Tickets are subsidized with airline points.

Happy hunting all.

Marjean28,

I just wanted to share some information with you that may be of benefit regarding your daughter’s educational pursuits.

First, in regards to her testing, if you have not already, you may want to speak with a counselor at her school to see if she qualifies for test accommodations on the ACT/SAT testing. https://www.collegeboard.org/students-with-disabilities

In regards to her college pursuits, by law a person cannot be denied admission to a college due to their disability. You are right about the American with Disabilities Act. There are also other laws that protect persons with disabilities when it comes to attending college. This is a list of laws put together by Houston Community College – http://www.hccs.edu/support-services/disability-services/disability-laws-in-higher-education/. Just because a person is covered by a law, it does not mean a particular college is right for them. You are right about making sure the college chosen is one that will be a best fit for your daughter.

When choosing a college,
Step 1 -make sure your daughter’s medical condition, brain impairment, and anxiety disorder are fully documented and current. Step 2 – If you have identified a college you think your daughter might be interested in attending, look up the college’s website. Once at the website, look under Services. Go to the their Disabled Student Services link where you can read what their procedure is for applying to become a student in the program and for making an appointment with one of their counselors. When you call to make an appointment, ask to have their eligibility paperwork sent to you so you and your daughter can fill it out and have it ready by the time of the appointment. Bring both sets of paperwork to the appointment. This will help them in determining your daughter’s eligibility for services. If she is determined to be eligible for services, they will speak with you and your daughter as to what her goals are, the most appropriate educational path, and how to apply to the college. They will also be able to speak with you as to whether she qualifies for specific and general accommodations.

• This reply was modified 8 years, 1 month ago by AdventureE.

AdventureE,
You have my gratitude here.the list of information you have provided is incredibly extensive and useful to both e, any anyone else I need of this information.

Because she is currently enrolled at a college while in high school, she actually underwent the entire process you described here. In fact, the college she is attending had her work through this process herself. What an invaluable benefit that has been. Additionally, she has to set up a meeting with her Professors at the start of each semester and talk to them about her conditions and needs so they understand. A piece of paper only says so much. And there is no outward appearance of her issues to an observer.

Thanks again!!!!!
Marjean28

Thanks for another good one. You two made me smile, thinking of how bad off I was when I got laid off in 2015 from my 26 year computer career, and subsequently found out I had Celiac’s disease, I was too sick to go back to work for awhile as I had gone undiagnosed since I was probably 19 years old. Then somehow I miraculously found your youtube’s. Seriously, you guys saved me, I was walking on the edge. I’m 61 now, paid off an additional $9,000 on my home mortgage last year, and on track to reach the goal that I had before I was laid off of having it completely paid off by the time I’m 65. It is so frickin do-able!!! Thank you thank you thank you!

Mar 4-10 2018

• Total Items in Store: 825
• Items Sold: 15
• International 1 GSP
• Total Sales $1004
• Highest Price $330 Pioneer Speakers
• Average Price Sold: $67
• Returns: 0
• Cost of Items Sold: $60
• Cost of items purchased this week $0

Just listening to the Podcast, and to answer Ryanne’s question about GSP with free shipping, for an international buyer like me, the free shipping only is to Erlanger, KY.

I will still have to pay the Pitney-Bowes GSP shipping fee, as well as Customs/Duty on top of the item price.

For items without free shipping on GSP, I pay for shipping to Erlanger, KY on top of the other fees mentioned above.

I continue to be embarrassed by my numbers. I need more time in the day, and more commitment and motivations I guess. Between 3 kids, and their activities and “soft” sales, I’m struggling.
Total Items in Store: 640
• Items Sold: 18
• Total Sales $178
• Highest Price $25 (ugh!!!)baggallini purse
• Average Price Sold: $9.88
• Returns: 0
• Cost of Items Sold: $15ish

Such LOW costs items. It’s like someone went through and only bought the very cheapest items I had listed. I try not to bother with that stuff, but if I hadn’t…I would have had almost no sales.

Week of 3-4 to 3-10
Total items in store start of week: 270
Total items in store end of week: 269
Total sales: $141.94 (does not include shipping or cancelled items)
# items sold: 6
Weekly Sell Through Rate: 2.15%
Average Sales Price: $23.65
Returns: 0
Cancellations: 0
Unpaid Items: 0
# items listed: 5

Pretty much an average week for my small store. My highest priced item was a vintage ski jacket for $50. This is the third time I have sold it. I am thankful that the buyer paid and it has been shipped. out. I didn’t quite hold my own with total number of listings this week, but I will keep at it.

