whatshappening Archives - Page 23 of 23

Scavenger Life Episode 290: Experimenting with your eBay Store

We love the new Scavenger Life forums because of the ideas/claims that other sellers have about their eBay business. But many times sellers don’t have much actual data to back up their hypotheses (a theory is a hypothesis that has been tested and can be successfully repeated). So we like to run little experiments with our eBay store to see if we can improve, make our life easier, and hopefully earn more money.

Experiment #1: Free Shipping
We started this experiment last week when we put free shipping on over 1300 items. Most of these items are under 1lb. We raised each item by 10% so the total cost hasn’t really changed from the original price + calculated shipping. For the past 14 days we have seen no increase in sales on these items.

We’re going to let this experiment keep running, but we feel “free shipping” can’t hurt, but it also doesn’t turn on the spigot for increased sales. It’s just something you do to make yourself feel better to give you the illusion of control. Further data will bear out our hypothesis.

Experiment #2: Pay More for better quality items
There’s a common assumption that if you pay more for better quality items, you’ll work less and make the same amount of money. Instead of buying $1 items that will sell for $30, spend $25 on items that will sell for $100.

The issue of course is that there’s no guarantee that more expensive items will sell quickly and for as much as you think. It’s also not easy to find these higher end items that are not already priced close to their market value. Also, depending on eBay for a full time income means you must be able to consistently find and sell these high dollar items week in and week out.

This week we bought three items for $25 that we hope to sell quickly for $100 each. Stay tuned.

Experiment #3: The “I want my own selling platform” experiment
Every so often we get a seller who makes the case that just focusing on eBay/Amazon is a bad idea since you’re at the mercy of these corporations. The argument is that it would be a smart idea to put your items on your own website and sell directly to customers. You control everything and make all the money.

The problem is that we’ve never directly spoken to a seller who’s actually taken the time to do this and was willing to share their cost/profit. It takes work, and you still have to pay someone else to host your store.

So we tried to open a Shopify store. They have a two-week free trial period which is nice. They have an app that sucked in all our eBay listings. But our listings were all duplicated. Plus, they didn’t pull in all the info for each listing. Plus, they don’t sync with our eBay store when things sell. When we called Shopify, they said their importer wasn’t perfect and we’d have to update each of the 5000 listings by hand. Or we could pay for a third-party app that could import the items correctly, which tells us that Shopify isn’t a platform we’re comfortable with if they can’t do the simple stuff correctly. Mike from Atlanta had similar experiences and suggested that there are more expensive platforms to test.

If anyone has data from their own experiments, please share in the forum.

Terri pointed out that Shipping rates on all the carriers go up again in 2017. Still cheaper for us to print labels at home than go to the Post Office.

It was a slower week for us maybe because Christmas buying season is done and because we extended our handling time to fifteen days while we’re in NYC/Boston. Hope your week was good!

Join the conversation in the forum>>

Our Store Week Dec 18-24, 2016

Store #1
Total Items in Store: 5194
Items Sold: 29
Cost of Items Sold: $40
Total Sales: $781.02
Highest Price Sold: $52 (Pendleton Poster)
Average Price Sold: $26.93
Returns: 0
Money Spent on New Inventory This Week: $200
Number of items listed this week: 40
———-Bonanza:
Sold 0 items for $0
———-
Store #2
Total Items in Store: 984
Items Sold: 8
Cost of Items Sold: $15
Total Sales: $310.71
Highest Price Sold: $120 (Vintage Bell Bottoms)
Average Price Sold: $38.83
Returns: 0
Number of items listed this week: 0

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Subscribe: RSS

Scavenger Life Episode 289: Our Free Shipping Experiment

Last week we had a discussion on the forum about how free shipping might be a accelerator for sales. We’ve always been clear that we find the concept of free shipping to be a bait and switch since sellers always raise the price of the item when adding free shipping. I guess it’s just a psychological advantage? Who knows.

But in the interest of Scavenger science, we started an experiment. We now have 1300 items with free shipping now. Mainly anything under a pound that can be shipped cheaply like ties, scarves, shirts, and hats. We raised the price of these items by 10% to cover the extra cost. The result? Over the past week, we have sold no more of these items than we normally would have. So far, free shipping hasn’t attracted more buyers than usual. We’re going to let the experiment keep running it’s course. You can also follow along with ShortandStout who is also running a free shipping experiment that’s even more scientific than ours. Only real data will answer this debate once and for all.

In other news, we’ve had a long week of scavenging expensive doors and furniture from the city for our new rental. We got some solid wood doors and kitchen island, saving hundreds of dollars. We plan to buy as much as we can on Craigslist. West Elm and Restoration Hardware are our current favorite keywords to follow.

We had another good week on eBay. We hope holiday sales continue to into January. Hope things went well for you too.

