The Numbers: March 27-April 2, 2022

Weekly sales 3/27 – 4/2
Total items: 8713
Items sold: 166
New items listed: 350
Gross sales: $1,624.52
Net sales: $1,031.42
New buyers: 130
Repeat buyers: 6

Etsy
Orders: 15
Gross sales: $125.00
Net sales: $106.25

Gross sales total: $1,749.52
Net sales total: $1,137.67

Another decent week. Working on a big box of military patches and it has been hard identifying the ones that are just symbols and don’t have any writing on them. I got a book called the military patch guide and it has helped a lot but it takes a while to find the ones I’ve got. I think I’ll stay away from military patches after this unless I find some that are original WW2 or something like that. Most of what I’ve got goes for less than $5 but I’ve had several people buy more than one so that helps.

Wow, sold 12 tems and still had +$700 in sales. That’s pretty impressive.

Week of Mar 27 – Apr 2
Total Items in Store: 1484 eBay, 36 Etsy
Items Sold: 12 eBay, 0 Etsy
Cost of Items Sold: $24 + $50 Commission
Total Sales: $346.03 eBay; Includes fees but no shipping + $185.82 Swap.com
Highest Price Sold: eBay $65 Towle Sterling Serving Fork (on commission), $54 set 8 Hanukah Lenox dessert plates
Average price: $28.84
Returns: 0
Money Spent on New Inventory This Week: $120
Number of items listed this week: 9

Coffee expo! That sounds wonderful, and Ryanne can visit with her sister, right? I’m jealous of your trips to NYC. We live an hour away and hardly ever get a chance to go into the city.

I was having a decent week, but then I haven’t sold anything since Friday evening. I haven’t been listing as much either, but not selling anything on a weekend? Doesn’t seem right.

I spent $120 on an online auction last week. I mostly spent that much because several lots had pottery, and my parents use mismatched hand thrown pottery for their everyday dishes. I get gifts for them and buy for my eBay store all in one!

Of interest, I am helping a friend sell a set of antique Ukrainian paintings for charity. This is the first charity listing I’ve ever done. She’s going to do some publicity for it, so this could be an interesting experience. I’ve also warned her about situations where the buyer may not pay. Hopefully, it will go smoothly. Take a look!

https://www.ebay.com/itm/185370499485

Total Items in Store: 541
Items Sold: 50
Gross Sales: $1,068.80 (including eBay fees, shipping, and taxes)
Net Sales: $634.23 (minus eBay fees, shipping, and taxes)
Cost of Items Sold: $80
Highest Price Sold: $92 (large lot of train cars)
Average Price Sold: $21.38
Returns: 0
Money Spent on New Inventory This Week: $45.16
Number of items listed this week: 49

Sales “felt” slow but 50 items sold seems decent. Our average sale price is pretty low so we really need more like 100 sales per week to see some decent profit. We are slogging through a bunch of old death piles of electronics which is slowing our listing down but I’m hoping to kick it into high gear and do 10-15 items listed per day once we get all the electronics done in a few weeks. I’m also exploring new sources for model trains. Right now I am just buying them online but estate sales are big business here in Florida and I bet I can make a relationship with a few of the bigger local estate sale companies so they just sell me all the trains from an estate. Also considering advertising in some of the local rag-mag coupon books. Model trains is an old man’s hobby and while it sounds morbid I have a feeling there are plenty of recent widows who are looking to sell their late husband’s collection.

Items in Store 1747
Items Sold 31
Total Sales $1,057.00
COGS $149.00
Total Profit $908.00
Average profit $29.29
Average sales price $34.10
New Listings 8
Items scavenged 5
Listing 2022 weekly Avg 53
Sourcing Allotment 11

I ended up taking the weekend off so I didn’t come close to my listing goals. Had a bunch of family things to do and then was so worn out from that I just didn’t want to do work. I’m still way over my goal of 40 average for the year, so its fine to take a weekend off.

I sold 10 things on Saturday which is WAY off the norm. Weekends have been dead for so long that the constant offers and sales really felt good. Sunday brought things back to earth with only 3 small sales.

