Scavenger Life Episode 285: Ready for Anything

[Ryanne]

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 durin
[See the full post at: Scavenger Life Episode 285: Ready for Anything]

[lizlangsteiner]

November 13 – Nov 19
Active items in store 1050
Sales 6
COGS 18.00
Highest price sold $36.00 vintage Walls coveralls
Average price 27.00
Intl Sales –
Returns 1
Spent on new inventory 50.00
New items listed this week 21

Comparing this week to the same week in 2016 number of sales are down by 11 sales.
Just need to get more good stuff in my store. On my way to a thrift store this morning.
Spent the last 2 weeks in San Diego. My son came home from deployment on Nov. 14, along with his ship mates. It was a beautiful site to see as we watched USS Decater enter the San Diego Harbor.

[TrunkFullOfJunk]

Total Items in Store: 1350
Items Sold: 51
Cost of Items Sold: $1100
Total Sales: $7,919.17
Highest Price Sold: $4995.95 (Ship’s helm)
Average Price Sold: $155.28
Returns: 1
Money Spent on New Inventory This Week: $1831
Number of items listed this week: 201

This past week was great. We sold two high dollar items plus lots of bread and butter stuff. Still not getting a large holiday rush, so hopefully sales will pick up drastically this week. We are hiring some part time help around the house starting this week. This should allow us to get through our backlog of inventory a little quicker. We have over 2000 items we need to get photographed and listed, and of course we never stop buying new inventory.

[Erik]

Where do you source your inventory mostly?

[newvintageny]

One thing that works for having people list for you is preparing what they will picture/list ahead of time.

This will save a lot of time and questions. For example, with the cards you had just pick out all of the cards you would list for $20 for example and say all these cards are x amount. Then have the other pile and say these are x amount.

Most of my time spend at this point is buying, organizing, and sourcing inventory. Sourcing in terms of me organizing items to give to certain people. If I have a $200 jacket I’ll do it myself or let them know it is different from the others.

Another big help for other people doing pictures or listing for you is including little notes in pictures like “stain”, “damage” etc by the issue area and its easy to catch.

Here is an example

http://m.ebay.com/itm/162179529786?_mwBanner=1

In this we just have little notes already made and if it has writing or a little bend just put damage and you’re covered. It’s easier than saying top left corner has a small crease because a buyer can say they disagree or it’s worse than described and you’re out of luck. If you say “damage” the buyer can’t say anything. Then obviously put it in notes or description.

[Jay]

So does the people listing for you only list at set amounts? They do no research?
Just “everything in this like is $20”?

[shortandstout]

Items in store: 179
Sales: 2
COGS: ~$4
Total sales: $26.98
Highest price sold: $16.99 – pair of women’s bongo heels
Average price: $13.49
Intl Sales: 1 – Hand Scythe to Norway
Returns: 0
Spent on new inventory: $204.00 – Sunday Auction w/ 1 high dollar purchase
New items listed this week: 3

Slow week, but that has been the normal for me right now. I am trying to get a few high dollar items into the store and my three listings fit the bill. I’m starting to get refocused on listing after a few recent auctions and bringing in new items despite the death piles. Hopefully I’ll have some extra time over the long holiday weekend and I think I’ll be listing from the road since we have a 3 hour drive to and from Thanksgiving dinner. Being the passenger in the car gives me the time to do nothing but list since my time at home is still being consumed by the house project. Washing log walls is not nearly as fun as scavenging or even listing, but this is our way of scavenging for our dream home, using the skills we have to do the labor ourselves. I’m the painter in the family so my tasking is ramping up.

[newvintageny]

They know how to look items up etc to get it listed. I basically do all the research and pricing upfront before they even see it. When I give someone a bin of items I’ve put the items in the bin knowing all of them will be 24.99 for example. This saves a lot of time for them to get it done as fast as possible knowing they just have to list it and not worry about research.

When you give whoever is listing for you a big pile of whatever and you can say everything is x amount they get it done really fast. I like the Henry Ford approach of repeat and list.

If it’s a bunch of weird random items I will just make a list and say this is 84.99 12 shipping, this is x and so on. It sounds like it would take me a lot of time to do that but as you and Ryanne know most of them time you know what you want to price it at.

Another trick for having people list is to pay for them with the money you make off of shipping. Bump your shipping up a little and they pay for themselves with the increased shipping. If they list 100 items for you and you increase shipping by 35 cents per item that off sets the cost. For those of you that thinks it’s unethical to profit off shipping I disagree.

[Retro Treasures WV]

Last week I told myself that I’m so happy to be a part of a community here at SL that can abstain from political squabbles. I know it sounds cliché, but this was my “safe place” to get away from all that amid this online post nuclear political wasteland. I’m pretty surprised that J&R were the ones to open the can of worms. Here’s to hoping this dries up quickly and we can get back to being one big happy and helpful family! Everyone please think twice before hitting the submit button if going political. We have a good thing here – let things bounce off you and move on.

And so I’ll leave you with my numbers and thoughts on the ebay week and check out of this podcast conversation for the remainder because I don’t want to see what it is already turning into.

As for me, I had a better week.
Items sold: 19
Total sales: $762
COGS: $200
Profit: $562

Sales were up big early in the week, but they tapered off as the week went on. I’ve really pushed hard on my listing and hit 600 listings last night. Yay! I have almost completely listed my backlog of shoes – just two more tubs to go. Everything new I buy is also being listed immediately. This week I want to try and focus on toys.

I’m really loving using the SKU function in ebay. Everything new gets assigned a tub SKU and I’m also slowly bringing old inventory into the system.

Have a great week everyone. I hope everyone’s sales start to pick up!

[Beverly – Far Out and Fabulous]

Thanks, Retro Treasures WV. And congrats on 600 listings … I’m still exhausted from getting up to 500 after the summer and just trying to keep it around there for now. Boyfriend just brought up some stuff from the garage that I can sell. I really should let him get new shelf units more often so it forces him to clean out a corner of the mess in there, and I get a few extra things to sell. ;o)

[Eve Everett]

We just cleaned up our inventory shed this weekend outside and eeeeeeeekkk a teenie mouse ran past me from a corner.

A country girl at heart, but having lived in Northwest DC and NOVA then back to the country years later, I’m still trying to readjust to bugs and mice. Eeiisssh

[Jay]

We don’t need to attack each other, but I don’t mind using this thread for us to listen to each other. I respect everyone here but I must honestly say I’m worried.
The election was a very real event. Voting matters and has consequences. Again, remember the election of 2000 and the resulting events.

I would even love to make a little time capsule here no matter your beliefs. We can look back in four years and see how things turned out. As Scavengers, we don’t sell in a vacuum. What do you think will happen?

[Steven S]

I agree with the time capsule idea and about being worried.
I find politics to be overwhelming, so much information to be digested.
And now it seems you can put down or make fun of anyone for anything and still be elected.
I think the Oval Office needs character not a character.

[user2122]

I haven’t even listened to this podcast yet. This morning I was getting really wrapped up in the political insanity sweeping the nation and the entire world at the moment, arguing with my friend via text, etc. Exactly the kind of divisive activity that the corporate/government/media hegemony wants us to engage in at the moment. I looked at the clock and realized it was getting late in the morning. Time to get to work on an Amazon shipment. Needing a break from “news” and politics, I cheerfully cued up the new Scavenger Life podcast, hit play and started reading the description. What. The. Eff.

Seriously, guys? Can we keep it business-related please?

FWIW, I don’t consider myself “left” or “right”. I consider myself apolitical and generally avoid all “news” and mainstream culture, TV, radio, etc. But, it would be nice if the show would stay on the topic of scavenging. This morning has been kind of a bummer and this was the icing on the cake for me.

This is my favorite podcast, and I listen to a lot of podcasts. Please don’t ruin it for me!

