Scavenger Life Episode 376: Long Term Greedy

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- 09/10/2018 at 8:07 am #48547
  Ryanne
  Keymaster
  Location: Virginia
  @ryanne
  Lots of stuff happening. Concrete. Brick. Porcelain. Old Shoes. Join the conversation in the forum>> Our Store Week Sept 2-8, 2018 Store #1 T
  [See the full post at: Scavenger Life Episode 376: Long Term Greedy]
- 09/10/2018 at 9:45 am #48551
  Temudgin
  Participant
  Location: Jacksonville FL
  @temudgin
  I’m first! Woo hoo! Great podcast as always. So true how items will sometimes surprise – the ones I think will sit go quickly and ones I think will sell right away don’t.
- 09/10/2018 at 10:33 am #48553
  Retro Treasures WV
  Participant
  Location:
  @retro-treasures-wv
  Items in Store 1147
  Items Sold 25
  Total Sales $917.00
  COGS $255.00
  Total Profit $662.00
  Average profit $26.48
  Average sales price $36.68
  
  This week is a story of letting things sit even when I know they will sell quick. I bought an Arlo security camera set a while back for $200. After researching it and realizing the batteries were going to get expensive I decided I would sell it instead….then I set it aside/buried it in unlisted inventory for a year.
  
  So I happened upon it again on Saturday and committed to listing it all for sale. I broke the lot up and sold the cameras individually and the base unit individually. EVERYTHING sold within 24 hours and I made $290 on the sales, so I’ll be net positive on the effort after fees.
  
  I have countless items in my unlisted inventory just like this that I know will sell quickly. Why didn’t I just list it immediately? I think the answer simply lies in the fact that I am a very busy man with too much on my plate. I’m trying to do better with prioritizing listing the items that I know will recoup investment quickly. This week I have 4 Canon AE-1 camera bundles to test/list that have been sitting a long time. Those will be very lucrative sales.
  
  At the beginning of summer I my listed inventory had whittled down to almost 800 items and my sales had slowed down due to lack of listing for several months. Now that summer is over I am up to around 1150 listings and my sales have noticeably increased. I need to keep the pedal to the metal. I need to keep listing the high dollar, quick sale items so I can keep cashflow high.
  
  Anyways, have a great week everyone. Fall is here so lets all sell a bunch of stuff!
- 09/10/2018 at 10:44 am #48555
  Geoff
  Participant
  Location:
  @norfolkgoldandsilver
  So as i continue to plug away as a “part time” ebay business i am contemplating the idea of changing my handling time to 5 days permanently. Not sure yet, but since it seems like buyers keep buying when i do so for work travel, and being that the cost savings on gas to the post office would off set the ever shrinking benefit of being a top rated seller, the concept seems kind of appealing.
  
  Anyway normal week – despite my efforts to source bigger my sales of been small dollar last few weeks – kind of have to laugh at my self there a little. Have not listen to the podcast yet but looking forward to it
  
  9/2/18 – 9/8/18
  Total items in store (beginning of week): 340
  Items sold: 7
  30 day sell through (rate): 8.82%
  Total Sales: (no shipping): 103.00
  Average price: $14.71
  Cost of items sold: $25.47
  Average cost per item: $3.64
  Gross profit: $77.53
  Highest item sold / best sale: Vintage Hudson Fine Pewter figurines – sold 24, paid 4.50
  New items listed: 27
  - 09/10/2018 at 10:55 am #48559
    Retro Treasures WV
    Participant
    
    Location:
    @retro-treasures-wv
    I’ve been on 3 day handling for several years. It allows me the freedom to only ship twice a week if I am busy. If I let an item go over a weekend I’ll occasionally get a message asking for shipping update. I simply remind them I have 3 business day handling due to my busy schedule and they are happy.
    
    Remember – only a portion of your buyers will see the full 5 day handling time.
    If this is what your business needs to succeed then go for it!
    - 09/10/2018 at 11:13 am #48562
      Geoff
      Participant
      
      Location:
      @norfolkgoldandsilver
      
      That is good to hear. 3 days may be a good amount as well…
      - 09/10/2018 at 11:46 pm #48593
        
        sonia
        Participant
        
        Location: Northeast US
        @sonia
        
        Yeah, I switched to 3-day also about a year ago after RetroWV posted that he did it. I love it!
        
        09/11/2018 at 11:30 pm #48657
        
        Geoff
        Participant
        
        Location:
        @norfolkgoldandsilver
        
        That’s good to hear. If I go the 3 or 5 day / save gas forget top rated direction I may dump free returns as well.
- 09/10/2018 at 10:45 am #48556
  ebaymom
  Participant
  Location: Ohio
  @ebaymom
  My Store Week Sept 2-8, 2018
  Total Items in Store: 1147
  Items Sold: 12
  Total Sales (Not inc. shipping): $214.32
  Cost of Items Sold: $15
  Highest Price Sold: $50 (Bakugan Toy Lot)
  Average Price Sold: $17.86
  STR: 4.5%
  Returns: 0
  Money Spent on New Inventory This Week: $60
  Number of items listed this week: 12
  
  Not much to say, it wasn’t a great week, sales-wise but I also didn’t list very much. I bought a set of Mid Century dining room chairs at a good price I am going to try a local pick up on. I also ventured out to a new charity thrift store that was in a questionable part of town, but going inside was just the kind of place that I love and hopefully will provide some new cool inventory. The volunteers were wonderful and I am getting really bored with Goodwill, it’s just easy to go there when I have my 4 yr old and 10 month old with me.
  
