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Hi and thanks for the add. I have been selling on Ebay for about 2 years now. I have a general variety store, Red Tabby Books and More (although mostly NOT books anymore). I do most of my sourcing through thrift stores or the occasional estate sale. I’ve been struggling along, many times ready to throw in the towel, but, despite mostly not making any profit, I continue to enjoy the hunt. I discovered the Scavenger Life podcast a month or so ago and am working through podcasts, now at about spring 2017, and I’ve already learned a lot. Jay’s reported advice to new sellers to list 500 items has hit home with me. I just reached 300 and have seen a decided jump in sales (although I started Promoted Listings at the same time, so I’m not sure what to attribute the jump to). Of note, I do still work full time, albeit at home on the computer all day, so I am able to spend a certain amount of time tending to Ebay. I’ll be retiring within 3 years, the sooner the better, and hope to see better profits when I can devote more time (although I’m not confident enough of that that I am actually taking the jump and quitting now). I’ll continue to mine the mountains of Ebay info out there. Of great interest to me is the fact that Jay and Ryanne are able to get, what I consider anyway, such incredibly high prices for their listings. I do feel like I probably undercharge, but don’t seem to get sales otherwise. Anyway, thanks for all your info. I look forward to spending more time with Scavenger Life and all its followers!
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Welcome, Cindy!
Why are you not making any profit? Are you paying too much or picking the wrong items? Do you include shipping or do you charge extra? What is your average selling price and average buying cost?
I find estate sales to be pricey, in general. The thrift shop in my town has OK prices on half off days, but the return on investment is best at auctions (for me, at least).
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I do both – online and in person.
For online, I usually wait until the last day to bid. The rules for the auction are listed somewhere on the page. At the end of the auction, there is a 2 day or so gap until you can pick the items up. You have to pick up at the location during a set period of time. At least, that is how it works for the company that I usually use.
Proxybid also has online auctions, but I don’t usually do those. I haven’t found too many close enough to me.
For live auctions, there are three different companies in the area that I’ve been to. I believe I found them on AuctionZip. I go to the ones that are during the week, but some are scheduled during the weekend. I suggest just watching the action for a while before bidding.
I highly suggest watching the What Sold videos on ScavengerLife here. This is where I’ve learned what to look for. In the comments for each What Sold Video, some sellers (including myself) will link to some of their more interesting sales for the previous week. They will say what they paid for the item and how much it sold for. I watch every video and check out everyone’s links. I learn so much about what can go for better money.
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Hi Cindy. Welcome! I just glanced through your store, and your prices didn’t seem overly low to me. The only thing I would have priced higher is the black rotary phone you sold, based on the fact that the sell-through rate on these things seems to be high (15 sold in the last 3 months, and only 10 for sale now). I think you may just want to target higher-value items when you are scavenging.
Just a little suggestion while I’m at it. You might try adding “vintage” or “vtg” as a keyword in the title to this item:
https://www.ebay.com/itm/Picture-Frame-Heavy-Glass-Oval-Tabletop-Flower-and-Ivy-Trim-6-1-4-x-4-1-2-New/192409207879?hash=item2ccc7b8447:g:dgkAAOSwsBtaQa~s:sc:USPSPriority!12444!US!-1From the hair styles and dress style in the photo (puffy sleeves!), it looks like it’s from the 80s.
Apologies if my unsolicited feedback is also unwanted!
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Sharyn, thanks for the input. To answer your question, I’m not sure why I’m not making more profit. I seem to be drawn to lower priced items at the thrifts, mugs, golf shirts, games, puzzles, but when I try to aim higher, I don’t find things all that often that bring in a higher ROI. I’m beginning to think it’s my area. If I traveled an hour up the road I’d be in a very prosperous city and would probably find better quality, but, again, I do work full time. I started out finding and selling collector pottery and ceramics, e.g. Weller, Red Wing, McCoy, Fenton, but then the market just seemed to vanish for those things. Auctions I haven’t explored yet aside from looking a bit into AuctionZip. How exactly do you do auctions? Do you travel to them or do you do them online?
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Sonia, thanks for the input. Any constructive feedback is always welcome. Re the rotary phone, I had that listed for about 2 months and priced it based on what was listed at the time. I have another chance. I bought 2 at the same garage sale and I listed one at a time so that I could see what the first one got before I listed the second one, to be listed soon. I do think I’ll price it a bit higher. Re the frame, I don’t think it is vintage and I’d rather err on the side of caution. The woman who gave it to me, my neighbor who moved away, had a 14 year old daughter so I figured she probably got it as a wedding present or after, which would make it no more than probably late 1990s/early 2000s. Thanks again for your input, I’m always looking for advice on how to improve my business.
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Thanks Sharyn, Sonia, Jay. All your input is helpful. I’m going to focus now on watching the What Sold videos and exploring auctions. My current non-Ebay job is medical transcription and that field is about in the toilet now. I’m only still hanging onto it because I’m in my early 60s now and I don’t want to move into another job at this late stage, even if I could get hired, which is doubtful. The good thing is that my income from that has gone so low that it wouldn’t be all that hard to make it up with Ebay if I could just get Ebay a little more profitable. I look forward to learning more from and being a part of the Scavenger blog. Thanks again!
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