Scavenger Life Episode 490: Is Shipping Annoying? Yes.

Total Items For Sale: 48

Profit: $83.45

Items Sold: 4

Items Listed: 0

Average Profit: $20.86

Highest Profit: $37.22 (Mac Dougall of Scotland Men’s Cashmere Sweater)

Cost of Items Sold: $0

Returns: 0

$ Spent Sourcing: $0

Good morning!

Had a good week on ebay, if a fairly uneventful one. Not doing much scavenging lately.

Sales: CAD$2323, 15 sales, COGS: $1272, Fees: ~$327, Postage: $219 –> Gross profit: $505

Expenses: $36, New inventory: $249 –> Cashflow: $1492

Sold a density probe for $500… otherwise not much to write home about.

I’ve been listing as much as possible, trying to get my active listings up so I can make a livable wage from reselling.  Fortunately I had a few great estate sale and garage sale finds a month ago that have helped my sales figures.  Unfortunately, it’s too Covid-y around these parts to go out thrifting for awhile.  I do have some old albeit unexciting death piles that will keep me busy for awhile.

Not reselling related but wanted to share with Ryan in case she hasn’t watched it yet, last night I binged Stay Here on Netflix.  A designer and marketer visit unique Airbnb type properties, remodel & stage them and share marketing and hosting tips with the owners to increase occupancy and rental income.  The first episode really hooked me in because it was a houseboat.  My one complaint is they don’t go back and tell us how much the owner was able to increase their actual rental income, they only share projections.

Items in Store    1479

Items Sold           36

Total Sales          $1,184.00

COGS    $81.00

Total Profit         $1,103.00

Average profit   $30.64

Average sales price          $32.89

New Listings       30

Took the whole week off for holiday. I think this is the first time I’ve ever taken the whole Thanksgiving week off! It was nice but flew by way too fast.

So I’ve been cleaning/organizing my ebay spaces for a few weeks now off and on. Every time I’m out of space, I magically seem to find more by organizing. Anyways, we got a portable hot tub a couple weeks ago and hadn’t put it up yet. We were really struggling with how to winterize it on the deck. My wife mentioned we should just put it in the garage. The garage is my ebay office. Surely I don’t have room out there, as I also have my 8’x8′ lifting platform in that area!!!

Well challenge accepted. I completely revamped the space, took organizing to ANOTHER new level, and now we have a hot tub out there. And oooohhhhh it’s NICE!

I did have to get rid of one table that I didn’t really need. I upgraded my photography area as well with a new table and I hung the lighting from the ceiling.

I can’t recommend a portable hot tub enough. Growing up I had a full size hot tub and I’ve used many hotel hot tubs. I can say for sure that I prefer this portable one over all of them. It is incredibly comfortable and the jets are surprisingly strong.

I’ve noticed lately that the auto unpaid item system is not working. The cases are not closing. Anyone else having this issue?

Sales are definitely hitting holiday levels. The first 3 weeks of December are usually super busy for me, so here’s to hoping for an awesome week this week!

I never got into video games, but my son has a gaming computer and plays all sorts of games. Some of them are resource type games. In one game, you are a warden, and you have to set up a jail. My son would do OK for a while, but then the prisoners would revolt because they weren’t getting enough food, or whatever. He hasn’t won yet, but I don’t think he’s played it for a while. In another one, he has to set up a settlement in below freezing temperatures. He’s never been able to balance food and heat enough to win that one either.

Anyway, lately I’ve been getting great deals with online auctions. I’ll make my bids, go make and eat dinner, then come back to find out what I got. I usually don’t get caught up in bidding wars, but I definitely don’t when I do it this way. Last week, bidding was a bit better than the previous auctions, and I found that I only got one item. I ended up having to drive 45 min each way to pick up a throw rug. I was able to better justify the drive by shopping a local thrift store where I did get several things to sell plus some stuff for my daughter.

Week of Nov 22 – 28
Total Items in Store: 1414 eBay, 31 Etsy
Items Sold: 20 eBay
Cost of Items Sold: $36.72 + $209 Commission
Total Sales: $697.70 eBay
Highest Price Sold: $162 for 5 sterling salad forks (+ another $162 in 5 other flatware pieces); $96 for Eickholt art glass vase: all are commission sales.
Average price: $25.85
Returns: 0 (one damaged in transit, 1 NPB)
Money Spent on New Inventory This Week: $8.23 ($1.23 for the rug and $7 at the thrift shop)
Number of items listed this week: 37

I did very well last week because of commission sales. While I’m only doing this because it is for a close family friend, I occasionally make some very good money because some of their stuff are things that I wouldn’t normally bid on in an auction.

11/21/20-11/27/20

Total Items In Store: 2231
Items Sold: 48
Gross Sales: $1724
Highest Price Sold: $300 (London Glassworks Bottle)
Average Price Sold: $35.93

Returns:  3 $52
Money Spent on New Inventory: $71
Number of items listed: 86

• Very good week in sales. Even without the sale of the 1800’s bottle, it would have been a good week.
• Had several $100+ sales which made for an exciting week. I love when I hear the sale on my phone and look down and see a high dollar item has sold.
• I got some nice inventory this week from an online auction at an auction house that is about 4 miles from my house. This is only the 3^rd online auction this place has done since the pandemic started, so I am thrilled when they do one and I can pick stuff up so close to home.  The auctioneer hates doing online auctions because they are so time consuming and he has another job during the week.
• Great podcast this week! I love hearing about the coffee business as well.  Very interesting process.