  Hope everyone has a great week of sales!
- 09/10/2018 at 10:45 am #48557
  totommyto
  Participant
  Location: Naples, Fl
  @totommyto
  Listening…
  
  9/2 – 9/8/18
  
  eBay store totommyto
  
  Total store items: 603
  Number of items sold: 3
  eBay sales (not counting s/h): $272
  Cost of items sold: $25
  Consignment payouts: $7
  Highest price sold: $240 – Vintage Tammy doll plastic jukebox
  Average price sold: $90.60
  Returns: 0
  Money spent on new inventory: 0
  Number of items listed this week: 10
  
  Etsy store oldfleatoymarket
  
  Total store items: 587
  Number of items sold: 5
  Etsy sales (not counting s/h): $100
  Cost of items sold: $13.50
  Consignment payouts: 0
  Highest price sold: $30 – Vintage Tammy doll style set
  Average price sold: $20
  Returns: 0
  Money spent on new inventory: 0
  Number of items listed this week: 19
- 09/10/2018 at 10:51 am #48558
  Mark S
  Participant
  Location:
  @mark-s
  09/02/18 – 09/08/18
  
  Total Items In Store: 2,428
  Items Sold: 14
  Cost of Items Sold: $50 (around)
  Total Sales: $ 568.33
  Highest Price Sold: $ 150 (Promo Car)
  Average Price Sold: $ 40.60
  Returns: 1
  Money Spent on New Inventory This Week: $ 73
  Number of Items listed this week: 12
  
  It was a decent week. Busy with back to school stuff.
  
  Found a nice set of golf clubs and bag for $25. I am going to piece it out for a better return. Hoping to get $240 for it that way.
  
  I am gearing up for the busy season. I made sure shipping supplies are stocked. I am preparing a new space in the basement to store an additional 1300+ items. Just need to find time to list now. My lister has been busy most of the summer, so I have been filling in.
  
  Mark S
- 09/10/2018 at 11:43 am #48563
  Simon
  Participant
  Location: San Francisco Bay Area
  @simon
  Thanks for the podcast!
  
  Here are my numbers for this week:
  
  Total Items in Store: 2532
  Items Sold: 38
  Total Sales: $981
  Cost of Items Sold: $87
  Average Price Sold: $25.82
  Average Cost of Item: $2.31
  Highest Price Item Sold: $139.95 Eero – Home WiFi System 2nd Generation Router
  Number of items listed this week: 53
  YTD Sales: $31656
  YTD sales compared to this time last year: +18%
  Average age of items in store (in days since listing): 319
  Average number of days between listing and selling this week: 261
  Median age of sales (in days, between listing and selling): 138
  Sell-through rate (for the week): 1.5%
  
  Nothing particularly remarkable this week but decent sales numbers by my standards. I hope this level of sales continues into and through Q4.
  
  Have a great week everyone!
- 09/10/2018 at 11:56 am #48564
  ChristineR
  Participant
  Location: Southern California
  @christiner
  Total Items in Store: 407
  Items Sold: 18
  Total Sales: $631
  Cost of Items Sold: $141 + $37 free shipping
  Highest Price Sold: $130 (UK Needlepoint kit, $10 estate sale item)
  Average Price Sold: $35
  Returns: 0
  Money Spent on New Inventory This Week: $0
  Number of items listed this week: 1
  
  Really, really grateful for the sales since I didn’t get to listing. Stressful week again and I took a couple of mental health hours this weekend zoning in the pool or watching tv. One kid needs extra attention transitioning into jr. high, the other having a rough start to the year being over-scheduled with demanding sports and courseload, which came to a head this week. Family emotions definitely rub off on mom. Meanwhile, the kitchen remodel is winding down and picking the perfect, agreed upon tile backsplash (that is not crazy expensive) is proving challenging. We are also running a little over budget for the project, just adding to our house-poor existence here on the Coast. Should pay off someday when we sell, but still…
  
  Enjoyed the podcast this morning. It seems like what you (R & J) really enjoy being free of is working for other people, and them holding you back. I’m glad you’ve found a great life being entrepreneurs. You really are willing to work very, very hard, have amazing self control, and would clearly pass the the marshmellow test. Not everyone has that kind of self control though, big picture thinking, or focus. People who want to work for themselves need to be really honest with themselves and it’s probably good advice to ease into it with a safety net so they can check themselves. Once I took the Briggs Meyers personality test at a law firm retreat. It was very interesting. I think my personality type (ESTJ) is why I love having my part-time scavenger business completely under my own control.
  
  Well off to return more tile samples and go to the office. Have a great week everyone.
  - 09/10/2018 at 12:00 pm #48566
    ChristineR
    Participant
    
    Location: Southern California
    @christiner
    Quick PS. I had an INAD as a buyer on Mercari since the seller misrepresented the brand and send poor quality. They took a few days to review after getting photos and comments but handled it all by email (in perfect English) and refunded immediately upon getting a scan on the tracking number. I think Ebay is transitioning over to that kind of automated system and it should leave both buyers and sellers happier than calling overseas, which I personally can’t tolerate. So far my experience with Mercari has been good, but the pricing I can get as a seller is less than Ebay. I sold two of our items there this week for about $75.
  - 09/10/2018 at 4:43 pm #48576
    Simon
    Participant
    
    Location: San Francisco Bay Area
    @simon
    I’ve heard about that Marshmallow experiment before and the way it can be a predictor of success later in life. I bet that the ability to delay gratification is a great predictor of financial well-being in particular. Impulse purchases, in particular, cause a lot of people to get into poor financial situations.
  - 09/10/2018 at 8:37 pm #48584
    Ryanne
    Keymaster
    
    Location: Virginia
    @ryanne
    yes, we just heard about The Marshmallow Test on the Netflix show Magic For Humans (everyone go watch it!). i would definitely wait for the 2nd cookie/marshmallow/treat. so yeah.
    - 09/11/2018 at 9:30 am #48601
      Retro Treasures WV
      Participant
      
      Location:
      @retro-treasures-wv
      
      You say that, but time is relative when you are staring at that treat for 30 minutes. Especially when you don’t know you’ll be waiting 30 minutes or more. I bet that 30 minutes feels like hours.
      
      I would have totally failed this test.
      
