Scavenger Life Episode 411: Scavenging as Therapy

This topic has 82 replies, 24 voices, and was last updated 7 years ago by The Thrift Raider.

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- 05/19/2019 at 5:03 pm #62098
  Ryanne
  Keymaster
  Location: Virginia
  @ryanne
  Join the conversation in the forum>> Our Store Week May 12-18, 2019 Total Items in Store: 8452 Items Sold: 28 Gross Sales: $945.23 Cost of Ite
  [See the full post at: Scavenger Life Episode 411: Scavenging as Therapy]
- 05/19/2019 at 6:27 pm #62101
  totommyto
  Participant
  Location: Naples, Fl
  @totommyto
  Great Podcast, and what a way to finish up a peaceful Sunday at the regular job. Scavenging is certainly therapy for me – the thrill of the early morning hot Florida flea market, the late night pack & ship flow because it has to be done, and getting into the research, photo, and listing zone. If I wasn’t doing this, I suppose I would be fishing all the time!
  
  5/12 – 5/18/19 (no cross listing is done between platforms)
  
  eBay store: totommyto
  
  Total store items: 637
  Number of items sold: 15
  Total eBay sales (not counting s/h): $477
  Cost of items sold: $94.50 (paid up for one cool item I had to have)
  Consignment payouts $5
  Highest price sold: $200 – 1920’s metal insulated Rangeley ME Water Co box, paid $75
  Average price sold: $31.80
  Returns: 0
  Money spent on new inventory: $16
  Number of new items listed this week: 24
  Sell through rate for the week: 2.4
  Number International sales: 1
  
  Etsy store oldfleatoymarket
  
  Total store items: 632
  Number of items sold: 10
  Total Etsy sales (not counting s/h): $244
  Cost of items sold: $11.50
  Consignment payouts: 0
  Highest price sold: $45 – mini vintage doll in an egg, paid $2.50
  Average price sold: $24.40
  Returns: 0
  Money spent on new inventory: $5
  Number of new items listed this week: 3
  Sell through rate for the week: 1.6
  # International sales: 0
- 05/19/2019 at 6:55 pm #62102
  Mark S
  Participant
  Location:
  @mark-s
  2019-05-12 – 2019-05-18
  
  Total Items In Store: 3001
  Items Sold: 15
  Cost of Items Sold: $50
  Total Sales: $504.59
  Highest Price Sold: $ 94 (Men’s Suit)
  Average Price Sold: $33.64
  # Items Listed: 44
  Money Spent on New Inventory: $ 65
  
  Gut Sales Report for the week: Sales were slow. I did the only thing I could by listing and that did help.
  
  Challenge of the week: The story of the week\month is still buying awesome inventory on the cheap. I am being more selective in buying higher priced items. Some of these are larger items, but that is ok with me.
  
  Strategy of the week\month: Still trying to beef up my $75 and up items right now.
  
  Personal Scavenge of the week\month: No one item in particular. I went to a neighborhood (about 1 mile square) that had about 50 garage sales. The cool thing is that they made a map of the neighborhood and the addresses of all the houses involved with the garage sale. What fun. I just had the best time going house to house and picking out the best items and then going on to the next. I think this is an annual thing, so I will have to be sure to go next year. That was therapy for me this week.
  
  Mark S
- 05/20/2019 at 8:07 am #62112
  Retro Treasures WV
  Participant
  Location:
  @retro-treasures-wv
  Items in Store 1129
  Items Sold 26
  Total Sales $745.00
  COGS $55.00
  Total Profit $690.00
  Average profit $26.54
  Average sales price $28.65
  New Listings 36
  
  Not much to report on this week. Just listing and shipping. I did some organizing on Saturday and it PAINED me to go through some of my unlisted inventory. Things that I know will sell for over $100 just sitting there unlisted. I had to stick to my guns on priorities though – I already had 65 listings ready for photos. That lot of imaginext stuff though is soooo totally getting listed once I finish my photo backlog. I also had a house project I finally finished, much to the happiness of my very patient wife. Lastly, it was 90+ degrees and I actually had my pool up and ready before memorial day for once! Pool time is good time. 🙂
  
  Have a great week everyone!
- 05/20/2019 at 8:29 am #62113
  The Thrift Raider
  Participant
  Location:
  @thethriftraider
  Hi Jay and Ryanne, funny you should mention estate sales, just went to two yesterday for their half off sales. Didn’t find anything mindblowing, but there were a few minor cool finds including a small piece of orange Descoware.
  So I’m in my new place (me and the husband decided on another one bedroom), it’s a tiny bit bigger 800sq ft compared to 640. Biggest issue is organization right now, my inventory is kind of everywhere and I never feel like fixing it. Other issue is I ordered a new phone, the Pixel 3a, when I lost my iphone SE. Unfortunately it’s backordered indefinitely and my backup phone is not only badly cracked, but takes HORRIBLE photos. I’m super excited about using the Pixel since the camera is supposed to be so good.
  
  Anyway, hope sales get better for you guys and that my phone comes in within the week!
- 05/20/2019 at 9:58 am #62114
  BrianB
  Participant
  Location:
  @brianb
  May 24, is this year’s “eBay Advocacy Day” in Washing ton DC. https://www.ecommercebytes.com/2019/05/19/ebay-and-etsy-sellers-advocate-on-postal-issues-sales-tax-and-more/
- 05/20/2019 at 10:08 am #62115
  The_SEAM_Store
  Participant
  Location: PA
  @the_seam_store
  If a buyer creates or uses a secondary username in order to circumvent your block list, that’s a violation of policy and will get any case closed in your favor.
  - 05/20/2019 at 10:16 am #62116
    Jay
    Keymaster
    
    Location: Virginia
    @jay
    Agreed. Ultimately eBay didnt charge us for shipping of the returned item. It’s more just the pain in the butt of the weird buyer returning an item in the first place after being so adamant about buying it.
- 05/20/2019 at 10:27 am #62117
  Sharyn
  Participant
  Location: Central NJ
  @sharyn
  Week of May 12 – 18
  * Total Items in Store: 1372, eBay, 3 Etsy
  * Items Sold: 23 eBay
  * Cost of Items Sold: $21.75 + $5 Commission
  * Total Sales: $448.89
  * Highest Price Sold: $60 Large funky hand thrown pottery vase
  * Average Price Sold: $19.52
  * Returns: 1 item was damaged, refunded without shipping back
  * Money Spent on New Inventory This Week: $0
  * Number of items listed this week: 12
  
  Things to do list: Finally rewired 3 vintage bar lights from my deathpile; almost finished with them.
  
  Actually had a decent week for me. I’ve been sort of not in sync with others on the forum lately; having bad weeks when everyone is doing well and vice versa.
  
