Congrats to everyone on our 300th episode! We posted our first podcast in March of 2013. Four years ago! We say congrats to you guys because we wouldn’t have kept recording each and every week if you didn’t show up to share with us. I’m glad we’ve found our people, the Trash Elves.

We received our tax bill from the accountant. Double ouch. Good news is that we made more money than expected in 2016. Bad news is we didn’t pay enough over the year so we have a hefty tax bill to pay by April 15. All of our eBay profits in March will go to the upkeep of this great nation. We do our best to stay on top of our numbers, but being self-employed with varying income makes it difficult. Well, if we’re paying a lot of taxes it means business is good.

eBay announced their Spring Seller Update. We talk it about it in length here. Basically it’s higher fees and lower discounts. Not great, but we still make great money on eBay. You can also read how eBay is supposedly going to spend the extra money they get from us.
Sellers won’t be happy, but it’s just business.

Hope you had a good week.

Join the conversation in the forum>>

Our Store Week February 26-March 4, 2017

Store #1
Total Items in Store: 5,714
Items Sold: 71
Cost of Items Sold: $235
Total Sales: $2,074.15
Highest Price Sold: $125 (vintage book)
Average Price Sold: $29.21
Returns: 0
Money Spent on New Inventory This Week: $20
Number of items listed this week: 0
———-
Bonanza/Trugether:
Sold 1 items for $30
———-
Store #2
Total Items in Store: 1113
Items Sold: 16
Cost of Items Sold: $300
Total Sales: $1,453.86
Highest Price Sold: $499 (Vintage painting)
Average Price Sold: $90.86
Returns: 0
Number of items listed this week: 115

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If you wade into the eBay community forums, you quickly get a sense of overwhelming anger mixed with powerlessness. These buyers choose to rage about problems in their store and feel like the only solution is for a Government investigation of how eBay is purposefully ruining their lives. They are convinced that eBay has a specific employee with a finger on the button that keeps their sales drying up.

As long time eBay sellers, we completely understand where this fear comes from. To this very moment, we experience the grumpy buyers, inconsistent sales from week to week, confused customer service reps, etc. Why can’t we have total control?

But we do have a certain amount of control when running our eBay store that is guaranteed:

• It’s starts with the items we choose to scavenge . Often we use gut instinct, but we still whip out our phone and do a quick search on “sold” items. If we feel our sales are slow or selling for low dollar, we’ll simply choose to buy different items. It’s insanity to keep having problems selling a certain item and think the result will be different. Plus variety is just fun.
• How we take photos of these items is an early important lesson we quickly learned. As eBay customers, we are amazed at the number of sellers that provide only one or two photos that are blurry or unhelpful in their perspective. We have always provided as many photos that are logical (usually at least 8). Our photos are always well lit and clear. We provide plenty of close ups. If we do our job correctly, no potential buyer will see our item and crave a different angle. Whose item will that person buy: the blurry single photo or the ten clear photos?
• How we title an item gives us an enormous amount of control. This is all about research and the experience of having done past research. Proper research gives us the keywords to attract the right buyers. We use every single character to describe an item. Every relevant word is another keyword that google or Cassini will pick up on. It is insanity to see a seller only use three or four generic words to describe an item. Adding all the item specifics is also a bonus.
• And how we price an item is the last power we have (and maybe the most important). Do we need to be very competitive and lowball the price? Or is our item in rare, good shape so we should wait for the higher price? Should we run sales to move items? Or will no one buy this item right now whatever the price is? Am I charging too little for my items to make all the listing worth my time? Or am I being too precious about these items I’ve listed? We think pricing is probably what makes sellers the most crazy because they incorrectly think the lowest price will always win. There is absolutely no single good answer.

If we pull out our view from just focusing on an eBay business, what control does any business actually have? You can’t force people to buy your item or even walk into your store. Some of it is reputation, luck, research, and mostly the seasonal nature of retail. We try to take advantage of all the power we do have, and accept a certain level of helplessness and uncertainty. With this acceptance, comes some amount of peace.

We had an awesome week of eBay sales. They just happened because we had put the time into list list list.