      My logic: So you’re telling me I can have this one cookie now and go about my business, or I could stare at this one for an indetermined amount of time in hopes of getting a second one? Nope! I’ll take the guarantee and be on my way. Of course, I was the “poor” kid they expected to fail who constantly had promises broken by my parents. Gotta take the guaranteed reward when it is presented because it might disappear and the final better reward probably ain’t happening anyways.
      
      Interestingly enough, another researcher alterted this test to take preconceived expectations of the child into consideration in 2012:
      
      A 2012 study at the University of Rochester (with a smaller N= 28) altered the experiment by dividing children into two groups: one group was given a broken promise before the marshmallow test was conducted (the unreliable tester group), and the second group had a fulfilled promise before their marshmallow test (the reliable tester group). The reliable tester group waited up to four times longer (12 min) than the unreliable tester group for the second marshmallow to appear.[11][12] The authors argue that this calls into question the original interpretation of self-control as the critical factor in children’s performance, since self-control should predict ability to wait, not strategic waiting when it makes sense. Prior to the Marshmallow Studies at Stanford, Walter Mischel had shown that the child’s belief that the promised delayed rewards would actually be delivered is an important determinant of the choice to delay, but his later experiments did not take this factor into account or control for individual variation in beliefs about reliability when reporting correlations with life successes.[13][14][15][16]
    - 09/11/2018 at 9:31 am #48602
      Retro Treasures WV
      Participant
      
      Location:
      @retro-treasures-wv
      
      And yeah, Magic for Humans is great. The invisible man thing was awesome.
      
      Per my post above, I totally related to that one kid who popped the marshmallow in his mouth with a big smile as soon as the person left the room. Smart kid – he’ll go far in life. Lol!
      - 09/11/2018 at 8:47 pm #48645
        
        Ryanne
        Keymaster
        
        Location: Virginia
        @ryanne
        
        gotta show off a little- we went to go see Justin Willman last week. (it was a surprisingly affordable show!) and someone in the audience asked about how he did the invisible man trick (the dude who actually did disappear) and he was like “ummm welllllll….i can’t tell you that! ha ha, he’s amazing!
- 09/10/2018 at 12:50 pm #48568
  almasty
  Participant
  Location:
  @alamasty
  Just finished listening to the podcast. Yeah, this summer has been brutal for home appliances. My dehumidifier conked out this past week, so I had to order a new one. Now that I’m dumping a full tank of water out a few times a day, I’ve realized the old one had probably been broken for at least a month! Ugh. The a/c has been barely able to cool my office, so I’ve been out of it by the hottest parts of the day.
  
  Of course, the temperature has fallen over the past few days, so now I’m like “oh no, it’s too cold out!” Hah. =/
  
  This past weekend was the first weekend in a row I didn’t go out looking for stock in over a month, so I stayed in and got 50 listings done. Yay!
  
  As for “long-term greed,” we’re not all 24/7 workhorses. After working extremely hard over the past few years, I pretty much took July, August and will be taking most of September off. Well, that’s not fair to say. I still did ship-outs 6 days a week, did bookkeeping, sourced new items, culled items, listed new items, thought of how to better the business. Yet, at the same time, my attitude changed; I didn’t freak out over sales being down (that much). I didn’t worry as much. I didn’t feel like I had to be working at something every single day of the week.
  
  I thought more about long-term goals. I thought more about short-term goals. I made sure to stop worrying about the business after a certain time period each day. I took a lot of days off (after the ship-out and basic bookkeeping were accomplished). I took off multiple days each week, sometimes. If I didn’t take days off, I combined them with more fun things to do, or sometimes stopped working by noon. I didn’t just work work work.
  
  Setting up long-term goals is a great way to just “give up” one day and temporarily move onto something else that is not what you are used to doing. Otherwise, even “fun stuff” can cause burn-out. “Fun work” can be headache inducing, and stressful. Then, when you feel like coming back to lots of work, it’s there. It just doesn’t have to be there all of the time (when you work for yourself).
- 09/10/2018 at 1:09 pm #48570
  Doublythumbs
  Participant
  Location: Hopedale, OH
  @doublythumbs
  Sep 2 – 8
  Total Items in Store: 1743
  Items Sold: 32
  Total Sales : $1095
  * above yearly average of $798
  * above 2017 total week sales of $455
  Highest Price: $125 (VertaLoc Max OA Knee Brace)
  Average Price: $34
  Returns: 0
  Cost of Goods Sold: $69
  Costs of Goods Purchased this Week: $223
  Number of New Items Listed this Week: 66
  
  Great week of sales! Hopefully this means 4th quarter is kicking off early this year. It sure kept me busy though! Some nights after work, all I did was pack! And like you two, it was just a mishmosh of random items, older and newly listed.
  
  I went to two auctions on Saturday. It was cold and rainy, but I think that made the crowd sparse which was great! I got a car load of stuff for around $200. Lately, I’ve been buying box lots of misc flatware. It takes time to look up patterns and list them, but it pays off once you get good at it and learn what to look for and stay away from. And every once in a while like this time, you find some sterling silver. I found 5 sterling soup spoons that I’m hoping will net me over $100.
  - 09/10/2018 at 4:37 pm #48575
    Simon
    Participant
    
    Location: San Francisco Bay Area
    @simon
    Any tips on how to identify flatware patterns? I’ve avoided them in the past as I didn’t know where to start.
    - 09/11/2018 at 8:39 am #48596
      Doublythumbs
      Participant
      
      Location: Hopedale, OH
      @doublythumbs
      
      Sure, Simon! Flatware can be intimidating with all the thousands of different patterns and designs and whatnot. The first thing I look for when deciding whether to buy it is brand and weight. Weight is a pretty good indicator whether a piece is well made or not. Does it bend easily with little force? Then it’s junk metal – toss it. Brand names are just something that takes some time to learn. About 80% of what I see is some variation of Rogers or International Silver. They’re super common. That doesn’t make them completely worthless, just much harder to find a pattern name. Now German, Danish or Japanese sounding names are more of the money makers and easier to research… Mikasa, Cromargan, Towle, Hepp, Yamazaki, etc.
      