I’m a part-time UK Etsy seller, I’ve converted my numbers from GBP to USD.

Week 22-28 Nov 2020

Total items in Etsy store: 1658

Total sold: 36

Total sales: $1,646

Average selling price: $45

Highest price sold: $266 antique mirror

Another very good week for us. November is always our best month. But I’m surprised so much stuff is selling. It’s hard to keep up with the packing.

I’m really enjoying hearing about your new coffee business adventure. Such fun!

We’re still trying to sell our other business (community magazine). There’s been quite a lot of interest, but no-one willing to pay what I think it’s worth.

Total items for sale: 125

Number of items sold: 13

Gross sales: $622

Average price sold: $47.87

Highest priced item sold: $295 Breyer Connoisseur horse

I worked my tail off last week listing and preparing for my first holiday season reselling and it paid off! I enjoyed checking in on eBay and seeing sales almost every day. It was a challenge for me juggling the listing and shipping and the holidays but worth it. I scavenged in my storeroom and found 2 boxes of nice Christmas decorations so hope people are still shopping as I wont get them listed until tomorrow at the earliest.

I discovered I can’t ship books via media mail that are not listed in the book category. Bummer – I had some books listed in the entertainment category as they were about movies (trying to avoid the extra 3% on the book category) that ended up costing a ton to ship priority as eBay wouldn’t let me ship Media Mail, which was what the buyer paid for. Learn something new every day!

@cdils:

If they are books, you can print a Media Mail label with PirateShip (or others) rather than eBay shipping. Just don’t forget to upload the tracking number to eBay.

Decent week of sales.  Ran a black Friday sale Friday and Saturday.  Don’t usually run sales but thought I’d give it a try.  Didn’t seem to make much difference and I can’t get rid of the nagging voice in my head that thinks I could have sold them at full price.

Had two returns opened and two unpaid items.  One return was extra annoying because the buyer didn’t read the description properly and messaged me that he was going to be sending it back not an hour after the mailman picked it up from me.    Both unpaid items were from buyers that were new to eBay and only 1 or no feedback.

Week Ending 11/28/20
Total Items in Store: 1237
Items Sold: 32
Gross Sales: $1,702.76
Net Sales (after fees, shipping, etc.) $1,188.88
Cost of Items Sold: $73.70
COGS Percent 6.20%
Highest Price Sold: $159.96 American Girl Doll
Average Price Sold: $37.15
Returns: 2
Money Spent on New Inventory: $0.00
Sold via promoted listings: 17
Promoted Percentage: 53.13%
Average Days Listed: 328
Longest Listed: 1619
New items listed: 11

Thanks for the podcast.  I ended up listening to it twice because the first time I had it playing while I was assembling a shelf system in my storage unit and I missed bits and pieces here and there.  Ryanne – Jay made you promise to use Pirate Ship last week.  You should have made him promise to do shipping with you this week!

Here are my numbers for the week:
Total Items in Store: 4316
Items Sold: 56
Total Sales: $1617.18
Cost of Items Sold: $180
Average Price Sold: $28.88
Average Cost of Item: $3.23
Highest Price Item Sold: $194.95 Canon DM-GL2-A Mini Digital Video Camcorder
Number of items listed this week: 76 worth approx. $1763
YTD sales compared to this time last year: +22%
Hats sold this week: 37 (66% of sales)

I had a good week buoyed by a number of high-dollar (for me) items as well as a solid number of low value items.   Garage/estate sales have been hard to find so I’m running low on high value inventory.

Since I retired from my day job, I think I’ve become a bit more like Jay.  I’ve been really diligent about maintaining a weekly and daily to-do list.  I’ve found it super helpful to get though all the little tasks I want to do.  I’ve also taken the advice of a FIRE Redditor and tried to set weekly goals in categories  such as Learning, Fun,  Health, Culture (as well as household chores and eBay goals).  Last week my Learning goal was to learn how to use a sewing machine.  That was interesting as it’s the only device in the house that I can think of that I didn’t know how to use.  This week my health goal is to try and climb the equivalent of 400 flights of stairs in a day.  A couple of weeks ago my “culture” goal was to watch the original Star Wars movies that I had never seen before. Now I’m working through the Harry Potter movies that I’ve never seen before.

I hope everyone has a fun and profitable week!

Numbers for November 2020. eBay store: steve-list

Total Listings: 1236
Items sold: 59
Sales: $1363.15
Highest Price sold: $100 – best offer for Two small watercolors
Average Price Sold: $23.10
Cost of Items sold: $142.50 / average cost: 2.42 each
Spent on new inventory: $487.76
Number of items listed: 95

I spent quite a lot on new inventory, most of it was at an estate sale for a musician that was moving out of state. There was quite a catch of punk music stuff and it went for a good price, but I mostly bought vintage and non music collectibles that I think I should do pretty good on. It was kind of strange as I actually know the person that had the sale, it was for the singer of a band that at one time went on a national tour opening for Green Day, small world.