The forum keeps giving us some great conversations. We’re always learning new things from smart sellers. Cebanak posted about Facebook Marketplace now letting people using electronic payments. Is this just one more step closer to Facebook competing with eBay?

Hope you had a good week!

Join the conversation in the forum>>

Our Store Week February 19-25, 2017

Store #1
Total Items in Store: 5,794
Items Sold: 69
Cost of Items Sold: $120
Total Sales: $2,566.74
Highest Price Sold: $299 (vintage art work)
Average Price Sold: $37.19
Returns: 0
Money Spent on New Inventory This Week: $0
Number of items listed this week: 110
———-
Bonanza/Trugether:
Sold 2 items for $60
———-
Store #2
Total Items in Store: 997
Items Sold: 11
Cost of Items Sold: $15
Total Sales: $261.22
Highest Price Sold: $42 (Vintage Dr Scholl’s sandals)
Average Price Sold: $23.74
Returns: 0
Number of items listed this week: 15

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We sell all kinds of items, many of which are practical everyday objects: clothes, tools, etc. But we also find and sell many items that are “collectible”. They have no practical value and are mainly ornamental, historical or make people feel nostalgic. Though we’re frugal and love to live a very minimal life, it is interesting that we make a living by scavenging items for people who love to collect. In biology, this is called Mutualism, where both species help each other with their needs.

As Scavengers, we’re out there every week locating these weird, uncommon items in the random waste of the nation, then we come home to post these items online. The Collectors are scouring the internet for the items they need to complete their sets. Our urge is to get everything out of our house. Collectors feel better when they’re surrounded by objects of they deem important. When the Collector dies, their lifetime of collections often get broken up into pieces and sent out into the world for the next generation of Scavengers to find and offer up to the next generation Collector. The natural cycle starts again.

We thank everyone who sent us emails, left phone messages, and forum comments about the Gallery Plus problem and eBay Coupon we spoke about last week. eBay would do it self a favor to have a page that listed “known problems” so we all wouldn’t have to cipher these mysteries.

Our sales slowed from the busy holiday season but have been steady. All we can do is list. Coffee is for listers.
These are the links we discussed in this podcast:

• We found a painting (see above) that should go to the Museum of Bad Art. It reminds us of their first painting that sparked the whole idea.
• On the forum, ShortandStout recommends going to local experts and craftsmen to find out more about items you find.
• And Nancy was nice enough to remind everyone about a great interview with Mark, a tax accountant who now specialized in helping online sellers.

Join the conversion on the forum>>

Our Store Week February 12-18, 2017

Store #1
Total Items in Store: 5722
Items Sold: 48
Cost of Items Sold: $226
Total Sales: $1,351.23
Highest Price Sold: $125 (vintage Air France menus)
Average Price Sold: $28.15
Returns: 0
Money Spent on New Inventory This Week: $16
Number of items listed this week: 120
———-
Bonanza/Trugether:
Sold 0 items for $0
———-
Store #2
Total Items in Store: 997
Items Sold: 5
Cost of Items Sold: $8
Total Sales: $175.80
Highest Price Sold: $85 (vintage spice rack)
Average Price Sold: $35.02
Returns: 0
Number of items listed this week: 15

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We have always been frugal people. Maybe we learned it from our parents, but I think it has more to do with being offended by inefficiency and waste. Why spend more than we have to? Why buy things we really don’t need?

We like to read online blogs and forums where people talk about frugality. These groups definitely overlap, but can separate into three categories:

• Homeschool DIY Moms: These super women document how they stretch every dollar for their family’s needs. They do a lot of DIY projects to upgrade their home. They have fun sharing recipes to cook for their family.
• Extreme Couponers and Travel Hackers: This group detail how they often spend little money at the grocery store by using coupons. Or how they max out credit card points to travel the world for free. The goal is to work the system against itself by being very organized and disciplined.
• Financial Independence Bloggers: About five years ago, these people really started popping up online. Usually they work good paying, technology jobs where they can save up to 80% of their income each year. They have fun living off as little as possible and saving as much as possible. As they max out their 401k and IRA accounts, they funnel all their savings into Index Funds. Once they hit a certain amount, they can then quit their jobs, live off the interest, and do what they want with their time. FrugalWoods and Mr Money Mustache are good examples.

