Home › Forums › Weekly Numbers › Scavenger Life Episode 324: A Day In The Life Of A Scavenger VIDEO!
- This topic has 82 replies, 38 voices, and was last updated 6 years, 7 months ago by Temudgin.
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08/28/2017 at 7:35 am #22251
We planned on doing the podcast this weekend, but as our month long trip approaches, and a million tiny details at the renovation have to get done for
[See the full post at: Scavenger Life Episode 324: A Day In The Life Of A Scavenger VIDEO!] -
08/28/2017 at 9:16 am #22254
Enjoying the video! Thanks!
So, I start my new job on September 5. I’ve managed to put together a decent professional wardrobe for $1/piece at my favorite local thrift. Feeling a little dread as this is the first time in more than a decade I’ve had outside employment, but because it’s at the high school it’s just 180 days. If it was a mistake, I’ll regroup. In preparation, I’ve been listing only higher-dollar items ($80+) and have made arrangements with another scavenger to come and take a look at my lower-dollar unlisted inventory with an eye toward buying it. The goal is to minimize clutter and confusion at home while still pulling in some money from eBay. I’ll have about 45 minutes after school before any of my kids are home, so I can do occasional weekday thrifting as well. Fingers crossed, anyway.
I bought some painting-sized boxes on eBay and am more than a little disappointed. They don’t really have much structural integrity of their own. Anyone have a better experience with good, solid boxes for shipping paintings?
Sales have been pretty slow, though the shop was in vacation mode all last week when we were in Vermont. I still grossed about $400, and scavenged a set of bowls at a VT thrift which I’m hoping will bring in about $300.
Ryanne, where do you guys get the wire shelving units? I think I need to line my basement walls with those.
Thanks again.
- This reply was modified 6 years, 7 months ago by Habnab.
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08/28/2017 at 2:00 pm #22275
Hi, HABNAB.
I’ve gotten free boxes from Michael’s crafts framing department. You might need to call around to different locations. I’ve also heard you can get them from other framing shops.
The person at Michaels was very nice. If you ship a lot of paintings, it might be worth it to find out when the best time is for you to get their used boxes. -
08/28/2017 at 7:11 pm #22288
kate-
congrats on the job. very cool.
you can get the wire shelving units at lowes, home depot, walmart or ikea.
they are pretty common.-
08/30/2017 at 2:50 am #22347
Hello HABNAB, if you search on eBay for “Commercial 82″x48″x18″ 6 Tier Layer Shelf Adjustable Wire Metal Shelving Rack” they have them listed for $65 each with free shipping. They do have them on sale sometimes for abut $50 with free shipping, just depends when you buy them. Also, they have the 4 self version for about $36 with free shipping. One possibility for artwork shipping boxes is the FedEx store, they have specially designed boxes for shipping art, but they cost $10-$20 depending on the artwork size. Hope this helps.
-Steve
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08/30/2017 at 11:00 am #22353
I have 4 of these. I love them. I have the assembly down to a science and it takes me about 20 minutes. I want one more for my shed and then eventually I’ll have to start organizing the garage and putting them in there too.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00FZDT5OE/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o06_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1Edsal TRK-602478W5 Heavy Duty Steel Shelving In Black 60x24x78 inches
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08/30/2017 at 11:02 am #22354
I can put 4 of the cheap walmart totes across each row. The 4th has to be shoehorned a bit, but they do fit, so each rack holds 20 totes.
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08/31/2017 at 12:45 pm #22398
Thanks for the link Retro T: Just ordered two more of the shelves for us. We currently have 10 shelves, a mix of 8 ft., 6 ft and 48″ wide for a total of approx. 60 running feet currently. Don’t like the 48″ wide as much. Like your suggested sheving because it is 5 ft. [60″ wide]. More to our liking. That will bring us up to 12 shelving units total at approx. 72 running feet x 6 and a few 8 ft. high. That will probably last us for another year or so +/-.
Ordered these on Amazon and it included free shipping for @219 [$109.50 ea.]. That is about what they run at Home Depot but at least I don’t have to lug them out of the store, into the car and home. I agree not too tough to assemble either after you have done a few. We have moved a few times in the past and movers hate the shelves. They all asked waht are you doing with so many shelves?? Funny..LOL.
But thanks for the link. They will arrive Wed.
