Home › Forums › Weekly Numbers › Scavenger Life Episode 298: The Scavengers and The Collectors, A Love Story
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Liz.
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AuthorPosts
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02/19/2017 at 4:33 pm #12875
We sell all kinds of items, many of which are practical everyday objects: clothes, tools, etc. But we also find and sell many items that are “collecti
[See the full post at: Scavenger Life Episode 298: The Scavengers and The Collectors, A Love Story] -
02/19/2017 at 5:41 pm #12881
Aw, I can’t wait to listen to the show tomorrow… everyone likes a love story 🙂
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Week February 12-18, 2017
Total Items in Store: 777
Items Sold: 11
Cost of Items Sold: $86
Total Sales: $443.05
Highest Price Sold: $190 (Chanel Sublimage Eye Cream)
Average Price Sold: $40.28
Returns: 0
Money Spent on New Inventory This Week: $185
Number of items listed this week: 43Really crushed some listing this weekend. Helped that I had several like items to make the sell similar go quickly.
Steven – big news… Found a guy on Craiglist selling sealed TDK MA-XG cassettes (for those of you not familiar, these are considered “The King of Cassettes” based on their suburb sound and extra heavy spindles to prevent vibration). He had 5, was asking $100 for the 5. When I got there, started talking, got him down to $80 plus he threw in 2 non-working Walkmans (should still get $20 each out of them), TDK promo carrying cases, and some other lower end cassettes – nice little scavenger move to help lower the overall cost per item. Have each of the TDK MA-XG cassettes listed for $120 OBO.
Other great picks this week at some estate sales: 1950s CAT puffy vest, 1950s-1960s gas station & mechanic service caps (Exxon, Texaco, CAT), 1970s Members Only leather jacket, 3x 1950s Fisher Scientific thermometers, and a bunch more of cool stuff.
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02/19/2017 at 7:18 pm #12891
$120 for a single audio cassette!!!!!
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02/19/2017 at 7:29 pm #12892
Yes, sir.
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02/20/2017 at 10:45 am #12912
Nice find, those ar rare.
I always try for more on any deal when sourcing, yesterday I was looking at a bookcase for my house and noticed a Napa Valley cassette rack, got him down $10 on the bookcase and then got him to throw in the rack.
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02/19/2017 at 5:49 pm #12883
Feb 12 – 18
Items/listings in store 1577/1415
Sold 17
COGS $23.73 for items, $75.57 free shipping = $ 99.30 (I offer free shipping on 99% of my items)
Sales $348.94
Highest Price Sold: $37.99 shipped Revell model kit – 1964 Chevy Fleetside Pickup Truck – 6.25 COGS
Lowest Price Sold $8.14 (Childcraft Annual 1967 children’s encyclopedia single volume COGS 15 cents, shipping $3.12, packaging .25, fees $1.13 = $4.60, profit =$3.54)
Average price Per Sale $20.53
Intl – 1 GSP to Japan (Columbia Sportswear Camp Style shirt)
Returns – The Burberry suit from last week was returned for fit so buyer paid return shipping
$ spent On New Merch –$71
Listed New 69 Items
Return rate 1.20% overall / 1.92 clothingNormal week with nothing special selling or any drama. The Burberry’s suit was returned and the buyer did not use the Ebay label or upload tracking so I was kind of bummed when it showed up. My honey-hole thrift shop had BOGO on outerwear so I loaded up on lots of jackets this week. I DID list more than I bought so the death piles are continuing to slowly shrink …….. will take that as progress!
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02/19/2017 at 7:37 pm #12893
I think the Owen Wilson painting you found is great!
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02/19/2017 at 8:26 pm #12894
Total Items in Store: 400+ on etsy, 200+ on ebay
Items Sold: 19 (9 on ebay, 10 on etsy
Total Sales: $745. ($349 ebay/$395 etsy)
Highest Price Sold: $70 (antique perfume on ebay)
Average Price Sold: $39
Returns: 0good week
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02/20/2017 at 10:47 am #12913
I’ll say!
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02/20/2017 at 3:50 pm #12935
Go, Sue! Those are great numbers!
My numbers were too abysmal to share this week; under $200, with about 150 items listed. Today’s sales have already surpassed it, so that’s the good news.
One of my local thrifts always sells clothes for $1, and one of the other local thrifts — usually more expensive– had a special sale with clothes for $1, so I dropped about $30 this week and have dipped my toes into the clothes business. I’ve sold a few pieces already — although I’m getting a ton of questions and lowball offers, which may mean it’s a short-lived experiment. I’m not really interested in clothes for the most part, so it’s just work.
It’s the hunting and the gathering, and then the researching and selling, that’s the most fun for me. It’s cluttered around here, but I’m not really attached to anything and for the most part I don’t take particular pleasure in owning specific things (although there are some paintings I really like, and a few nice pieces I regret selling.) I love finding things, and learning about them, and letting them go (for money, of course!)
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This reply was modified 8 years, 4 months ago by
Habnab.
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02/20/2017 at 3:54 pm #12937
How is your helper coming along? Are you going to teach her to photograph and list?
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02/20/2017 at 4:04 pm #12940
She’s helping another local seller with photographing and listing; for me, she’s doing work on the domestic side, helping me deal with the family’s clutter and build-up. It’s working great.
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This reply was modified 8 years, 4 months ago by
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02/19/2017 at 8:52 pm #12896
Hi Jay and Ryanne,
Listening to your podcast now and loving it… I just had to comment that I think you did the right thing from a customer service standpoint when you shipped the right pair of camo pants and let her keep the others. This same thing recently happened to me. I bought a shirt on ebay for my husband. The seller sent me a different shirt (it was similar.. same size.. plaid and actually happened to FIT.. but hey, it wasn’t the same shirt in the listing so I emailed her.) She immediately sent the correct shirt and told us to keep the other shirt. Needless to say, we were really happy and I thought that was truly going the extra mile for a customer. (The shirt was under $10.00 so we are not talking a lot of money here… anyway.. I would have sent it back if I had to… but … I was definitely a satisfied customer there.. I got a free shirt..!!)
On the second issue, regarding your story of the book lady giving you lowball offers and then causing problems.. I have been having similar ‘issues’ with low balling customers who want the low offer… I counter… then they still low ball.. and then I decline… etc. I will share that I recently sold a vintage Coach bag and I wanted a quick sale, so I responded to her lowball (50%) offer. I countered at 80%… she came up by $1. So I declined her. And then I removed the best offer button, because “I didn’t want to play that game”. I knew this item would sell at full price if I waited a week or two – as I had it priced just right and had a few watchers. She immediately sent me a long email saying she was really interested and she loved it and she was now interested in buying the bag at my original offer price. I then sent her an offer via email and told her “sure, I would be happy to honor my original offer to her – even though I feel that it is worth more and I am confident that it would sell for more.” After she bought the purse, she left me positive feedback “I love it.. perfectly as described… etc. etc.” but I run DSR reports occasionally and was able to isolate that she gave me a “1” for item as described. A passive-aggressive move on her part and definitely intentional – (probably still irritated that I did not accept her offer and removed the best offer button). I called ebay and couldn’t get this removed for feedback manipulation because it was a “positive feedback”. I do feel that I should start utilizing auto-decline feature more because I have been getting a few jerky customers who seem to give problems and want to start arguing over the offers and they are the ones who tend to give you trouble with the sale after the fact. It is time consuming and annoying. I am starting to block customers who low ball twice in row or start demanding things like bubble wrapping each book or change the shipping costs. Her expectations are unrealistic. Let us know what kind of feedback she leaves 🙂 I hope she is happy! Going to finish up the podcast. I really truly enjoy you guys and this forum!!!-
02/20/2017 at 8:56 pm #12952
I have sent the wrong item more times than I want to admit. If it is less than a $20 item I send the correct item and tell the customer to keep the other item too. It’s enough that They were disappointed; they don’t need to be inconvenienced with a return as well.