While we love learning new tricks in frugality and investing, we fall into another category of “Business Owner”. We do spend a lot of money. But instead of spending our money on unneeded luxuries, we’re spending money on our businesses. Any business owner knows that it costs money to operate. It costs even more money to grow a business and expand. For example, we currently pumping cash into a new rental. Instead of working for a corporation for ten years and saving money to buy our freedom, we want to have our freedom now. The financials are just different.

We had a great week on eBay again. We’re listing like crazy to take advantage of the sales.
Here were some of the interesting conversation in the forum this week:
—Can you ship shoes in a poly mailer?
—Getting to know your auctioneer

Hope you had a good week.

Join the conversation in the forum>>

Our Store Week February 5-11, 2017

Store #1
Total Items in Store: 5613
Items Sold: 60
Cost of Items Sold: $110
Total Sales: $2,140.81
Highest Price Sold: $380 (vintage rug)
Average Price Sold: $35.68
Returns: 0
Money Spent on New Inventory This Week: $600
Number of items listed this week: 110
———-
Bonanza/Trugether:
Sold 1 items for $50
———-
Store #2
Total Items in Store: 978
Items Sold: 7
Cost of Items Sold: $20
Total Sales: $175.10
Highest Price Sold: $50 (Marble Lazy Susan)
Average Price Sold: $25.11
Returns: 0
Number of items listed this week: 20

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When we hit 4000 items, our inventory system has not been able to keep up. Items are spread out on two different properties, in about 4 different buildings. This week we couldn’t find two items. One was eventually spotted and shipped, but the other was never found. Not good. This is why we’re preparing to build ‘our own personal warehouse’ on a plot of land behind our house. But since we’re gluttons for punishment and have to do things 2x bigger than what we first planned, it’s going to take a lot of money and time. We’re patient.

• A listener asked what was special about a PayPal Business Account. Check out a comparison chart here.
• Using software automation for listing on eBay forum discussion.
• How do you provide one-day shipping if you work a full-time job forum discussion.

Hope you are having a great week!

Join the conversation in the forum>>

Our Store Week January 29-February 4, 2017

Store #1
Total Items in Store: 5514
Items Sold: 48
Cost of Items Sold: $260
Total Sales: $1,754.72
Highest Price Sold: $180 (vintage chandelier)
Average Price Sold: $36.95
Returns: 1
Money Spent on New Inventory This Week: $0
Number of items listed this week: 130
———-
Bonanza/Trugether:
Sold 0 items for 0
———-
Store #2
Total Items in Store: 987
Items Sold: 7
Cost of Items Sold: $20
Total Sales: $176.83
Highest Price Sold: $40 (Vintage cumberbund)
Average Price Sold: $25.26
Returns: 0
Number of items listed this week: 20

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In our New Years Goals for 2017, a big one is to start scavenging higher dollar items. But this is easier said than done. We went to a fancy auction this week to try out our new strategy. Can we buy items for $50+ that will sell for $200+? This is much different from our current strategy of buying for $1 and selling for $30.

First, we have to find a place that sells more expensive inventory since our local thrift store and garage sale usually only sells items below a certain threshold. Then we have to determine if paying $50 for an item means we can sell it for a significantly higher cost. Then we have to make sure we can be patient enough for that item to sell if it’s not a quick seller. Can we handle holding onto those inventory costs for as long as we usually do? You can listen here to find out how we did at the auction.

Here are the forum conversations we mentioned in this podcast:
–If another seller copies your description and photos, use VERO to take down seller’s copying you
–Would you give a seller a defect in this case?
—Creating a “Sale Event” and using Markdown Manager
–We noticed some scavengers met up in Indiana. Sometimes its just fun to go scavenging together and have a coffee

We had a great week on eBay. Wish it was like this all year.