[ChristineR]

Active items in store: 348
Sales: $102
COGS: $38 new RA + $3 used
Highest price sold $43 New Anthropologie Brownie Pan
Average price: $25
Intl Sales & Returns: 0
Spent on new inventory: About $20
New items listed this week: +/- 25

Well, a really slow week for me and the month is pretty crappy I must say. But I was able to finally get back to listing and I’m creeping toward hitting 400 items in my store. I went thrifting once and it was quite fun because here they hold back the holiday stuff and I hit several just as they put it out. An early Christmas present for a scavenger!

I haven’t yet listened to the podcast, so I probably shouldn’t comment on the election effect. But we aren’t doing business in a vacuum here. I live in So Cal and the day after the election it felt similar to 9/11 because the Trump victory was a total surprise. The mood was not good and everything still feels subdued. As Trump picks his team and there have been some protests and racial events (in schools), I think that has added to the feeling of dread and uncertainty. Like the election result or not, our great country is having an identity crisis and that’s sure to put a damper on sales at least to Coasters. Regionally, we are still in a drought and the temps were hot until yesterday, so it doesn’t feel like Fall here to boot! That’s just a snapshot of my general consumer climate here. I’m curious what things are like in Trump states – whether consumers feel confident that Trump will deliver what he promised or if they are feeling cautious too? I think as small business people, this is what is worth discussion here – along with saving money in times of uncertainty.

Happy Thanksgiving to all my fellow Scavengers! I look forward to seeing some fun sales posted in the forums. Also, quick reminder that Small Business Saturday is coming up in case you want to offer a little promo sale. Thanks to R & J for the new platform – love it!

[Brian Treasures from Grandmas]

November 13 – Nov 19
Active items in store 763
Sales 10
Total Sales $350.46
COGS $19
Highest price sold $70 1980s Cliff Engle NY Jets Cardigan
Average price $35.05
Intl Sales 2
Returns 0
Spent on new inventory $160
New items listed this week 15 “new”, 26 “refreshed” old ones

It was an improvement over last week, but still not the volume I had anticipated. The Cliff Engle sweater sale was awesome – found it in a box in a basement at an estate sale and they told me to just take it. I knew it was good simply because of the maker (Cliff Engle made most of the on sideline sweaters for coaches in the 1980s – Mike Ditka’s Bears sweater from the Super Bowl is probably the most iconic, but he made them for all teams). I probably could have sold this one for $100+ if I got it dry cleaned, but sold it as is instead.

Going out sourcing was a last minute thing but I came back with a couple good scores – 200+ keys from a municipal worker in NYC (I listed by maker including Corbin, Eagle, and Yale), some 1960s Disney children’s records still sealed, and four new in box Fisher Space pens (the nice chrome plated models actually used on the Space Shuttles).

Listening to the show now!

[JtotheNessa]

I cringed that this became political also. I avoid social media like the plague for this reason and too enjoyed that this forum wasn’t about right vs. left. I hope we can get back to that. People feel so passionately on both sides it never settles anything to banter/argue about it on the internet and usually only fractures relationships.

Anyways, I am again VERY happy to share my numbers! <insert shameless arm flapping happy dance>

11/13-11/19

Total Items in Store: 423
•Items Sold: 70
•Cost of Items Sold: $467
•Total Sales: $2783.59
•Highest Price Sold: $135 calico critter toy lot
•Average Price Sold: $39.77
New inventory: 0
•Number of items listed this week: 75-100

I continue to list like a mad woman! I feel like I’ll never get through my death tubs but when I get discouraged I refocus to the mentality of “just one item at a time” “you can do this” haha. I also ran a promotion “buy 1 get 1 25% off” that generated $254 in sales. I was happy with that. I’ve tried the promotions before and never made a sale off of them but this one seemed to finally spur some interest. For black Friday I’m going to do “buy 1 get 1 50% off”. Hope everyone has a safe and Happy Thanksgiving! 🙂

[ChristineR]

Thanks for sharing about the promo. I might try that too. I try to push multiples in my listings. I figure if it makes Ebay like me, I should give it a go and hopefully will be rewarded by the mystery system.

[Anna]

Total items in store: 283
Items sold: 9
Cost of Items Sold: $23 thrift + $10 retail + $17.75 consignment
Total Sales: $292.38
Avg. price: $32.49
Highest price item: $64.99 Spyder Ski Set
International sales: 0
Money spent on new inventory: $5
Number of items listed: 0

A good week.

[BGB]

11/14-11/20
Total Items in Store: 236
Items Sold: 9
Cost of Items Sold: $8
Total Sales: $147.91
Highest Price Sold: $32.99–Book on Impressionist painting and fashion
Average Price Sold: $16.43
Returns: 0, but I got an unwarranted neutral feedback. Why don’t people read the condition description before they buy? Geeze. Time to call eBay.
Money Spent on New Inventory This Week: $78.52

Been a slow couple of weeks. I was killing it last month, but I think a lot of that involved selling a bunch of high-demand vintage video games, so that boosted my October stats more than average. Now that I’ve sold most of that stuff things have slowed down. I don’t know if a post-election malaise has something to do with it as well, but I’m inclined to believe it.

I got a really good haul of stuff (mostly books) Saturday, but I overspent on a Macintosh SE SuperDrive from 1988. It boots and is in really good shape, but I spent $50 on it and the Apple Extended Keyboard and mouse. After eBay fees and taxes I don’t think my margin will be as good as I’d want it to be for that kind of investment. I guess that’s what I get for being in a hurry and not thinking everything through before I buy. I’m still super small time, so spending $50 on a single item is a lot for me. I’ll chalk it up as a learning experience.

[JFH]

It was a slow week for me, but that is part of eBay. I made 450 dollars, down from my usual 600 – 700 dollars. I did not list as much, and what I did list did not seem to get many views. I sell mostly clothes and if it is like last year Thanksgiving and Christmas gets slow for me until right after Christmas when people have money and start buying clothes again. Also, many of the casual sellers are going all in right now, so more competition on eBay could also be the reason for the slower sales. Thanks for the podcast, I am off to fulfill and list.

[Idahoarder]

Store Week 11/13 – 11/19

Total items in store: 903
Items sold: 7
Cost of items sold: $10.75
Total sales: $285.96
Highest price sold: $95.00 (Pendleton crib blanket)
Average price sold: $40.85
International Sales: 0
Returns: 2 (clothing items that didn’t fit)
Money spent on new inventory this week: 0

I haven’t posted my numbers in a couple of weeks, but it has been sloooow. Really hoping the holidays pick up! No time to list, so I’m sure that’s part of it. I’ve also had a lot of refunds lately (a lot more than I’m use to anyway). I had 2 returns last week, a damaged item the previous week (probably my fault), and a canceled order yesterday. Also a couple of unpaid items recently. Ouch! But I’ll keep after it and list if I find a spare moment. Can’t wait to listen tonight!

[Erik]

Total Items in Store: 733
Items Sold: 25
Cost of Items Sold: $175
Total Sales: $1,216.77
Highest Price Sold: $109.99 (Burburry of London Trench Coat)
Average Price Sold: $155.28

Solid week and lower COGS than normal. I am working on listing the death pile in my living room from the Ebay store liquidation I bought. I listed about 100 items since I bought it and made nearly $500 so far. Still have a lot to list.

Sold a baseball cap for 70 dollars….my best ever cap sale by far. It was a SF Giants, Oakland A’s split cap…very collectable and somewhat rare. Picked up for 2 dollars at GW.

Another cools thing, since buying the store from a woman, I have learned more about womens shoes…I never knew ballet flats we a thing…I went thrifting at my local Gooodwill and saw a pair of silver ballet flats, looked them up, they were “Tiegs”. Long story short, I sold them in less than an hour for 100 bucks…which was a steel. They had some wear on them. Who knew? Ballet flats.