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02/19/2017 at 9:24 pm #12897
Ryanne,
Could you tell me what brand the coffee maker is that you guys got from the couple in this episode? It sounds like something that I’ve been looking for myself. Thanks! Love the podcast!-
02/20/2017 at 6:08 am #12908
yep, it’s the Delonghi esam 3300. we paid $100 for it on craigslist.
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02/19/2017 at 11:41 pm #12899
RR Store Week February 12-18, 2017
Total Items in Store: 1178
Items Sold: 19
Cost of Items Sold: $17.74
Total Sales: $597.70
Highest Price Sold: $197.50 (lot of 55 U.S. Mint sets)
Average Price Sold: $31.46
Returns: 0
Money Spent on New Inventory This Week: $8.08
Number of items listed this week: 50This episode spoke to me. I guess I’m a rare bird: I’m a hybrid scavenger/collector, an even split right down the middle. I’ve been collecting things since I was a little kid, and I know for a fact I wouldn’t be in this business if I wasn’t a collector. I’ve spent most of my life digging for treasure, and I use all of that experience and knowledge when I’m out scavenging. I know what and how to sell to collectors because I am one. I laughed when Jay wondered out loud what someone would want with old Air France menus, and that to him they’re kindling! That one hurt! At my last house, I had vintage menus from Chinese restaurants on the wall. The last vintage menu I bought was from the Kon Tiki restaurant in Montreal, circa 1960’s. The artwork is incredible, and it’s going to look great hanging up in my tiki room; I also dig the graphics inside. In addition to tiki, my other large collections are records and vintage Disneyland items. I actively hunt for and buy things for those collections…when I have the money, of course. But when it comes to items for my eBay store, I want them sold and out, vintage or not.
Jay, I’m happy to answer any weirdo collector questions you may have. And I would keep that mullet portrait. It sounds amazing.
*Paul*
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This reply was modified 8 years, 4 months ago by
Rydell Relics.
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02/20/2017 at 9:51 pm #12959
I love the painting and hope they keep it. I thought it was paint by number at first. Never keeping favorite treasures is a mistake that robs you of your history together. Becoming a scavenger has turned me into a collector. My home has gone from my early married years when I went out and bought a matched set of furniture for each room (so boring!) to an eclectic mix of interesting furniture and decorative items that changes piece by piece and month by month as I find new items and let go of old ones. (If it isn’t useful or beautiful, let it go.)
My dining room has a black raised motif Chinoiserie diningroom set from the 50’s (Selkirk’s auction house win) with a big dark green painted almost primitive Asian cabinet full of a random collection of delightful dishes and pottery. On the console sits a large Italian Cantagalli bust I call “Bella” (Marburger/Roundtop Texas antique show). We have a set of silverware from each of our mothers. The office cabinets and bookshelves are topped with bird cages, a vintage scale holding a beeswax chicken in nest, and a painted Florentine tray featuring birds. My livingroom is fully decorated with scavenged furniture and decor as well. The house is filled with endless wonder that I think our grandchildren will always remember fondly when we are gone.
I know that one day it will all belong to other people. The things we own outlive us. They only visit for a while to bring comfort and beauty to our nest. Today my husband and I took a walk in the woods behind our house. We came home with an interesting white fungus that looks like a brain coral (will it dry under glass or go bad?) and a single deer antler. They have been welcomed into our curation and will remind us of a rare warm February afternoon together.
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This reply was modified 8 years, 4 months ago by
Linda Shields.
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This reply was modified 8 years, 4 months ago by
Linda Shields.
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This reply was modified 8 years, 4 months ago by
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02/21/2017 at 11:05 am #12987
Ha. I would actually never burn items like old menus because I now know the value. But stuff like that is thrown out everyday and ends up buried in the earth. Martin proves this everyday as he documents his trash picking: https://garbagefinds.com/
This is why Scavengers provide such a great service.
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This reply was modified 8 years, 4 months ago by
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02/20/2017 at 12:26 am #12901
February 12-18, 2017
Total Items in Store: 750
Items Sold: 11
Cost of Items Sold: $7.04
Total Sales: $135.97
Total Profit: $108.63
Highest Price Sold: $48.47 (Vintage Portrait)
Average Price Sold: $12.36
Returns: 0
Money Spent on New Inventory This Week: $26This has been an embarrassingly dismal week … definitely my lowest $ sales in a long long time. I removed best offer from most of my items – which I am sure did not help… I also ran a lot of auctions to get some older cheaper stuff moving – so I sold a few items for rock bottom prices. It just re-iterates what we all have said for so long.. auctions really don’t bring a lot of profit for the type of business model that most of us are using. And “Best Offer” does help stuff move – even on the low cost stuff. People just really want to feel like they are getting “a good deal”!
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02/20/2017 at 12:25 pm #12918
I definitely think that ebay buyers expect “best offer” now–I put it on most things over $39.99, which is why I like etsy–no official best offer, it doesn’t keep people from making offers but they usually aren’t as low ball as some I get on ebay, but best offer has taken the place of the auction pretty much.
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02/20/2017 at 1:22 am #12903
Store Week 2/12/17 – 2/18/17
Total items in store: 1057
Items sold: 10
Cost of items sold: $12.80
Total sales: $272.96
Highest price sold: $60.00 (Vintage photo album with 1940s photos)
Average price sold: $27.30
International Sales: 2
Returns: 0
Money spent on new inventory this week: $68.55A pretty slow week, but I listed a ton today, so I’m hoping that will help. Today has already been a bit better. I went to a huge annual indoor sale yesterday (where people rent booths to set up their sales). It was fun and I got a few interesting items. I bought a huge tote of fabric for $5, mainly for the tote and one bolt of fabric that was in it, and got home to find 2 pair of old USA made Levi’s in the bottom. I already sold one for $55!
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02/20/2017 at 1:28 am #12904
First attempt at posted numbers here.
Items in store currently:222
Sold this week: 9
Cost of goods sold $13
Total sales $133
Average price of items: $14.77Items listed this week: 125!!
Hoping some higher priced items start selling. But not terrible.
Hope everyone has a great week!
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02/20/2017 at 7:45 am #12909
Store numbers 2/13-2/19 (I like to end on Sunday)
(main store/t-shirt/postcards)
Items in store: 168/116/10
Items sold: 7/5/0
Sales (less shipping): $485.71/$77.96/$0
COGS: $103.25/$2.50/$0
Highest sales: $250.00 Men’s Renato Watch – Best Offer/$19.99 1990 Rickey Henderson t-shirt
Avg Sales Price: $69.39/$15.59
Net Profit: $309.53/$50.93 Total: $360.46
International: 0
Returns: 0
New Listings: 7/5/0
Money spent on new Inventory: ~$100Probably my best week to date in both my main store and my t-shirt store. Took the best offer on the watch and gave a bulk deal to someone on a lot of 8 typewriter tapes. Most of my sales in that store were over $30.