Mike in Atlanta
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08/28/2017 at 9:29 am #22257
One of my better sales weeks in a while. Good mix of high-dollar stuff with a bit of old junk I’m glad to get rid of for anything.
Sales: CAD$782, 8 items
COGS: $80
Gross profit: $559
Expenditures (incl. COGU): $88
Net profit: $471
Cashflow: $551
Hours: 8.5, hourly rate $55
Notable sales: vintage diapers $5–>$125 (yes I’m serious, yes they sold within SECONDS of listing); optical rail $20–>$200, cool big copper “steampunk” electrical switch board $20–>$150.Tried an experiment on the weekend, went to a garage sale (turned out to be a fellow picker getting rid of stuff) and bought a big box of assorted sockets for $10. Remembered reading the Snap-On ones have some resale value, so gave it a shot. Turns out there are about 30 or 40 Snap-On sockets there, each selling for $10 or more when I look them up individually.
I generally don’t like selling one-ofs for that little, but being so easy to ship maybe I’ll make an exception if I can pare down the listing to a really bare-bones template. The trouble with these is you don’t seem to get much for lot sales, I think because the market consists of people looking for one particular socket or set of them, and my box is just a jumble.
Also hit my selling limit at $27k. Didn’t really notice that issue coming. Going to call ebay today.
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08/28/2017 at 9:59 am #22258
Total Items in Store: 945
Items Sold: 10
Cost of Items Sold: $65
Total Sales: $265.75
Profit: $200.65
Highest Price Sold: $40 Thomas the train motorized engine
Average Price Sold: $26.58
Average Profit: $20.07It was a very slow week even with a 20% sale and consistent listing. We have a good rhythm going with my wife taking photos. We have a goal to hit 1000 listings this week. We’re almost there!
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08/28/2017 at 10:08 am #22259
Aug 20-26
Total Items in Store: 508
Items Sold: 11
Total Sales (Gross Profit): $268
Highest Price: $50 (NEW Polytuf Heavy Duty Forestshade 16×20 FT Green Tarp)
Average Price: $24
Returns: 0
Cost of Items Sold: $24
Costs of Items Purchased this Week: $372I really enjoyed the video! It’s really neat to see how you guys spend your day. With your storage sheds, do you have any issues with humidity or temperature? I’ve been wanting to store more things out in my garage but I’ve always been afraid of rust and mold and that kind of stuff.
I’m still trying to get back into the swing of things, but there is still so much I have to do around the house. It’s been hard to find time to do any work on eBay (except going to auctions, but that’s more of a fun getaway more than anything). Even with my store coasting along with no new listings, I’m still selling almost everyday. Maybe not the volume that I was before the flood, but I’m happy with the sales.
I went to one of my favorite auctions on Thursday. It’s about a two hour drive to Zanesville, OH, but this guy’s auctions are unbelievable. I spent almost $400 for a car load, but I know I’ll probably make thousands. My buy of the week… for $12, I bought an album full of black and white medium-format negatives from the 1920-30s. Mostly family pictures, but there are some of Navy battleships and Navy training things. I know original war photos can fetch really good money, and the original negatives probably more so. I’ll have to figure out how to scan them in though. My scanner only does small-format film.
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08/28/2017 at 7:13 pm #22289
no mold issues, we put everything in clear ziploc bags and that helps things stay clean and dry.
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08/28/2017 at 10:12 am #22260
Thanks for the video. It was great to see your faces! It was nice to see all the places you guys talk about in your podcast and to see some of your storage. I really liked the way you stored the clothes and shoes. Those custom racks really rock. Wondering if I can get Edgar to put some together for me… hmmm. 🙂 Thanks for all that you do!