Join the conversation on the forum>>

Our Store Week Dec 11-17, 2016

Store #1
Total Items in Store: 5186
Items Sold: 52
Cost of Items Sold: $115
Total Sales: $1,936.94
Highest Price Sold: $190 (Quimper jar)
Average Price Sold: $37.24
Returns: 0
Money Spent on New Inventory This Week: $30
Number of items listed this week: 161
———-Bonanza:
Sold 0 items for $0
———-
Store #2
Total Items in Store: 991
Items Sold: 8
Cost of Items Sold: $15
Total Sales: $461.11
Highest Price Sold: $250 (Vintage firewood holder)
Average Price Sold: $57.63
Returns: 0
Number of items listed this week: 0

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Subscribe: RSS

Scavenger Life Episode 288: The War Of Attrition Will Not Grind Us Down

Interesting conversation on the forum about the glut of clothing sellers on eBay (and elsewhere) and the reasons why. This speaks to the broader question of ‘is there too much online selling competition to make a living’ now that there are weigh-n-pays and smartphones everywhere. We think it’s just a matter of time before the peak hits and the hobby sellers burn out. We’re still making a living and having fun. We hope the same goes for you too.

Another great topic on the forums was Free Shipping, especially now that the holidays are fully upon us. Do you offer free shipping? Why/why not? This is a topic we always go back and forth on.

Hope you’re having a great, busy, annoying shipping (that means you made money!) week.

Join the conversation in the forum>>

Our Store Week Dec 4-10, 2016

Store #1
Total Items in Store: 5065
Items Sold: 54
Cost of Items Sold: $103
Total Sales: $2,103.99
Highest Price Sold: $135 (Vintage shaving kit)
Average Price Sold: $38.96
Returns: 0
Money Spent on New Inventory This Week: $20
Number of items listed this week: 203
———-Trugether:
Sold 1 items for $112
———-
Store #2
Total Items in Store: 998
Items Sold: 10
Cost of Items Sold: $35
Total Sales: $504.45
Highest Price Sold: $115 (Vintage Butcher Paper Holder)
Average Price Sold: $50.44
Returns: 0
Number of items listed this week: 0

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Subscribe: RSS

Scavenger Life Episode 287: How Is the Holiday Selling Season for You?

We’ve had a steady stream of sales on eBay since the summer, but we certainly haven’t seen crazy holiday sales that we all love. Are people buying less this Xmas? Are we not selling the right stuff? Who knows! All we do is list. Stuff is selling; we’re making money; all is well.

Ryanne found this cool story of a young man who is creating a vintage world at home. This is our customer for all that weird vintage stuff we all sell.

The new forum has been a fun place to talk during the week.
Here are improvements we’ve made this week.
Nancy talks about using worthless sewing patterns as wrapping tissue paper.
Retro Treasures WV started a thread many of us experience when working a job, but really wanting to be doing eBay fulltime.
Mike from Atlanta reminded us about some of eBay’s new shipping policies. It includes being able to offer Freight to ship furniture.
We started an area where sellers can offer their services to list for you, or you can offer jobs. Eli in Portland was the first to offer his services.

Jump into the forum and let us know what’s happening with your scavenger life. Hope you had a good week.

Our Store Week Nov 27-Dec 3, 2016

Store #1
Total Items in Store: 4862
Items Sold: 52
Cost of Items Sold: $140
Total Sales: $1,436.07
Highest Price Sold: $120 (Vintage civil rights buttons)
Average Price Sold: $27.61
Returns: 0
Money Spent on New Inventory This Week: $15
Number of items listed this week: 281
———-Bonanza:
Sold 0 items for $0
———-
Store #2
Total Items in Store: 1002
Items Sold: 5
Cost of Items Sold: $15
Total Sales: $176.56
Highest Price Sold: $50 (Denim purse)
Average Price Sold: $35.31
Returns: 0
Number of items listed this week: 0

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Subscribe: RSS

Scavenger Life Episode 286: Black Friday, Just Another Day on eBay

This week, we had a steady flow of sales which felt great! In fact we sold about sixty items which is a big volume for us. That’s almost ten items a day 🙂 Unfortunately they were all mostly low dollar items 🙁 Our average selling price was less than 30 dollars. It was a good example of grinding out a profit one item at a time. This is how bills get paid, so nothing to complain about. The pipeline is flowing.

But it also shows that we’ve been spending much less scavenging this year because we’ve been busy either traveling or working on our rental business. You really do have to put in the hours looking for the items that will sell for $50, $100, $500. Any good scavenger knows that the items that bring a high price takes sometimes hours going from thrift store to thrift store, yard sale to yard sale, auction to auction. For the last six months, we’ve only been scavenging one night a week which is where we get most of our inventory. We’re good at what we do and find items that sell, but our numbers show that we’re simply finding bread and butter items. After we finally renovate our second rental, we plan to get back to scavenging much more and raise the quality of our items…which will raise the profit we make each week. And it’s not just the money, we love to scavenge!

Hope you guys had a good Thanksgiving.

