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As this forum gets started, we wanted to have a place where experienced community members and newcomers can introduce themselves. You can share as little or as much as you want. You don’t have to share your real name, but it’s always fun to know where you’re from, how long you’ve been scavenging and selling, and what you’re interested in.
This community is important to us. As we say in our manifesto:
“Transparency is key to a good culture. Be open, share your process,
ideas, tips and tricks. Choose camaraderie over competition.”I’m Jay. Ryanne and I started scavengerlife.com with out friends, Mikey and Wendy back in 2012. It was formerly known as ebayscavengers.com until eBay’s lawyers told us to find a new name. (We’re glad they did because our new name is better.)
We live in a rural part of Virginia and have plenty of places to scavenge. Thrift stores and auctions are our favorite. As Baby Boomers downsize their homes, there’s just a glut of stuff out there.
We have no specialty, but do enjoy finding the more rare, unique vintage items that are often passed over. Most of our items are found for cheap, but we are willing t pay more for items that we know will sell well. We constantly struggling with Death Piles (aka unlisted piles of items in our home). We like to constantly experiment with new ways to scavenge and sell on eBay. Most of these ideas come from you.
Our main goal is to never have to work for someone else again. So far selling old shoes on the internet has given us this gift.
Go ahead and start your own topic in this category and introduce yourself.
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Hi Jay and Ryanne, Just started listening to your SL podcast and am really enjoying it. My main shop is on Etsy but I’m still getting a lot out of your discussions and can relate to many of the topics you cover. Keep up the great work — it’s fun to join a community of like-minded people! –Janet
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Hello Jay and Ryanne, and all you other scavengers!
My husband just retired from a long career in teaching kids to stay away from drugs. I worked with him on that project for many years. Now we are scavengers!
We are located in Los Angeles.
Ryanne, I listed the Persian rug thanks to your courage and encouragement.
Jay, thanks for your input. We picked a name for our store: Country Road Treasures USA
And to anyone that knows about Hella lights: We purchased some Hella 90601B Fog Lights yesterday and have no clue about them, very hard to find any really good info.
Thanks for having us in your group.
Yours,
Siga
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Welcome Sigal. We love LA.
If you want to ask the community about an item, post it to:
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Hello fellow trash elves:
I started out selling on eBay, Amazon, and Half.com. For the last four years I have been doing most of my on-line sales on Etsy. I sell mostly vintage to modern sewing patterns, craft books, cross stitch kits, and vintage housewares. Recently I have been adding film cameras and vintage clock radios to the mix.
Janet
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Hello from Vermont!
I’ve been enjoying your podcast for a while now, ever since my sister told me about it.
My partner and I sold on Ebay a long time ago, but let it drop completely. Now we’re about 4 months back into it, and liking it a lot more!
I am considering moving to this as a full time deal, but only very slowly, with a great deal of caution. I have long thought that I’d be far happier as my own boss, and I am the sort of person who can structure their own time and persist until what needs to get done gets done. It has to be slow, because I have kids, debt and an hour long commute that eats all my time, but I am best when I do things incrementally anyway.
My current career, while satisfying in the sense of making a difference in the world, does not pay well, takes a lot of time, and of late seems to involve some physical risk to myself. So it has become a little more urgent to me to make some changes.
We seem to be doing reasonably well on Ebay given how new to this we are (big learning curve!). I guess my biggest worry is sourcing in Vermont. We were originally from Pennsylvania in a busy area where I could find the most amazing things for super-cheap at the local Goodwills. In Vermont there is much more of a ‘use it up’ philosophy, and a lot less people to get rid of things. I think we’ll probably end up sourcing all summer long when Vermonters actually come outside and love yard sales, and then list all winter long when it seems any Vermonter not skiing is hibernating. We may consider moving someday, but that would be after the kids are out of school.
We like to sell pretty much anything that we can find room to store, but we have a long way to go before we have anything like a ‘real’ store. For now, while we learn, Ebay is helping us pay for our biggest addiction – Travel.
Ok, that is probably way more than anyone wanted to know! 🙂 Glad to be here, thanks for the add!
Jo
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Howdy eBay friends
I am so excited to be a part of this community. My name is Carol, I am retired, and I enjoy selling “stuff” on eBay. I love listening to The Scavenger Life podcast and enjoying a cup of coffee from The Broad Porch. Life is Good. I have been selling on eBay since November 2019 and have made approx 8K. The name of my store is: Pip’s Peace. I have 182 items for sale right now, but I do have a goal of 1000 items by August. My inventory is built of a life of saving stuff. (I feel the need to say, I am not a hoarder. I did save stuff with the desire to get rid of it.) I did inherit a lot of my inventory from by Brother in Law, who was a hoarder. He has supplied me with numerous items that I have enjoyed researching, listing, and selling. I am located in Marinette Wisconsin a few miles from the Upper Peninsula. We had snow Sunday, but there is hopes of spring soon.
Sell On & Peace
Carol -
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Hi to Jay, Ryanne and everyone –
I’m Carolyn from Massachusetts!
I discovered your Podcast and website a few weeks back and have been enjoying consuming your content, thank you so much for all of the knowledge!
I retired in February 2019 and this has become my favorite hobby. I have had an Ebay account since 2003 and have sold super sporadically. Last summer I started really working at it and am having so much fun. It’s nice to have a creative outlet. My husband likes to go along sourcing with me which makes that part much better. We went to a box lot auction last week which was SO FUN!!! we ended up with 9 boxes of stuff for $80 and it gives me a lot to list.
This hobby is paying for itself and I would like it to do better than that, but I am not too stressed about that.
Looking forward to learning lots of specific tips and tricks and enjoying this journey.
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