I picked up a vintage down jacket at the Goodwill 50% off sale and got it listed Saturday night. Within 10 minutes I had someone message asking for $15 off because they really wanted it and didn’t have the extra money. I didn’t respond right away and then the next morning I let them know I wasn’t accepting offers on the jacket because I was considering keeping the jacket in my own collection. I was actually considering keeping it since it is an awesome jacket. Within a few hours, they bought the jacket and then messaged me to ask about it having any vintage/musty smell because they are sensitive to that smell. I smelled it and don’t think it is bad, but let them know there is a slight smell to it, but not the musty smell and gave them the option to cancel or move forward. I also let them know I accept returns. So, the jacket is heading out on Tuesday. I’m giving the buyer the benefit of the doubt and hopefully things go smoothly.
Auction season is starting back up and there is one in two weeks that I’m going to with my mom. They have a lot of physics lab equipment and even a few Tesla coils. I think it would be cool to get one, but we will see what they go for.
The house project is getting close to being done so I’ll be back to listing and reorganizing my inventory soon. I’m excited to get some dedicated work/storage space. I think we have about 2-3 weeks before we are ready to move in.
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02/20/2017 at 10:10 am #12910
Week of Feb 12 – 18
* Total Items in Store: 672
* Items Sold: 19
* Cost of Items Sold: $17.04 + ~$15 Commission
* Total Sales: $337.47
* Highest Price Sold: $45 Tickle Me Elmo new in box; $41.60 for 6 yards of upholstery fabric
* Average Price Sold: $17.76
* Returns: 1 Tickle Me Elmo
* Money Spent on New Inventory This Week: $149 ish
* Number of items listed this week: 49In general, I had a very good week. I started out Monday bringing 8 items to the post office! Things did slow down, and I only had one sale this weekend on Saturday.
I did have one bummer, a return on my highest price item. This was a new old stock Tickle Me Elmo. The buyer took it out of the box to replace the batteries, and the batteries had leaked and ruined the toy. I remember trying to get to the batteries before listing it, and I would have had to break Elmo out of the box in order to check them. So, I assumed that the batteries just needed to be replaced. I guess I should have sold it “nonworking” for a lower price. I’m curious what others would have done in this situation? Break the new in box condition, sell nonworking, assume everything is OK? I refunded the buyer and told them to keep the item. I did get a positive feedback, so that is cool.
I participated in two online auctions that had pickups this weekend. I have to stop buying for awhile in order to list everything. I still need to clean three rugs from last week’s auctions. Luckily, there are no online auctions within reasonable driving distance ending in the next two weeks. One could always pop up last minute, though, so I will need to have some personal restraint!
I haven’t had a chance to listen to the podcast yet. Kids are out of school today and hubby is off work, so I’ll probably listen tomorrow. I will say that I love the MOBA website. I originally found them through Wikipedia.
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This reply was modified 8 years, 4 months ago by
Sharyn. Reason: Removed paragraph, I was in error
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02/20/2017 at 12:35 pm #12920
The best thing that I have learned in the last few months is knowing when to put the brakes on spending, with that philosophy I have been able to hold onto more cash than usual–I am also being as selective as possible when buying.
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This reply was modified 8 years, 4 months ago by
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02/20/2017 at 12:39 pm #12921
2/12 – 2/18
Total Items in store: 401
Items sold: 3
Cost of items sold: approx. $13
Total Sales: $57
Highest price sold: $ 35 wrench set
Average price sold: $19
Int’l sales: 0
Returns:0
Number of items listed this week: 0
Amazon disbursement – $1,170Full time ebay goal – was March 2018; now – ????
Ebay to Amazon – 4 sales – $524, COGS – $259, fees – $76, profit – $189
I like to sell, but I collect yardsticks, soda bottles, and Atari games. -
02/20/2017 at 1:24 pm #12924
Total Items in Store: 608
Items Sold: 9
Cost of Items Sold: $29
Total Sales: $236
Profit: $207
Highest Price Sold: $50 Pair of Supra camo fashion sneakers
Average Price Sold: $26.22
Average Profit: $23A week like this is why I like doing my numbers. It felt like a horrible week, but still over $200. Considering I haven’t listed in 2 months, I’ll take it!
I spent time over the last week getting all of my unlisted clothes and shoes organized and into totes or wardrobes. Next I’m going to get started getting all listed inventory assigned to a SKU so I know where everything is.
I have all of my photography gear in hand now (studio lighting, light box, etc). I’ve only had a chance to use the light box. It works well. I’m just using my iphone 7 with it and the big difference is that the phone never needs to adjust focus. I actually think I will use my old 5s to take photos because the 7 has too narrow of depth of field due to the wider aperture. I also want to try out my DSLR camera on manual mode on a tripod with a remote shutter release. Photos would speed way up that way.
Anyways, I’m back to listing. I’d like to push myself to 1000 items as quick as possible. I have a fence to pay for!
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02/20/2017 at 6:38 pm #12943
Number for the week
Total item in store:972
Items sold:4
Cost of item sold:$3.00
Total sales:$77.25
Highest price sold:$27.50 (Whataburger baseball cap)
Average price sold:$19.31
Returns:0
Money Spent on new inventory:0
Number items listed this week: 7Super slow as is the norm. AS far as the collecting. I am an avid reader and have lots of books often I find books that I want to read then I list them if they have a value for sale. Also I enjoy t shirts so I often find cool t shirts music and baseball themes to add to my collection, then start to purge my older t shirts, by listing them or donation. Great show.
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02/20/2017 at 9:48 pm #12958
Feb 12-Feb 18 2017
Total items in store: Etsy 296 // Ebay 176
Items Sold: Etsy 4 // Ebay 5
Cost of items Sold: Etsy $13.50 // Ebay $36.49
Total Sales: Etsy $67.40 // Ebay $187.95
Highest Price Sold: Salvatore Ferragamo shoes $60
Average Price Sold: $28.37
Returns: 0
Number of items listed this week: 45I started as a collector. I bought items in big lots, kept what I wanted for my collection and sold the rest to pay for my collecting. Eventually the selling part became more fun than collecting, so now I just sell. 🙂
In my weekly news: I went to my first auction this past weekend. I went to go visit some family and an uncle on the fly invited me to go to the next town over to check out an auction. I just went to observe. They had some interesting items, a lot of what I didn’t know a lot about, and it was pretty busy. It was hard for me to keep track of what was actually going on, but at the same time, the progress seemed excrutiatingly slow. I didn’t know how they were going to get through all the tables of things by the end of the day! I’m so used to going into thrift stores, picking out what I want and then leaving with it.
In an auction it is like they are selling all of the items in the store piece by piece, so you have to wait until your item comes up, and THEN someone else may also want the item, so even if you wait all day for it, you might not get it. I don’t know if I would have the patience for that! I didn’t buy anything…
For others that go to auctions – do you expect to spend the whole day there? Do you have a strategy to make the most of your time?