[Erik]

Correction to average price…it was 49 bucks…I wish it was 155 (Copy paste error)

[Beverly – Far Out and Fabulous]

Thanks, Erik … I looked up Tieks ballet flats and was stunned. Geez and they don’t even have arch support. Thanks for the BOLO.

[Brian Treasures from Grandmas]

Yes, ballet flats are a thing… in urban areas, women (learned this from my wife) love them because they are bend-able/fold-able to throw in a bag or purse. Trying to wear heels on your 20 block walk after work is out of the question and changing into sneakers is not an option for those that still want to have a complete look. Ballet flats are the perfect middle ground for them.

[ChristineR]

I’m a recovering ballet flat wearer (bad arches) but if you want to look at some high end brands, check out Garnet Hill online or Nordstrom (you can narrow down the search by flats).

http://www.garnethill.com/shoes-accessories/shoes-boots/?&cm_mmc=google-_-Garnet+Hill+-+Branded-_-Garnet+Hill+-+Footwear_Exact-_-garnet%20hill%20shoes&SourceCode=K6W43B1&gclid=Cj0KEQiA08rBBRDUn4qproqwzYMBEiQAqpzns8r93sytEc7JBRFt9mvMOGTeqYXtqnX9a5rRugEio3saAkSe8P8HAQ#w=*&af=cat2:shoesaccessories_shoesboots cat1:shoesaccessories

[Bookseller]

Well, since we’re going there, I’ll keep it brief.

Politics aside, this has the potential to be good for our businesses. You said yourself that the Scavenger lifestyle is only possible in the United States, where there is so much excess stuff. But if that pie is not getting any bigger and the entire world is coming in for a piece, we’ll become a normal country where there isn’t enough excess stuff to make a decent living as a scavenger.

And make no mistake, the economy in some regions is bad enough that Scavenger is one of the better jobs available. More and more people are getting into flipping as an alternative to Walmart / Starbucks jobs, technology is making it easier and the our job is getting harder. In the last three years alone I’ve seen the amount of free money to be had from flipping dramatically decrease, luckily I’ve managed to get into some obscure items that aren’t heavily picked yet.. but they will be eventually.

We need people in the non-coastal regions of the U.S. to actually have good paying jobs so they can afford to buy our stuff. Will the new guy accomplish that? Nobody knows. But under the old system, the middle of the country was increasingly hollowed out economically, meaning they can’t afford to pay $50 for an old rusty drill for their woodworking hobby.

Finally, out of the two people available, this guy was the anti-war candidate, which was a major basis for much of his early support.

Blame the DNC for sabotaging the guy who wanted to address the above issues from a progressive point of view, leaving the country with no real choice.

[omfug]

First, I agree with you politically J&R, and on a personal note I am frightened that I might lose my health insurance–I had a cancer diagnoses in 2015 and the ACA saved my life period–the Bill is most definitely NOT a failure no matter how much the propagandists want it to be, 86% of Americans who apply through the exchanges qualify for a subsidy so for MOST people the insurance is affordable–Congress could fix the law to help those who got big premium increases but they don’t want to, they put ideology ahead of the good. period. That is all I am going to say on this issue since I have had a tiring week on facebook arguing politics, LOL. Anyhoo,

Total Items in Store: ebay–>196, etsy–>377
Items Sold: 13
Cost of Items Sold: $154
Total Sales: $555—>$298 on ebay, $257 on etsy
Highest Price Sold: $130 (vintage coat)
Average Price Sold: $42
Returns: 1–item broke in transit

A pretty good week considering that I only sell collectibles, the coat sold, a fur, was an exception. In these uncertain times any time I go over $350 a week that is a good week for me.

[Simon]

You guys are brave for mentioning politics…

Here are my numbers for the week:

Total Items in Store: 1226
Items Sold: 24
Total Sales: $ 613.80
Cost of Items Sold: $72.53
Average Price Sold: $25.58
Average Cost of Item: $3.02
Highest Price Item Sold: $84.95 2 San Francisco Giants Bobbleheads
Number of items listed this week: 54
Average age of items in store (in days since listing): 197
Average number of days between listing and selling this week: 101
Median age of sales (in days, between listing and selling): 35
Sell-through rate: 1.96%
# of Hats Sold: 11

Back to a normal week for me after a bunch of high-dollar sales last week. My wife is still helping me list (mainly hats) which is keeping my number of new listings fairly high. With my current full-time job I have a long day so finding time to photograph is pretty challenging. These days I source on Saturdays and do lots of preparation and listing on Sunday. Recently I’ve been working through some death piles and trying to do something with boxes of cheaper items that I’ve had sitting around for a year or more. It feels good to clear those out and regain some space in my garage.

[thriftinginterests]

Yes, I think the political door should remain closed here but since it’s been opened let me say that I’m looking forward to not being forced to buy a health insurance policy that has a high deductible, that dosen’t cover much and that my doctor wont accept and I’m also looking forward to not having to pay a tax if I opt out. I’m also looking forward to policies that benefit small business not more regulations and taxes that crush it.

[Jay]

I hope all the good things happen that you say will happen. I’m just planting the flag to say: let’s hold our leaders accountable. The new leadership will be able to do whatever they want since they control all levels of government. Let’s see if the dream comes true.

[Eve Everett]

Hopefully, the Left will learn from their mistakes, but that has cost them SCOTUS for a generation.

Democrats suffered greatly at the state level as well.

I agree all politicians should be held accountable. Maybe we will get that wish.

As a pragmatist, I will be happy with policies that make eBay great again.

Bwahaha.

Please don’t ban me. ????

[omfug]

good luck with finding affordable insurance after the ACA is revoked–I know a lot about the law, more than most people, and like I said, the vast majority of policyholders did not get an outrageous increase–the national average is just over 15%, and believe me, before the law health insurance costs were spiraling out of control, which I think that most people forget, the low cost policies available then weren’t worth the paper they were written on.

But let me ask you, when I, as a childless person, pay taxes toward educating other people’s children, aren’t I being forced to do so for a service I do not use, or is there a “greater good” paying monies toward the well being of the country as a whole?

[Eve Everett]

Hey girlfriend, I didn’t see that 15%. Mine went from $90 to $136 if I keep it.

Some got hit hard. http://time.com/money/4535394/obamacare-plan-premium-price-increases-2017-states/

Meghan McArdke from Bloomberg and Avrik Roy have done great work on the finances of the ACA.

some areas are down to one insurer. That’s not tenable at all.

I doubt they will revoke it. It needs alteration or it will die on its own anyway. WellPoint helped write the ACA, and they recognized the issues of getting healthy people to buy insurance. Blame the young folk.

I think they may nationalize the health insurance industry so you and I can buy across state lines.

If it’s any comfort, I think Trump is a RINO in many ways and a Reagan Democrat in others.

I guess we will see what happens.

Ps Kaiser Foundation does some good ACA analysis too.

It will work out, don’t fret. I don’t think republicans are all savages. ??

[Beverly – Far Out and Fabulous]

I had a good laugh when Jay talked about Y2K, ah, those were the days. I also spent Y2K New Years Eve at work, on site on call for the fabricated disaster that was used to get the H1B and other visas limits expanded to historical highs. Just one more thing that has contributed to our unemployment problem. Believe me, there was absolutely no shortage of programmers / technical people to do the work to handle it. Those of us in programming for major national and international systems knew that it was all hype to bring in cheap foreign techs. Thank goodness that people did not get sucked in and the projected mass hysteria did not happen.

[newvintageny]

Since it’s a forum structure now you can have a political section lol. I’m sure that will be about as fun a read as the tax section!

