- This topic has 13 replies, 5 voices, and was last updated 1 month, 1 week ago by
.
-
Posts
-
-
My sales stayed extremely consistent from this past week to the week of January 5th, just a few percentage points off in terms of both gross ($900ish) and net ($600 or so) sales. That’s a neat party trick, but does it actually mean anything? I think in the case of my store, it does. It reflects the $$ value of my listed inventory and how often I’m listing. Right now, eBay is second in terms of my reselling time. This is a good time of year for my card consignment business. I’m turning over inventory very quickly. So it makes sense to spend more time there. I wouldn’t say I’m doing the bare minimum on eBay. Maybe two or three notches above the minimum. I’ve gotten much better about focusing my eBay time.
I ran an end and sell similar on most of my eBay listings this past weekend, and my hope is that will boost my numbers for next week into the $1000+ gross range. If not, I will just have to spend a little extra time on eBay listings as the calendar moves towards February!
My favorite item sold this week was this 1956 Portland Beavers minor league baseball scrapbook. Paid $6.50 in November, haven’t printed the label yet but my net profit will end up in the $15-$20 range. I had a great time photographing this book, which had photos of the team all the way back to the early 1900s.
This relic card of Japanese baseball legend Sadaharu Oh was a recent scavenge of the week and netted me a cool $43.26, or about $20 after COGS. The buyer referenced my recent purchase in his offer (thanks Terapeak, I guess) and I normally auto-decline and block buyers who message me about comps (comparable sold listings) since I like to avoid problems before they become a problem. But this buyer wrote something to the effect of, I saw what you paid for this card and my offer gives you enough room for a nice profit, appreciate you considering. I checked their feedback left and no red flags. So I took the offer and sent them their card all packed up nicely. A few days later, they left a positive feedback which also contained a long message. The moral of the story, not every buyer is an asshole.
Since I’m “only” selling 20-25 items per week (not bad for a 400ish item store!), a lot of times my daily deposit is in the $100 range. It’s a nice surprise when it’s a little higher, and a sale from my backstock of Bruno Fernandes signed soccer kit cards jazzed up my numbers heading into last weekend. I’ve sold 13 signed Bruno cards from last year’s 25 card Panini Rewards haul at an average sold of about $60 each. My COGS was in the $25 range on them, so a pretty solid run and, hey, maybe Bruno’s Man U teammates will find their bravery sometime soon.
Another recent Panini haul is essentially in the black as I sold my second Devaughn Vele rookie autograph in the $35 range even as the Broncos season ended with a dismal playoff loss. I bought a 5 pack of these for $63.94 with a Black Friday coupon. This is a very rare type of scavenging for me, as I buy almost all my inventory from consignment sellers who list eBay auctions. Almost never from a manufacturer. The margins (and inventory) just aren’t there in the way I like to sell. But Vele was an unheralded draft pick who has been a rookie success story.
In a time where manufacturers print 50+ new sets annually for each sport, I love finding cards of players like this. Until next year’s sets come out, there are few Vele cards on the market. So this autographed card has been selling strong in the $30 to $50 range for the last few months. Unless he blossoms into a star player, these prices won’t last even until next season. But I’ve made my money back (minus maybe three or four boxes) with three more copies still to sell. I’ll definitely net at least $40 profit and still the potential to more than double my money.
Writing this out also reminded me to promote the listing on my active Vele Instant auto. I’ve stopped promoting new listings until they’re in my inventory for at least 30 days (and usually 60), but in some limited cases like this, I’ll gladly pay 5% if that gives me a small chance at selling it sooner. Especially since none of the other 5 active listings for this same Vele autograph are not promoted!
From the signed photo pile, this iconic photo signed by 1970s Pittsburgh Pirates Steve Blass and Bob Robertson sold when the buyer hypnotized me with an offer of $21.21, which I’m sure is a reference to the jersey number of Pirates legend Roberto Clemente. I’m going to send them a small pile of Pirates cards with their signed photo and hopefully they enjoy them, maybe even leave me a nice feedback. Feedback really doesn’t matter at all anymore, but I like when buyers express genuine emotion in their feedback, as long as it’s not ALL CAPS RAGE!!!
What did you sell this week?
-
The subject of a past podcast or forum post was old calendars. Occasionally, you run into an old one that was never written in or at least is in good condition. If you google “calendar repeat calculator”, you can find out when it will repeat in the future. This 1953 calendar will repeat in 2026. It sold for $10, but I don’t think I paid anything for it. It really wasn’t that interesting, so I’m just glad it sold.
https://www.ebay.com/itm/186806292378
This cool, vintage suitcase sold for $34 on commission. It is damaged, but not too badly. It was in my neighbor’s attic holding several Lionel trains and accessories that have been selling well.
-
-
As is typical for me this time of year, almost all sales were new with tag items. I sold a couple more Christmas items. Running the 40% off after Christmas sale really helped move more of that this year. Sold a couple of cross stitch kits, nothing notable really.