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02/21/2017 at 12:29 am #12964
Yes, expect to spend the whole day, (or a big chunk of it), at an auction. Don’t give up on auctions! That is where the real money is. The first auction I went to, I spent about $80 and filled my car. I made $3000 off that $80.
Yes, there will be times you bid on things you want, and don’t get them. Sometimes you are bidding against other resellers, and sometimes you are bidding against collectors, who do not care how much money they have to spend to get what they want. Sometimes you spend all day at an auction, and don’t spend a dime, because either the prices were too high, or the quality just isn’t there. It’s a bummer, but you move on, because there is no shortage of “stuff” in this country.
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02/21/2017 at 6:53 am #12971
I enjoy going to the auctions just for the event itself. I find them interesting and like seeing who is buying what and how high some people are willing to go. I have found some great deals on items you just won’t find at a thrift store or yard sale. Yes, you will likely “waste” a day of productivity if you look at all the downtime involved between the items you want. Online auctions tend to have less of a time commitment and I do okay with them as well. I go for the deals, but stay for the atmosphere.
Sometimes it takes finding the right auctioneer. I know there are some I have go to that just draw things out way to much and start dropping to $0.25 bids. My favorite auctioneer sells at a good pace and they can get through a lot of stuff in a day.
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02/21/2017 at 7:03 am #12972
If you’re aiming at pure efficiency, then auctions are not a good choice.
We make auctions a social event, always planning for it to take about five hours. As we’ve become more experienced, we know when can take breaks if they’re in a section we don’t care about. Then we love the action and competition when they in sections we really want. It’s important to preview the auction so you know what’s what. Going into any auction blind is going to be chaotic and confusing.
And we also usually buy a truckload of stuff for cheap. There’s really no better place for inventory if you’re trying to build a big pipeline.
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02/21/2017 at 10:06 am #12982
My local auction is on Saturdays in the winter and late afternoon Wednesday in the summer.
I always stop at SubWay for a sandwich to bring as the snackbar is not a healthy option.Getting there a 1/2 hour before the first bid gives you a chance to pick out the stuff you really want to be near when the bidding starts, as there are 2 rings you sometimes have to time things out so you’re not in the wrong place.
There is some strategy involved when your bidding choice on the table. You need to value things you don’t want so when the bidding starts you keep quiet, watch what people are interested in and gauge when to strike. I’ve kept silent and watched as bidders went high and took stuff I thought was junk while items I knew to be high value would drop to a couple bucks.
If you can last all day the stuff gets cheaper as the crowd thins ouyt, my auction does the furniture last and some great deals can be had for $20 or less.
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02/21/2017 at 11:03 am #12986
Totally agree about sticking it out till the end. Ryanne bought a $4000 mid century danish desk for $300 because there were just us and one other bidder. We’ve always gotten gold by outlasting the competition.
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02/21/2017 at 4:24 am #12965
Kia Ora from New Zealand.
Just found you guys this week and binged on your episodes while working.
There is no New Zealand Ebay as we are too small or something- we don’t have Ikea either.
but- we have Trade Me- our version of Ebay.
I have been a Trade Me seller for 7 years now and make a full time living for a family of 4.
I’m a 1 woman band.I learnt a lot from listening to you guys.
And I wondered a lot..
I have lots of questions…
The most burning one:
Why do you tell the world how you make money on Ebay?
Do your podcasts generate a lot of income?
(If I would tell my fellow Kiwis how to do it on Trade Me- every man and his dog would be in the Opshop trying to score.)
So-I hope you don’t consider me too rude when I ask:
What’s in it for you?With my best wishes
Gina-
02/21/2017 at 6:46 am #12968
Hey Gina. New Zealand! This is the magical place many Americans want to escape to when we trash our own country (ie Peter Thiel).
Okay, you ask a good question. Why would we make our own competition. We certainly don’t make a living doing the podcast. Enough to keep the site going with some extra fun money.
It’s a particularly incredible time as Baby Boomers are downsizing and dying off. These Americans lived in the greatest economic growth the history of humanity has ever seen, and they certainly acquired as much as they could in their lifetime. So there are houses, second houses, storage units, barns that are overflowing with anything you can imagine. Plus commercialization of daily life in the US pushes people to buy buy buy. They must get rid of this stuff to buy more. Scavengers fill a need in this ecology so perfectly good stuff isn’t just buried in the earth.
But why do we tell other people how to find and sell this stuff? It’s really a matter of scale. The US population is 100x bigger than New Zealand. The amount of waste is probably 1000x what you experience. We see the world as full of abundance where we can all share vs a world of scarcity where we all must fight over the scraps. And really, I’d like to see us go out of business because there’s not so must stuff going to landfills, but scavengers can live off the waste for at least a generation or two.
We also think we’ll live in a healthier society if more people can work for themselves. If more people can own their time, they can spend more time with their families, do cool projects, have more entertaining retirements, travel, cook, etc. We believe in the small c idea of capitalism where a healthy community is full of many small merchants and craftspeople filling a particular need for the community, being creative, trading freely and making money.
We also do do the podcast and share to meet people like you. Our favorite quote: “Transparency is key to a good culture. Be open, share your process and ideas. Choose camaraderie over competition.” Maybe one day we’ll meet you and we can talk over coffee. If we didn’t do this podcast, that wouldn’t be a possibility.
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02/21/2017 at 7:37 pm #13024
Hi Jay,
thanks for your reply.
Ha- I hope you’ve learnt your lesson once you trashed your own country.
You’re most welcome if you can come and make NZ a healthier place- cause we’ve done a pretty good job trashing it ourselves already.
Godzone has gone from 95% forest cover to 5% in the space of not even 200 years.
And lets not even mention the Moas.
Kidding aside – you guys are more than welcome to pop in for a coffee any day- we’re in Auckland.I do agree- we are in the middle of the throw away society- well trained consumers will chuck almost anything- even 10 years ago this was not so- not here anyway.
‘Buy for $1 and sell for $30’ doesn’t work here on many- if any.
My rule of thumb is: if I can buy it for 1/3 of what I can sell it for I’ll go for it.I am motivated by the fact that quality- even well used quality- is still better for the planet than new stuff that’s crap.
Thank you from the bottom of my heart for doing your bit to try and make this world a better place- in such a unique and entertaining way.
I have another question for you:
Do you guys have to pay income tax and Goods and services tax?
Do you have to have a secondhand dealers licence?On Trade Me I have to fly an ‘In Trade’ banner.
The tax department is watching closely
I pay a lot of tax and GST
I’ve yet to get my secondhand dealers licence- but should really have one.
It’s just another large bill to get one.
I hate dealing with accounting stuff- so I pay a bookkeeper ( the only word I can think of with 3 double letter in a row) to tell me how much I owe the government every other month.I know it’s boring stuff but I believe it’s better to be 100% legit than not.
Cheers
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02/22/2017 at 6:51 am #13052
Yep, we absolutely pay state and federal income tax on our eBay profits. Paypal sends our info to the IRS. It’s tax season right now so it’s time to pay. It’s smart to have an accountant. Our guy is worth every single penny we pay him.
We don;t have a re-sellers license. We could get one, but it’s optional.