[Eve Everett]

As like others in this forum, I share the disappointment and apprehension of seeing a political post. However, I certainly respect and understand what Jay and Ryanne feel. I have tremendous respect for anyone with a Vulcan avatar. I trust this means facts over emotion.

I feel it is important, if not obvious, to point out that millions of people, roughly half the country voted Trump. Chances are, if trash elves live in the rust belt, middle of the country, and outside certain population centers, the statistical probability favors a Trump vote. We can quibble over semantics, but look at the post election voting maps.they are very telling.

Second the polls were deceptive from day one. I feel this was a huge disservice to liberals. You always have to look at the methodology. Sure enough, just like the pre BREXIT POLLS, the methodology across most of the board was favorable to getting a positive result for HRC. That looks great on realpolitics.com, but the illusion had consequences.

By the Friday before the election, Trump’s digital team was 90% sure they had won the election. Meanwhile HRC campaign staffers and volunteers were blithely unaware of their impending doom. Only Bill Clinton repeatedly expressed concern of the lack of outreach to the Rust Belt and white voters in general. Clearly, the HRC campaign made mistakes that cost them dearly. The “Deplorables”comment, secret Goldman Sachs speeches that got exposed, Brazile giving her debate questions in advance, and bird dogging did not help. We all know sausage making is not attractive, but once that was out, it was out. Nor did Comey, Weiner or Wikileaks do her any favors.At the end of the day, she let Podesta and Mook make a lot of decisions, and she did so at her own peril.

What strikes me as odd is the lack of memory people have. Trump was a democrat much longer than a Republican. I think that Trump is a Reagan Democrat. He is not a neo-con and I respectfully submit to you that HRC is a neo-con. In any event, this mischaracterization of Trump’s political leaning is rather odd. Moreover, some of the Bush family voted for HRC, and the youngest George is very close to Michelle. I don’t say this for political rubbernecking, but that coziness hurt, not helped HRC. However that’s JMHO.

Finally, history was not in HRC’s favor. Had Merkel never basically gave the green light for Syria to come to the EU, and the fall out had never had happened, Americans would be far less wary of letting refugees or immigrants in. Had there not been this increased divide between white collar service jobs going up and blue collar jobs going down, things would be different. Had anyone applied the walks like a duck, quacks like a duck scenario instead of hiding behind PC, and not calling wide swathes of the American population racists, nazis etc ad nauseum, things would have been different.

We are an ethnically diverse country with a big heart and a lot of guns. We are sometimes Globalists, sometimes Nationalists, sometimes naive and sometimes an angry poked bear whose US Dollar Hegemony is threatened.

At the end of the day, we all try to do what we think is best for our lives and our families. I think Trump will ultimately be a good brand for the US economy. I say this because I have to believe it. The alternative is a bad one indeed. (That and my 82 year old dad and his cronies are holding cash they won’t spend and haven’t spent during the last 8 years). Once they see some action, I think a lot of the older generation will buy things they have been holding out on in the last 8 years.

In the meantime, life goes on. We won’t be Polyannas, but regardless of political or religious affliction, we are buddies, you all and me. And if you need me or a place to crash, I will leave the light on for you.

[Brian Treasures from Grandmas]

At the end of the day, this is R&J’s blog and the topics therein can be dictated by them.

Really great post, Eve. Political leanings, whether for better or worse, have recency bias (who said what yesterday vs. what happened 20 years ago), personal employment bias (person A has a great job so is good but person B lost their job so they’re upset), coverage bias (Obamacare has been good for some while not good for others), etc.

[sonia]

well said, Brian.

[omfug]

I truly hope that you are right Eve, I personally think that this man will be a disaster for this country, but I live with someone who voted for him–and his family corporation will prosper no doubt since their income is in the top 10%. The people I really worry about are the working poor, many of them will lose health coverage and food stamps will be steeply cut to pay to lower taxes for people like my partner (over 70% of those collecting FS are employed btw)

[Eve Everett]

I’m confident we will both be wrong. Quite frankly, a deal that works for both sides is a compromise and both sides walk away with a deal but each a little unhappy. That’s a deal that will stick.

I’m not going to get partisan with you except to say that without fundamental change we will continue to see 94 million out of work people. I don’t care which side does it but something has to be done. I expect we will see Reagan Econ part two. Our political system has checks and balances. This helps avert disaster. We survived Reagan’s hot mike nuclear bombing Russia joke, I suspect we will survive Trump’s mouth. Quite frankly though, I think globalizing and bemoaning our President elect when he hasn’t taken office yet is not productive.

I have heard Trump is a deal maker and it’s very clear that many of his positions are beginning points, not red lines. I have read there will be attempts to keep kids on their parents policy until 26 and the high risk coverage where they have to cover the person will stay.

So I’m not going to freak out over Internet memes, larping and hearsay. I encourage you to explore facts from non partisan sources.

[omfug]

with all due respect Eve what makes you think that I don’t read non partisan websites? as I’ve said, the increase for ACA policies across the board is 15.6%. I myself favor a single payer plan like most civilized countries have. You have my condolences for living in a state with an exceptionally corrupt state government.

[Eve Everett]

Ha! You aren’t kidding, my state is the armpit of the USA, but they did stay true blue this election.

I was referring more to sweeping generalizations of a Trumppocolypse where the ACA is repealed and not replaced. I mean no disrespect, and BTW, I am very sorry to hear about the cancer issue. Our neighbor had no symptoms and discovered she had kidney cancer, and that was very upsetting for her and a shock to everyone.

[Blackcat]

I did not want Trump to win. To me he’s a ticking time bomb. However the good thing about him winning is the self employment tax decrease from 30% to 15% that he vowed to do. That’s huge for us and if he follows through with that then we all have something to celebrate. It may be the only thing but it’s something.

[Ryanne]

if the republicans lower taxes for self employed folks, and lower healthcare premiums for everyone, i’m all for it. let’s see what they do.

[Simon]

Self employment tax isn’t currently 30%. It’s at 15% under 118K : http://www.accountingcoach.com/blog/what-is-the-self-employed-persons-fica-tax-rate-for-2016

[Bryan]

Don’t worry about teaching her everything. We’ve trained our people to list, photo, and ship, and it’s been a great experience. Even if selling on eBay seems appealing, most people don’t have the space or time to invest in making it happen.

We’ve been having $4k weeks lately, with more things selling on bonanza and Amazon. We’ll need the money, because we’re in the process of developing a brick and mortar store to source more inventory.

Happy Turkey Day!

[omfug]

good luck on the b&m Bryan, I had one but it just wasn’t for me, I didn’t enjoy the day to day running of a real store.

[Bryan]

Thanks! We won’t be selling anything out of the store, it will strictly be for buying only. Neither one of us want to deal with hassle of running a retail brick and mortar.

[Steven S]

I like that idea Bryan, I love it when people bring stuff to me. I’ll be interested to hear how it goes.

[Jay]

Can you talk a little more about the concept of the store? Will it be like Buffalo Exchange where you pay people for clothes? Why would people bring you stuff?

[Bryan]

I think if you tell the people you’ll pay them for their stuff, even weird stuff, they will come. I’m still writing a business plan, so we’ll have to fine tune the numbers to make sure this all even makes sense. However, I do think if I can pay enough to make people happy and still make a profit, it’ll be a success.

[JasonK]

I’m going to avoid the direct politics but I am curious, has anybody on here done eBay full time during a recession? I’ve only been doing this for about 3 years so I missed the worst of the last recession. When picking a normal employer I’ve always tried to work for a firm that I felt could weather economic headwinds. I’m curious how eBay would fare. Normal logic would say retail declines during a recession but eBay is not quite “normal” retail. Would people maybe opt to buy used on eBay when they are tight on money?

Oh, and TING is called an MVNO (Mobile Virtual Network Operator). They don’t own the actual cellular network, they just piggyback on somebody else’s infrastructure.

