Thank you Ryanne for hosting, and thanks again Steve.
It must have been fun rolling that bull amp for taping! I know I received a good workout just dealing with half that weight last week! I love how the way you push those shipping barriers, and learn the little nuances, especially with those !one inch! near misses!
Some interesting sales:
Not too unusual is the Hamilton’s typeset Printers tray. Nice to note is the learning curve. Two years ago, my son literally found a big cabinet full of these wooden trays on the street. I sold at least 15 on Etsy and eBay, starting at $52 and finding a sweet selling spot at $80. Without the right box and good packing materials, they are a small bear to ship. If you find one with original handle and with all of the little sections intact, you are in business. I sold off additional broken ones to a flea vendor, but not after removing the handles and selling them for around $15 each.
One sold a couple of days ago on Etsy. We have three trays remaining to sell. https://www.ebay.com/itm/Hamilton-Antique-Drawer-Printer-Tray-letterpress-typeset-wood-shadow-box-shelf/253694396350?hash=item3b115d47be:g:YvYAAOSw-W9bJm2N
Unless I have a sudden influx of sales before midnight, today marks my worst January of sales in 5 years. But I’m not listing as often so maybe that’s a big part of it.
I did get a few decent higher ROI on a few sales:
Mid Century Carved Wooden Tiki Punch Bowl Set 14 Pc.
Bought for $15. I priced it higher than many that were already listed so it took over a year to sell. Sold for $120 with free shipping which cost me $35 since I sent it in two separate boxes.
1970s Sears Country Coordinates 12 Pc Breakfast Set. Found in a garage covered in dirt in original box with original receipts. Paid $5, took a $70 best offer with free shipping which is going to cost around $12.
Both items were listed back when I was putting Free Shipping on everything. I’ve since started listing anything over 16 oz as Calculated Shipping, buyer pays. Too many postage increases, lowball offers & sales to California (the furthest zone from me) for me to offer Free Shipping anymore.
This reply was modified 7 years, 3 months ago by Julie B.
Bingo Ms. Julie. We stopped Free Shipping long ago for your reasons plus others.
Danni Ackerman was big supporter of Free Shipping due again for all the reasons one can find all over the internet. Listen to any of her older videos and her big reason is that most people can’t do the math, according to her. But we always had to include zone 8 on the USPS shipping chart to make sure all costs were covered.
A 5 lb. package to zone 1 [closest to us] was $7.19 but $20.40 to zone 8. So in went $20 packed on top of the cost of the item, just to make sure all bases were covered. Unfair to zone 1 customers.
Then put a 20% Sale on and your item costs is reduced by 20% but so is your Free Shipping padding we put on top of the item. So you are down $2.00
I have always said, there is no such thing as free shipping. We run a business, not a charity. In any big corp. world a shipping center is a profit center. That cost is accounted for some place.
The American way is spend a dollar and sell for $4. That is what entrepreneurship is all about. The free enterprise system is not built on spending an amount of dollars then give it away. The whole American system is based on selling one’s goods and services for a profit. The rest is marketing and advertising. Free shipping is an enticement to buy, the perception of a “Value Added”, but bottom line is still spend a dollar, sell for $4 and pay taxes on the $4 and you get to keep what is left.
Free shipping is the same enticement concept as offering a 20% Off discount, so as you say, why have to deal with all the shipping cost changes. Just build it in and then run some periodic sales and you will be offering free shipping or atleast discounted shipping in some shape or form and doing this is way less hassle than having to rework all your listings to account for increased shipping costs, every year.
Here is a great banner slogan. If you want something you have design to be built to last a long time, give it to the Germans, want that designed item reduced down in size to fit in your pocket, give it to the Japanese, then if you want 3 of them sold to a buyer who doesn’t need one of them in the first place at 4 times what it should cost, give it to an American! All in jest guys LOL 🙂
Very informative Tommy, Julie, and Steven, thanks! Kinda quiet here today so let me add a random recent selection of my sales (unfortunately all bread and butter low dollar):
Part of a police belt lot with accessories I picked up from a thrift shop, this Bianchi pistol magazine pouch did not take long to sell at $20 plus shipping. This is a generic item but specialized police gear is subject to federal export controls. Usually eBay will prevent you from listing if you’ve got international shipping enabled, but even if an item sneaks through, if it sells foreign and you use GSP, the folks in Kentucky will cancel the sale and send it back to you.
This Murano Glass Key Ring was a hostess gift to us from friends who don’t bring wine. Sigh. Sold for $20 plus shipping. $20 will definitely get me a nice Chianti. (Goes well with liver and fava beans, I hear.)