I can imagine that there would be competition for less waste on a small island like New Zealand. But it sounds like you do very well!
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02/21/2017 at 8:06 am #12974
Good morning! We had a good weekend in sales that has us shipping out 110 packages this morning. Just like you, I still ship items one at a time. I have mixed up too many items to do it any other way. I hate that by doing it this way I can’t give my mail carrier a scan sheet and he will have to scan 110 items today, but the mixed up packages is too big of a risk.
On a side note I love that you guys continue to share the ups and downs of this life. I continue to point everyone I can to this podcast and forum. It is in my opinion the best place for honest advice/talk with so many people now joining in to share their expertise. Thank you for continuing to do it!
Cyndi
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02/21/2017 at 8:11 am #12975
Oh one more show note, we do numbered bins. While occasionally we do get items stuck in the wrong bin and it sucks we have a process for that. If I am listing into bin A1 today and it is full then I will move to the bin adjacent to it. That way if I do make a mistake and put the wrong bin number in the listing at least I know I won’t have to go through every item listed to find it. I would guess that when you guys go to an inventory system you are going to find lots of items that have fallen off of ebay and are no longer even listed. It is going to be a long arduous process but one that will find lots of items that could be making you money. So in the end it will be profitable.
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02/21/2017 at 10:35 am #12983
Feb 12-18 2017
• Total Items in Store: 728
• Items Sold: 9 eBay 1 Bonanza ($24)
• International 0
• Total Sales $632
• Highest Price $250 HeathKit digital clock
• Average Price Sold: $63
• Returns: 0
• Cost of Items Sold: $40
• Cost of items purchased this week $60Very slow, had some big sales on Friday.
I often peruse Omaha CL as it’s a much bigger city and only 2 1/2 hours away (speed limit is 80 in SD).
I found a guy selling 2 unbuilt HeathKit digital clocks, he opened one box to show the contents, he wanted $25 apiece. I contacted him to tell him I’d come down and get them as after researching for 2 minutes I knew they were worth the effort.
On the off chance he had Paypal but didn’t do eBay I also asked if he would consider shipping them to me, he had an account and would ship.
So for $65 total I had them both delivered and put the first one up, pretty easy listing, just took pictures of the box, it sold in a couple days for $250. It’s just a simple LED clock so the value must be in the project.Much better this week so far and lots of international.
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02/21/2017 at 2:15 pm #12998
I’d like to start sharing my numbers along with everyone else…
Feb. 12 – 18
Total Items in Store: 533
Items Sold: 11
Total Sales: $495.00
Highest Price: Fischer J Budapest Bowl ($150) (I talked about this one last week and they finally paid)
Average Price: $45
Returns: 1
Cost of Items Sold: $58
Costs of Items Purchased this Week: $0Not a bad week for me. I sold a few higher than average priced items with the highlight being the Budapest Bowl I mentioned back on Wednesday, as well as an ugly Silvestri Oriental lamp for $110. That was a major pain in the butt to pack! I got a return for a vtg American Keyless Lock Co. padlock. So that’s $90 I have to refund.
After listening to this week’s podcast, I wanted to comment on the Scavenger vs Collectors aspect. I feel like I am the scavenger through and through. I fully adhere to the lifestyle of finding and selling and the idea of the pipeline. I try to minimize my personal items down to things I need for day to day living and a few hobbies. My partner, on the other hand, is the collector. She owns stuff for the sake of owning it. Video games, anime toys, comic books, holiday decorations, anything and everything that she deems as neat. But we somehow coexist under one roof. I get to see firsthand the thought-process of a collector. It’s fascinating really.
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02/21/2017 at 2:55 pm #12999
Regarding FedEx Smart Post. I recently opened a FedEx account to ship items directly with them when I cannot use paypal or ebay etc. I registered as a business account and I received a call from a really nice rep from FedEx several weeks later. I had asked her how I could ship using smart post for orders I do not receive via ebay. She said she’d be happy to add that to my business account and it doesn’t cost any extra. The discount we receive on ebay won’t be there of course but it is a nice addition to the shipping arsenal when/if I need it. Thanks for the show! You guys as always rock! \m/
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02/21/2017 at 5:30 pm #13012
Week February 12-18, 2017
Total Items in Store: 937
Items Sold: 13
Cost of Items Sold: $9.50
Total Sales: $183.64
Highest Price Sold: $25.99 (Quik-Lok Keyboard stand)
Average Price Sold: $14.12
Returns: 1
Money Spent on New Inventory This Week: $0
Number of items listed this week: 84Another slow week, I continue to add more inventory in anticipation of my moving to full time eBay. No auctions this week so I am looking forward to one next weekend, that being said I have made some headway at clearing out the deathpile that has become my storage shed, I’m going box by box, just whatever is closest to the door so no cherry picking. This has lead to some amazing finds of stuff I got in a table lot I did not notice like a bunch of WWII pins, a rare 1960’s brooch (sold overnight I’ll have it on next weeks sales report).
I’m very motivated to do this full time and I am seeing a good stream of inventory moving now that I am almost at 1000 items (I’m filling the pipeline to quote Jay). My goal is 100 items a week till winter, I’m going to steamroll the summer slump if it kills me!
Also I’m having a problem with a USPS insurance claim… I shipped a item and it broke during shipping, last two items I had I got a check very quick, this time around they denied the claim and the appeal. I’m not sure what the difference is I’m just going to try again maybe the squeaky wheel will get greased or it will just be a Cost of Doing Business expense.
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02/21/2017 at 6:21 pm #13015
what was the item that got denied? did you send photos of the damage? was it insured because it was Priority Mail? just curious what the differences were between the claims. (shipping nerd here!)
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02/21/2017 at 6:42 pm #13019
Item was a bobblehead new in box, I sent them photos of the damage from my buyer and it was priority mail… The only difference was the time line. The other buyers got with me when the item arrived so I filed a claim within a week. This last buyer waited almost 30 days to get back with me (he left me negative feedback but I got it fixed, new ebay buyer) so the item shipped on the 17th of January and I was unable to put the claim in until the 16th of February. Also the amounts are all about the same in the $30 range for a refund from the post office. Funny thing is all my broken its arrived on the same day at the post office, it was after a holiday so a heavy shipping day I guess… Oh God today was a day like that and I just shipped out a painting (cringe).
It says they “sent a letter of explanation” so I should get that in a few days, why they can’t say it on the webpage is beyond me. Hopefully they send me a partial refund or something, I’d be happy with that to break even.
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02/21/2017 at 7:25 pm #13022
Total Items in Store: 318
Items Sold: 6
Cost of Items Sold: $42
Total Sales: $123
Highest Price Sold: $38 (New shower curtain)
Average Price Sold: $20
Money Spent on New Inventory This Week: $0 Week 8 of the no scavenge challenge
Number of items listed this week: 2Very slow week for me with low average price but not much listing as life is getting in the way. Spent last weekend at my dad’s and looked at old slides. Lots from my mom’s days in the 1960s as a TWA stewardess and fun 1960s and 1970s Disneyland slides. It was cool to see the original (or at least earlier) paint on the Storybook Land whale, for example – more fierce than today’s version. Of course I can’t help but think we might sell them someday… Hard to turn off the picker brain.
