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I’m currently working on getting our house (financial and space to run the business) in order for getting things ready to sell in 2020. Financially, I’m going through and closing accounts, reaching out to vendors asking for better rates and such so we can have a little more paycheck at the end of the month to look more at scavenging. I’ve closed a gym membership that wasn’t really being used and I also closed my Amazon Sellers Account. There are some online subscriptions I need to track down and close too.
We have a crawl space that I’ll be using as a ‘warehouse’. I’m planning on using labeled bins to keep items in and I’ll use the postings to note which bin it’s in. I need to get a scale (what do people use?) for listing and shipping. I’ll be starting out with an entry level store and goal is to get 50 listings a week. I’ll start with things around the house as well as offering to friends and family to help clean out attics/garages. Add in the thrift shops, craigslist and free sites and we’ll see what I can find.
Garage sales and curb finds are tough during the winter here in MN, will be negative teens later this week for a low. Add in the snow and there’s not much out there, but come spring, everything comes out.
Hope everyone enjoys the holidays and I plan on keeping a journal/diary as I work through this.Take care,
Jim.
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Go for it Jim! I use a couple Stamps.com scales. One was free with an account I opened a while back and the other I picked up on eBay. Since they were received free with an account opening (maybe still are), lots of them seem to turn up for sale for reasonable prices. Others here who do more volume have more sophisticated scales but these work for me and they are accurate.
You’re smart to focus on household castoffs first and friends and family. Not recommended to get buried in inventory until you’re really in a selling groove. Eventually, for better sourcing, in my experience the estate and farm auctions can be good in the rural areas (not storage auctions). Does the business paper you deliver have the town or county probate notices? Call an attorney handling one and see who they get to do the sales. Or maybe they don’t have anyone and you might be able to wangle a house cleanout or two.
While you’re driving around at night with few distractions look for other clues for stuff entering the stream besides the curbed free stuff. Store going out of business? Maybe buy their old inventory and/or equipment. House sold in the middle of winter? They’re not going to have a yard sale in a MN December/January they might still need to get rid of a lot of stuff. These are just some ideas.
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Re those stamps.com scales. I had a Salters electronic scale that I scavenged out of a box of junk at a flea market. Worked alright for a while but then started consistently reading high, so I stripped it down to see if there was anything I could fix. Turns out the mechanism is an aluminium bar attached at one end to the top plate and at the other to the base. Attached to it is a fine grid of wires; as the bar distorts due to weight the grid flexes and its electrical resistance changes, and this change is converted to a reading. So once it goes wrong it’s probably unfixable. There’s a Wikipedia article on the grid- can’t remember the name, but there are high-end versions.
The simple construction means that they’re pretty cheap- I picked up a replacement at Lidl for 5 GBP. They’re accurate ‘cos I checked mine with a set of Post Office weights
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A problem with cheap scales is they aren’t always accurate. A free method to check scales is 4 quarters weight 1 ounce. The other potential problem is the max weight of the scales.
This is what I have, https://www.amazon.com/UltraShip-55-Digital-Shipping-Kitchen/dp/B000FSWB9K, max 55 lbs.
Is your crawlspace completely dry? Bins might not seal completely and you don’t want to have to worry about mildew if not.
Overall advice, pace yourself so you don’t burn out by working too many hours for too little results while building the business, and alsways leave time for family and recreation.
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–Smart to close down any re-occurring subscription you dont need. Thats the fastest way to save money.
–Smart to start selling items you already own. You have nothing to lose.Have you ever sold on eBy before? You mentioned have an Amazon account so not sure if you already know how to sell online?
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Hey Jay, I created a card game that’s played with birds that visit the bird feeders and was selling that online. I still have my wordpress site and store at http://www.gameswithbirds.com. I’m torn about closing it completely or keeping it going. I Haven’t posted there recently just to let things coast for a bit. Wasn’t selling a whole lot as I didn’t have much for marketing. So I have dabbled a bit, but nothing like what I’m planning for Ebay.
Jim -
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