• This reply was modified 5 years, 7 months ago by JasonK.

[Ryanne]

we started in the last recession and we figured that the people who usually bought new at retail stores were the ones ‘downgrading’ to buying used on ebay. seemed crazy to us that people just don’t buy used all the time like us. but i feel people buy used when money is tight. for us scavengers, when money is tight, we buy nothing, but we’re not normal.

[Eve Everett]

We have been on Amazon and eBay full time since 2003. At the time of the financial crisis we weren’t affected.

Right now I’m getting spanked on eBay because my vintage and antique to contemporary stuff is low. We were fine last time because our niche was doing well. Amazon was good too.

[Jay]

It’s very strange that anyone would be surprised or offended that we have opinions. This whole podcast is about our opinions on eBay, money, working for ourselves, macroeconomics, travel, spending our time. But we also have opinions on politics and social issues which are relevant this week because of the recent historical election. (Did anyone think we were Trump fans???!!!!)

This blog started as our personal space where we wanted to document our adventures after starting to work for ourselves. Then people came to join us which we wholeheartedly welcomed. This space has always been about each of us speaking with facts and being able to listen to different viewpoints, even if we don’t agree. Let the best idea win.

If your candidate won, don’t be a sore winner. Allow us to mourn. We feel we have much to mourn for. And be ready to take credit/responsibility for what will come, good and bad.

I think it’s great we can all believe in different ways of life/religion/economics and still find something in common in Scavenging and this wacky lifestyle. We’ve made our home in deeply red rural America where we have plenty of friends who are on the totally opposite political spectrum from us, but we all know how to respect those differences. Our local way of life is the most important thing. I feel we can do the same thing in this community.

If we can’t discuss politics here calmly and rationally, then we were never a real community in the first place. Next week we’ll go back to boring talk about selling old shoes. I promise.

[shortandstout]

I appreciate the discussion, as brief as it was, because I think any shift in government will have an effect on business for good or bad, which will only be seen as we go forward. I agree that this is a time of great unknown and that is worrisome. I see open discussion as a way for personal growth and understanding of other points of view. Similar to money, which is another taboo topic in some circles, we can only benefit ourselves by listening to others even if we don’t have a shift in our own beliefs. I still enjoy the diversity in this community and hearing everyone’s opinions from simple matters like sourcing items for sale and dealing with customer issues to what we see the future of our government being. My philosophy is “whatever floats your goat!”

[Rydell Relics]

I’m just as sick of talking politics as everyone else, but it is important to discuss because it can and will have a direct effect on our businesses. My concerns about the new administration go way beyond economics, to be sure. But I think a civil conversation about the possible impact to our lifestyle, and our resulting thoughts and plans, is worth the discomfort.

*Paul*

[Bryan]

I’ve never understood all the emotions around politics. Why would something that is so important to all of us be taboo to talk about? I also think it’s strange how passionate some people are about something they know next to nothing about. If you took the average die hard democrat/republican and asked them to actually explain their parties’ platform, you wouldn’t hear much more than badly regurgitated talking points. It’s like listening to Tim Allen butchering his neighbor’s pearls of wisdom.

Beyond what they’re all being told to believe, what do they really know about economic policy? What do they really know about foreign policy? They pick a team, and blindly believe anything their arm of the two headed one party system throws at them. So strange that an entire nation founded on freedom would cling to propaganda as gospel, and yell at the other side for believing in their brand of propaganda.

I wasn’t a fan of any of the candidates this year, but I’m glad Trump won because it upended an apple cart full of bad apples. Clinton destroyed the democratic party with her hubris and scandals, and Trump destroyed the republican party doing whatever the hell that was. Both parties needed wrecking, and I hope we get at least one viable 3rd party out of the deal in time for 2020.

• This reply was modified 5 years, 7 months ago by Bryan.

[Eve Everett]

Awww, I didn’t mean to suggest no mourning, all things considered I think everybody has been worried about a royal train wreck. Please disregard my pearl clutching of course you folks are upset.

Anyway, Im sure we all have posting to do.

Schadenfreude cancelled Non HRC Team. Back to work.

Seriously though, I think it will be ok.

Hey. We gotta change your mind about Amazon though. ??

[Rydell Relics]

RR Store Week Nov 13-19, 2016

Total Items in Store: 1036
Items Sold: 9
Cost of Items Sold: $12.99
Total Sales: $209.93
Highest Price Sold: $60 (vintage wool blanket)
Average Price Sold: $23.33
Returns: 1
Money Spent on New Inventory This Week: $0
Number of items listed this week: 19 new, 154 Sell Similar

My initial feelings of shock and panic have now given way to fear and worry. Fear for my safety and the safety of other people of color, and worry about the future of the economy and our scavenger way of life.

With all the hate and vitriol being spewed, I sometimes feel like I have a target painted on my back, but then I think about the wonderful, inclusive community I live in and my shoulders relax a little. As a Latino, I’m very lucky to live in California. But I’m still a bit spooked walking down my own street.

On the 9th, I decided that the only thing I truly have control over in this situation is taking care of my loved ones and running my business. All I can do is more of the same: source, list, and promptly ship. Build up that nest egg. Hope for the best but prepare for the worst. I hate to sound so negative; I’m usually such a positive person.

*Paul*

[Jay]

We got your back, Paul. Progress happens over time if we work for it.

[Rydell Relics]

Thanks Jay. Right back at you.

While definitely a major setback, I think progress will continue to happen. It may be dark times for a while, but people are already starting to organize. The work has already begun. I truly feel that these are the death throes of a dinosaur, the last gasps of an insular way of life that can’t survive, and knows it. Time will tell.

[omfug]

I hear you Paul, I was arguing with some asshole on facebook about the intent of the original punks, he thinks that the punk way is Trump inexplicably. I tried to reason with him that at least in LA in 1977 we were a diverse group made up of mostly white kids and Latinos (many OG LA punks were hispanic) with a smattering of other ethnicities plus plenty of gay punks too, then right wing nutter, sad to say, Billie Zoom had to come on and say that everything will be just peachy-keen with Trump in the WH (shame on Zoom, he had cancer and was taking money from a gofundme for treatment not that long ago.) I am not afraid for me, although I don’t know what will happen with my insurance, but I am old, it is younger people who will suffer.

[Rydell Relics]

omfug, that’s ridiculous. Nothing is less Punk than bigotry, racism, misogyny, and homophobia. This person you were arguing with clearly has no clue about L.A. Punk history, and to argue with someone who was actually there is just stupid. I was just a pup in 1977, but I’ve read enough to know just how diverse it was (and still is). And I remember 80’s L.A. being extremely diverse both in our music scenes and in normal society (again, still is).

And I didn’t know Billy Zoom was a right winger. That’s crazy. Between that and Exene’s awful conspiracy theories, it’s a wonder poor John Doe can be in the same room with them, let alone the same stage night after night.

[Marie in Florida]

2 political points as short as I can make them
1) We need to listen when we talk politics. A very good friend of mine was torn going into the primary election between… Are you ready for this? Between Jeb Bush and Bernie Sanders! She liked and respected both of them. I could understand liking one or the other, but not both. So I asked questions. And listened. From her point of view it made sense. We need to listen.
2) As scavengers we source all over the place. Very few of us buy just from GW or just from garage sales. Likewise, I scavenge my news from multiple sources. On the night of the election the clicker was moving from BBC to FOX to CNN to MSNBC. We were online with a number of other sites. Sticking with just one news media makes you noseblind (or actually ear & eye blind) to their perspective. Definitely in the liberal or conservative camp? Make yourself watch FOX or MSNBC for 20 minutes. You might learn something.
Ebay was much slower this month than last month. Best sale this week was an Eileen Fischer sweater for $34

[shortandstout]

I know the feelings your friend has when torn between two opposite candidates. I am, and have always been, a registered independent so I don’t even get to worry about the primaries. I look for the candidate I agree with most, not the one who is this party or that or the other. Just like in my scavenging. If I stick to just one location, I’m going to limit myself to the limited supply they have. I like options.