Now since I didn’t ship at all this weekend I have to ship 22 things today. Gotta earn that paycheck eventually!

Monthly numbers: 03/1 – 03/31

Total listings: 1250
Items sold: 60
Sales: $1,159.65
Highest price sold: $65 Coin Silver Watch Case
Average price sold: $19.32
Cost of items sold: $213.28 / average cost: 3.55 each
Spent on new inventory: $141.00
Number of items listed: 44

I was slow in listing stuff in March which may be the reason I had a couple of weeks where I would go 3-4 days without a single sale. At least my totals sales are very close to what they were last month.

April has started out good, so far I’ve had 11 sales for $235.90, I hope the rest of the month is this good.

Hi, everyone. As some of you know I have been going through a divorce which is almost final. All is well. It is a mostly amicable parting.

I decided to simplify my eBay strategy and will sell off my clothing and focus on the comic books.

Asking $1,500 or best offer for the clothing and photo and shipping tools.

If you live near Santa Barbara County, CA and are interested in picking up what I have, email me at scrunchlinings0s@icloud.com and we can discuss.

That is scrunch linings -ZERO- s@icloud.com

CLOTHING: $5,000 estimated eBay Re-Sale Value

Anne Klein, Brooks Brothers,Donn Karan, Eddie Bauer, Ermengildo, Zegna, Geoffrey Beane, Joseph Abboud, Ralph Lauren

PHOTO & SHIPPING TOOLS:

Havoc Mannequin Size Photo Booth: $500 retail

Packing Peanut Dispenser: $250 retail

Mannequin, Male (1) & Female (1): ~ $150-$225 retail

Hey Jay, I replied to your question, but nothing seems to be getting through. There was a field above the reply area stating the topic was marked as spam. Then I replied to your question. After I pressed submit, it erased my message and another field appeared that said,”Are you sure you want to do that?” No clue what’s going on, but I’m posting here to see if you get this and I can see it. Weirdness…

It appears video clips may become more of a thing on ebay soon. I would suggest to get a Nordic Ware micro-go-round, a windup microwave plate that spins at a slow pace to put small to medium size items on for video clips. There is a video somewhere on this concept of using it for video for something else. There is another brand as well rubbermaid microwave dual action turntable.

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Extremely consistent sales between this week and last week, and this year and last year, even though I’ve moved a decent chunk of my card inventory to sell (mostly) hands-off via consignment and I’m not considering those sales in these numbers. It’s exciting to see these steady numbers.

3/27/2022 – 4/2/2022

Total items in store: 2451 (down from 2507)

Items sold: 48 (38 via best offer, 5 via seller initiated offer)

Gross sales: $2497.16 (down 9% from one year ago)

Net sales: $1757.23 (down 12% from one year ago)

Lowest price sold (net): $9.18 — Max Strus 2019 autographed rookie card

Max Strus has risen from obscurity to carve out a worthy role on the Miami Heat, so even his most basic rookie autographs will sell for a few bucks. I have five or six more of this same card ready to go as soon as one sells. I’ve been trying to focus my $25 and under card listings on items like this one which will sell quickly and I can acquire the card in large quantities so I can keep refreshing the listing with new pictures once one sells. It’s taken a few years of building knowledge about what sells quickly and what doesn’t, and it’s still a learning process. But I enjoy these sales.

Highest price sold (net): $103.33 — Za’Darius Smith 2018 Panini Instant 1/1 rookie card

Panini Instant cards are a direct result of the 21st century impacting card collecting. They are print to order cards sold directly on the manufacturer’s website, only for a few days or until they sell out, which for rare cards like this One of One is within seconds or minutes. Every manufacturer does a version of these kinds of cards. These cards are not typically as valuable as the rarest cards pulled directly from packs or boxes, but for players (like Za’Darius Smith) who rise from obscurity and don’t have many other rare cards, or rookie card, the Panini Instant 1/1 or autographed versions sell for nice amounts.

Other versions of these on-demand cards have a time-sensitive memento with them, like this card I sold a few months back with a piece of jersey from the NBA finals. I can understand why someone would pay up for that kind of card, especially since once they’re sold out on the manufacturer’s website, there’s no other way to purchase them except through eBay and other card selling sites and groups.