-
https://www.ebay.com/itm/266424601592
Sony Handycam HDR-CX160 High Definition Camcorder TESTED WORKS Lots Of Extras
Sony handycams are BOLO. Sold on offer for $100 to a repeat buyer who also bought a $250 drone from me. I shipped them together.
https://www.ebay.com/itm/266932891548
TDK SA-X 90 High Position IEC II / TYPE II Blank Audio Cassette Tape NEW Sealed
Any time you see vintage sealed tapes, give them a look-see. These types of tapes even in used shape have value. Sold for full price.
https://www.ebay.com/itm/266464305568
Philips Pocket Memo Handheld Digital Voice Recorder DPM LFH 9600 1 GB Complete
Sold for full price. I bought two of these for $5 each.
https://www.ebay.com/itm/266416477211
2010 NERF N-Force VANTAGE Sword 32 inches
I bought two of these swords at a yard sale for $5 total. This was the second one to sell. I had to eat $7 on shipping to use a priority tube mailer. Those oversize charges are absurd ($18 oversize length charge on a 1lb package.)
https://www.ebay.com/itm/266885032190
WW2 US Army Ike Jacket Size 38 2nd Army Staff Sergeant Overseas Rare Original
Picked this up at a yard sale for $7. Sold for full price.
The rest of my highlighted items are hoarder items:
https://www.ebay.com/itm/266885617430
Gucci Mens Jeans Relaxed Straight Leg Size 60 IT ( 42×33 Actual)
Sold for $200 on offer. These are going through the authenticity program.
https://www.ebay.com/itm/267091010464
Polo Ralph Lauren baseball hat suede leather strapback vintage new with tags
Sold on offer for $140.
https://www.ebay.com/itm/266448939975
Sears USA Leather Harness Pull On Biker Boots Size 10 D Black Vintage NEW IN BOX
This person kept badgering me to sell for $250. They finally hit me on the right day where I wanted a sale. Sold for $250.
https://www.ebay.com/itm/266887134163
Robert Graham Orbit Full Print Button Down Linen Silk Shirt Long Sleeve Mens 3XL
Sold on offer for $200. I have a handful of these Robert Graham shirts. They are AMAZING shirts. It’s nice to finally sell one of them!
-
-
Yard sales April-September and thrifts the rest of the year. My coolest stuff typically comes from yard sales. Thrifts are where I get most of my shoes, but there are still some occasional cool items they miss.
I just checked and of the 34 items I sold this week only 4 were from a thrift store. Whoah! Didn’t think it was that low.
-
I’ve been not really into garage sales because it’s a lot of running around for not necessarily a lot of good items, BUT I’m thinking of changing it up. I wanted to stay with the family also when the kids were growing up but Saturday mornings my husband can watch the puppy now so I may try it more this year. Estate sales – depending on who is running it – are really awesome. I love community garage sales but there aren’t many here. Rummage and church sales are great but only a few each year. As I look to increase my output, I realize I need to watch what I pay for items so I can offer discounts to online buyers.
-
I have a set path for yard sales and my route takes on average 2 hours. I’ve done early bird 7:30-9:30 and I’ve done late yard sales 10–12. I’ve had great success both ways.
I never travel to go to other areas for yard sales since my regular route has been so good.
Estate sales around here are terrible. It seems other regions have excellent estate sales.
-
We have tons of old people here and lots of moving and estate sales. Definitely most of the professional companies are overpriced for resale, and then take the leftovers to sell. But there are family run sales too. I have found great stuff in boring, less expensive 1950s and 1960s neighborhoods as well as the nicer ones. Our area is about 15 minutes drive across the city and a neighboring smaller city is about 20 minutes from my house at the outside. It really helps when people provide pictures. So, garage sales are doable but I’ll have to see if it ends up being a lot of wasted time. Here Craigslist map is helpful.
For now, I’m focused on listing and I have lots of consolidating and organizing to do in the garage.
-
Over the last couple years, I’ve hit quite a few more estate sales and garage sales than you’d think for a guy who never sells anything from those sources. Maybe they’re not a good source in this area, maybe I don’t have a good eye for those types of items or maybe I have a knack for picking the bad ones.
But they all seemed full of so much junk to me, with everything that I knew a little bit about very overpriced. Like going to a bad thrift store, but worse. I really struggled even to find those eye catching finds where you may not know what it’s worth or what it will sell for, but the item looks quality. I’m sure it’s area dependent. And I probably missed plenty of things that didn’t look like much, but sell fast for a good price.
If I feel the itch to scavenge out in the real world during spring and summer, I’m definitely going to try and check out some different flea markets and garage sales. It’s always good to have a wide range of how you source for items. Like working all the different muscle groups in your body, but for scavenging.
-
@Craig I would look into rummage and church sales in your area. They have more volume and typically price better. The volunteers also organize things. My experience here is that many garage sales are busts but occasionally there is one where it’s really great. Sometimes the run of the mill neighborhoods built in the 50s or 60s have the best old stuff. We have it a little better because my town did not have a lot of made in China stores until the recent past to shop at. When I go out of town I see a lot of that. Our goodwill is full of Home Goods art prints now.
-
I have this weird knack for finding out about those rummage sales and church sales the day after they happen or the next week. I’m not much of a social media person, and because of that sometimes I miss events that I would enjoy. But I hope to remedy that a little bit this year by planning ahead a little more.
-
-
-
- You must be logged in to reply to this topic.