  I’m trying to catch up on backlog/deathpiles, so I haven’t been scavenging lately. Garage sales are in full swing, but I haven’t bothered. My daughter is graduating high school next month, so I’ve also been pretty busy with outside stuff.
- 05/20/2019 at 10:34 am #62118
  Brian Treasures from Grandmas
  Participant
  Location: Hoboken, NJ
  @brian-treasures-from-grandmas
  Love the concept of scavenging/sourcing as therapy. I know if I had a rough week at the day/office job, nothing makes that wash away better than getting up a dawn on Saturday, driving & listening to the music I want to, standing in estate sale lines, haggling with flea market vendors, etc. To some, that prob feels like a nightmare, to many of us, it’s the dream.
  
  Week May 12-18, 2019
  
  Total Items in Store: 1032
  Items Sold: 16 (2 Amazon)
  Cost of Items Sold: $118 (18.9% of sales)
  Total Sales: $625.17
  Highest Price Sold: $89.99 (1966 Beatles Revolver mono pressing)
  Average Price Sold: $39.07
  Returns: 0 (1 cancellation though)
  Money Spent on New Inventory This Week: $595
  Number of items listed this week: 56
  Promoted listings test: 4 sales, $179.97 (28.8% of total sales), $8.85 fees (4.9% of sales)
  
  Decent week, saved by a couple higher dollar items. Continue to do quite well on high end records, and just picked up another collection. Outside of records, this was a pretty neat sale… vintage 1950s Montreal & Toronto pennants all dirty & soiled that I got at a flea market in central Ohio last summer when visiting a friend – not crazy exciting except they’re headed back home to a buyer in Toronto.
  
  This weekend got a lot of listing accomplished, things that were backed up and sitting around for a while. Also hit a couple estate sales and really tried to focus on NOT getting any more records (although I did end up with a handful, I couldn’t resist): a 1955 unused Marilyn Monroe calendar (NSFW), a 1950s French advertising souvenir carry on bag, an original 1960s wooden hanger from The Watergate Hotel, and a couple 1960s sterling silver Rolex Torah pens.
  - This reply was modified 7 years ago by Brian Treasures from Grandmas.
  - This reply was modified 7 years ago by Brian Treasures from Grandmas.
  - 05/20/2019 at 10:50 am #62123
    Jay
    Keymaster
    
    Location: Virginia
    @jay
    It is a good feeling spending a day scavenging because there’s mystery and anticipation.
    
    Do you only buy record collections at estate sales, or do you also put out an ad online for people to contact you?
    - 05/20/2019 at 11:14 am #62126
      Brian Treasures from Grandmas
      Participant
      
      Location: Hoboken, NJ
      @brian-treasures-from-grandmas
      
      I don’t think I’m ready to take on complete collections or anything yet – but I do search CL, eBay, LetGo, and FB groups for collections and individual pieces that interest me, then pull the Steve S and ask “do you have anything else like this”.
- 05/20/2019 at 11:13 am #62125
  ChristineR
  Participant
  Location: Southern California
  @christiner
  Total Items in Store: 255 Ebay, 45 Mercari
  Items Sold: 5
  Gross Sales: $157 Ebay, $10 Mercari
  Cost of Items Sold: $62
  Highest Price Sold: $50 (set of Dansk side plates)
  Average Price Sold: $39 Ebay
  Returns: 0
  Money Spent on New Inventory This Week: $0
  Number of items listed this week: 0
  
  Thankful for the sales. It’s been at least 6 weeks since I’ve listed and I’m way down from 400 items. Enjoyed the podcast on my drive back from a quick LA trip. Life is very busy. It’s fun to listen about scavenging strategies even if I can’t do it. In fact, between my dad downsizing, my daughter’s outgrown clothes, and stuff in my kids’ rooms, I’m adding to the piles without even going shopping. Ugh. I expect to get back into listing before the better Fall season hits. Have a great week and enjoy scavenging.
- 05/20/2019 at 11:24 am #62127
  Retro Treasures WV
  Participant
  Location:
  @retro-treasures-wv
  Scavenging is definitely therapy. The excitment of finding a rare item. The thrill of a great deal. The accomplishment of scoring a big haul. I’d do it all the time if I could get away with it.
  
  Scavenging is great therapy…too great sometimes.
  
  I’ve throttled way back on my scavenging. I used to go to multiple thrifts during the week. Now I maybe do one a week. In April I did none. I do 1-2 hours of yard sales most Saturdays – just a trip down the main drag. No marathon days from 7am-1pm, which would be pretty easy to do around here.
  
  All that therapy led me to having a giant backlog. That would have been fine if my day job would have ended as I expected, but it didn’t. It would also be fine if I had time to list it all, but I don’t. I make WAY too much money for way too little work to walk away from my day job.
  
  I’m slowly chipping away at the backlog and also keeping up with the new stuff coming in.
  
  I’m slowly but surely finding the balance that works for me. I’m committing to myself to list the new stuff I get as soon as possible, and then do some of the backlog before buying more stuff. I commit myself to sticking to higher dollar items and only get $25 and under items when they are a quick flip and easy to list.
  
  I don’t want to completely quit scavenging because I want the tax write offs associated with it and there are always excellent things out there that I’d kick myself for missing out on – like the brand new high end DVD recorder I got yesterday that will be a quick $100 profit). I considered skipping that scavenging trip but did it anyways so I could claim the 45 mile round trip as business travel. It paid off.
- 05/20/2019 at 11:51 am #62128
  Simon
  Participant
  Location: San Francisco Bay Area
  @simon
  Thanks for the podcast. Sorry to hear that sales were slow for you this week.
  
  My numbers for this week:
  
  Total Items in Store: 3026
  Items Sold: 44
  Total Sales: $1143
  Cost of Items Sold: $126
  Average Price Sold: $25.98
  Average Cost of Item: $2.87
  Highest Price Item Sold: $126.61 Sony RDR-VX525 DVD / VHS Player Recorder
  Number of items listed this week: 71
  YTD Sales: $18506
  YTD sales compared to this time last year: +8%
  Average age of items in store (in days since listing): 375
  Average number of days between listing and selling this week: 227
  Median age of sales (in days, between listing and selling): 146
  Sell-through rate (for the week): 1.45%
  Hats sold this week: 30 (68% of sales) worth $558.45 (48% of sales $)
  
  I had another good week and my YTD sales are creeping up past my total sales from this time last year which I’m happy about. The average age of my sales (227 days) was surprisingly high. I had a lot of things sell after being listed for almost another year.
  
  We had another rainy Saturday which killed garage sales so I focused on listing. I spent almost the entire weekend working on my eBay biz. I was working on some Quimper listings. Guess where I heard about Quimper. 🙂
  
  I hope everyone has a profitable week.
- 05/20/2019 at 11:52 am #62129
  Doublythumbs
  Participant
  Location: Hopedale, OH
  @doublythumbs
  May 12 – 18
  Total Items in Store: 2,247
  Items Sold: 32
  Total Sales : $1,199
  * ABOVE yearly average of $893
  Highest Price: $305 (Photographs of Buzz Aldrin)
  Average Price: $44
  Returns: 2
  Cost of Goods Sold: $34
  Costs of Goods Purchased this Week: $67
  Number of New Items Listed this Week: 34
  
  Pretty good week on my end. I sold a bunch of NASA related photographs that I saved from the dumpster. I listed them all as auctions because I had no clue as to what to price them. And I was satisfied with the results. Where i thought I would maybe make a few hundred bucks actually ended up at almost $900 total. Come to think of it, if it weren’t for those I’d of had a pretty lousy week. And with two high-priced returns too!
  