      The best way I found to research patterns is by using the website replacements.com. In the search bar, start out by typing in exactly what is written on the back of the piece. If you’re lucky, it won’t return 100+ pages of patterns (if that happens, ask yourself how bad you really want to sell that fork). You can even narrow it down a little by using the options on the left. The last option (modify results) can help a lot. For example, if the pattern is floral in nature, I’ll type in there Flower or Rose.
      
      It’s hard at first to scroll through the pictures looking for the exact pattern. I found that it’s easier to first look for the general shape of the handle. Is the head pointy or flat top? Is the neck narrow or wide? Once you spot one that has the general shape of the utensil you’re holding, then you can focus in on the pattern. It can be a long process – it’s taken me 10 or 20 minutes sometimes. If I can’t get my search results to bring back less than 50 pages, then my last resort is typing the name exactly as it is on the back on eBay. Often enough I’ll get clues as to what the pattern is call from sold listings which I can use back on Replacements.com to get more info.
      
      One thing I’ve learned, too, is that the ornate fancy classic styles aren’t really that popular anymore. The more plain looking modern styles are in. I hope that helps. It’s a field I’m still learning about so if anyone has anything to add or correct, I’m all ears.
- 09/10/2018 at 7:56 pm #48581
  spinachetr
  Participant
  Location:
  @spinachetr
  That web interpret app got me too back in the spring. I had just clicked on it for more information and was automatically signed up. I woke up one morning with an extra 15,000 listings before I got it stopped. It took 3,000 of my listings and listed them individually on 5 international sites, so ebay recognized it as me having an additional 15k listings. I immediately revoked permission and sent them one hell of a nasty email. Then I spent about an hour deleting those extra listings from each of the international sites. I had to log into ebay UK and ebay Australia, etc. I had actually made a sale on ebay Australia. I did process that order, but haven’t signed back into ebay OZ since I sent it. For all I know I had a case opened for item not received. It’s a shame that ebay has permitted this app to continue this automatic signup and enrollment.
  - 09/10/2018 at 8:39 pm #48585
    Ryanne
    Keymaster
    
    Location: Virginia
    @ryanne
    agreed, it is insane that clicking one link would somehow give them 3rd party access to anyone’s store. crazy!!! i also wrote them an angry (several) emails.
  - 09/11/2018 at 9:33 am #48603
    Retro Treasures WV
    Participant
    
    Location:
    @retro-treasures-wv
    So were you getting charged listing fees for all of these listings? That’s the first question that popped into my mind when this was discussed on the podcast.
    - 09/11/2018 at 8:49 pm #48646
      Ryanne
      Keymaster
      
      Location: Virginia
      @ryanne
      
      luckily it was only 250 listings, we have a 10,000 listing store, so no we didn’t get any listing fees. but i was very afraid that they were going to just bulk re-list my entire store, which would end up being 16,000 items, and then i would have been charged. and then i would have been on the phone asking for my $ back….
- 09/10/2018 at 8:57 pm #48586
  SilverFoxFinds
  Participant
  Location: Virginia Beach
  @silverfoxfinds
  Steady, low sales over here. Know that I need to get my listing up, but have been/have allowed myself to get pulled into many other directions of things that need getting done…just wish those were income producing. This week, incoming Hurricane Flo has got me away from the office quite a bit, stocking up on supplies and battening down the outdoor hatches, while keeping an eye on the news to figure out what to expect – and whether or not we need to get outta Dodge!
  
  09/02/18 – 09/08/18
  Total Items In Store: 894
  Items Sold: 20
  Total Sales: $421.75
  Cost of Items Sold: $15.10
  Highest Price Sold: $125 Helimot Summer Motorcycle Gloves (commission sale)
  Average Price Sold: $21.09
  Returns/Refunds: 0
  Money Spent on New Inventory This Week: $34
  Number of Items listed this week: 40
- 09/10/2018 at 9:22 pm #48587
  simplicio
  Participant
  Location:
  @simplicio
  Retirement is a weird goal, yeah. Romans talked about “otium”, which is leisure in the sense of being at leisure to do as you please and not being beholden. So, Otium seems like a good target for all of us (though the optimates didn’t care much for us merchants). Actually otium is the root of “negotiate” (via “business” = neg-otium, i.e., non-leisure).
  
  ANYWAY
  
  Good week.
  
  Sales: CAD$2493, 3 items, COGS: $737 –> Item profit: $1391
  Expenditures: $50 –> Cashflow after tax: $1716
  Notable sales: ice cream whipper machine $450–>$1800. Bought this at auction a couple weeks ago.
  Haven’t scavenged too much of note, trying to curb my spend. Best were some medical supplies (bed exit sensors) a long tail maybe $400 item for $2 each.
  Listed: $655, 13 items
  Hours: 12, $144/hr
  
  Oh, about the app. It’s just the drafts functionality that’s messed up. Drafts can be created on mobile but they’re invisible (half the time anyway), you have to go to the browser to see them. This is version 5.24.1.
- 09/10/2018 at 9:37 pm #48588
  bcfol440
  Participant
  Location:
  @bcfol440
  Sept 1-10
  Items: 720
  Sold: 16
  Sales: $672
  Lean start to September! I am ramping up sourcing daily in small bites to get to my 1,000 listing goal by Dec. So I’m feeling the crunch this month.
  Highest Sale Sept: $120 Sorel Boots – I underpriced these, I am mad but oh well. 🙂
  
  Since I am sourcing new places, I am getting back into vintage shoes and clothes. However, I find that so many items have SMELLS. Not rank, but just.. musty. Sadly, I got moth ball smell on a several. I’ve tried to freshen them as best I can within reason (steam or soak or spray). At some point, I need to list them. Any tips on how to state “this may stink?” ha.
- 09/10/2018 at 10:22 pm #48590
  ebaymom
  Participant
  Location: Ohio
  @ebaymom
  Hi bcfol440,
  Regarding your smelly items – I have had good luck by describing the item as usual and then stating “This item has a faint vintage aroma (ie: smokey) or (ie: musty)”
  You are disclosing the smell, but somehow this makes it sound a little less sinister.
  