This set of Jordanian basic parachutist wings (military insignia) took about a year to sell for $23 plus shipping. Militaria is a very active eBay category and stuff does sell, but collectors are very price sensitive and I was definitely pushing the envelope with my price on this one.
Picked up for a couple bucks on the last day of an estate sale, this 70’s 12V Power Supply was still sealed in plastic but had been out in the garage obviously for years. The cardboard box inside the shrink wrap showed swelling so there was certainly the chance that it was a mess inside. I held my breath that it wouldn’t be returned but buyer was happy so all was well. It went for $30 plus shipping. It’s used for operating a mobile CB radio on household power.
Julie, Very nice tiki punch bowl set, nice to get info on a high price point for that.
Temudgin, the shark business card holder is awesome, seems rare.
I have had ONE ebay sale all week so far! The last time this happened, I did close to $1,000 the following day with multiple sales. Hope history can repeat itself! Etsy has not lost a beat though, for Etsy. Sometimes its just weird quiet.
I had a reasonable week. Here are either good sales, or, as in the case of my first one, just an interesting story.
This very old book from 1874 sold for $14. I paid $0.50. The book was shipped across the country from NJ to CA. The buyer sent me a photo of the box, which had been crushed by the post office. The buyer said that the book was in great shape because of my packing, and he was very happy. Like all the books I sell, I had it wrapped in bubblewrap along with some loose packaging. http://www.ebay.com/itm/183346131345
I paid about $15 for this tin framed mirror thinking it was worth around $75, but I took an offer of $50. Still happy with the sale. I ended up making a few dollars on the shipping. The buyer paid close to $60 since she was also in CA. http://www.ebay.com/itm/183596387010
I mentioned in a forum topic towards the end of last year that I once purchased a huge lot of craft labels. I had tried numerous methods of selling them. I retook photos, I tried different quantities, I cross-posted to Etsy, etc. I was really ready to donate them, but I had one last idea to create a “multi-pack” of all the label types I have. I listed the multipack on Jan 17, and one sold on Jan 22! I sold it for $9 with shipping included, so my profit will be around $5. I paid less than $9 for all the labels. I probably have enough labels to sell a few hundred! Of course, this could be the only I sell, but I think I’ll see sales every once in a while. http://www.ebay.com/itm/183640677836
The tiles in this vintage Mah Jong set are made of catalin, an older plastic similar to Bakelite. I bought it in an online auction this past summer for $27 and sold it for $130. http://www.ebay.com/itm/183267559158
I bought this 1970 Sears catalog in an auction late last year. Someone used it to press leaves, but never collected them. Initially, I was going to remove the leaves, but my mom convinced me to leave them in. I paid $1, and I sold it for $25. http://www.ebay.com/itm/183554736767
Thanks for the video. I sell a lot of vintage hats that have the lining coming out and the best way to sell them is to shop vac the lining out and get rid of the dustiness. The vast majority of buyers and collectors prefer this and is very common with K Brand and products hats.
Cheers
Mprw77
This reply was modified 7 years, 3 months ago by mprw77.
One set of tools I find helpful is all the Shop Vac accessories that are sold – I have about 50 different small attachments by Shop-Vac that fit onto a non-Shop Vac vacuum I use for cleaning. These attachments are not the cheapest at full retail (usually $10 for a pack of 5-10) but having a collection of them is very helpful to clean anything that is full of dust/dirt easily.
Some of the attachments with hard bristles are really good for cleaning off stuck on dirt quickly.
Hi Steve, did the magazines not have ads in them? Just wondering why they were sent media. Magazines are so heavy, I wish I could ship them that way but most of the mags I get aren’t eligible.
Wow, it looked like you had a busy week of packing to do. Good thing they were all worth the effort! Especially that 90 lb amp. I just sold an Emerson tube radio that looked similar to that RCA that I’ll talk about next week. Here are some highlights from 1/20-26.