I can’t stand clutter in my living space so I’m not really a collector. I’ve been building inventory and paying for practical (kid) stuff with my Ebay profits but also I occasionally use it to pick up items from other Ebay or Etsy sellers that I don’t find – like my set of Siestaware tiki tapa walnut wrap glasses for example. Once in a while I use it to splurge on something for my house from Anthropologie (on clearance, of course!). I am attracted to certain tiki / atomic era decor, tableware, and art, but I actually don’t manage to find much I feel compelled to hold on to. I’ve heard from a couple of fellow pickers that there are others who are hunting hard for that stuff where I live. When I get finally manage to dig out from under my backlog, I hope to skunk them at some estate sales. Part of the enjoyment is getting grateful feedback from happy collector buyers. The vintage linen collectors I find to be particularly pleasant and helpful.
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02/21/2017 at 7:53 pm #13025
Week of Feb 13-19
Total items in store 694
Items sold 18
Total sales $310.50
Avg. price $17.25
COGS $21.43
Returns 0
Money Spent on new inv. $35.22
# of items listed 35
Highest price items men’s vintage 10K gold ring $145
Zen Scherzer vintage luncheon set $41.99I like the idea of collecting, but since we downsized to a small ranch house I really don’t have room to be very serious about any particular collection. Probably the only thing I buy and keep for myself are cordial glasses (because they are small) and dachshund and cairn terrier dog items (because that’s what we have). I do put some of the nicer items I have listed around our living room just so they don’t get chipped or broken with the main inventory stash. That way we get to enjoy them until they sell and I get to change out the pieces in my decor regularly!
This week was better than last week, but I also ran a sale most of the week trying to get things moving. I did sell several things I’ve had for a long time. The vintage ring I sold was my grandfather’s so it didn’t cost me a thing. The luncheon set cost was $7. I have quite a few things listed that belonged to my parents and grandparents. My dad is 93 and he keeps sending things home with me to list on eBay! I keep the pieces I’m really sentimental about and the things that would end up in a drawer or closet get listed. As I get older, my philosophy is more about using things and less about having things for things sake. Like Ryanne, I’ve been accepting most reasonable offers not only to generate cash but trying to get things moving to make space for the upcoming garage/rummage sale season.
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02/21/2017 at 9:32 pm #13032
My numbers for the week.
Total Items in Store: 335
Items Sold: 11
Cost of Items Sold: $12.50
Total Sales: $186.41
Highest Price Sold: $42.00 Heavens To Betsy 7 Inch Record
Average Price Sold: $16.95
Returns: 0
Money Spent on New Inventory This Week: $5.52
Number of items listed this week: 26I definitely feel this has been one of the slower weeks in my young eBay career. Just trying to keep listing, although life stuff slowed me down a bit this week.
Also, I reached my eBay selling limits as well. They are still fairly low I guess because I have only been at this for a few months. The limit is 500 listings but only $6700 of value. So I am now within $20 of that value limit.
I called eBay to get the limits raised, but they told me I would have to wait until the 27th since there is a 3-week waiting period between times they can raise your limits. I was a bit bummed about that, but I’ve decided to take it as a sign to focus on a few other things.
Namely, I need to review my organizing strategy. I have gotten some new shelving units to install in my basement, and I am planning to come up with a new spreadsheet to track what I buy and sell a little better.
I really enjoyed the podcast this week. I was a bit of a collector in my life. Or at least I held onto number of things for a long time. A lot of my collection habits are now being turned into fuel for this eBay business. I have a ton of music I am selling, as well as some old toys I held onto for way too long.
That said I don’t like having a lot of stuff around. I am thrilled to see all this stuff leaving. Even things I am buying now, I like that I can look at them, see what is neat about them, enjoy them for a short time, and then work to get them out the door to someone who wants them.
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02/22/2017 at 6:55 am #13053
Good philosophy. We also enjoy finding and learning about all the weird stuff we find. But then we like to get it into someone else’s hands.
Now that the Xmas season is done, sales are going to slow down. Be aware of the summer slump. Many eBayers online will start dusting off their conspiracy theories as to why sales are slow. For some reason, they think eBay purposely hardcodes slower sales so everyone makes less money. Then when holiday season comes again and sales pick up, they quietly put those theories back in the closet till next summer.
Anyway, the retail cycle for most stores are the same. Busy holidays, slow summers. All we can do is list and keep our expenses low.
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02/21/2017 at 10:04 pm #13041
My numbers for the week of 2/12/17:
Total Items in Store: 113
Items Sold: 9
Cost of Items Sold: $26
Total Sales: $311 + shipping
Highest Price Sold: $75 – Jumpsoles trainers
Average Price Sold: $34.66
Returns: 0I had a three day dry spell this week! I can’t even remember how long it has been since that has happened. I have to laugh at myself with how my emotions and confidence are so closely linked with my ebay sales. When things are selling I’m like “I’m so awesome at this! I rock!”. And then a few silent days and I’m saying to myself “This isn’t working. What am I doing?”
I am definitely not a collector. What’s weird is, I don’t even like to shop. I only go when I have to, I write a list so I can get in and out of a store in as little time as possible. I never went to garage sales before selling on eBay, I don’t go to the mall just for fun. BUT…I LOVE to source. It’s not like shopping for me. It’s like treasure hunting. Like finding $20s and $30s (or more!) just laying there ready to be picked up. I don’t see a pair of Doc Martens, I see cash. My dream job would be to just source, pack, and ship with someone else doing prep, photos, and listing. I would be happy sourcing all day long. BUT every once in awhile I have found items that that are just my style while sourcing. Looking around my house there is a Jade Bonsai Tree on my foyer table I bought at a garage sale, an ottoman I got from a facebook group, 2 original art paintings on wood that I purchased from the artist on eBay. I keep very few things, only things I really love. My work is kind of infused into my surroundings and I like it!
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02/21/2017 at 10:05 pm #13042
Jay, here’s a pic of the Gallery Plus.
On the left you can see the little photos you find in search. Below it, marked with the big red arrow, is a small magnifying glass icon. Hit that icon and it gives you a large photo over the top of the search list, per the image on the right. It’s a way of seeing a larger image of the item without actually going into the item itself, so that you can stay on the search page.
Now, in this search page of men’s casual shirts, there are no magnifying glass icons. Nobody here has bought into the Gallery Plus.
It is my totally unsubstantiated opinion that buyers don’t know about the option. I didn’t!
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02/22/2017 at 8:45 am #13073
I have a question regarding the 12×8 rug you bought at auction. I have one as well. It is too heavy for me to pickup on my own.
How are you planning to weigh it? Can the weight be estimated from the size and type of rug?
How will you ship it? FedEx would be the first thing that comes to mind, but eBay also has an option for freight. Would that be a reasonable option?
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02/22/2017 at 10:29 am #13080
My husband did all the handling and he weighed it, laid it out for me to photo, then he folded it weighed it on our heavier weight scale. You could also use your bathroom scale if you don’t have one. Fedex will reweigh it when uou ship and add onto your cost even after you print out your shipping label if you didn’t pay enough. You could always just have fedex do the packing for a small charge. I will wrap it 9n large, taped, polymailers.