Join the conversation in the forum>>

Our Store Week January 22-28, 2017

Store #1
Total Items in Store: 5384
Items Sold: 66
Cost of Items Sold: $260
Total Sales: $2,303.17
Highest Price Sold: $150 (vintage military jacket)
Average Price Sold: $34.89
Returns: 0
Money Spent on New Inventory This Week: $250
Number of items listed this week: 75
———-
Bonanza/Trugether:
Sold 1 items for $?
———-
Store #2
Total Items in Store: 983
Items Sold: 4
Cost of Items Sold: $4
Total Sales: $138.01
Highest Price Sold: $70 (Vintage military pants)
Average Price Sold: $34.50
Returns: 0
Number of items listed this week: 20

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In our career of scavenging, nothing is more exciting than finding a Cache. What’s a cache? It’s that huge box of items that you buy for one price at an auction or thrift store. Different caches we’ve found are grocery carts of old pens, boxes of pottery, piles of military clothing, rolls of fabric, buckets of old nails, treasure troves of trucker hats. Usually no one wants these items because it’s too much of one thing. Someone just wants to get rid of them and that’s good! This means it’s cheap! Martin over at Garbage Finds recently talked about boxes of perfume he’s found in the trash and is selling for big money.

The huge lot of items is always overwhelming and takes up too much space space, but if you are determined and methodical, then you’ll be making a ton of money over time. We call it “making a new pipeline”. These items usually sell slowly because we price them at what they’re worth. We can make several hundred dollars a month over several years. It’s the slow dime vs the fast nickel in action. So paying $20 for a box of military clothing might pay our electric bill for months and months.

In other news, we set up our payroll system to pay our first W-2 employee using Square. $30/month and the service takes care of withholding/ paying all taxes to State and Feds. It was scary and overwhelming at first, but setting up payroll has been easy and uncomplicated. There are plenty of other online services that do the same thing.

Couple of good conversations on the forum:
—Discussion about how to handle credit card charge backs and buyers claiming items didn’t arrive. The answer is always “look at the tracking”. If it says Delivered, you’re in the clear.
–Stuff My Mom Threw Away talked about the tension of being a minimalist and eBay seller. We also own very little stuff, but you wouldn’t know it if you walked into our house and saw piles of unlisted inventory. I think that tension is good because we never let these piles disappear into our house. That’s when you become a hoarder.

We had another solid week of sales on eBay. Hope you had a good week!

Join the conversation in the forum>>

Our Store Week January 15-21, 2017

Store #1
Total Items in Store: 5317
Items Sold: 42
Cost of Items Sold: $105
Total Sales: $1,839.84
Highest Price Sold: $200 (vintage guitar pedal)
Average Price Sold: $38.33
Returns: 2
Money Spent on New Inventory This Week: $0
Number of items listed this week: 90
———-
Bonanza/Trugether:
Sold 2 items for $75 (jacket, vtg markers)
———-
Store #2
Total Items in Store: 963
Items Sold: 7
Cost of Items Sold: $12
Total Sales: $279.47
Highest Price Sold: $70 (Vintage military backpack)
Average Price Sold: $39.92
Returns: 0
Number of items listed this week: 0

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Happy New Year y’all! The perfect time to talk about your goals for the next twelve months. Some of our goals include super fun things like paying off debt and figuring out how to properly hire our assistant. What are yours?

We mentioned that we got a Paypal Working Capital loan to help us finish our renovation project. It took less than 10 minutes to get a quote and then the loan itself. Amazing and so helpful for small businesses like ours.

Thanks to all who have given donations to help keep the blog up and running. We recently upgraded the server and hired someone to maintain the site monthly.

Remember that it’s the new quarter for buying eBay shipping supplies. Thanks to Dave for the handy tool Where’s The Coupon, you can get an email the moment you can buy supplies and a direct link to your coupon as well.

Join the conversation on the forum>>

Our Store Week Dec 25-31, 2016

• Store #1
• Total Items in Store: 5158
• Items Sold: 44
• Cost of Items Sold: $290
• Total Sales: $3,048.84
• Highest Price Sold: $1600 (Necklace)
• Average Price Sold: $69.29
• Returns: 0
• Money Spent on New Inventory This Week: $75
• Number of items listed this week: 0
• ———-Bonanza:
• Sold 2 items for $50
• ———-
• Store #2
• Total Items in Store: 982
• Items Sold: 3
• Cost of Items Sold: $1
• Total Sales: $60.58
• Highest Price Sold: $28 (Vintage Patch)
• Average Price Sold: $20.27
• Returns: 0
• Number of items listed this week: 0

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