I upgraded this buyer’s package to priority mail (something I usually do for $75 and up anyway) when they sent me a message anxious about receiving their item within a certain timeframe, and they returned to my store this week with a $35 offer on a $50 listing which I happily accepted. Third time is almost never the charm with repeat buyers, but hopefully they’ll be back next week with another purchase.

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I came across another possible option for displaying an item for a 360 degree video clip. Do a search for the PRAETER 360 Degree Round Rotating Display Stand. I saw it on the walmart website for only $15.29 with free shipping, probably better for smaller items.

The ups and downs of a long tail store.  12 sales with 8000 in inventory is tough but I’m sure there will be weeks where you’re selling hundreds!

I thought I had posted my numbers here on Monday, but apparently not.

3/27/2022 to 4/2/2022

Total Items in Store: 1850
Items Sold: 24
Gross Sales: $531.44 (including eBay fees, shipping, and taxes)
Net Sales: $243.19 (minus eBay fees, shipping, and taxes)
Cost of Items Sold: $98.32 (most from commission payouts)
Highest Price Sold: $47.85 (New in box Polycom VVX 300 IP Desktop Phone)
Average Price Sold: $22.56
Returns: 3
Money Spent on New Inventory This Week: $0
Number of items listed this week: 36
Number of hours worked: 10:30:12
Average hourly salary: $23.16 (net sales divided by hours worked rounded to nearest half hour)

Last week felt very slow. Top that off with three return requests, and overall it was a crummy week. I’m still pleased with the numbers compared to where I was at last year though. So far, one of the three returns has been shipped, so we’ll see about the other two. The one that was shipped was for a $90 sterling silver bracelet though, so I’m less than pleased about that. The buyer claimed he didn’t like how the clasp fit together. Years ago I might have argued with the buyer, but I usually take the zen approach these days. As Jay says (paraphrased), refund, relist, and say the bare minimum to the buyer.

Week Ending 4/2/22
Gross Sales (w/0 Shipping & Taxes): $964.70
Net Sales: $803.50
Total Items in eBay Store: 1049
Items Sold eBay: 9
Total Items in Etsy Store: 149
Items Sold Etsy: 0
Cost of Items Sold: $113.48
Highest Price Sold: $399.95 Schatz Clock
Average Price Sold: $107.19
Returns: 0
Money Spent on New Inventory: $703.24
Average Days Listed: 236
Longest Listed: 681
New items listed: 4

Always loved the stories from your trips to NY.  Waltzing through the streets and picking up money.

Had slow sales last week but good prices on what sold.  Had to go back two years to find a week with such a high average.  Helped to have a clock sell for $400.  Had three other +$100 sales of an antique porcelain pig and two pieces of high end luggage.  Guess people are gearing up for traveling this summer.

Found two items in my inventory that had fallen out of eBay at some point.  Just noticed them as I was picking orders and was surprised they hadn’t sold so looked them up and they were no longer there.  One of these days I’m going to have to reconcile my inventory.

Bought over $700 at online auctions this week.  Ran smack into one of the big risks for buying online: poor pictures.  I bought a lot of 3 guitars for $485 because I misidentified one of the guitars as a $1500 Yamaha bass when in fact it was a $150 bottom of the line.  Ouch.  I’ll still make my money back as the other two guitars are in the $300 – $500 range, but not the slam I was expecting.  All lessons are expensive…  I also got a $500 printer for $23 from the same auction, but plan to use that for myself and not resell.

In another auction I bought a few lots of sports trading cards, inspired by Craig Rex.  About 5000 cards for $37.  That’ll be a project.

Just tried out the new listing tool on ebay where we can post videos , when you are making a listing on desktop – at top right there may be a button that says “try the new listing tool”. Click that and it will take you to the new listing tool, one of the features is uploading a video right from your device. You can go back to classic listing if you don’t like it, there is a switch back for that. To switch back click the three dots at top right and scroll to switch classic view. This isn’t where you embed youtube videos or something, the videos go right where your photos are and the buyer can just click on the video just like they click on a photo.