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This year has gotten off to a nice start for me in terms of eBay as I’ve developed consistent routines with scavenging, photos, listing, shipping, basically every aspect of my business. I am making as much money as ever (more really) without putting in a lot more hours. Living the dream.
I’ve been focused on my main niche of sports memorabilia and trading cards over the last few months, so that’s where 100% of my $1585 gross/$1039 net sales came from this past week. 58% from individual trading cards, 35% from my curated team lots and 5% autographed photos.
My favorite sales are little ones, like this silly unlicensed golf card of basketball star Stephen Curry. $15.34 gross and $8.49 net, but I won 25 copies of this card (3 separate lot listings from the same consignment sellers) for just under $25 total. I sent some of these to sell in my consignment port and still have at least ten more to list on eBay, easy peasy, sell one, package it up, scan the next.
The football playoffs advanced another round this weekend and I sold multiple autographs of 49ers linebacker Dre Greenlaw within an hour of his memorable game clinching interception. Like with the Steph Curry golf cards, I have many copies of each type of these Greenlaw autographs and I make about $5 to $10 profit on each sale. I’ve sold about 30 of these Greenlaw autographs since I acquired them in September. The 49ers have an absolute rabid fanbase as far as collecting goes.
Though the Packers lost that game to the 49ers, I squeezed out a few extra bucks profit on them with one of my new jumbo sized curated team lots. $82 gross/$56 net. That was a rare sale where the buyer hit my BIN, but I think the more typical split on these lots will be something like the $67 gross/$43 net on this Los Angeles Rams lot. It is probably not a coincidence that the Rams were another recent playoff loser — any news is good news, at least when it comes to selling on eBay. I think the reason these types of listings are becoming a larger part of my eBay focus is because I’ve figured out how to get them to sell quickly. I like finding the right mix of players and types of cards to fill out the lot. I’d love to increase my margins a little higher as my net profit was around $20 on the Rams and $30 on the Packers, but I don’t know if that will be possible. The only reason lots like this will sell is if the buyers are happy with the value of the cards. There are a lot of junk cards out there which have little to no demand. I put quite a few cards in these lots which cost me $1 or less (obviously, they wouldn’t be profitable otherwise) but I have really focused on doing the research to ensure that at least these cheaper cards are popular players — the retired legend, the valuable rookie, the fan favorite. I’m pretty sure that’s why these listings have been selling for me, and I’m excited to see how many of them I can move this year.
What did you sell this week?
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Congrats @Craig on getting into your groove. I’m pretty into Ebay myself these days, though sales have slowed this week.
Monday was a great day with some interesting items selling and Tuesday packing was annoying. I got this at the flea market https://www.ebay.com/itm/235232304766 for something like $7-8. When packed it was quite long, so I had to go buy a box.
Buyer is very happy with this on her coffee table. I paid $3 at the flea market https://www.ebay.com/itm/335061384539. Sold these Shabby Chic style vintage napkin rings, which I feel is an unexciting but overlooked area of the thrift store https://www.ebay.com/itm/334913103831.
Finally, my favorite sale was these laminated placemats a local restaurant donated to GW. I paid $8 for a big bag and was not too confident about this purchase. She paid over $100 and I threw in some unlisted extras. https://www.ebay.com/itm/235051397106
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@Christine
I wonder often if I’d hold myself to the same level of accountability without this forum. Even on weeks when I don’t post much, I still read everyone’s posts and it keeps me centered and reminds me to think beyond the day’s work and consider my bigger picture goals.
You posted about that boat for scavenge of the week a couple months ago (maybe longer). I’m glad it sold and good to know I am not the only one who scrambles to buy a box when I sell something big and weird.
Those placemats are very striking but I would not have been confident in the purchase either. Nice to see there is someone out there who’s willing to spend $100 on placemats!! I like to think your buyer is opening a tiny hole in the wall restaurant and those placemats will get new life on the tables of a successful business.
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Last week the forum ate my sale post and I just didn’t have the energy to redo it. I did copy the post prior to posting but for some reason it didn’t work! Grrr!
Here are some of my interesting sales this week:
https://www.ebay.com/itm/266312072992
Denby England Blue Jetty Cereal Soup Bowl 7″
I sold the last 4 of these bowls to a customer for full price – $100. I still have plenty of this Denby stuff left and so far I’ve made over $800. Not bad for a $100 investment.
https://www.ebay.com/itm/266298402119
Star Wars Lot Of Action Figure Accessories, Parts, Pieces, Stands and Weapons
I bought a millenium falcon at a yard sale which was full of figures and accessories. Sadly it was not the vintage one and it was in rough shape. I sold the falcon, did a some high level research to identify any valuable figures/accessories to list individually, and then just lotted up the junk. This is the junk. Took an offer of $20. Basically free money. Sorting/prioritizing a bulk buy is an art that all resellers should develop. It would be easy to get paralyzed by analysis when picking up something like this. Having a system allowed me to go through everything quickly and efficiently. Google image search is also an invaluable tool.
https://www.ebay.com/itm/266530291992
Bulwark FR Jacket With Removable Vest Combo Removable Men’s Large
It’s worth keeping your eye out for Fire Resistant work clothing. I picked this jacket up for $8.
https://www.ebay.com/itm/266534238700
Math-U-See PreCalculus w/ Trigonometry Full Set DVD Missing Pages See Desc
Our local library gave away a bunch of homeschool curriculum. My wife filled a bin, we kept anything we would use, and I listed the rest on ebay. Sold this for $45 and it was free.
https://www.ebay.com/itm/265017620284
Vintage Levis Silvertab Straight Relaxed Jeans Mens 36×32 Distressed Light Wash
I’ve sold many a pair of vintage silvertab jeans over the years. They always go for $50+. BOLO for sure.
https://www.ebay.com/itm/266488701022
Cir-Kit Starter Dollhouse Tape Wiring Kit CK101 New Unused
I love finding dollhouse hobby stuff in the wild. I bought this for $1 at a yard sale. Sold for full price $50.
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I had a numbers post get eaten a few weeks back, copy/pasted and couldn’t get the post to go through either. I’m glad your post didn’t get eaten this week because I added a few more BOLOs from it. That dollhouse wiring kit sale is really impressive. I think you got a good price because your listing redirects to a different listing (I really wish eBay didn’t do this) which looks like the same item (granted I don’t know what I’m looking at) and it is only priced at about $15.
I thought this is a great pearl of wisdom too. About the Star Wars lot.
Sorting/prioritizing a bulk buy is an art that all resellers should develop. It would be easy to get paralyzed by analysis when picking up something like this. Having a system allowed me to go through everything quickly and efficiently.
This was one of the biggest keys as I transitioned from part-time to full-time. Everything has its price, and some things are worth holding onto for the right price, but a lot of stuff is maybe not worth thinking too long about. Especially when you start buying in bulk. Get the valuable stuff separated and listed, figure out what else is worth holding onto to sell individually or in small curated lots, and then do something with everything else. “Something” can be whatever you want it to be on any given day. List a bulk lot, sell to a consignor or wholesaler who gives pennies on the dollar, donate to somewhere in your community that provides things to focus who need it, or throw things out. Don’t let maybes paralyze you into living with clutter, even though some clutter is inherently part of having an eBay business. I am still a work in progress with all this, mostly because I’m still in an apartment that’s too small for my business, but I’m getting there and it feels good to visibly see some progress each week.
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