  Not sure what I would do about moth balls. I had some plush items once that smelled moth bally and very musty that I did not want to throw away, I lightly misted them with 50/50 alcohol and water mixture until completely damp and let them dry completely in the sun – they still smelled weird, but better – then I dusted them with baking soda (the next day once completely dry) and sealed them up in ziplock bags, shook everything up good, and let them sit for about a year and forgot about them, LOL, when I remembered to take them out of the bags and vacuumed the powder off of them, I was amazed the smell was completely gone – they smelled like new!
- 09/11/2018 at 12:05 am #48594
  sonia
  Participant
  Location: Northeast US
  @sonia
  Jay and Ryanne,
  
  I have a question about the return you talked about in the first half of the podcast (haven’t listened to the second half yet). The way I understood it was that the item was returned as INAD for color and since that’s not a valid reason for an INAD, you chose the option to not pay for return shipping this item. Did I understand that correctly? If so, I’m wondering why you would not pay for return shipping? I understand that it’s a FINAD situation, and so you want to avoid having an INAD on your record (especially since they will be penalizing high INAD rates at some point). So I totally understand why one would want to dispute the return reason and get that changed (although I’m doubtful that’s possible). But as for the $$ side of it, since you offer free returns, why withhold money? I mean, if the exact same return came in as “Didn’t like it”, would you have done the same thing?
  - 09/11/2018 at 5:02 am #48595
    Ryanne
    Keymaster
    
    Location: Virginia
    @ryanne
    sorry, i must have mis-spoke. we did pay for return shipping (as we do with all “Free Returns” now, it’s just built in), we disputed and didn’t pay for the original shipping.
    - 09/11/2018 at 3:20 pm #48617
      sonia
      Participant
      
      Location: Northeast US
      @sonia
      
      OK, that’s make sense – thanks for clarifying, Ryanne. So it sounds like the promise of “if you offer free returns, the FINAD process will be much easier for sellers” has come true, which I find very exciting and a cause for celebration! Now that I’ve seen (heard) it in action, I’m getting closer to wanting to offer free returns myself. Very cool.
      
      Did you also see options for reducing the refund amount if the item had come back to you not in its original condition? If anybody else offering free returns actually comes into a situation where they offer a non-full refund for item condition issues, please post and let us know how it went.
      - 09/11/2018 at 4:14 pm #48619
        
        MDC Galleries & Fine Art
        Participant
        
        Location: Atlanta
        @huncrelan
        
        Hey Sonia:
        Yep, we offer free returns and on the few that we have had, we had the options to refunds partial, complete, without with shipping. And of course there is a work around for backing out the shipping in either direction and that is select partial refund and input the amount of the item only and don’t include the shipping to or from.
        
        There is a big red caution that also states the obvious, don’t do any type of refund until you have gottent the item back, opened it and inspected for yourself.
        
        we have selected that we wish to review every return and use an RMA Number. [“Return Authorization Number”] just like we did in the prining company. We just use our SKU number.
        
        mike at MDCGFA in ATL
        
        09/11/2018 at 8:23 pm #48638
        
        sonia
        Participant
        
        Location: Northeast US
        @sonia
        
        thanks for sharing, Mike. Good to know that the new system is working well for people. I hope it seems like it is worth the cost of enabling free returns.
      - 09/11/2018 at 8:57 pm #48648
        
        Ryanne
        Keymaster
        
        Location: Virginia
        @ryanne
        
        i’m glad you wrote this to remind me that i can dispute a return for INAD (ummm i guess i already knew it was possible since that’s what we’re talking about) because i just got a return request FOR COLOR and they chose item is DEFECTIVE. are you serious? and i was about to be like “i’m turning off free returns!” but alas, i can dispute it when it gets to me. ok ok, i’ll keep it turned on… for now.
        
        09/12/2018 at 12:14 am #48659
        
        sonia
        Participant
        
        Location: Northeast US
        @sonia
        
        let us know if this False Defective return/dispute goes as smoothly as your recent FINAD!
        
        09/12/2018 at 7:56 am #48662
        
        Retro Treasures WV
        Participant
        
        Location:
        @retro-treasures-wv
        
        On the one I recently had reversed, I still have an INAD defect though. I haven’t called to try and get it removed, but you may keep this in mind if you get a lot of false INAD’s.
- 09/11/2018 at 9:10 am #48597
  Itemsfromthesouth
  Participant
  Location: Florida
  @itemsfromthesouth
  I charge for shipping and most items are not free returns. I had an INAD for item being too small (all measurements were in the listing). I called eBay and the rep said it was obviously buyers remorse and eBay would reimburse me for return shipping fees (of course I will have to call back) once the item is received. He told me he left notes about the case so the next rep will know to refund the shipping cost at eBay’s expense.
  My question is how often does eBay cover these costs and for how long? eBay’s income is generated from seller fees so my thought is… in the end we are paying for it anyway with higher fees in the near future. What are your thoughts?
- 09/11/2018 at 9:24 am #48600
  Sharyn
  Participant
  Location: Central NJ
  @sharyn
  Week of Sept 2 – 8
  * Total Items in Store: 1219
  * Items Sold: 17
  * Cost of Items Sold: $43.05 + $0 Commission
  * Total Sales: $388
  * Highest Price Sold: $100 HBO Band of Brothers Leather Bomber Jacket
  * Average Price Sold: $22.82
  * Returns: 0
  * Money Spent on New Inventory This Week: $3
  * Number of items listed this week: 9
  
  Sales were somewhat normal this week, so I’m happy. I bought the HBO leather jacket for $15 at the last day of a rummage sale last month. It was one of the few times I bargained for something, so I’m pretty happy with the sale.
  