This weeks total items listed goal: 280

Outing myself as being super frugal. Partly it comes naturally to me, and partly I realized early in my working life that I HATED every job I ever had. I was willing to do almost anything to never have to work again.
I never made a lot of money – non-profits in South Carolina do not pay six figures – but I used that money as wisely as I could. I bought a reasonable house with a reasonable mortgage and paid it off as quickly as I could. Every raise at work meant that I increased my retirement account until I was maxing it out so now my retirement is just about covered. Lunches were brought from home, cars were purchased second hand and driven into the ground, vacations meant visiting my family or friends and staying at their house. Books and movies are borrowed from the library and food is cooked at home.
It wasn’t much of a hardship because I knew that each of these decisions brought me closer to quitting my job and never needing another one.
Recently, I reached a crossroads where my Ebay store was almost covering all of my expenses but I could not put any more time into it because of my job (which I hated). Since my expenses were so low and I had savings, I was able to quit my job and am ramping up my store so that it should very quickly be able to pay all of my bills. I have huge motivation to make it work because I never want to have another job ever again.

Exactly, Jay. @antarestar, thanks for sharing your story. Wish I had maxed out my retirement account while working my own non-profit (non)glory days.

Thanks T-Satt. I don’t think anyone that I worked with thought I was a spendthrift but I don’t think they fully understood the extent of my frugality. Everyone was so jealous when I told them I was quitting.

Jay – my car is scratched to shit. The last time I had a fender bender in it, not my fault, the other person looked about to cry when I got out to assess the damage. I looked at both our cars, couldn’t actually see where the damage was, shrugged my shoulders and said “I’m ok if you’re ok”. The other driver seemed so relieved that I didn’t make a fuss about things. The whole interaction took about 30 seconds.

As for cooking meals, I have some homemade Naan bread proofing in the kitchen right now. It’s better than any store bought bread I’ve ever had. Add butter and roasted garlic to make a savory bread and nutella for a sweet bread. I’m a total carb addict.
Books from the library means that I don’t feel obligated to finish a book if it’s not holding my interest. Somehow that is so liberating.

Ughhhh….so did you see today that eBay changed their Returns Process so that ORIGINAL shipping must be reimbursed for returned items…even for buyer’s remorse…as long as you accept returns? I have 30 day returns but have always had the buyer pay original and return shipping for remorse issues.
Here’s the link. Click the + sign next to “You changed your mind about an item”:

https://www.ebay.com/help/buying/returns-refunds/returning-item?id=4041

Huh. I posted this yesterday, but I guess it didn’t take. Weird.

RR Store Week March 4-10, 2018

Total Items in Store: 1477
Items Sold: 38
Cost of Items Sold: $36.71
Total Sales: $558.90
Highest Price Sold: $45 (vintage Brownie uniform)
Average Price Sold: $14.71
Returns: 0
Money Spent on New Inventory This Week: $60
Number of items listed this week: 29

Quite the rollercoaster, this business. Lots of items sold this week, but all small potatoes. But a sale is a sale, and I’m grateful for all of them. Glad I had a great week last time around to pad this so-so one.

Estate sales were few and far between, and the ones that I did find were slim pickings. I left all but one empty handed. That almost never happens. But you don’t really know what’s going to be there until you walk in the door, so I go to all the local ones. Thrifts were pretty bleak too. So, I dove into my death pile of hard to list, low dollar items. Not fun, but at least it’s something.

Being frugal is difficult for me, but I’m getting better at it. Eating out was a huge expense for me, so I cut way back on it. I let my Disneyland annual pass expire a couple of years ago, and even though I miss it like crazy, I can’t justify the expense. One thing I’m super frugal (some might say weird) about is tape. I pull tape off of used packing materials and reuse it. I buy it on the cheap at estate sales whenever I can. I even reuse the round clear sticker used to seal shipping label packages! Also, I only use my weekly DJ money to buy inventory, nothing else. Now if I could only stop buying myself records…

Paul

Excuse the somewhat long post. I just listened to the Frugalwoods podcast. I hear so many people say they would love to retire to the country or whatever, but that’s just not me. I grew up in an area surrounded by woods in a small Louisiana village where there was just 2 or 3 convenience stores. Later we moved to a somewhat more populated small town, but I still felt far away from everything. I also grew up very, very poor. I remember going with my dad to pay back five Payday places in one day. Living in the city is a dream come true honestly. I literally always dreamed of being able to walk to stores and not having to depend on one car that is on the verge of breaking down. We were never a two car family and sometimes didn’t even have one. I feel like this has made me very dependent on a consistent stream of income.