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08/28/2017 at 10:42 am #22262
Week of 8/20-8/26
Total Items in Store: 1,677
Number of Items Listed This Week: 121
Items Sold: 66
Weekly STR: 17%
Total Product Sales: $1,632.64
Cost of Items Sold: $400.96
Gross Profit for Week: $985.15
Highest Item Sold: $149.86 – Vtg 1979 Chaps Ralph Lauren Cologne Splash Discontinued Fragrance w/ BoxCompetition: Highest Priced Sale: Veronica wins the week and Veronica leads for the year 20-13. But I want to say for the record I tried to make a comeback late on Saturday with a $100 sale of some Rock Revival jeans! I’m just bitter…this is a long losing streak! She is kicking my butt! 🙂
I am changing my numbers slightly as I’m phasing out the Easy Auction Tracker and using the reporting tools from SixBit. So much better and can be done instantly. Total Product Sales are ONLY the purchase price of the item (shipping not included). I’m now also going to include our weekly Gross Profit, as in all Revenue (Product Sales & Shipping Revenue paid by customers) less COGS, Shipping Cost, and Fees (eBay FVF and PayPal). I like Gross Profit the best as it is a more revealing number. What are we bringing in each week? We have all seen the Amazon sellers that show their high revenue numbers, but very few show that they bring home net of COGS and Fees. Revenue is Vanity…but Profit is Sanity. You can see we run normally run at a 4x on COGS (Product Sales are 4X COGS), but I would suspect J&R run closer to 10x.
Loved the video. It is always great to be able to see exactly how you do things and what this life is like!
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08/28/2017 at 10:31 pm #22306
It’s so refreshing to see sellers share their profit, and not just their sales. I have learned to ignore the Amazon sellers who brag about their sales numbers. It’s meaningless if you sell $1,000,000 of stuff if it cost you $999,999 to sell it.
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08/28/2017 at 10:38 pm #22307
ROI is huge…both in cash and time!
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08/28/2017 at 10:48 am #22263
Just a side note. I have been devastated watching the news about the flooding in the Houston Area from Hurricane Harvey. Please keep those families in your thoughts and prayers and look for ways to help out if you can. I saw that our house we lived in has been evacuated in the McDade Estates area of Conroe TX. That hits close to home thinking we would be in the middle of this disaster had we not decided to move to Colorado. Makes this hit close to home…
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08/28/2017 at 10:28 pm #22305
I grew up in Meyerland, which was right next to Braes Bayou. From the photos Ive seen, that place is a big lake now. It didnt flood like that when in the 1980s. https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2017/08/why-cities-flood/538251/
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08/28/2017 at 11:02 am #22264
Aug 21-27, 2017
#Items in store: 427
#Sold: 4
Total Sales: $55
Highest price: $21 (Tie – women’s insulated bib overalls and men’s Croft and Barrel shorts)
Average price: $13
Returns: 0
Cases: 1 Men’s Klogs shoes were never paid for and eBay closed the case yesterday.
#Listed: 59Was going great at the beginning of the week, listing my highest per day totals ever. Then I got sick and it got harder to stay upright, until on Friday I gave up entirely and went to bed for the weekend.
On the bright side, I exceeded my per week listing target of 50 items and caught up somewhat towards my goal for the month. My husband is going down to Corpus Christi this week to help family clean up after the hurricane, so I have another period of house to myself. Perhaps I can still make my goal of 500 listings by September.
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08/28/2017 at 11:30 am #22266
The new house looks amazing! Love the staircase, bunk beds, deck, view, etc. Great work, you two!
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08/28/2017 at 7:15 pm #22290
thanks! can’t wait to get it booked.
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08/28/2017 at 11:35 am #22267
Very neat video – nice to see all the houses. Seems like the drive is somewhat long between each of them.
I am not getting the forum firehose email. I have had the problem for about 4 or 5 days now. Is this an issue for me only? I did subscribe to the sub-categories in “Buying & Selling”, and maybe that messed me up? I really miss reading those in the morning and catching up. I hope it is an easy issue to fix.
Week of Aug 20-26
* Total Items in Store: 983
* Items Sold: 16
* Cost of Items Sold: $8.70 + $26 Commission
* Total Sales: $526.40
* Highest Price Sold: $300 Vintage Middle Eastern Brass Lamp
* Average Price Sold: $37.60
* Returns: 0
* Money Spent on New Inventory This Week: $50
* Number of items listed this week: 2 + about 15 end & sell similarWe still have about a week and a half until school starts, so I am unable to do much photography or listing with both kids home plus my parents are visiting right now. I started to end several older listings and relist them with “sell similar” just to show some activity.
I did finally buy a lighting kit. The two items I listed were ones that I used to test out the new lights. I’m pretty happy with the results, but I think I can get it better. I will end up spending more time with setup, but much less time adjusting photos in eBay. I also FINALLY downloaded my camera’s manual and figured how to set it to a 1:1 aspect ratio. Should have done that a LONG time ago. Duh!