  My goal for this week is to construct additional shelving in our basement. We’ve exhausted all of our horizontal space in our basement and now it’s time to go vertical. I bought all of the wood materials already. It’s just time to assemble.
  
  My scavenge of the week came from a yard sale on Saturday. A guy was selling boxes of misc NIB car parts for really cheap. I ended up spending $20 and got around 20 sellable items. Mostly wheel bearings and such, but they may bring me $20-30 a piece.
  - 05/20/2019 at 1:04 pm #62131
    Steven S
    Participant
    
    Location: South Dakota
    @steven-s
    Nice sale price n the Buzz Aldrin photos, hope you post them on Wednesday.
    In June I’m going to get my Apollo moon landing related stuff listed as I’m sure there will be media overload for the 50th anniversary on July 20th.
    - 05/22/2019 at 9:15 am #62243
      Doublythumbs
      Participant
      
      Location: Hopedale, OH
      @doublythumbs
      
      Thanks, Steven. Yeah, I was very fortunate to have rescued them before they went to the dumpster. I worked with a person who was notorious for throwing stuff away, even when they were sort of vital to the operation. Took Marie Kondo’s advice a little too far. I thought the same thing about the big NASA anniversary this summer. Now’s the time to list space memorabilia!
- 05/20/2019 at 1:42 pm #62133
  The_SEAM_Store
  Participant
  Location: PA
  @the_seam_store
  Week May 12 – 18, 2019
  
  Items in store: 3744 Listings for 5800 Items
  Items Sold: 72 Transactions for 79 Items
  Gross Sales: $4317.37
  Highest Price Sold: $300, Burberry Suit
  Lowest Price Sold: $4.99(shoelaces)
  Average Price Sold: $54.65
  Cost of Goods Sold $355, Plus consignment
  Number of items listed this week: 90 items
  $$ spent on new inventory this week $98
  Repeat Customers: 8
  
  Amazon
  Items Sold 2
  Gross Sales $34.80
  Cost of Good Sold $8
- 05/20/2019 at 4:55 pm #62141
  T-Satt
  Participant
  Location:
  @t-satt
  Way behind right now, prepping for some time off over Memorial Day, so quick hitter on our numbers….
  
  Week of 05/12-05/18
  Total Items in Store: 3,316 (Up 55% YOY)
  Number of Items Listed: 131
  Number of Items Sold: 120 (Up 62% YOY)
  (Includes 1 Etsy, 6 Poshmark, 2 Bonanza, 0 TrueGether)
  Weekly STR: 16% (UP 1% YOY) – First time in months the STR has been better this year
  
  Total Product Sales: $3,020 (Up 41% YOY)
  Sales Volume Variance to Prior Year: Up $1,334
  Sales Price Variance to Prior Year: Down $461
  Cost of Items Sold: $688
  Cost of Labor: $260
  Highest Item Sold: $100 – VTG Cast Iron Griddle
  Competition: Highest Priced Sale: Veronica wins the week and Veronica leads for the year 12-9.
  
  Clothing
  # Listed: 1,994
  # Sold: 79
  STR: 17%
  ASP: $21.53
  
  Shoes
  # Listed: 720
  # Sold: 28
  STR: 17%
  ASP: $34.17
  
  Hard Goods
  # Listed: 602
  # Sold: 13
  STR: 9%
  ASP: $27.92
  
  EBay
  # Listed: 3,316
  # Sold: 113
  STR: 15%
  ASP: $24.07
  
  Etsy
  # Listed: 225
  # Sold: 1
  STR: 2%
  ASP: $12.99
  
  Poshmark
  # Listed: 779
  # Sold: 6
  STR: 3%
  ASP: $47.83
- 05/20/2019 at 7:39 pm #62143
  T-Satt
  Participant
  Location:
  @t-satt
  Ok, I do have an ask for all the folks on the forum. Basically, like a mini poll on what everyone uses for shipping.
  
  We have been using ShipRush as our shipping platform for the past 18 months (and Shippo before that). The advantage to using it was that it was free through the eBay partnership, provided a SCAN sheet for drivers to scan all packages quickly, and brought all shipments from eBay, Etsy, and Bonanza to one platform (we also did TrueGether here, though through a manual entry).
  
  Well, now the partnership is over. To keep the service, we would have to pay a monthly subscription. We WOULD have paid it, only because the software makes our shipping very fast. HOWEVER…. the shipping rates are more than on eBay. For comparison, a Padded Flat rate envelope on eBay is $7.33, yet on ShipRush it is now up to $7.55.
  
  I have contacted ShipStation, and PirateShip, and their rates are also higher than eBay.
  
  So…what does everyone else use to do shipping and what are your rates? I would like to find a solution that would still let us print labels one at a time and then get a summary SCAN sheet later. I ABHOR the way that eBay does the SCAN sheet (print all labels at once, then match all the labels to all the packages). With having USPS do parcel pickup at the house, the SCAN sheet is critical to that. Without it, we would go back to dropping off at the post office every day. I am NOT going to ask drivers to scan 30-40 packages on a Monday one at a time. I will let the office do that, but not force the drivers to stand in wind and rain and do that.
  
  But, most solutions to provide that SCAN sheet have higher rates than eBay, so that is a no go.
  
  Sooo…what is your shipping solution?
  - 05/20/2019 at 7:56 pm #62146
    Sharyn
    Participant
    
    Location: Central NJ
    @sharyn
    I still am old school and go back to the old eBay shipping page where I have to buy all the labels at once.
    
    I have tried once or twice to use their new shipping page for more than one package. After I buy the labels, I go to make the scan sheet. eBay displays a message saying to wait for all the labels to be purchased before creating the scan sheet. This makes me think that you can continue to add labels (at least ones from eBay) until you are ready to print out a final one.
    
    I’m not sure how that works because I haven’t used it. Maybe there is an article in their help database? Maybe google it? Last resort, call eBay and ask.
    - 05/20/2019 at 8:39 pm #62148
      T-Satt
      Participant
      
      Location:
      @t-satt
      
      @Sharyn: Great idea, and I called eBay.
      
      Downside is that the only way to get the SCAN sheet is to bulk print. For us, that sucks. 10-20 packages a day, many looking the same (shoe priority boxes, multiple 9×12 poly bags) that we have to match up. By that time, I can get to the post office and back doing the dropoff myself.
      - 05/20/2019 at 10:45 pm #62152
        
        The_SEAM_Store
        Participant
        
        Location: PA
        @the_seam_store
        
        Downside is that the only way to get the SCAN sheet is to bulk print. For us, that sucks. 10-20 packages a day, many looking the same (shoe priority boxes, multiple 9×12 poly bags) that we have to match up. By that time, I can get to the post office and back doing the dropoff myself.
        