We visited the amish country in Ohio last summer and we happened upon an amish ran thrift store. I didn’t find much, but this speaker doohickey caught my eye. It’s an electric telehorn. I think it hooks up to a telephone somehow. That’s about all I know. There was almost no information online about it. So I pulled a high price out my behind and ended up taking a best offer of $165. I only paid $3 for it. https://www.ebay.com/itm/303012984177
This cheap plastic toy country music tour bus bank came out of a box lot that I paid $5 for (each sellable item came to .83 cents). It nearly went to the yardsale pile, but I thought to look it up anyways. One sold for $10, so I listed it for $15. It sold after a couple months for full price. https://www.ebay.com/itm/302978834124
At the end of an auction last summer, a guy asked me if I wanted a stack of board games that he bought but only wanted one out of. There wasn’t anything really great, but I said sure. Included in the pile was an old backgammon set. The board was water damaged and actually moldy, but the pieces looked special. I tested them to see if they were bakelite. They weren’t, but were lucite rather. Apparently bakelite backgammon pieces will fetch a lot of money. My lucite one’s weren’t too bad either. I listed them for $50 and they sold after over a month. I would have tried for more but I was missing just one piece. I’ll be on the lookout for these for now on. https://www.ebay.com/itm/302986453112
Here’s my big sale of the week. I acquired this southwestern Serape blanket at an auction for $17. They’ve sold well for me in the past so I knew it was a good buy. I listed it for $150 and almost immediately received a message from someone saying that I was underpricing it. He was really nice and gave me a lot of information including the specific location where it came from and said it was worth closer to $375. So I changed my listing and after about 3 months I took a BO of $300. Thank you random blanket expert! https://www.ebay.com/itm/302918925907
Here’s a neat thingamabob that came out of a box lot of various electronics. It’s a Biddle Megger Insulation Tester. I like electronic things, but this was beyond me. It was in stellar condition though and included all the paperwork and case. There were a few in poor condition that have sold for around $50 or so. I listed mine high at $150 and took a best offer of $130. https://www.ebay.com/itm/302925604703
I can see why you thought those backgammon pieces were special.
You have that special instinct to gamble on the weird electronic pieces even when unsure of their purpose, I do it all the time.
I agree, Steve, was just thinking that Doubly’s got great instincts for this! 🙂
Some highlights from 1/20-26:
Sold lots of high dollar commission sales this past week, and they had been around for a while. Glad to have the real estate back, and make the sales. Most of these were the result of adding Best Offer where it hadn’t been previously.
My love affair with English transferware continues. Every time I think “Don’t buy more china!” I find something that appeals to me emotionally or that I know will (should) do well. So, my Ikea Kallax unit is ever filling with stacks of china sets. Slow sales, but profitable – and nerve wracking to ship! Paid ~$24 for a lot of this china; these harder to find sized plates are the first to sell. Had them on BO as part of a sweeping push to move things. https://www.ebay.com/itm/Set-of-8-Vintage-Johnson-Bros-Botanical-Gretchen-Green-Salad-Luncheon-Plates-8/323546518781
Months back, I pushed a bit into clothing, an area I really don’t like and have little expertise in. Competition/saturation, low margins, and general disinterest have me back where I belong, with hard goods, china, and linens, but happy that my instincts did ok with this machine-washable LOFT blazer. Paid $5. Sold within a day of listing it: https://www.ebay.com/itm/Ann-Taylor-LOFT-Turquoise-Suit-Blazer-Jacket-Stand-Up-Collar-Fitted-Sz-4/323665006295
And shoes. I hate selling shoes. They just stack up for me, despite feeling like I have good brands and condition. I price on the higher end, and only recently added Returns back in to hopefully trigger sales. I also have many on sale right now. Would be fine to sell out of all shoes and never look back at them! First pair to sell after adding Returns was these nice leather high top Vans with back zipper. Too many emails between the Buyer and myself, with him making low offers, and then asking how to make the purchase with the lower shipping he wanted (and to the West Coast of course). Oy. And he appeared to be a Seller, too… https://www.ebay.com/itm/EUC-Vans-Leather-Sk8-Hi-Zip-Black-w-Gum-Sole-Mens-US11-5-EU45/322922700792
That banjo was a great find, especially with the resonators and case, I’ve only found one in the wild in several years that was cheap enough to make a profit.
I also don’t do much with clothes or shoes anymore for the same reasons, it has to be pretty special.
I just sold a pair of Alpinstars moto X boots, those leather ones look great and you got a much better price than my plastic ones.
Great video Steve! That McIntosh packing was a work of art in itself. Regarding the Bose, who did you buy the repair kits from? I have a pair I bought at Savers for $10 because the speaker foam is shot. I’m actually still using them and they sound pretty good still, but need to buy the kit and take the plunge on repairing. See so many available have just been draggin’ my feet for fear of buying some junk and ruining the speakers.
Sold a few vintage fishing lures out of a large lot I bought at an online auction. Averaged $1.75 per lure. This Shur Strike wood lure sold for $70 best offer. I was asking $89. Posted the listing to a fishing lure group on eBay and had 5 offers by the next afternoon. Vintage 1930’s Shur Strike Surf-Oreno Style Wood Lure Glass Eyes Red Dace Color
Finally, sold this Sangean Short Wave radio for a best offer of $100 on an asking price of $149. had gotten several mush lower offers previously, but these are always good bets for me. Paid $20 for it at an Estate Sale. Sangean ATS-909 FM Stereo/MW/LW/SW Radio
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