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02/22/2017 at 12:25 pm #13089
I should have included units! The rug is 12 feet by 8 feet. A 9 in taped polymailer won’t do much for it!
I have thick plastic sheeting that I can cut to size, so I think I have what I need to ship it. However, it is so heavy I can barely pick it up, and I don’t think that I can weigh it and myself on the scale at the same time. Maybe my husband can, but it will be very difficult.
I have padding for it as well. I was debating whether to ship the padding separately or together.
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02/22/2017 at 12:45 pm #13100
the rug was 38 lbs, so jay was able to throw it on the scale, also it’s a flatweave so it was easy to fold in half and then roll it. if it’s a thick tufted rug, it will be hard to ship and very expensive too. might want to just do local pick up for that.
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02/22/2017 at 2:11 pm #13110
I would never include a rug pad. That isn’t expected and is additional shipping cost. I buy the largest size polymailers and just cut them open and tape around large rugs and bedspreads over the plastic wrap I use inside. Works great.
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02/22/2017 at 3:24 pm #13116
I think that you are right. Maybe if someone picks up locally, they can just have the pad.
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02/22/2017 at 9:37 am #13075
2/12 – 2/18/17
Approximate # of Items in Store: 200
# of Items Sold: 9
Average Cost of Items Sold: $6.04
Total Sales: $377.56
Highest Price Sold: $55 – Women’s Shirt
Average Price Sold: $41.95
Returns: 0
Money Spent on New Inventory This Week: $0
Number of items listed this week: 0I’m on Ebay autopilot. Returned last night after being out of town for five days.
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02/22/2017 at 10:00 am #13076
Hi Everyone,
Feels good to be back on the blog. I was in CA for about 30 days. During that time my store had extended handling time. I had 53 sales while in CA 3 sales cancelled due to the extended handling. Last year I didn’t feel the holiday sales but this year was awesome. Much of my time is spent managing my brother who lives with me and Mother who is 89 years old. So I hired a helper 10 hours at week $10.00 an hour. My personal short term goal for ebay is $4,000.00 in sales per month I am about half way there.Feb 12 – 18
Total Items In Store 1045?
Sold – 9
COGS – 29.99
Total Sales – 367.43
Highest Price Sold 99.99 (4 pair Hanes Vintage Stockings, paid .50 per pair, garage sale find)
Average Price – 40.82
Intl – 1
Returns – 1
New Listings – 10You will notice COGS is typically much higher than my normal. That’s because I sold a few items I purchased while in San Diego. You typically pay more in San Diego thrift stores even when the stuff is on Sale. My favorite thrift store in Missouri always has .50 clothing racks loaded with all kinds of clothes. Lately I have been putting most of my .50 clothes on Poshmark.
Feb 5 – 11
Sales 254.91
COGS 25.50Jan 29 – Feb 4
Sales 484.84
COGS 50.25-
02/22/2017 at 10:38 am #13082
Hey Liz, I’m headed out to San Diego next week! (Coronado Island). What were your favorite thrifts there? I know J&R visited there last year–would appreciate any thrifting tips they might have, too. A couple of years ago I was there and enjoyed the tiny church thrifts on the island. Hated the big outdoor flea market–too junky. We must get together! I live in Eureka (the Legends). Where are you? I don’t have time to organize a big STL meet up, but we could meet somewhere if you like.
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02/22/2017 at 10:04 am #13077
I’m drawn to unusual artwork, too, although not to sell, just for amusement. I was in the Chicago area visiting when my sisters and I came upon this lovely piece at a church thrift. My daughter had recently bought a house and her husband has dark hair and a beard, so we presented it to her as a housewarming gift, along with a corny speech about the love in the subjects’ eyes reminding us of their love. The thrift had been trying to sell it for so long that it was marked down to something like $2 with a large note on it suggesting that it be reused for the canvas.
Surprisingly, LOL, she didn’t really want to hang it in her house, so my son (who lives in a rented house with five other guys) hung it at his house. Whenever random people who don’t know us (his parents) come over and ask about it, he tells them that it’s a portrait of his parents.
A few months ago, I found this awesome piece at Goodwill and he added it to the portrait wall. The story he tells is that it’s an aunt in Russia.
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02/22/2017 at 10:32 am #13081
So funny! Love it!
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02/24/2017 at 5:45 pm #13261
Linda.. I see you finally got your Icon-Avator changed. Great to see you as something other than a checkerboard pattern. 🙂 Did you or your husband figure it out. Glad you got it accomplished.
mike in Atlanta
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02/25/2017 at 1:16 am #13282
Thanks Mike! I finally saw something I think Ryanne wrote to someone about this being a wordpress website, so we were able to figure it out after that. I really don’t like checkboard; it’s more fun to be me! I enjo seeing everyone’s cute photos and icons, all so different.
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02/22/2017 at 12:44 pm #13099
WHAT, those paintings are amazing!
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02/22/2017 at 6:19 pm #13129
This is one I’ve held onto mostly because it mesmerizes me somewhat and also I’m not sure of the medium used.
https://i.imgur.com/RnUGF2h.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/cBjXKRH.jpg-
This reply was modified 8 years, 4 months ago by
Steven S.
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This reply was modified 8 years, 4 months ago by
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02/22/2017 at 3:09 pm #13114
Hi Linda,
Yes I love the 2 little church thrift stores located in downtown Coronado. One shop always has a nice 1/2 price rack at the door where you enter. I am located about 1 hour and 45 minutes from STL right on I-70 Columbia, MO. Maybe we could meet at the bins depending on the day? My ebay seller ID is Zeelang1 if you would like to send a message.
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02/22/2017 at 11:05 am #13083
Ha! Those are some great finds. I sell some art at my shop, and I always check the art sections at any thrift shop I go to. I wonder if there is any kind of market for art like that? College kids looking to fill their walls?
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02/22/2017 at 11:35 am #13085
Here are my numbers for the week
Total Items in Store: 1535
Items Sold: 32
Total Sales: $755.50
Cost of Items Sold: $100.85
Average Price Sold: $23.61
Average Cost of Item: $3.15
Highest Price Item Sold: $120.95 Model Martin M-130 Pan American Airways China Clipper w/ 21″ w.span
Number of items listed this week: 49
Average age of items in store (in days since listing): 203
Average number of days between listing and selling this week: 103
Median age of sales (in days, between listing and selling): 27
Sell-through rate: 2.08%
# of Hats Sold: 18 (56% of sales)I had another good week despite having long handling times as I was on a business trip. My biggest sale was a large model plane that I bought at an auction. It was a bear to package so I’m keeping my fingers crossed that it arrives safely.
When I’m sourcing I try very hard not to buy stuff for myself. I want to avoid bringing in unnecessary stuff into our house. On the other hand, when my wife tags along she invariably treats it as a shopping trip for herself. Oh well. 🙂
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02/22/2017 at 4:08 pm #13119
Anonymous
- Location:
Week Feb 12 – 18, 2017
Total Items in Store: 640
Items Sold: 8
Cost of Items Sold: $ 47
Total Sales: $ 204.94
Highest Price Sold: $ 50 (Ivanka Trump shoes)
Average Price Sold: $ 25.61
International Sales: 0 (GSP 0)
Returns: 2
Money Spent on New Inventory This Week: $ 0
Number of items listed this week: 10I have not posted my numbers a months here but I hope this will change. It was a good week for me considering I barely listed anything.
