Home › Forums › Hello, Who Are You? › Beverly from Washington state
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11/07/2016 at 1:47 pm #5171
I had dabbled in ebay several years ago to sell off some collectible Christmas decorations that were just taking up space. It was always in the back of my mind as something I could do for fun in the future after I retire which I thought would be years away. Well, I got laid off from my long-running well-paying work-from-home computer programmer job in 2015 at age 59. I was devastated but also felt really weak and my allergies had taken a drastic turn, I could hardly breathe and traditional docs were making it worse, and other systems were starting to fail. So now I had the time to actually go to a naturopath and found out I have Celiac’s Disease. So that explained my downward spiral over the last decade. Even when strictly following gluten free, it takes a long time to heal, but I’m getting there now after a year and a half.
In my deepest darkest hours, close to giving up totally on life, I found Scavenger Life while poking around on Youtube. As soon as I heard the first podcast, I put down my cup of self pity and I knew I could do something to fill my days as I was able, and to bring in some extra money to cover my medical and vitamins so I don’t just totally draw down the retirement fund I had worked so hard to build.
I started selling things from around the house, and on Fridays if I could manage it, started hitting a few yard sales. I’m totally introverted, a shy computer nerd, and that was a challenge, but with the support of Scavenger Life and being able to visualize it, I was able to do a little. Then I actually went to an estate sale where I found some wonderful things that sold right away, and I was totally bitten by the bug. I branched out to local online auctions that I can do from home and not tire myself out. One of my first purchases was a pair of Tiffany bronze candlesticks (they said they were brass but I researched and they were gilt bronze, totally awesome), and I bought those for $300 and sold them for $900. Ok this Scavenger thing is really becoming fun now!
July 2016 I opened a basic store (Far Out and Fabulous), and am now working on getting more listings up. I’ve reduced the draw on my retirement funds by $500 a month. Woo hoo! I’m still clearing out things from the house, so have lots of lesser priced things and old books which don’t sell quickly, but filling in with things I scavenge. I’ve now got over 400 listings. The holidays will tire me out a bit, not sure I’ll make it to 500 soon, but I’ll just focus on keeping my 400 level up as I sell things.
My partner is going to be laid off from his computer job at the end of this year or early next year. Our plans are to try this ebay thing together. He’s not very organized, but I am anal about it. He’s got lots of knowledge on cars, motorcycles, and anything musical. So together we should be able to work together. We have a camper and can picture a little of the Mikey and Wendy thing or even American Pickers.
My goal had been to move back to California after I retire. That’s where I went to high school and my only living relative, my sister, lives. It kills me to be so far from her. I will at least be going on a road trip down the coast to visit, but I still desperately want to move back there. It’s so expensive, housing at least twice what it costs up here in Washington, but maybe maybe maybe … anything is possible now!
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11/07/2016 at 5:51 pm #5227
Welcome Beverly. Glad you’ve made it to the other side. I know programming is very well paid, but at least now you have less stress. Having a partner join you can make listing much more efficient.
California is for sure an awesome place, but remember that it’s much more expensive. Make sure you end up somewhere that fits your new Scavenger style. The less you spend each month means the less you have to work.
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