        I use the custom label/SKU field for keeping my inventory. Every item has a unique identifier that follows it from photos to measuring to storing to shipping. When printing labels in bulk, I then select to have the SKU printed on the shipping label. This way up to 50 labels can be printed at once and I just match them up the inventory number on each package.
        
        05/21/2019 at 8:03 am #62161
        
        T-Satt
        Participant
        
        Location:
        @t-satt
        
        @SEAM: Yeah, I have thought about that part too. I just need to try going back to that process to see if we like it.
        
        We already told our carrier that we were suspending the porch pickup for the next two weeks while we get a process sorted out. I really liked the outside software to ship. Way faster and easier to ship out using it over eBay. I told eBay that they if they want to stay World Class, they need to either partner with a company like ShipRush to keep this, or they need to get moving with new software.
        
        We will see.
        
        05/21/2019 at 5:29 pm #62208
        
        MDC Galleries & Fine Art
        Participant
        
        Location: Atlanta
        @huncrelan
        
        Don’t hold your breath on that one. LOL 🙂
      - 05/21/2019 at 5:09 pm #62206
        
        MDC Galleries & Fine Art
        Participant
        
        Location: Atlanta
        @huncrelan
        
        Hey Troy:
        
        Just an idea. If you use SixBit to create a “pick list” on that many items, just print your pick list out on a sheet of small labels or a pressure sensitive adhesive sheet. Use the pick list to pull all your items, then as you finish an items packing just peel and stick the pick list label on that box.
        
        The SixBit pick list data has a small thumbnail pix of the item, your sku, and I think buyers name. That should be enough to identify the box, who to ship to and name. Then when you bulk print your labels, just peel and stick your shipping label over the smaller 1 x 3 in. PL ID label you had on the box, then proceed to print your bulk scan sheet for USPS.
        
        Just an idea.
        
        Mike at MDCGFA
        
        05/21/2019 at 6:15 pm #62216
        
        T-Satt
        Participant
        
        Location:
        @t-satt
        
        @Mike: That is an interesting thought. I love the process.
        
        Two downsides are cost of the labels (I’m a miser!) and we still have the time involved with playing deal the cards to the right player. We did this a few years ago, and Q4 Mondays would SUCK! Took us forever to get everything laid out right.
        
        With the post office so close to the house, and the warehouse right there as well, and we are going almost daily anyway, I think dropping off by hand may just be the ticket. Even thinking about redoing my Mountain Bike with the Kid Cart in the back to load up with packages and save the gas and the the mass off my @$$…. 🙂
        
        05/23/2019 at 7:22 am #62335
        
        Retro Treasures WV
        Participant
        
        Location:
        @retro-treasures-wv
        
        Ha! I was just thinking about the bike drop off thing this past weekend. Figured maybe I could mount a bin on the back of the bike to make runs. I have a pretty easy bike path to the post office that is actually well over a mile shorter than by car as there is a bike/walking path to cut into the next neighborhood that exits to the main road right next to the post office.
        
        I don’t really like doing carrier pickup. The carriers are already stressed to the max and even working on Sundays now. Doing alot of pickups they run out of room and have to make more trips back to the post office.
        
        05/23/2019 at 8:57 am #62345
        
        T-Satt
        Participant
        
        Location:
        @t-satt
        
        @Retro: Yeah, whenever we finally get spring again here in Denver (snowed this week), I think I will bring back the bike. Got the carrier on Craigslist for $30, worth it to save the gas and get some exercise!
        
        05/23/2019 at 8:18 am #62340
        
        almasty
        Participant
        
        Location:
        @alamasty
        
        I totally miss hauling mail in with a bike. I used to have a cargo bike with a front basket, postal bin attached on the back rack AND a separate attached cargo cart. Used it for everything from daily mail runs to grocery shopping, thrifting, yard sales, estate sales. It was so much fun to ride up to a yard sale, “park” at the foot of the driveway, quickly poke around and get back on my bike all during the timespan others would spend on just finding parking. At estate sales, I would just tie it to street signs or other random objects and get quizzical looks from people waiting on line.
        
        If I only had 10 or 15 packages to go out, I wouldn’t even bother hooking up the cart. I just put them in both baskets, zipped to the post office and zipped back. I tried to make it work with a normal bike, backpack and front basket for a few months, but that doesn’t work very well during the summer.
        
        05/23/2019 at 8:59 am #62346
        
        T-Satt
        Participant
        
        Location:
        @t-satt
        
        @Almasty: Yeah, I would love to just have some baskets!
    - 05/20/2019 at 9:41 pm #62150
      Sharyn
      Participant
      
      Location: Central NJ
      @sharyn
      
      So, with the new shipping page, you can’t buy labels as you go along and then print out a scan sheet when you are ready for your carrier? I thought that was the whole idea of that new function. Doesn’t make sense.
      - 05/21/2019 at 8:06 am #62162
        
        T-Satt
        Participant
        
        Location:
        @t-satt
        
        @Sharyn: Nope, the only way to get the SCAN sheet is to bulk print the labels.
  - 05/21/2019 at 8:07 am #62163
    almasty
    Participant
    
    Location:
    @alamasty
    I’ve been using Endicia this whole time. I don’t know how it compares to EBay shipping rates. I use EBay shipping once or twice a year, max. Endicia is a stand-alone program for your computer. I use it with Windows. Haven’t tried installing it on a Mac yet, which I realize I should actually do as a back-up.
    
    Between all my selling venues, I usually ship out 15-30 packages 6 days a week (more on Mondays). Scan sheet is accessible via a click down menu on the Endicia website. I don’t know if you can get it through the stand-alone program. The scan sheet is 1 sheet with the total number of packages to be shipped on it. It also breaks down the number of priority, 1st class, standard type packages. I don’t know how this compares to other scan sheets.
    
    I created my own shipping labels for it to use with my Zebra thermal printer yeaaars ago. They also have an instruction guide on how to create labels for whatever printer you’re using. They also provide shipping label presets (?) for international 1st class/priority and apo/fro shipping that I just use with a laser printer. I haven’t been bothered to figure out how to use them with a label printer yet, which I think might actually be impossible due to the additional customs information required, or multiple forms needed for priority international shipping.
    - 05/21/2019 at 8:11 am #62165
      T-Satt
      Participant
      
      Location:
      @t-satt
      
      @almasty: Interesting. So, quick question. What is the Endicia rate for shipping a Padded Flat Rate envelope? If it is $7.33, it is the same shipping rate as eBay. If it is $7.55, it is the same as the other 3rd party shippers I have seen.
      - 05/21/2019 at 8:19 am #62166
        
        almasty
        Participant
        
        Location:
        @alamasty
        
        Just checked for you. $7.55. Sucks. I know that Amazon also provides cheaper shipping rates like EBay, but for convenience, have always found it easier to pay a little more to just get the ship out over with as quickly as possible through 1 central program.
        