Join the conversation in the forum>>

Our Store Week Nov 20-26, 2016

Store #1
Total Items in Store: 4623
Items Sold: 54
Cost of Items Sold: $125
Total Sales: $1,614.03
Highest Price Sold: $130 (Urinal)
Average Price Sold: $29.88
Returns: 0
Money Spent on New Inventory This Week: $40
Number of items listed this week: 126
———-Bonanza:
Sold 0 items for $0
———-
Store #2
Total Items in Store: 1009
Items Sold: 11
Cost of Items Sold: $25
Total Sales: $360.03
Highest Price Sold: $80 (Lands End bag)
Average Price Sold: $32.73
Returns: 0
Number of items listed this week: 0

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Subscribe: RSS

Scavenger Life Episode 285: Ready for Anything

This is our first podcast after the election that has made Donald Trump the President of the United States. We clearly remember what it was like during the eight years of George W Bush: the expensive, devastating war that we’re still fighting and one of of the worst economic crashes this country has ever seen that we’re also still getting out of. Mismanagement, corruption and incompetence were the trademarks of the Bush administration. The most recent evidence doesn’t make us feel any better about a Trump administration and a deeply Republican Congress who claim to hate government but now own it. The new enthusiasm around White nationalism is a scary and real thing. The screwy logic of dismantling the progress we’ve made on renewable energy and pollution reduction is difficult to understand. But here we are. Hello.

Who knows will will happen over the next four years. The Affordable Healthcare Act will most likely be dismantled so we’ll need to figure out how to get healthcare again. There’s a clear sense that everyone is waiting to see what happens with the economy. We’re hoping for the best and planning for the worst. We hope our fellow Americans remember that we are at our best morally and economically when we are fully inclusive. The US is at its greatest when we govern from a belief that we live in abundance that we can all share in, and not scarcity that we must fight over. Instead of our leaders forcing us to choose who among us we must hate and feel superior over, we each must personally decide to embrace and help each other. We’re all in this together.

After the shock and disbelief wore off, we talked about it and agreed that we must be ready for anything. What else can we do as Scavengers? We started our eBay store almost exactly eight years ago when banks were failing and we were surrounded by evidence of impending doom. Selling online was a way for us to seek some amount of safety and control. Rather than put our fate in the hands of an employer, we felt better waking up each day and working for ourselves. We moved to a more affordable part of the country and cut out any unnecessary expenses. We carry no debt (except our mortgage), and keep a little cash nest egg if we need it. The idea that there’s a safety net in the US is an illusion, so we live each day as if there is not one. Let the adventure continue!

eBay was steady for us this week. Lots of low dollar sales which we were happy to have. We’ve been putting all our energy into filling up our store with new items.

You can see photos of the renovation we’ve been doing on our second rental on our other podcast Shampoo and Booze. Also, remember that the holidays and new year are the best time to cut down your bills. We love TING phone service for doing just that. And if you want to give us a little holiday tip, use our links here.

And if you haven’t already, we invite you to our new forum where we can now better share and archive our knowledge. See you there!

Join the conversation in the forum>>

Our Store Week Nov 13-19, 2016

Store #1
Total Items in Store: 4538
Items Sold: 37
Cost of Items Sold: $40
Total Sales: $1,200.77
Highest Price Sold: $100 (vintage sweater)
Average Price Sold: $29.78
Returns: 1
Money Spent on New Inventory This Week: $39
Number of items listed this week: 200?

———-

Bonanza:

Sold 2 items for $50

———-

Store #2
Total Items in Store: 1019
Items Sold: 6
Cost of Items Sold: $25
Total Sales: $246.46
Highest Price Sold: $40 (Vintage glass drink mixer)
Average Price Sold: $41.07
Returns: 0
Number of items listed this week: 0

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Subscribe: RSS

Scavenger Life Episode 283: Running Our Businesses Without A Safety Net

This week we’ve experienced the full craziness of being self-employed. Because we’ve decided to invest in our eBay and rental businesses, we’re spending all the money we saved up over the past year (plus some). And we can’t even be sure if we’re making the right choices.

Is it smart to build a huge storage building for our eBay inventory? What if we get bored and don’t want to sell anymore? There will be a huge warehouse in our backyard. Is it smart to renovate an old house to turn into vacation rental? Why not just slap some paint on it and be done? What if no one wants to rent it? That’s a mortgage we don’t need.

Our mental health through all this is determined by how we handle these questions. I’d say we were pretty good this week. Only had a couple arguments when the pressure was on and decisions had to be made. The good news is that we always respect each other regardless of our differences of opinion. Then we ultimately agree on a plan of action. Plus, we never go to bed angry.

We have loved scavenging for the past eight years and see no decline in our interest. We’re even more excited to use our eBay profits to invest in rental property. So investing in these passions is smart for us even if we get stressed writing big checks. It’s scary to live without a safety net, but we wouldn’t have it any other way.

eBay was steady for us this week. All bread and butter sales (average selling price was about $35). all we can do is keep listing. This election will soon be over and holiday season is upon us!

Join the conversation in the forum>>

Our Store Week Oct 30-Nov 5, 2016