  For issues with the eBay app, last week I had problems with the photos. I uploaded them as normal on my cell phone, then finished the listing on the computer. When I clicked to list, I got an error message saying that the pixel size on the photos were too small (I forget the exact wording). So, at that point, I had to delete the photos and then reload them through the cloud.
  
  This week, I was able to load the photos through the cell phone without any issues. The interface was the new update. So, I don’t know if I have different equipment than anyone else (iphone 5c), but it seems to be working for me now.
  - 09/11/2018 at 12:52 pm #48610
    Sharyn
    Participant
    
    Location: Central NJ
    @sharyn
    I forgot to mention: I’m trying not to source right now because of my large backlog/death piles; however, a local church held their annual rummage/yard sale on Saturday. By the time I got there, the rummage section inside the church was having a $5 a box sale. While I was gathering my stuff, the price went down to $3. I bought a Royal electric typewriter, a vintage hand-turn meat grinder, and a bunch of lesser value stuff. Some of the lesser stuff might end up in a junk drawer lot because I think I have enough for one. What a great sourcing trip!
- 09/11/2018 at 10:27 am #48605
  MMVI
  Participant
  Location: Michigan
  @mmvi
  9/3 – 9/9
  Total Items in Store: 1222
  Items Sold: 17
  Sales: $1,455.49
  Cost of Items Sold: $290
  Highest Price Sold: $625 (old sign)
  Average Price Sold: $80.86
  Returns: 0
  Money Spent on New Inventory This Week: $608 (an auction)
  Number of items listed this week: 42
  
  Overall not a terrible week for sales. The old sign sure was a pain to ship as the first time I packed it I went overboard and it was WAY too big. I would have had to ship it freight. So I did it all over again and got it back down to a manageable size.
  
  I was dogging it on the listing front this week, but after a solid auction I have plenty to get listed this week. This weeks auction had a lot of smalls so I came home with hundreds of patches, hats, and manuals. All relatively low priced items but they should trickle in money for a while.
  
  I like the term long term greedy haha! The ability to understand that, barring an unforeseen tragedy, you will one day be residing in the future is so important in our life outcomes.
  
  I don’t know if you’ve mentioned it already Jay or Ryanne, but are you documenting the transformation of the new property? It would be awesome to see the process when complete.
  
  Everyone in the storm path stay safe!
  - 09/11/2018 at 8:53 pm #48647
    Ryanne
    Keymaster
    
    Location: Virginia
    @ryanne
    yes, we’re taking photos every time we do something. i also took a set of “before” photos the day after we bought it. which i try to do at all properties, so we can make a before and after photo book. it’s cool at the rentals, people can’t believe what we started with, so that’s a nice treat to have people realize how much we transformed the spaces.
  - 09/12/2018 at 7:29 pm #48681
    MMVI
    Participant
    
    Location: Michigan
    @mmvi
    That’s excellent, I took a look at your rental properties listings a while back and you can see the care and time put into your properties. I enjoy hearing the updates on the progress and hope we get to see before and afters on the new building!
- 09/11/2018 at 12:29 pm #48608
  jimi
  Participant
  Location: Delaware
  @jimi
  Sept 2-8
  Items Sold: 31
  Cost of Items Sold: $143.32
  Total Sales: $784.97
  Highest Price Sold: $49(Orvis 2 pc suit)
  Average Price Sold: $25.32
  Returns: 2 returns – boots, shirt
  Money Spent on New Inventory This Week: $145
  Number of items listed this week: 28
  
  Decent week for me with a lot of $15-25 sales. This week has started off very slow which is okay with me as I am frankly a little ebay fatigued at the moment. Enjoyed the podcast and blog posts/comments – as always. Will be watching this storm track closely and hope everyone has a good week. Where did the summer go.
- 09/11/2018 at 5:41 pm #48628
  T-Satt
  Participant
  Location:
  @t-satt
  Haven’t listened to the PodCast yet, but wanted to get our numbers in while I have them (since I was late for the last 2 weeks!)
  
  Week of 9/1-9/8
  Total Items in Store: 2,720 (Up 60% YOY)
  Number of Items Listed: 65
  Number of Items Sold: 82 (Up 30% YOY)
  (Includes 0 Etsy, 0 Bonanza, 0 TrueGether)
  Weekly STR: 13% (Down 3% YOY)
  
  Total Product Sales: $2,161 (Up 27% YOY)
  Cost of Items Sold: $474
  Highest Item Sold: $125 – Under Armour Brow Tine Hiking Hunting Boots
  Competition: Highest Priced Sale: Veronica wins the week and Veronica leads for the year 21-15
  
  eBay Clothing
  # Listed: 1,731
  # Sold: 55
  STR: 14%
  ASP: $22.63
  
  eBay Shoes
  # Listed: 406
  # Sold: 17
  STR: 18%
  ASP: $36.16
  
  eBay Hard Goods
  # Listed: 583
  # Sold: 10
  STR: 7%
  ASP: $30.16
  
  Etsy Hard Goods
  # Listed: 164
  # Sold: 0
  STR: 0%
  ASP: $0
  
  Business Improvement for the Week – Start new purchasing streams. With a lot of time to think on the hike, and the changes we could see needed for me to do a 4 week hike next year, we decided that rather than expanding to PoshMark, our time and work is better served looking to expand our sourcing options beyond the requirement to yard sale/thrift store every week. We won’t stop those streams, but we don’t like being reliant on that stream for items to buy. We also want to have purchasing options that are less location dependent (so, looking for options that can be purchased and shipped in or picked up later) as well as options that have higher ASP and can be purchased in higher quantity. Still in early stages on this, and some great people we met at eBay Open have given us some avenues to explore. Stay tuned…
- 09/11/2018 at 6:53 pm #48630
  BourbonTrailBazaar
  Participant
  Location: Indiana
  @bourbontrailbazaar
  Not a bad week considering I had a ZeroDay
  