[Steven S]

Nov 13-19 2016

• Total Items in Store: 730
• Items Sold: 17
• International 3 (2 GSP)
• Total Sales $1237
• Highest Price $400 Marantz pre amp
• Average Price Sold: $74
• Returns: 0
• Cost of Items Sold: $172
• Cost of items purchased this week $90

Made a road trip to buy yet another old stereo console. I now have 3 stripped wooden consoles in my driveway, all great shape but no one wants them and I don’t have time to covert them into liquor cabinets. I think I’ll borrow my GF’s chain saw and cut them up for fire wood.
The amps I took out of them are all tube and sound great, I like the primitive look of the exposed tubes.
I just sold a pair of raw speakers from one of them too.

[Jay]

Thats interesting that people buy the equipment that you pull out of the cabinets. That’s really smart. It is a shame that someone else can’t use the empty cabinets.

[Linda Shields]

Eve, loved your commentary which shows a rare grasp of current events and history that is woefully missing in the general populace. For all of you who feel frightened and upset and like you have been kicked in the gut, I know exactly how you feel. Welcome to how I have felt for the last eight years. If those of us who voted for Trump could deal with the last eight years, you can deal with the next eight years. We are so very happy and hopeful that actual freedom from burdensome government nanny state will make life so much better for ALL OF US! We are sick and tired of being branded as racists, “homophobes”, Nazi’s and every other hateful thing one can say. We are sick of being afraid to tell anyone what we really believe because we are shut down and belittled by self-righteous politically “correct” bullies. If any of you really KNEW us who live quietly in mid-America you would realize that we are quiet, hard working, loving people who don’t care what color you are, much less even wanting to know anything at all about your sexual preferences–please just keep it to yourself instead of shoving your agendas in our face. We just want to be left alone. By you. By the government. And by the elitist Hollywood politically correct. I was actually born on the Fourth of July, as was my oldest granddaughter. I was raised by a God-loving, patriotic veteran of WWII, and have a son who was the only one in his graduating class at the Air Force Academy to be given an F-15 to fly over the Gulf War. So don’t tell me, and the millions like me, that we are haters and bigots. We the ones who made this nation great in the first place. We have watched it for the past eight years disintegrate into the most divided state of race against race, women against men, and eliststs against plain decent people. WE love america and everything that it stands for, and we understand real (not re-written) American history, and cherish with the blood running through our veins our Constitution, and don’t want it to be changed. We are the ones who brought about the civil rights movement in the 60’s. We suvived the Vietnam War, and we are sick of wars! We just want to restore the love and unity that we believe in because we believe that ALL lives matter, including the ones who can’t defend themselves. Especially those. Because we all were one of them at one time. Now settle down, put away your fears and lets start making America great again by treating each other with kindness rather than insults. When times seem hard, just list. I really do love you guys. But since Jay opened the can of worms I had to be honest. Linda

[So Cal Joe]

The sky is falling chicken little.. Reagan was going to start World war 3, Obama was going to cripple the economy and now everyone’s afraid Trump is going to strip away all of our social benefits and set us back 20 years.

Let’s get back to scavenging and listing…

I think a political topic in the forums is a great idea..

[Sandy P]

I love your podcasts and great info, a complete fan for years. You guys are the very best Ebay experts I’ve seen. I understand your opinions are your own. I just wish the political aspect was not included this time. As a family where our medical insurance costs have risen to just under $12,000 a year and looking at higher costs next year, we are suffering greatly. Looking forward to all your great info in the future. Thank you.

[Jay]

I appreciate the insight Sandy. Just so we can document the changes in the next four years, would you mind sharing some of your numbers?
–What state are you getting coverage in?
–How many people are under your $12k plan?
–How old are these people?
–What were you before before the ACA?
–What do you hope to happen when the ACA is repealed? How do you think your numbers will change?

This way we can see if things get better in the next four years.

[Sharyn]

Week of Nov 14 – 20
* Total Items in Store: 466
* Items Sold: 17
* Cost of Items Sold: $26.68
* Total Sales: $267.10
* Highest Price Sold: $38 Set of 4 Bordallo Pinheiro Cabbage bowls
* Average Price Sold: $15.71
* Returns: 0
* Money Spent on New Inventory This Week: $55 at auction
* Number of items listed this week: 12

I’ve been selling mostly lower price items, and my average price sold went down this week.

I went to an auction last week and bought a few lots with copper, brass, and other metal items. However, I didn’t think that the stuff they were selling was as good as previous months. Also, prices at online auctions are going for higher than normal. I think that people are spending more for the holidays, so I am planning to slow down on the sourcing and focusing on getting my already purchased inventory listed.

[MyCottage]

Nice job on the Pinheiro—I always grab that stuff when I can….don’t see it much around here, but every now and then, it pops up.

[Sharyn]

I bought a box of ceramics in May that had mostly Pinheiro plus some Italian stuff. All the Pinheiro sold, and some for really good money. It is now on my BOLO list, and I bought the bowls at a garage sale about a month ago. I also bought some platters at an estate sale in Sept, but they have not been doing as well partly because they each have a chip or two.

[MyCottage]

I haven’t had a chance to listen to the podcast, but agree with the general point: we need to be ready for anything. When Obama was first elected, many people were filled with hope and wanted change, others were filled with dread. Same thing now, just that different people are filled with hope and different people filled with dread.

Trump is an unknown , he’s never held an elected office before, nor any government position. Running a business, even a big business, is not the same thing. So, it’s very hard to divine what he will do. As entrepreneurs, I think our position will not really change—We will have to adapt to whatever comes along.

[Anonymous]

wifi sd card or use phone to dropbox, and dropbox transfers to your computer.

creating drafts seems such a waste of time.

[Ryanne]

but that would just get me the photos. what i’m wanting her to do is get the photos on a listing page (a draft) via the phone so i can just open those listings and add a price and list.

[ChristineR]

Have you considered having your employee full on list your lower end and less interesting items like non-vintage clothes and shoes, etc. while keeping her to photos, cleaning, and measuring on the more unusual items? It seems like perhaps this frees up Ryanne to a greater degree and your employee won’t necessarily see the really high asking prices and solds or quickly learn to pick the rarer items from your relatively limited sourcing locations nearby. Of course, she can still learn by browsing your store. Just a thought.

[Jay]

This is a great suggestion. We’re actually going to get her to start listing this week. Teach her to fill in everything except the prices. I think we all forget how much experience and knowledge it takes to make a good listing. So we’re doing in in baby steps. We have to see how much she wants to learn.

And yes, it makes sense to have her start with lower dollar items that don’t need much specialized knowledge.

[ChristineR]

You have two stores. It seems like that could figure into this as well. Perhaps you have her list on the small store when she’s ready in case she misses some flaws, etc.

On the other hand, clothes and shoes do not do it for me. She could burn out too if she is working a lot of hours. You’d have to get a feel for that but you can always change it up.

[Lisa T.]

Ryanne,
I have an old iPhone and a person willing to take pictures and start drafts. I want him to do the work at his house and then bring the items back to me. The problem is that I don’t know him very well. How can I set my phone so he isn’t able to access any info from it, buy stuff on my account, find my passwords, etc. I realize that I need someone I can trust, but you never know what someone might do.

Thanks,
Lisa
(Vintage Thrifter)

[Jay]

He can simply take photos and give you a memory card. Then you do all the listings on eBay.
Or you have to subscribe to a service like SixBit or Inkfrog (any others?) that let you create accounts on eBay without access to the important stuff.