        05/21/2019 at 8:40 am #62168
        
        T-Satt
        Participant
        
        Location:
        @t-satt
        
        @Almasty: Ok, thanks for checking.
        
        Yeah, I can’t get that far. I like the convenience, but I’m not sure I can pay that much for it. For ShipRush, it is $29/mo plus the higher shipping rates. They looked to be around $0.20 higher per item shipped. At that rate, we are losing some good money.
        
        We shipped out 3,872 items last year. If we lose an average of $0.20/package, that cost is $774 for the year. For our forecast of 4,191 items sold this year, that would be $838. And a $348 annual cost from the monthly fee on top of that.
        
        At this point, we would rather put that into a second storage unit for inventory. Right now, we are having to go to the warehouse 2-3 times a week, and the post office is right on the way. So, with more inventory at the warehouse, we will probably have to start going close to everyday anyway. So I think we may just save money on a subscription and use that to help pay for the second unit.
        
        In our case, unless I can find something that gives us the same rates that eBay does, we will probably just go back to dropping off every day. From our house to the post office and back is only 4.4 miles as it is, so not too bad.
        
        05/21/2019 at 2:16 pm #62193
        
        almasty
        Participant
        
        Location:
        @alamasty
        
        Yeah, I totally get it. If I had more time, I would be buying shipping directly through Ebay and Amazon as well.
        
        1 more thing to consider about scan sheets vs. non scan sheets – I have been told by 1 po that if I didn’t have a scan sheet, had a ton of packages and there was a long line behind me, that the postal clerk would send me to the end of the line after each 10 were scanned. I don’t know if this is true, but it really makes me double-check that I have a scan sheet when I go to that PO. That attitude has put me off from going there moew frequently.
        
        05/21/2019 at 3:53 pm #62199
        
        Inglewood
        Participant
        
        Location:
        @inglewood
        
        I’m surprised that someone hasn’t figured out a system to disrupt the shipping industry. Food delivery services are popping up everywhere, and someone just needs to take that model, build in the long-distance logistics between cities/towns, and let locals handle the last mile service.
        
        I know Amazon is starting up something (even offering employees incentives) however you would think there would be good opportunities in the shipping industry…or maybe countries are just too big to tackle…
        
        05/21/2019 at 6:00 pm #62213
        
        T-Satt
        Participant
        
        Location:
        @t-satt
        
        @ Inglewood: Yeah, I’m looking at a couple of options now, but the timeframe is suspect. One is Roadie…
        
        05/22/2019 at 9:19 am #62247
        
        Jay
        Keymaster
        
        Location: Virginia
        @jay
        
        There are all kinds of little stat ups trying to solve the “last mile” of delivery (which is the most expensive). Incentivising regular people to deliver for small fees, having people pick up at a neighborhood central location like Whole Foods, drones and robots.
        
        It’s just a lot of little complications that are not easy to solve.
        
        05/21/2019 at 4:29 pm #62202
        
        MDC Galleries & Fine Art
        Participant
        
        Location: Atlanta
        @huncrelan
        
        I very seldom have to go to our PO but occasionally I run very late and miss the local at house pick-up.
        
        At the PO they have a section down at the end of the counter that is only for pre-paid packages. I walked in with about 8 shoe box size item in my blue Ikea bag. Walked to the fron of the line, took two steps to the right and unloaded all my packages. They have a canvas laundry cart right behind that area and when a clerk gets free or no line at their station, one of them steps down to the end, scans all the packages in and puts all of them into the canvas rolling cart. When the cart is full, one of them rolls it to the back and brings out a fresh empty one. I have spot checked on and off for years and they always seem to get scanned within about an hour or so from my drop off. And of course they get scanned a second time going out the back door for delivery to the main PO down in Atlanta.
        
        As for the scan sheets for the at house pick ups, we have had 3 different mail people state they don’t like scan sheets because they don’t trust them to have every pkg. accounted for. They say many times they scan the sheet and it says 3 packages and their are really 5. Sellers many times add late sales to the out going pile and they never get put on the sheet. So, we have been told if under 8 to 12 packages they prefer to click scan each box separaetly. If we were going to have dozens and dozens, then maybe but the error problem would still exists. They say that using the sheets if not accurate then having tons of missed scan looks bad on them and they hear about it.
        
        Maybe some of the postal employees here on SL can jump in and clear this up if wrong.
        
        Mike at MDC Galleries and Fine Art
        
        05/21/2019 at 6:11 pm #62215
        
        T-Satt
        Participant
        
        Location:
        @t-satt
        
        @Mike: Yeah, we got our drivers used to the fact that the numbers wouldn’t match. Primarily, we just added the Poshmark to the bin so we had more. They didn’t care.
        
        I think we are lucky that we have good people, but we also try to do a lot to make them our friends, partners, and keep good will. Why I don’t want them picking up 50+ items and having to scan them one at a time. Why we feed them treats during the holidays and water in the summer.
        
        Pays off in the long run…
        
        05/21/2019 at 5:59 pm #62212
        
        T-Satt
        Participant
        
        Location:
        @t-satt
        
        @Almasty: Wow! That sucks.
        
        Our post office has 3 large rolling bins right at the front to drop off prelabeled packages. Easy peasy. Then they scan them when they move to the back. In and out in 30 seconds
        
        05/22/2019 at 9:15 am #62242
        
        Jay
        Keymaster
        
        Location: Virginia
        @jay
        
        Might have missed the answer, but why not just have your USPS Carrier pick up and scan your packages on your porch? A scan sheet is nice but not necessary. You guys usually have about ten packages which takes under a minute to scan.
        
        When you drop off the packages at USPS, someone has to scan them.
  - 05/21/2019 at 8:34 am #62167
    Jay
    Keymaster
    
    Location: Virginia
    @jay
    So the big hangup is the ability to print a scan sheet. I understand that eBay doesn’t make this as easy as you like.
    
    How many packages are you shipping a day? 10 or 15? Will your USPS carrier not scan each package? It would take one minute.
    - 05/25/2019 at 7:58 am #62431
      The_SEAM_Store
      Participant
      
      Location: PA
      @the_seam_store
      
      About 5 years ago, the USPS upgraded their package scanning equipment. Our tiny local post office was one of the beta testers. At this same time,cthey had an interim postmaster who came in from another office, and really seemed to try to tighten things up a lot as far as cutting man hours. He told me they were not required to scan individual packages on the porch, and that I needed a SCAN form if I wanted them scanned, and instructed the carriers to stop scanning them. At the same time, he had them stop scanning when the daily truck would leave for the distribution, so if I didn’t have a scan form, they might not be scanned at all until they got to Harrisburg, and sometimes not until the following day.
      
      I had 80 packages get dinged for late shipping. So, I started using the scan form. This meant I had to ship in bulk….which in turn prompted me to build an numeric inventory system to help quickly match up the labels to items being shipped….after mixing up outgoing packages on multiple occasions.
      