I learned a lot about money from mostly Suze Orman and frugal blogs, but
I do feel like there is this sense of very frugal people looking down on others that spend a different way, or are seemingly caught up in a “rat race.” I do feel like my fiance and I are a frugal couple (when we aren’t paying out the ass for this wedding, which is a cheap wedding compared to most) but there are luxuries like concerts and blue apron, since we don’t know how to cook (at 35 and 36 we still struggle badly at cooking).

Listening to the podcast now. I try to advise some fellow art-inclined friends on how to go about procuring their dreams in a logical way, and they don’t want to hear it at all.

“I want to go to Europe, or Japan, and do this, and then do this, and then this.” “Okay, how do you propose going about that? How are you going to earn the money to do that?” Silence. It’s a pipe dream for a lot of them, and I really feel like a Debbie Downer in trying to show them how it’s not going to work at all, or if it will work, what steps will have to be taken in order to achieve what it is they want to do. People just don’t want to hear it.

Regarding College, I do not plan on blindly sending any of my children to college. Far too many people go to college “just because”. Sending my kids to college “just because”? Nope. Colleges pump out faaarrrr too many “educated idiots” for my liking these days. I’m not contributing to that problem. As a society we’re working on convincing the SECOND generation in a row that they are a failure in life if they don’t go to college straight out of high school. That is insanity!

My parents told me I better go to college. Of course they weren’t willing to spend any money for me to go though. Ironic huh? Luckily for me, I had a sound head on my shoulders and told myself in 8th grade I’d make straight A’s in high school and get a free ride to college. I did exactly as I said I would. I had several scholarships throughout college, worked a job, and later landed a co-op job at the corp of engineers which also paid my tuition. I literally got paid to go to college because I had more scholarships than tuition cost. I worked my way through college and finished my degree in Mechanical Engineering. Most people from my high school that went with me dropped out of college.

Now even though I have that coveted Engineering degree, Everywhere I have worked I have been out-earned by the skilled tradesmen that perform the work I oversee or specify. They also generaly have higher job satisfaction than I do. Granted it is their overtime that allows that, but I have worked plenty of overtime myself over the years without pay as a salary employee.

Back in the early 00’s, in-state college tuition was affordable. My first year in 99/00 it was $2440 per School year (1220 per semester). By the time I graduated in early 2005 it was $3932 a year (1966 per semester). Current in-state tuition at that same college is $8128 per year!

That’s just tuition. No books or room & board. Why would I encourage my kids to burden themselves with that kind of debt for jobs that likely aren’t even available when they get out?? Why would I burden myself with that kind of debt if my kid doesn’t even have the drive to earn scholarships to go for free or greatly reduced rates?

We homeschool and I encourage my kids to explore their interests. I tell them everyday that they don’t have to wait until they are an adult or a have piece of paper to make their mark on the world. I’d rather spend $50k investing in my child’s business than spend $50k on a college degree.

My measurement for success for my children is that they have at least one marketable skill or trade by the time they leave my care as well as knowing how to be self reliant and manage their affairs.
Now if my kids find themselves on a path that leads them to college after they gain some practical skills and knowledge, then I’ll be all for it and will help them if they need it.

almasty: Amen. Your part about head down in figures thinking up solutions for someone else’s problems hits me dead on. I was brought into a small company as a Controller to get them out of their financial mess and establish an accounting department. Got the department up, started getting people paid, reduced down the loan that they were having to use to pay vendors (!), and on the path to financial strength. Then every time they wanted to make a big move, and I told them that the money and the numbers wasn’t there, they ignored me. After overriding me 3 times, I left to work on eBay full time. They folded less than a year later…

I don’t use my knowledge of numbers and business just for fun. If you aren’t going to use what I bring to the table, I’ll just make my own table…

You are spot on about the tests. I have been doing weekly test hikes with everything I’m taking, shaking down what works and what doesn’t, and dropping weight. Now that the weather is warming up, it is soon time for overnight hikes to test the sleeping gear. I am planning some backyard camping as well to keep testing gear and skills. I’m a pretty good one pot hiking cook now by practicing at the house.