[twerc]

No matter who was elected we all lose. If the justice system worked better, they would both be in prison. Hillary got where she is only by corruption and power plays. Donald is a bombastic narcissist. I am hoping for Obamacare to get repealed as it is a disaster. High premiums with even higher deductibles make it useless for many of us. Insurance companies should not be making decisions about people’s health care – they are useless middlemen who just skim $$$ off the top of the entire health care system.

[Freds_Premium]

I can post numbers when I get home. Putting on the snow tires to pick during blizzards and get the competitive advantage.

Trump is supposed to decrease business tax by half which might help everyone. Also, my ACA bill is supposed to go from $40 to $70 next year, he could make that lesser. It’s probably a good idea to not be worried or in fear unless you are an illegal, criminal, or a terrorist.

When you pay your employees, do you pay your accountant a $40 fee for making out the check every time (fee applied for every pay-check)? When I heard this from a prospective CPA I thought it was a bit off. Why cant I pay in cash above the table? Can anyone give insight on how to have an employee as cheap as possible (not talking about paying them cheaply). Can someone chime in to tell me their experience with how much is actually taxed from your net sales (how much are you paying after deductions as a percentage of your net after pp/ebay fees + shipping + cost of item sourced.) Lastly, do you pay a tax to sales inside your state on Ebay?

[Jay]

Even $70/month is pretty incredible for health care. Hope you’re correct that coverage prices go down after the ACA is repealed.

We also looking into how to officially hire an employee.
Here’s where we’re starting: https://www.sba.gov/starting-business/hire-retain-employees/hire-your-first-employee

[omfug]

For some reason, my reply re the ACA is not loading, so again–>

Insurance companies have ALWAYS made life and death decisions about people’s health. I was basically uninsurable before the ACA as I had pre existing conditions, then I got cancer–believe me I was grateful to have coverage. I feel sorry that some (not everyone by a long shot my premiums did not raise by much) people’s premiums got raised, there is a fixable problem here, but Congress refuses to fix it. In the end millions of people (over 22 million Americans are insured through the program) are happy with their ACA coverage but the only ones who speak up are those who are against it, or live in states where the state government purposefully monkey wrenched it. Please note that the current Governor of Kentucky ran on axing the Kentucky exchange except when he got into office he found out that getting rid of it would have cost the state, and the private medical infrastructure (hospitals and the like) millions of dollars since it is actually the taxpayer who ends up on the hook for unpaid medical expenses. The upshot is that the Governor of Kentucky has not gotten rid of the coverage his state enjoys. One more story, my partner’s sister got lung cancer, at the end of her life she was paying $30,000 a year for coverage but soon hit her $1 million cap, she would have had to sell all the assets she had built up over a lifetime (and any estate she could leave for her 2 daughters and 3 grandchildren) in order to qualify for help–she died before she needed to do so, but millions of others are not so “lucky.” The ACA for those who don’t know removed such caps, and insisted that customers cannot get turned down for preexisting conditions. The law also imposes a standard of coverage not required before the ACA was made law, things like mammograms, for example, cost hundreds of dollars if paid for out of pocket must be covered under the ACA, try telling women who have finally started getting this test yearly that they may have to come up with almost $1000 to pay for a single test if the law is overturned and see what they say.

[Dylan]

Here are some links people can explore if they are looking for alternatives to corporate news (almost all have podcasts or videos so you can listen while you list):
https://thisishell.com/
http://therealnews.com/t2/
https://democracynow.org/
http://fair.org/counterspin/
http://www.nakedcapitalism.com/
http://www.truthdig.com/
http://www.leftbusinessobserver.com/Radio.html
http://www.truth-out.org/
https://www.dissentmagazine.org/tag/belabored

CounterPunch Front Page

• This reply was modified 5 years, 7 months ago by Dylan.

[almasty]

I, too, was in shock over the results of the election. I was following it on 538 and was bewildered to see the probability change so radically that night. There is the possibility that something was amiss with the electronic voting machines in wi, mi, and 1 other state. Nothing will most likely come of it, unfortunately. Before all that, I was all excited to go out scouting the next day and high-five complete strangers all full of energy and good cheer. Instead, I stayed inside and just wept for this full-on PKD reality we have to live in. All I can do is keep listing and hope there is an economy left in a few years that will pay for my paper trinkets. This might lead to a worse crash. Who knows. I recently passed 8,000 feedbacks as well. It is nice validation that people like what I am listing.

[Jay]

While I share your sadness over the election, I do agree with others here. Trump won’t be the end of the world. We’ll all survive. He’s not a king. Ugly difficulties isn’t utter doom.

But I do agree with you that elections matter. If each of us honestly compare the reality of 2000-2008 vs 2008-2016, we know this to be true. Strap in.

[pam n]

Like you, almasty, I had been following Nate Silver’s blog, 538, and according to all the polls on there it seemed impossible for Trump to win. As the night wore on and everything flipped, I was stunned to see the nightmare of a Trump presidency become a reality. I still feel shell-shocked about the whole thing and absolutely fearful for what this will mean for civil rights in this country. The KKK and white supremacists are rejoicing — how can that possibly not make anyone who cares about human rights not feel fearful? That someone could spew such vile against non-whites, women, the LGBT community, and even the disabled and STILL get elected makes me feel extremely disgusted with our country. No question that people are feeling disenfranchised, but how they could overlook such vile hatred and total idiocy is beyond me.
Ah well, my mantra now is “always be listing, and fight like hell.”

[Julie B]

I thought I’d share a “scavenging while on the road” story. I went to Iowa for 2 weeks to help my parents move. While there I shopped at my favorite hometown thrift store and picked up a $4 snare drum. It was a little beat up, which is the type of stuff I’m drawn to for resale. I didn’t want to ship it back home to Georgia as it was pretty heavy so I listed it for a quick flip. It sold in less than 24 hours for $385! That was enough to pay for my roundtrip flight and airport parking for the 2 weeks. Details on the drum – it was a 1944-1945 Slingerland snare drum with wood finish. If it had been in better shape and I was at home in GA, I might have held out for $500 – $600.

[Jay]

Awesome. Did you sell it on Craigslist?

Or did you sell it on eBay? If so, did you put it on auction to make sure it would sell quickly?

[pam n]

What a great story, Julie B! I’m a drummer and would have been out of my mind to find a Slingerland snare for $4!

[omfug]

what a fantastic story Julie and a great way to get back to our main purpose here.

[Ryanne]

love it when some scavenging can pay for a trip. that’s the best!

[lgdelvalle]

Linda Shields – very well said.

Jay – even though I disagree with your political viewpoint, you have a great website. As for ACA, I’m still waiting to save $2,400 and my wife is a nurse practitioner and the clinic has lost many patients due to ACA and who are not happy they could not keep their doctor.

Have a Happy Thanksgiving.

Best,

Luis

[omfug]

You know that no one is forced to buy insurance through the ACA exchanges–you could buy insurance privately. The ACA does require that all insurance plans offer basic coverage and preventative care like covering mammograms, etc. Before the law people were paying for policies that were not worth the paper that they were written on.

[jbartels8o8z]

America has never been perfect but as a country we do continue to become a better place thanks to democracy. As a nation our leaders follow the will of the people. They are sometimes far to slow but eventually they have to. The rights gained by everyone through this nations journey are important to its future. I can’t think of a single right granted that was later taken away. America is far better than that. For those that are feeling fear of new leadership going against the will of the people I suggest that fear driven by election rhetoric is only that. It reached a surreal level this year on both sides. Defining either party as one filled with hate and dissreguard for this great nation is closed minded. Both sides have good intentions and simply have different ideological beliefs. The betterment of this nation through time is based on a combination of ideologies from both sides.

[Jay]

I appreciate this perspective. You’re correct that America does progress in fits and starts. This is a good thing!

I like the MLK quote: “The arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice.”