I had a pair of Ivanka Trump shoes for probably 3 years and I reduced the priced, increased the price, had them sale, I just could not give them away for those 3 years. They finally sold and I am very glad. It might have something to do with some stores not selling her product anymore.
I have my first negative feedback and it was painful. (I have another one 2 years ago for 5 mins but a call to Ebay took care of it). I received 2 long and very angry emails from this buyer who claimed the lamp I sent was different and broken. While I was typing a response to her, she went and left the feedback. She did not provide any photos, she did not return the lamp. After a day of consideration, I refunded her hoping she would revise the feedback and maybe Ebay will help with removing it. But after 3 calls to Ebay, they just do not remove them so easily anymore. My husband thinks I should not have returned the money so fast. I am over it, just remember what Jay and Ryanne’s opinions are – sometime you just can not please people no matter what you do. I kept selling and getting more positive feedbacks which makes me think that people care less and less about that.
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02/22/2017 at 4:09 pm #13120
Anonymous
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I have been listening to every podcast but because of my busy schedule, I did not have time to post accordingly. My husband was very unhappy with me doing Ebay – mainly because I work on it when my 2.5 yrs old sleeps and he wants me to spend that time with him. But in early January we went to a wonderful vacation to Hawaii for a week paid mainly by this small business. 2 weeks later when he realized he had overdrawn his vacation bank and his paycheck arrived $111 instead of $2,000, it was again that small business that paid the bills. I did not hear him complaining again. He does not help with Ebay but he watches the little one on the days he is at home so I can work more.
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02/22/2017 at 4:16 pm #13121
Money in the bank will usually do the trick. Usually the biggest complaints from partners is the mess and clutter of an unorganized eBay business. It’s important to be super neat for everyone’s mental health.
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02/24/2017 at 6:50 am #13218
I am glad to hear he is becoming more understanding of you selling on eBay. My husband was unsure of this “hobby” when I started. He is much more understanding with it now that I have shown that it can add to our bottom line. I think it is common that the income coming in helps ease the idea that you are spending time working on it. My husband likely will never be involved in this, but I’m getting my son involved so it becomes a better balance of family time and business time.
Good luck and I hope you have continued success!
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02/23/2017 at 8:45 pm #13206
Hey guys hoping you will see this. I don’t know where else to put it.
If you go to ebaymainstreet.com there is a petition to sign in regards to USPS increasing prices. This is the eBay government relations site and is by no means anti-USPS.
Just thought you might be interested. Hope you are having a great week!
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02/24/2017 at 8:18 am #13221
Yeah, we received a message from eBay about this. Thanks for the mention. Seems USPS prices go up every year.
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02/24/2017 at 10:33 pm #13271
I donated my skunk ceramics, etc, collection before going full on ebay. No one in my family was interested in it. I only kept the first skunk item that started it all, from my childhood, and a couple from my late best friend. Oh, and I still have the tattoo.
Last year I started collecting Christmas trinket boxes, the hinged ones. Started when my granddaughter put one in my lawn sale for .25 and it didn’t sell. I decided to collect them as they are small enough that even if none of my kids or their kids want a collection of them, they’d still be able to keep one or two in memory of me. I hope they get passed down generation to generation. Plus they are small enough to store off season, and cute enough to display for that one month a year.
I never knew my grandmothers, and I have a ring and a pin from one, my most treasured possessions, so it’s important for me to pass somethings down.
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This reply was modified 8 years, 4 months ago by
thrifty2.
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This reply was modified 8 years, 4 months ago by
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02/24/2017 at 10:51 pm #13274
I am a borderline collector. I do love baseball cards but I am always willing to sell them for the right price. Some I will price for a I don’t want to sell it price and if it sells I am usually pretty happy with the price. I am not sure if that would classify me as a collector if I am always willing to sell the item. I do not some collector’s that are hard core and won’t part with anything. Those guys are the crazy people that you find all the deals at the estate sales most of whom are probably rolling in their graves.
I am slowly moving all my collection to a warehouse and site the lists them all for me on their site, ebay, and amazon. Now I just need to find a good site that will do that for all my other stuff!
https://www.comc.com/Users/RawCardReview,i100
I have been on an art buying kick. Here is some of the kind of stuff I have been buying.
https://www.instagram.com/p/BPjrznoA8V2/?taken-by=tkzdesigns_
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02/25/2017 at 7:21 am #13285
Awesome. You’ll never go wrong buying interesting art. The only challenge is shipping it.
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02/26/2017 at 7:55 am #13321
The shipping problem became a non-issue for me when I discovered the FedEx art boxes. You can see them on their website. Very low cost and easy to use while protecting art perfectly. You can just buy one and pack it yourself. It’s so easy!
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02/25/2017 at 12:09 pm #13294
I personally have no problem with USPS raising rates–no other business (and the PO gets no tax dollars) are hobbled by having to pay 75 years of liability ahead of time (GOP congress, with Democrats asleep at the wheel apparently, passed this insane law in 2006) Even though the PO has never had more parcels to ship, they can’t seem to get ahead of the burden of pre funding retirements for workers who haven’t been born yet. I have 20 years of dealing with the US Postal system and overall I give them high marks.
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02/25/2017 at 3:37 pm #13299
I am with you Omfug. Have two great ladies who run my route. I have a map of the route they “work / run” each day and highlighted in yellow. IThey both gave me their private cell numbers and I can call them any day that I have late day sales and they will swing back by for a pick up on their way back to the main post office.
They are the extension of our shipping dept. and I have told them many times they are a partner in our business and without them we couldn’t continue to have our top ratings. They are why we can ship same day many times.
We pull and pack most times between 6 AM and 9:45 AM [when they first come buy]. But if we have any sale come in between 9:45 AM and 1:30 PM, I pull, pack, label and call them and it’s shipped within hours.
They love it because during what is called the “hard count” period, the more packages that they scan during that official USPS counting period the route gets logged in at a higher rate due to the larger volume of packages. Then the head PO re-rates the route and that route then will pay more because of the increase in packages.
They always come up to our porch for the daily pick-up of packages which we leave on a metal bakers rack for all of our out going and incoming mail.
They are great, love ’em, and the rates are just a cost of doing business. I used to move 18 million dollars of freight through our Memphis printing plant and USPS gave us the least problems of all of them, but we did use a ton of freight trucking lines for most of our “skidded products”.Mike at MDC Galleries in Atlanta
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02/26/2017 at 1:30 am #13319
Just a charming little watercolor I picked up today. It was done by a local artist when she was only 17 years old. She died a few years ago, at the age of 93!
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02/26/2017 at 8:32 am #13327
http://imgur.com/qklguje
love it, love that it’s dated! that’s the best.-
02/26/2017 at 4:04 pm #13372
I have a couple of others, done by “unknown” artists. Both are harbor scenes, one from the Grand Hotel in Taipei in 1965, the other the view from a hotel in Hong Kong in 1976. I should probably list them, because they are so awesome, but I kind of want to keep them! I’ve made a little collection of watercolors I have found at Goodwill. Maybe I’ll put a crazy high price on them, and see what happens. 🙂
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