  9/2 – 9/8
  
  Total Items in Store: 1085
  Items Sold: 30
  Gross Sales: $987.37
  Cost of Items Sold: $122.40
  Net eBay Sales (After Shipping, Fees): $733.65
  Highest Price Sold: $80 (Ralph Lauren Blazer)
  Average Price Sold (Gross): $32.91
  Average Price Sold (eBay Net): $24.46
  Returns: 1
  Money Spent on New Inventory This Week: $53.32
- 09/11/2018 at 9:10 pm #48651
  BrianB
  Participant
  Location:
  @brianb
  Does anyone have the URL to that site that will tell you how many images your listings have?
  - 09/12/2018 at 7:22 am #48661
    Ryanne
    Keymaster
    
    Location: Virginia
    @ryanne
    http://www.isdntek.com/ebaytools/BulkPhotoScanner.htm
- 09/11/2018 at 9:12 pm #48652
  retiredtreasures719
  Participant
  Location: Troy, Ohio
  @retiredtreasures719
  Ahhhh retirement. I have been retired for 4 years now. I was 53 when I retired. I had not planned to retire so early, but it was a perfect storm of getting myself grandfathered in to some serious changes in the health care plan of the state retirement system and trying to take care of the two old men while working full time. I hadn’t given much thought to when I would retire, so I wasn’t very prepared for being retired. After 6 months I tried to go back and work part time at the same place, but working part time and being a caregiver is actually harder than trying to do it full time. They aren’t nearly as forgiving of time off or schedule changes for part timers. It lasted 6 months. Being retired with no job was a major adjustment! I knew I needed to find something to do or I would go crazy. I had been selling on eBay off and on for years. I was trying to figure out how to make it work when I stumbled upon Scavenger Life. Thank you Jay and Ryanne, I truly think you saved my sanity. I can’t emphasize it enough-being retired is an ADJUSTMENT!
  
  My eBay store isn’t as big or productive as many of yours, but I can devote hours if I have it or take the time off to take someone to the doctor. I make sure I get at least one all day sourcing trip every month and tell the guys they have to fend for themselves. I source other times, but usually just between trips hither and yon. I have been tweaking my listing for the last few weeks. Deleting lower priced items (especially long term ones) and replacing them with higher priced listings. I have been experimenting with auctions too. Some of the items have sold for higher than I would have thought they would. Quite a few have sold at the lower prices I start the auction, but I’m getting a couple of bucks and saving myself a trip to Goodwill. I also have multiple boxes of stuff going to a friends garage sale this weekend. Once it leaves the house, it ain’t coming back!
  
  Ebay Sept 2-8
  Total Sales $143.94
  #sold 14
  Avg. sale $10.28
  Items in store 1077
  Returns 0
  COGS $13.64
  # listed 26
  Highest Sale $37.39 Hazel Atlas Wedgewood Egypt Glasses set of 8 (sold on Bonanza)
- 09/12/2018 at 9:45 am #48664
  MyCottage
  Participant
  Location:
  @mycottage
  Latest ebay commercial:
  
  Anyone else find this to be less than memorable? Or maybe I’m just too many generations removed from being the target audience?
- 09/12/2018 at 9:52 am #48665
  Paulo H Leocadio
  Participant
  Location:
  @paulo-h-leocadio
  For Mark the Shark: Microsoft MapPoint was not discontinued
  
  Well, sort of. Not sure how much we interacted so far. I worked over 20 years for Microsoft, half the time on Consulting Services, Half the time on Engineering.
  Said that, MapQuest, later MapPoint was absorbed by Bing Maps, so you can do everything there. Also, Google Maps enables you with same feature set.
  
  So for example if you are in Le Claire, IA. You find Thrifts, Goodwills etc etc. Assuming you are logged on either your Microsoft account to use Bing Maps or Google account to use Google Maps on your phone, you can GPS pinpoint the place and add almost as much comments you want.
  
  You can edit later.
  
  Also, you can create “My Locales” with whatever naming you want (Le-Claire for example). You will access that Map database from anywhere as long as you log in.
  
  You can share. You can have them private, public or shared with specific people.
  
  Please let me know if this helps. You can even export/import to different formats the data information.
- 09/12/2018 at 9:53 am #48666
  SilverFoxFinds
  Participant
  Location: Virginia Beach
  @silverfoxfinds
  @MyCottage – looks like they’re just trying to market both their being relevant to young audiences and those looking to purchase New items, after being known for years as a primarily used goods site.
  
  The ad doesn’t target me as I don’t buy new items as much, and avoid most of the unnecessary trappings of modern life, but folks like me already shop on eBay per their old persona. So, they’re just looking to compete and grow, yeah?
  
  Thinking I’m going to extend my handling time with the incoming storm. There’s going to be delays for sure with shipping and postal service, and I don’t want to get dinged by an inflexible algorithm system… No sourcing this weekend, so the listing is on (til the power goes out)!
- 09/12/2018 at 10:31 am #48667
  MyCottage
  Participant
  Location:
  @mycottage
  silverFoxFinds
  
  Oh, I agree…the target audience skews younger, as they already have a lot of us oldesters…and it skews new because, as they’ve said repeatedly, an amazing number of people STILL think ebay is all old stuff (and mostly auctions). So, they need to change that perception. I think they are right about that.
  
  I’m just not sure, even if I were younger, I would find the commercial memorable. I don’t think the commercial would bother me, there’s nothing really wrong with it, but it just doesn’t seem like it would stand out.
  
  But I’m not an ad company exec. Maybe this is exactly what ebay needs. As long as it gets the youngsters to look at the ebay site….and maybe it will do that really well.
- 09/12/2018 at 11:18 am #48668
  ChristineR
  Participant
  Location: Southern California
  @christiner
  @mycottage I don’t like it as much as their Christmas campaign. Seems like they went from highlighting the reason Ebay should be thought of for shopping (you can find things you can’t find elsewhere), to just trying to remind people you can get new items there. They should go for the youngsters in cool social media sites (that I’m not on) IMHO. Stuff the Facebook generation wouldn’t even see. Probably cheaper than TV ads too.
  