      Now things have calmed back down in the local post office, but I continue to provide a SCAN form to save my carrier time. They really do work very hard for me.
      
      @t-satt, I use Fitshipper for some of my labels, whenever I can save a little money shipping dimensionally. On that platform, it pulls in info directly from ebay, but you can also copy paste addresses into a quick ship form. You can print one at a time, and then print a scan form for anything shipped that day. It also has a cool tool that will tell you if you can save $$ by making the package a little smaller. The cost is $8/mo.
      
      This reply was modified 7 years ago by The_SEAM_Store.
- 05/21/2019 at 8:42 am #62169
  Anonymous
  Location:
  @T-Satt
  This isn’t the solution you desire, but the new shipping module does allow you to print labels sporadically through the day & then generate a scan sheet that captures all of those labels. I noticed this when it was first introduced, but have not used it in months.
  - 05/21/2019 at 8:48 am #62171
    T-Satt
    Participant
    
    Location:
    @t-satt
    @Call_me_raoul: Ok, now you are talking! I called eBay, they said only on the bulk shipping process.
    
    Can you show me where to get the scan sheet? We are shipping today on just eBay, so I would love to give it a try.
    - 05/21/2019 at 3:55 pm #62200
      Simon
      Participant
      
      Location: San Francisco Bay Area
      @simon
      
      I had heard that there was a way to create a scan sheet at the end of the day and here are the instructions that I located. (I dont use this myself so post an update if these aren’t quite right). For some dumb reason you can only create scan sheets from labels printed from the bulk shipping page during the day:
      
      Go to your “sold orders” and click the ones to go on the scan sheet. Next, under shipping action, click “print shipping labels or invoices”. Then select : US Postage Service or FedEx shipping label and click continue.
      
      Don’t repurchase the labels!..Instead, look at the top right hand corner and you’ll see this:
      Buy labels | SCAN forms | Go back to classic label printing
      
      Click on SCAN FORMS and it will take you to a page that shows the labels that have been purchased through bulk shipping page during the day that you can generate a scan form from.
      - 05/21/2019 at 6:08 pm #62214
        
        T-Satt
        Participant
        
        Location:
        @t-satt
        
        @Simon: I followed your instructions but it wouldn’t work for us. You still have to bulk print your labels to add them to a SCAN form. So when we shipped today, we printed the labels as we went. When we followed these instructions, we didn’t have any labels available to add to a SCAN form.
        
        Thanks though! Good to know this option is out there!
- 05/21/2019 at 8:47 am #62170
  T-Satt
  Participant
  Location:
  @t-satt
  @Jay: During the week, yeah, we are about 15 or so a day. But on most Mondays, we are around 40-50 due to the weekend sales. I can see this being 60+ in Q4. I don’t want our drivers standing in cold and snow to scan 60+ packages. The office folks can do that while it is warm.
  
  Added benefit is that we KNOW that they have them. During Q4, our drivers get later and later picking up, many times at 7pm or later. Post office closes at 6pm. I have driven to the post office and around to the back entrance at 6:30pm more than once when they are really late or have missed us on the route.
  
  Plus, with the inventory moving more and more to the warehouse, which is close to the post office anyway, I can see us in Q4 having to go to the warehouse daily. Since we are already going there, we may just as well take everything. For a 6 mile round trip (home-warehouse-post office-home), it isn’t too bad.
- 05/21/2019 at 8:56 am #62172
  simplicio
  Participant
  Location:
  @simplicio
  Had a nice long weekend, we went to our first Airbnb in a town we like to travel to, which was a great experience.
  
  Ebay was pretty dismal this past week. But I did do some work in storage which will hopefully serve me well. I put the last possible shelf up in my current storage unit and completed most of my inventorying. This allowed us to clean up the basement so my workspace is MUCH cleaner and my kids can play there again. However, I will need to rent another storage unit soon if I want to keep scavenging because my house and my current unit are essentially full.
  
  Sales: CAD$387, 4 items, COGS: $48 –> Item profit: $274
  Expenditures: $356 –> Cashflow: -$34
  Listed: $270, 5 items
  Hours: 8, -$5/hr
  Notable sales: car headlight bulbs for $130.
  Scavenging: Not much. Got a balometer for like $30, hoping worth $300.
- 05/21/2019 at 1:17 pm #62187
  Itemsfromthesouth
  Participant
  Location: Florida
  @itemsfromthesouth
  I wish eBay would not call it “Best Offer”. I think it makes the buyer think you will accept a lower offer because it is your only offer. $5 may be the “Best Offer” received on a $60 item but I’m not going to accept it. They should just call it “Make Offer”.
  - 05/21/2019 at 1:20 pm #62188
    Ryanne
    Keymaster
    
    Location: Virginia
    @ryanne
    technically on all listings it does just say “Make Offer”. i always think of Best Offer meaning, the best offer someone is willing to give me and i’m willing to take. not that it’s the best because it’s the only offer. if it’s bad, it’s not the best!
    - 05/21/2019 at 2:14 pm #62192
      Steven S
      Participant
      
      Location: South Dakota
      @steven-s
      
      On the subject of ‘Offers’, is it possible that a large number of buyers are too intimidated or shy about even making an offer?
      So the items we price high and then edit to accept offers still don’t sell because of the higher price and the reluctance to make an offer.
      - 05/21/2019 at 3:52 pm #62198
        
        simplicio
        Participant
        
        Location:
        @simplicio
        
        I believe this is, in fact, a problem in North America where there is not much of a culture of haggling. I remember from childhood the old Bargain Finder in our area (basically print craigslist) and recall my dad telling me “OBO” meant “or better offer”. I think he thought you would offer more than the list price to lock the item down or something… I bring it up not to mock my dad but to illustrate that many normal people here are kind of clueless about haggling.
        
        Sometimes I price high hoping for offers but there is a cost to that, which is buyers who say “ridiculous, why bother”. I think that way as well sometimes, as a buyer on ebay/kijiji, when stuff is priced not even in the ballpark.
        
        05/25/2019 at 3:19 pm #62438
        
        The Thrift Raider
        Participant
        
        Location:
        @thethriftraider
        
        I always considered OBO to mean “Or Better Offer” too, but I still knew it meant best offer gets it. So maybe your dad knew after all. “Or Best Offer” and “Or Better Offer” means exactly the same to me.
      - 05/22/2019 at 8:55 am #62240
        
        Jay
        Keymaster
        
        Location: Virginia
        @jay
        
        North America definitely doesnt have an overall culture of haggling. I know that we get many single offers, then we counter-offer, then silence. Very few people haggle back and forth.
        
        05/22/2019 at 1:30 pm #62264
        
        Retro Treasures WV
        Participant
        
        Location:
        @retro-treasures-wv
        
        I have started accepting more and more initial offers. If they are at least “in the ballpark” I have been accepting unless I know the item has a high probability to sell for more. For many of these items it may have been the first offer in over a year of listing time. Am I really willing to risk losing a potential customer and wait another year?
        