And on the subject of frugality…start planning a thru hike. Amazing what you can do without when you are carrying your house on your back for 500 miles.

Plus, this is my current frugality. When you look at what the cost of gear is, it is through the roof. Got the pack on Craigslist for $35, the tent from a friend for free (though I am trolling CraigsList for a better one to drop 2 lbs), and everything except the sleeping bag and sleeping pad from scavenging (and the bag and pad are in the second to third tier, only $150 for both).

Talking to people to help them be more frugal is kind of like talking to people about what to eat to lose weight–sensitive subjects, and talking usually doesn’t do much good unless the person is motivated.

However, if the person is never educated about how to save money, or how to eat better, how can they improve?

Also, remember that most people are being bombarded by psychologically manipulative advertising and it is hard to fight against that.

Better late than never!
Sold: 4/4/18 – 4/10/18
Total Items in Store: 125(ish)
Items Sold: 25
Cost of Items Sold: $57.59
Total Sales: $496.62 (includes shipping paid by buyers)
Highest Price Sold: $60.00 (plus buyer paid $10 for shipping) Women’s Black Smoke Signature C Jacquard Olive Outline Loafers (These were free to me, they were delivered to my sister’s rental long after her renter left the country and they 1/2 size too small for either of us)
Average Price Sold: $19.86
Returns: 0 – but I accidentally switched the mailing labels on 2 items that I sold and the return shipping, refunded shipping and reshipping costs and free “I’m sorry” gifts are going to eat every bit of the profit on those 2 small $ items that I sold 🙁
Money Spent on New Inventory Week of 4/4 – 4/10/18: $5.00
# of items listed this week: 25(ish)

Wishing everyone a great week of sales!

This is a past topic. I got behind and listened to the podcast backwards but in regards to eBay giving out phone numbers there is an area under manage communications with buyers that gives them permission to do so. You can change it to no.

What your buyers can doEdit
See answers to your FAQs
Yes
Send you messages on eBay while they’re shopping
Yes
Include a message at checkout when they pay
Yes
Have your phone number
No

Update: Under the account tab

I had a wonderful week in Ebay Previous listings started to pay off. I started slashing the price of old but mundane items mainly clothes or shoes. It worked sales started picking up. For me, 10 in a week is Christmas level. Family concerns this week and last meant I backed off listing much, down to 1 sale of $9 for the last 5 days this week.
Most FUN item-the Swiss jacket. I had my son here for a few days and had him model it. Listed it with one of his pics and it sold for $200 in less than 6 hours. I had marked it higher than any comparable jacket so I’m not second guessing.
Total items in store: 247
Items sold: 10
Total sales: $440
Highest price sold: $200 Vintage Army Jacket from Switzerland
Average price sold: $44
Returns: 0

I am still here! Just lurking lately. We still have a few people picturing and listing for us. Both of us are also still working full time with a little trash elf due in early June!

We have around 10,600 items listed on our ebay store at this point.

https://www.ebay.com/usr/newvintageny

I have been putting time into this site. It’s basically amazon prime for baseball cards. I have around 37K cards listed with close to 29K different cards.

https://www.comc.com/Users/RawCardReview,i100

That brings our grand total to around 47K total items listed on the internet with full time jobs and a little one on the way! I don’t want to come across as bragging or anything. The point is to show that even with a full time job you can still have a large store if you leverage your resources and put the time in.

I would like to say all those items translate into huge money but realistically the money we make pays for our mortgage, taxes, insurance, and some other bills so we can bank our paychecks and/or invest elsewhere. The goal is to get everything paid off and then we will consider our next move!

Yowza, 47K items, I can’t get my mind wrapped around that!!!! On the opposite end, I see ice_queen’s comments for this week and feel the need to share a little mom wisdom and encouragement. We are all at different points in our journey, and all work loads are relative to our personal burdens and constraints. I know this sounds like I am patronizing, but I am truly not. Ice_queen, I commend you on your courage to even deal with your eBay store while you’ve had such challenges as you have described, just as I commend all of us here, rowing together, and chugging toward the goal. Heads up all! Thank you for being here on this forum and being an inspiration to me in my online selling journey! Marjean