Hey J&R, I’m not a coffee drinker, but if you ever expand into roasting and grinding cacao beans, let me know.

Gross sales – $2,950.06

Net after shipping costs – $2140.69

# of orders – 126

total # of items sold – 157

# of current listings – 15,461

Cost of goods sold – ~$20

# of returns – 0

Good week, super busy. Not much to report, just the same old Ebay grind. Just finished the podcast while getting some listings up. To me, shipping is like the simplest aspect the business. Granted, I send a *lot* of first class packages, but I have business policies for any kind of package and that policy is selected along with weights/dimensions while listing.

Here’s hoping you end your 38/39 item sold streak this week. Have a great rest of the week, everyone.

@steve-list,

did you get any Punk stuff at all? I 100% contribute my mindset and DIY attitude to growing up listening to Punk Rock. Super jealous man. 99% of Indiana music merch I find is either Religious or Country, it sucks.

Nov 22 – 28

• Total Items in Store: 4,099
• Items Sold: 30
• Total Sales :  $934
  • * BELOW yearly average of $1,027
• Highest Price:  $135 (Feynman Lectures On Physics Vol. 1, 2 & 3 Hardcover Set)
• Average Price:  $31
• Returns:  0
• Cost of Goods Sold:  $65
• Costs of Goods Purchased this Week:  $0
• Number of New Items Listed this Week: 65

It’s starting to look a lot like Christmas over here. Sales are starting to pick up again and the weather is getting nice and chilly. It’s nice to be able to focus on my eBay store instead of doing lawn work and outdoor choirs. Although I do love warm weather, there’s nothing like the cold to keep me at my workstation banging out these listings. And I’ll definitely be dedicated to my work once these holidays are beyond us.

I had a nice little surprise the other day. I sold an empty jewelry necklace box from a well known store that I had listed for a really long time. While I was preparing to pack it up, I had a feeling that I should probably take the back off just in case there was anything placed inside. Sure enough, there wear a pair of 14K gold diamond earrings inside a little envelope. Score!

Great surprise, DT! Something like that’ll really make your day.

I missed posting last week having spent the holiday week in Texas but wanted to brag on my great week before, so this report is for a two week period. A couple home runs sure brought the average up:

11/15/20 – 11/28/20
Total Active Items (3 different IDs): 336
Items Sold: 20
Gross Sales not incl shipping: $2,048.83
Highest Price Sold: $575 not incl shipping (to Belgium)– 1967 Porsche 911 dealer sales brochure packet.
Returns:  0
COGS: $696.63
New Listings: 3
$ Spent on New Inventory: 0

Nobody understands shipping….. unless you have wrapped a lamp with a glass shade… Ryanne, you jinxed me.. someone bought a pamphlet, paid and then wrote a note to ship it certified mail….after paying 3.50 shipping…Hope everyone sells everything This month! Merry Christmas everyone. Brian

Hey all! It was a pretty solid week last week, though for me it hasn’t felt like holiday sales yet (and my numbers would agree!). Actually, some semblance of them may have kicked in on Sunday, but it truly remains to be seen, so I’ll save that for next week.

A couple of cool book-related things happened this week; first, I released the kindle edition, and second, I was contacted by the director of the historic public library in my small, midwestern hometown. She wanted to get a copy of the book for the library and have me present on it at the next virtual rotary club meeting! It’s going to be fun I think, but I already feel like it’s going to be a challenge to explain to a bunch of non-eBayers about this world in 10-12 minutes haha!

I was planning to post my numbers on Monday but got sidetracked rescuing a lost dog from rapidly dropping temperatures. It was an incredibly fun detour, but I sort of got a day behind in my work because of it! He was so sweet though; a beautiful white pure bred boxer whom I called Mr. Dog the whole time I had him at my house… I thought it would help me not get attached, but I don’t think it worked. I had 35 things to pack on Monday, so that was an interesting challenge with a strange dog bopping around my house, haha! I did eventually get everything in by the deadline, and we were able to locate his owners through social media within a day! I’m back on track for the week now, and I’m sure Mr. Dog is enjoying being back home. My cats are finally considering forgiving me, I think. Numbers time!

November 22-28
Active Listings: 8150ish
Items Sold: 61
Gross Sales (including shipping): $1390.94
Cost of Items Sold: $38.60
Highest Priced Item Sold: $114 (Coach Wedge Sandals)
<span style=”font-weight: 400;”>Average Sale: $22.80
Returns: 1 (not yet shipped — a sweater, for fit)
Sourcing Cost: $100ish (assorted incidental thrift store finds)
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On another numbers note, just today, for the first time in over three and a half years, I have added some sum and average functions into my eBay store spreadsheets. Let that serve you as a reminder that in many cases, small improvements to our workflow are certainly better late than never! Have a great remainder of the week, everyone!

Hey Jay & Ryanne: I just ordered some broadporch coffee. I don’t drink coffee, but my 95-year old mother does. Cofffee for Christmas. Thanks.