        I have more stuff than I can list and can acquire an exponentially larger amount if I so desire, so I’d like to keep the sales velocity going if at all possible. to clear up storage space.
        
        05/23/2019 at 8:42 am #62343
        
        simplicio
        Participant
        
        Location:
        @simplicio
        
        Yes, 100% agree. I take the first decent offer unless it’s an item I know is popular. With mountains and mountains of stuff I don’t think it makes sense to be really picky.
    - 05/21/2019 at 4:17 pm #62201
      MDC Galleries & Fine Art
      Participant
      
      Location: Atlanta
      @huncrelan
      
      Hey guys: I brought this up a few years back but didn’t get much traction or replys. But here is my 2 cents again.
      
      I am with you on Make an Offer” and if Ebay didn’t want “haggling”, then why did they go from only 3 “Offer slots” to 5 “offers-counter Offers. When they did this it set the tone for the seller to act like we used to at the Antique Malls. it goes like this.. we called it doing the dance.
      
      First let me state my old primise that the one who mentions a numbers first, usually looses.
      
      Now, create a booth tag with a price or create a Ebay list price. That sets the glass ceiling, buyer sees that price as “high”, then they make an “offer”, that is the floor. They are not going to pay your full list price and you are not going to take their low ball offer.
      
      You may say, why low ball, well the good book says you “Have not because you ask not”. That is why I always haggle at esatate sales, but that’s another topic.
      
      So, with Ebay adding two more levels to this process, that sets the floor for “the dance”. 1st offer at the floor to low, we counter as a second offer at 10% to 15% percent off, buyer wants to still get a deep discount [he wants to win the dance], so he rejects our 10-15% and comes up maybe 10% off his low ball, [that is 3rd tier of offers], now we come back at 20% to 30% off that is fourth level, then buyer either accepts or comes back with something inbetween. That is the 5th offer. The dance is done.
      
      Now why do you think Ebay was thinking when they added the 4th and 5th offer slot to the buyers? My opinion is that they wanted the buyer and seller to have a “Mini In Store Private Auction” thus “The Dance”.
      
      Those buyers too shy to engage will either buy at our high listed price or not. For the shy ones we offer a periodic short flash Sale or a semi perminent Sales for 5 days then stop for 3 days or so.
      
      The bold buyers, seasoned and know a “dance” when they see one, start the process with the “lowball” [remember you have not because you ask not.] Who knows the seller may be ready to just dump an item. Then the 2 step [weatern dance term] starts with the counter, then counter to the counter, then the counter to the counter-counter] the dance resulting in a sale in the middle somewhere.
      
      Yes it takes time but we reply to every offer with a counter offer because we know we are high. But the first two numbers are the ceiling and the the floor. The end of the dance is somewhere in between.
      
      Some buyers cut bait early, others stick it out. It does take time from us but well “close” a lot of our sales by way of sveral levels of offers.
      
      Those with high feedback numbers do the dance very well, those with low feedbacks or bewly registered buyers usually take our first counter offer and we get to keep that extra amount we build in to use for the upcoming “dances”.
      
      Just an opinion from the guy down south..
      
      Mike at MDC Concepts, Inc.
      MDC Galleries and Fine Art
      SmartParts Small Equipment Parts
  - 05/21/2019 at 4:41 pm #62204
    MDC Galleries & Fine Art
    Participant
    
    Location: Atlanta
    @huncrelan
    Funny thing is they call it both all over the place and it causes confusion. As I staed in other post, if Ebay added 2 more slots to make the “Offers” go up to 5 then that makes the idea of “best Offer” a moot point.
    
    How could your offer be the “Best Offer” if Ebay is providing the opportunity for several back and forth counters. With 5 chances to negotiate, then the only way to have a “BEST Offer” is to make an offer and include a message to the seller that is you one and only offer and it is all your willing to pay, take it or leave it. That is the only way it becomes a one time “BEST” offer, but leaves 4 other opportunities to do the back and forth dance which may lead to you getting the item for just a little bit more.
- 05/21/2019 at 1:27 pm #62191
  xxThinkLinkxx
  Participant
  Location: Hopedale, OH
  @xxthinklinkxx
  May 12 – 18
  Total Items in Store: 1351
  Items Sold: 9
  Total Sales : $293
  Highest Price: $50 (Uniden Bearcat bc550a Scanner Radio)
  Average Price: $32
  Returns: 0
  Cost of Goods Sold: $6
  Costs of Goods Purchased this Week: $70
  Number of New Items Listed this Week: 39
  
  Another slow week for me. But I sold “better” items the beginning of this week thankfully.
  It’s been a mashup of eBay, house work and working on a cosplay for my con coming up.
  
  We went to a couple garage sales this past Friday. We ended up finding an elliptical super cheap at a rummage sale. Along with a Bell Telephone Employee Great Lakes Work Jacket, L.L. Bean long sleeve and a Christian Dior long sleeve and some neat old lanterns.
  Went to more sales last Saturday with my mom. We found a plush from the 90’s show Dinosaurs, the baby. Along with some Pokemon and Primal Rage figures (needs cleaned unfortunately). Along with some other random items to list.
  
  Have a good week all! 🙂
- 05/21/2019 at 5:56 pm #62211
  T-Satt
  Participant
  Location:
  @t-satt
  Thought I would throw myself under the bus this week.
  
  So, we have had an Earthlink account for FOREVER (exactly since 1/28/00 I found out today) that we used for our email. I really hadn’t thought much about it, as the subscription fee for it automatically hit our credit card each month. $21.95. Every. Single. Month.
  
  So, a couple of months ago, I realized we still had this charge and we decided to move all email over to Yahoo so that it would be free.
  
  I mean, who pays for email in 2019? Well…us. Cause I’m stupid…
  
  When I call today to kill the subscription (which took turning down 4 lower offers they kept throwing at me), the guy says “So, why are you cancelling your Dial Up service with us”.
  
  Holy crap. DIAL UP. In 2019!!! D-I-A-L U-P!!!!!
  
  I laughed and said: “Cause I don’t need DIAL UP”
  
  So, just make sure when you have any service that is auto paid…give it a look see and make sure you still need it!
  - 05/21/2019 at 9:30 pm #62226
    Sharyn
    Participant
    
    Location: Central NJ
    @sharyn
    Oh Boy, TSatt. I think you went under that bus and didn’t come out the other side.
    
    I recall getting my first free email address in the mid to late 90s with Yahoo (I still use it although that company is getting dated as well), so you didn’t need to pay for email even in the year 2000. Oh, I’m sure there was an advantage to paying at that time.
    
    I didn’t even know that Earthlink was still a company.
    - 05/22/2019 at 11:20 am #62255
      T-Satt
      Participant
      
      Location:
      @t-satt
      
      @Sharyn: Oh yeah, I get it. Veronica and I were talking about it and we remembered that we had to get that set up in our first house so that we had dial-up access. The email just came along with it. Since then, we just never thought about it until a few months ago. I just thought “why are we paying for email?”
      
      Well, it was for dial-up access.
      