But I also like another MLK quote that gives that first one practicality: “Freedom is never voluntarily given by the oppressor; it must be demanded by the oppressed.”

Let’s be honest: as a privileged white dude, I’m doing great and always have been in the US. But if you go back far enough in our history, America has not been great for many Americans. African-Americans were slaves. Women couldn’t vote. If you were Irish, Polish, Italian, and other “unwanted” immigrants, you were treated as second class. There’s no magical great america to return to. There’s only progress.

Since we’re all business people, it’s important to acknowledge that inclusiveness is good for profits.

[Liz]

I think I’m one of the few (it seems?) that isn’t surprised Trump won. My husband, a Republican, was even convinced HRC would win, and laughed at me when I said on election night that she would lose Pennsylvania and Florida. Surprise! Prior to the election, I also said Melania wasn’t divorcing Trump *yet*, and that she was probably waiting to see how the election played out. If he lost, she’d leave him within a month. If he won, she’d stay busy and out of sight, so she didn’t have to deal with him, and then divorce after he left office. And, surprise! She’s staying in NYC and not moving into the White House, because she likes her “independent life”. Ha! Sure she does. She knows if she acts nice and grits her teeth that she, her son, and her future grandchildren will be set for life. I’m sure there is a lot of legal paperwork in place stipulating how much money she will get in a settlement for each year she sticks around.

The US has survived FAR worse times than this, but the younger generation wasn’t alive to experience it. Heck, a lot of it was just before my time, since I was born in ’72. The Civil Rights movement, the assassinations of the Kennedys and MLK, George Wallace’s infamous segregation speech, Vietnam, the Kent State shootings, Watergate, Nixon’s looming impeachment and then resignation. Much of this happened within a ten year period! It’s a wonder the country didn’t tear itself apart. Those were ugly, ugly times, and yet we made it through. We’ll survive Trump, too. It might be ugly, and it might not be our finest hour, but we will get through it.

P.S. I’m also predicting that Trump won’t complete his term of office. I think shit will get too real for him pretty quick, and he’ll want out. He’s going to feel very constrained by the role of President. I give this show 18 months, and if he makes it through his entire term, it is *only* because Ivanka and Pence are propping him up.

Time will tell if I am right.

What’s that old curse? “May you live in interesting times”?

Happy Thanksgiving, y’all.

[Jay]

Hey SMMTA, we’re about the same age. Though the late 60’s certainly brought tumultuous times, we have our own recent history to consider. The years of 2000-2008 are a strong recent memory. We’re just now pulling out of that multi-layered disaster. And we once again have a Republican president that didn’t win the popular vote. Voting matters if it comes in a certain formula.

As business owners, let’s keep our eyes open and see what happens. When I hear other scavengers say we need to “turn over the apple cart” and “we want to be left alone”, I want us all to judge if the next four years achieve these goals and positively affect our lives and our fellow citizens. Let’s be the “results” people.

[Ryanne]

just want to echo kind of what jay said. every generation has their own version of tumultuous times. my grandparents lived through the great depression and WWII (and everything after, both grandmas are still alive!) us being born in the 70s we’ve seen some stuff that have affected us all. wars in the middle east, 9/11, more wars in the middle east, too many school shootings becoming commonplace, our own economic crash, etc etc. kids being born today will have their own historical moments to come. but there is always progress (socially and technologically) with every generation as well, and that’s what i look forward to in the rest of our lifetimes.

[So Cal Joe]

I’m not going to the auction today. I’m going to stay home and list.

It’s raining here, which it never does. Between that and the Thanksgiving weekend, I bet nobody is going to the auction… Deals deals deals..

I’ll be home listing. I’ve got to be an adult.

Bummer….

[omfug]

On the other hand sales have been pretty sluggish this week at least in the antiques and collectibles area–I have had about the same amount of sales (1-2 a day) but low dollar, I will be interested to see everyone’s figures later. Also, I have been going a bit crazy at the auctions, and want to put the brakes on just a bit by being extremely picky on what I spend my money on.

[AnarchistKitchen]

Man super thanks for the shout out. Mark (my husband) & I were driving back from the thrift store and were catching up on our podcasts. When we heard the shout out we were pumped!

There’s 2 things that you talked about that I wanted to comment on.

When you talked about selling on ebay and taking care of a parent it made me think about our situation. We’re coming on one year since when my older sister suddenly died at the age of 35. She died in the morning before waking her 3 kids up for school. Had I simply been called and told my sister died then I maybe could have had a smoother start to 2016. Instead I awoke to my oldest nephew telling me over the phone how he found his mom and that he needed help calling 911 and us rushing over to see come face to face with the harsh reality of it. My sister was high functioning autistic (Asperger). Her husband of 7 years has his own challenges. My sister’s 3 kids all have different dads and have learning challenges (nothing too crazy). There was a month when we weren’t sure where the middle child was going to live. Long story short each of the kids went to different family members on their paternal sides. The middle kid ended up becoming our weekend kid. My parents got partial custody of him but my parents are old so really it’s our time with him. It was a very complex situation on top of processing the loss.

In the spring I was dabbling with the idea of getting a job. While there are many reasons why I couldn’t commit to being an employee it’s worth noting that scheduling is a part of that. The kind of jobs that I’m qualified for (food & service industry) really require staff to be available on weekends. So needing certain weekends free so that we can chauffeur the kid around to see his siblings as well as entertain and love him. I need to be there for him. Plus the flexible schedule of ebay was endlessly supportive when I had zero capacity to be productive. I couldn’t imagine having to put on a smiling face to deal with customers during that time.

2016 we made about the same amount of money as 2015 but with a lot less work. In 2015 I had hoped to grow our business but with additional priorities to handle ebay become lower on my “to do” list.

I’m shocked by how happy and adjusted my sister’s kids seem to be. In some ways it feels like a blessing to have my nephew a handful of days a month. I have no idea how people do it full time. He’s such a good, sweet kid but I’m drained after just a few days. Hats off to everyone who does it 24/7.

My heart totally goes out to Nerdy Thrifter. I haven’t heard of her but that’s my absolute worst fear. I need my husband. Up until my sisters death it didn’t occur to me how fragile life is. 90% of the mental trauma I had after my sister passed was me replaying my sister’s situation and subconsciously imaging me as my nephew and my husband as my sister. I hope there’s a silver lining for her as awful (and corny) as that sounds.

[Jay]

I remember when you mentioned this story (or maybe I read it on your blog?)
Glad your family came together to take care of the kids.

Good thing about eBay is that you always see the results when you put in the work.
You guys probably have a nice pipeline built where sales are just happening.
Then you can just put in eBay work when you have time.
That’s the flexibility we love.

[SuttonParks]

I’m working Ebay to save enough money to walk the Appalachian Trail in 2018. I currently have about 170 items listed and I live in a one bedroom apartment so I 4 large steel racks from Sam’s Club to store everything. I need to profit $300 per week, or $1,200 per month. The last few years I did a lot of Amazon FBA but I’ve been doing more ebay the last 6 months. FBA can be good but,…I don’t know. Prices drop fast and there’s a lot of expense but it is nice to ship it to Amazon and forget it.

I’ve listened to your podcast for at least 2 years now and highly recommend it. I did have to take a few weeks off because of the political stuff. You don’t need me as a listener but I need the information you give so I hope you’ve gotten the political stuff out of your system. There’s plenty of places online to listen to people complain. However, it is your podcast and you don’t owe me anything.

I appreciate the podcasts (except the political one) and love hearing about your travels. I wish you a Merry Christmas and all the best for 2018!

[Jay]

Nice that you have a specific goal for making money on eBay. And since it’s put personal blog, we’ll continue to express our opinions. We certainly listen to all kinds of points of view and feel it helps us understand the world better.

[Author]

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