  Ebay is working on upping the number of buyers, which I think is great. I think they take for granted that they are still the best traffic site for selling used and vintage goods. But, while trying to draw people into the back door, they need to keep an eye someone (or several someones) doesn’t draw their reserves out the backdoor.
- 09/12/2018 at 11:40 am #48671
  MyCottage
  Participant
  Location:
  @mycottage
  ChristineR,
  
  I agree with the need to attract new buyers (and from what I can tell, eBay IS using Social Media pretty extensively). But I also agree that too much emphasis on new puts ebay at risk of losing sellers of the old (and their buyers) to other sites, some established (such as etsy) and some newer ones (such as Poshmark).
  
  I especially think Christmas is a good time of year to remind buyers that ebay has tons of stuff that will bring to mind Christmases past….it is the one time of year when even non-collectors tend to be feeling more nostalgic, and might go looking for that toy they never got when they were a kid, or the decorations their mom always put up for the Holidays, or…whatever.
  - 09/12/2018 at 6:20 pm #48680
    ChristineR
    Participant
    
    Location: Southern California
    @christiner
    @mycottage I agree that the ad is forgettable. I’m glad to hear they have been working social media. After earnings come out, I try to read about their performance. It seems like they recently spent heavily on marketing but didn’t get a great payoff. Hopefully the current and holiday campaigns will be more successful growth-wise. BTW I should have said into the front door up there – sheesh. 🙂
- 09/12/2018 at 2:03 pm #48673
  Paulo H Leocadio
  Participant
  Location:
  @paulo-h-leocadio
  Is scrapping a subset of scavenging, or is it diversification? Scrapping Dimes and Pennies.
  
  Meine Freunde,
  
  I’d mentioned before my passion on recycling. That takes me to scrapping. That takes me to digital scrapping. That takes me to cyber-scrapping.
  
  Since my teen years I am sort of addicted to piggybacks. Don’t remember one year in my life without grabbing whatever change is available from friends, family, streets (I find coins weekly). Today without effort I get to the end of the year with about $100 in coins that go directly to a investment.
  
  However, it always bugged me the cents in the accounts. Possibly because of my OCD and TOC, it hurts to see fractions. never had the time to dedicate to see what I could do. I found an App that does just that. In a nutshell you don’t need to pay anything, and they round up (you can configure this) every and each transaction, besides the perks. Everyday you have a few bucks moving automatically to any of your checking, saving, debit, credit accounts with transaction. From 0.01 to 0.99 they will get 0.99 to 0.01 invested.
  
  You have 5 profiles to choose as investor. Then every $5 they will by you shares of the funds you chose above (like Aggressive Portfolio, Moderate, Conservative, etc). The great is, imagine the share of a Vanguard International fund is $100 per share, they get you a fraction of that share since on the other side they invest bulks or lumpsums.
  
  In a months I have $162 just because of this, I chose to add $5/months, and there are many perks, from Uber to supermarkets. Everytime you use Uber they add $5 in your account. I once got $50 directly from one of their partners that was just starting. Again, little over a month.
  
  Scrapper dream coming through.
  
  To finish, I am collecting silver and gold from Thrifts and other places. A lot of 80-99% metal is left aside just for lack of knowledge apparently (donation goes in a bulk of costume jewelry).
  
  For gold I am melting ounce per ounce on slabs/ingots/bars and for silver I have not decided yet since the cost to do it does not pay off because of variables like purity.
- 09/14/2018 at 5:54 pm #48749
  Marie in Florida
  Participant
  Location:
  @marie-in-florida
  Is anyone else having difficulty with changing prices on items? I’ve been marking down some old probably too pricey things. When I check later, sometimes much later, nothing has changed. Told a customer that I was marking down a $300 jacket. I know I marked it down. But he doesn’t.
  - 09/15/2018 at 11:07 am #48769
    Ryanne
    Keymaster
    
    Location: Virginia
    @ryanne
    i’ve been having a related price problem- i have my helpers price everything to $1000 when making drafts, in case the items get listed publicly by accident (this has happened twice, where i missed the scheduled date and they auto-listed). SO, when i go into scheduled listings and make sure everything is good, i change the price to the actual price and list publicly. some items are staying at $1000 unless i sit there and make sure it has that little gray “Saving….” thing pop up (did you guys see that when listing too?). if it doesnt, i just toggle between add best offer and don’t add best offer and it saves the price. buggy! annoying!!
- 09/14/2018 at 6:58 pm #48752
  SilverFoxFinds
  Participant
  Location: Virginia Beach
  @silverfoxfinds
  @Marie – well, I could be wrong (memory? what memory?), but I had a sale today of something I listed yesterday and could have sworn I changed the price last minute to $24.99, but it sold for $18.99. Could also be me moving too quickly through the app, but wanted to chime in in case it is a thing.
  
  Are you working primarily from the app, a computer, or both?
- 09/14/2018 at 7:13 pm #48753
  sonia
  Participant
  Location: Northeast US
  @sonia
  Yesterday I could have sworn that I edited several items to increase the prices but when I looked at them a few minutes later, the prices were still the previous prices. So I had to go in and edit them again. That was weird.
- 09/15/2018 at 10:27 am #48767
  Marie in Florida
  Participant
  Location:
  @marie-in-florida
  SilverFox I’m mainly listing on the computer, but taking pictures on the phone. The jacket is finally down in price. But the cup and other items that I repriced yesterday, is still at the old price 24 hours later.????
- 09/17/2018 at 5:19 pm #48846
  Rydell Relics
  Participant
  Location:
  @rydell-relics
  RR Store Week September 2-8, 2018
  
  Total Items in Store: 1550
  Items Sold: 8
  Cost of Items Sold: $8.52
  Total Sales: $164.92
  Highest Price Sold: $39.99 (1959 Chevrolet Trucks keychain)
  Average Price Sold: $20.62
  Returns: 0
  Money Spent on New Inventory This Week: $0
  Number of items listed this week: 4
  
  Easily my worst week ever.
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