      Wow…what a brain fart….
  - 05/21/2019 at 10:11 pm #62228
    Sharyn
    Participant
    
    Location: Central NJ
    @sharyn
    I have a friend whose company provides servers and technical support for the Usenet. Remember the Usenet? They are still around. I think that a good portion of it these days is used for porn.
    
    Maybe most of those dial-up service companies like Earthlink are used by people who still are on the Usenet.
  - 05/22/2019 at 9:16 am #62244
    Jay
    Keymaster
    
    Location: Virginia
    @jay
    I’m sure you did the quick math on that. You paid about $4700 over the lifetime of that subscription. Im sure it was useful at some point 🙂
  - 05/22/2019 at 1:11 pm #62262
    MDC Galleries & Fine Art
    Participant
    
    Location: Atlanta
    @huncrelan
    Holy Cow Troy.. and this from Mr. Numbers!!
    
    Just ran a future Value of Multiple Deposits Calculator on this. $22.95 x 12 months x 19 years at a simple 3% interest earned would have equaled $7,099.30 by now.
    $5,232.60 in actual monthly installments and $1,843.75 in simple interest.
    
    OK.. Listen to me now LOL 🙂 for a guy that can deliver the kind of monthly number beakouts you do, please check your monthly statement. I do because of one big factor, I have had a wife for 50 years and she has a credit card. Enough said. 🙂
    
    Check, check and re-check all monthly statements, especially medical ones. 50 aspirins at $25 ea. in a hospital can be over looked on a 10 page Explanation of Benefits Statement.
    
    But to join you, I had a $30 a month subscription for a web site building app. that I let ride for 3 years, but I knew it was there. I intended on using it each month I saw it, but after 3 years of never getting around to it, it was a total waste.
    
    But glad to know the Mr. Number Cruncher is human! LOL 🙂 🙂
    
    mike at MDCGFA
    - 05/22/2019 at 1:15 pm #62263
      T-Satt
      Participant
      
      Location:
      @t-satt
      
      @Mike: Absolutely! And that was why I threw myself under the bus. I check and do so many things, and I just completely overlooked it because it was there.
      
      I know a few years ago (before I went full time), it came to mind that we are paying for email that could be free, but I knew that I wanted to keep my email address, so I just let it go. Then I just put it away again until a few months ago and we killed it.
      
      Just cracks me up that it was for DIAL UP. Good lord…what century is this?! 🙂
- 05/22/2019 at 11:24 am #62257
  T-Satt
  Participant
  Location:
  @t-satt
  Oh yeah…I did. Wow…
- 05/22/2019 at 4:11 pm #62277
  Anonymous
  Location:
  @T-Satt
  Were you able to figure out how to print labels & pick lists sporadically throughout the day & then print a single scan form that captures all your packages or do you need some pointers?
  - 05/22/2019 at 4:22 pm #62278
    T-Satt
    Participant
    
    Location:
    @t-satt
    @call_me_raoul: Yes, I followed the instructions that you gave, but the only way to get a scan sheet is to print the labels via Bulk Shipping. If you print labels one at a time, you cannot get a scan sheet for those labels.
    
    We could go back to bulk printing (we did this a couple of years ago), but it added 5-10 minutes each day to our shipping process, writing the sku/last name/zip code on the package and then matching up the bulk printed labels with the package.
    
    Even at that, we might consider going back to that process, but since we are going to our outside warehouse to pick up package almost daily (in fact, 3 for 3 so far this week), we are thinking we will just drop off the packages then. The route to the warehouse to the post office to home is only 6 miles, and then we know for a fact that the items are scanned and getting shipped. Many times in Q4 we are sweating the post office picking up, since they will arrive at 7 or 8 pm, hours after the post office is closed.
    - 05/22/2019 at 4:28 pm #62279
      Anonymous
      Location:
      
      You may have me mixed up with somebody else. Why do you want to print them individually, if you dont mind me asking?
      - 05/22/2019 at 4:33 pm #62282
        
        T-Satt
        Participant
        
        Location:
        @t-satt
        
        @call_me_raoul: My mistake.
        
        When we are shipping our items, we have many packages that are similar. 90% of our sales are in either 9×12 Poly Mailers, Padded Flat Rate Envelopes, Regional A Boxes, or Priority Shoe Boxes. When everything is packed up and ready to have labels printed, it takes extra time to label each package with which item is in the package, then match up the bulk printed labels with each package.
        
        By printing the labels as we go, it goes much faster. Since we have done this both ways for years, we know we are faster when printing the labels as we go.
        
        And since the SCAN sheet is only useful if we have postal pickup, and we are getting to the point that just about every day, one of our 15+ daily shipments will be at the warehouse. So since we have to go to the warehouse anyway, looks like dropping off the packages at the post office makes the most sense.
        
        05/22/2019 at 5:05 pm #62295
        
        Anonymous
        Location:
        
        i understand. used to pack & ship in a similar fashion. the scan sheet is very important to me. i would often come out of q4 & lose status because packages would not be scanned for days.
        
        05/22/2019 at 5:22 pm #62301
        
        T-Satt
        Participant
        
        Location:
        @t-satt
        
        @call_me_raoul: Yep, totally agree. We ship with only two options:
        
        1) Drop off at our post office (they always scan every package).
        2) Postal pickup with a SCAN sheet.
- 05/22/2019 at 4:33 pm #62281
  Julie B
  Participant
  Location: Georgia
  @julie-b
  A quick scavenging story I know some of you can appreciate. I always do a quick scan of the ground because I tend to find money a lot. I went to town the other night and while getting out of my car there was the cardboard tag that gift cards are usually sold in. I breathlessly flipped it over aaaannnndddd the brand new gift card was still in it! Checked it online and it has its full balance of $25 and can be used at any of 5 different restaurants. Not a typical scavenger story but it’s still a scavenge. We’ll probably use it towards a steak dinner at Lone Star this weekend.
- 05/22/2019 at 5:02 pm #62294
  Anonymous
  Location:
  items sold: 31
  sales: $1,148 (i don’t include shipping revenue)
  average selling price: $37.03
  cost of goods: $119.04
  returns: 0
  purchases: $272.77
  store listings: 992
  inventory $ risk: $3,809.28 (what i paid for all existing inventory)
  listed this week: 50
  ebay hours: 22
  what’s on my mind: standard-ish week for me. Very little time spent thinking about ebay.
- 05/25/2019 at 7:36 am #62430
  BrianB
  Participant
  Location:
  @brianb
  Hello all: If you haven’t heard the USPS is modifying their dimensional weight shipping rules in June. https://www.mytotalretail.com/post/postal-shippers-beware-usps-implements-new-dimensional-pricing-in-june/
  - 05/25/2019 at 1:10 pm #62436
    So Cal Joe
    Participant
    
    Location:
    @so-cal-joe
    I read it. it looks like the standard size package hasn’t changed. It’s still 1728 or the equivalent of 12 x 12 x 12. I’ll let the shipping calculator deal with the rest.
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