It would have been a slow week without the lamp sale. Actually, the lamp sold the previous week, but the seller wanted time to pay. It is my biggest sale by $100!!
I don’t normally go to estate sales these days, but my mom and I decided to go to a few on Sunday. I ended up buying one item – a vintage set of silverplate in a box for $50. The price was a bit high, so I went back to the sale twice to try to get them to lower it. It was already at 50% off and they wouldn’t budge, but they did throw in a set of salad servers. It won’t get the ROI I’m used to, but it will be a bigger sale in the end.
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08/28/2017 at 7:18 pm #22291
the drive from our house to the new house, to the farmhouse is a big triangle. 8 miles from home to new house, 16 miles from new house to farmhouse, 12 miles from farmhouse home. all on country roads with only a coulple stop signs, it’s not bad.
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08/28/2017 at 11:47 am #22268
Thanks for sharing a little more about your lives. It’s interesting to see some of those places after hearing about them for the last couple of years.
Where are you going on your next trip? I don’t remember whether you’ve told us.
Here are my numbers for this week. Lots of low-value items this week and nothing major to bring the average sale price up.
Total Items in Store: 1958
Items Sold: 39
Total Sales: $725
Cost of Items Sold: $64.25
Average Price Sold: $18.59
Average Cost of Item: $1.65
Highest Price Item Sold: $29.95 i) Sony Discman D-20 ii) Sims 2 PC extension pack
Number of items listed this week: 39
Average age of items in store (in days since listing): 265
Average number of days between listing and selling this week: 182
Median age of sales (in days, between listing and selling): 56
Sell-through rate (for the week): 1.99%
# of Hats Sold: 21 (53% of sales)I picked up a box of about 30 new, sealed Sims PC games and expansion packs the other day at a garage sale. Mainly Sims 2 related items. I nearly walked off without them because I didn’t think they would be worth anything but I happened to check my phone and saw that one sold for decent money then the woman running the sale offered me the whole box for $25. Someone in her family worked for EA, the maker of Sims. I’ve sold $225 worth of games in lots from that box so far and still have about another 10 listings on eBay. It just shows that “new sealed” items are always worth looking at.
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08/28/2017 at 7:21 pm #22292
i’m embarrassed to say all the places we’re about to go (both because i feel like i’m showing off AND because maybe we over-planned?) Reykjavik Iceland, Copenhagen Denmark, Rural Sweden, Rural Norway, Vienna Austria (this is where our video job is), Munich Germany (during Oktoberfest!) and back to Reykjavik.
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08/28/2017 at 12:20 pm #22271
* Total Items in Store: 350
* Items Sold: 7
* Cost of Items Sold: $125 new + $25 used
* Total Sales: $338
* Highest Price Sold: $128 (set of 5 new dog art plates, purchased a few weeks ago $74)
* Average Price Sold: $42
* Money Spent on New Inventory This Week: $0
* Number of items listed this week: 0How fun to see your day in the life video. It’s like picking up the matching read along picture book to the record for the first time. You work SO hard and it will be a nice end of the year enjoying the spoils of the new rental. Everything looks super and we would totally rent it if we weren’t across the country. I recognize the Ikea duvet my daughter has and I love the art you chose, especially Steve’s amazing buffalo piece. I’ll keep an eye out for those 70s Marushka pieces – totally something I would pick up but I’m sure I’ve never seen any.
I’m hanging in with Ebay just shipping out. The kids are back in school but we are a household of sensitive people, half of us going through puberty, big schedule changes, and unfortunate pet deaths. The emotions are running high. Although I’m the adult I have to talk to myself out of feeling everything along with them. It’s an interesting but challenging heavy parenting time that has me resting instead of working Ebay in my time off. I hope to soon get handed a couple of weekdays off my contract job. Ah, to sit alone and list for a day and get some exercise. That would be amazing! Keep your fingers crossed for me trash elves. Have a great week!
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08/28/2017 at 7:23 pm #22293
thanks christine! i’m sorry to hear of pet deaths. that’s so sad! i know how hard that is.
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08/28/2017 at 8:26 pm #22301
Thanks Ryanne, that’s nice of you. I watched a bunch of tv last weekend and vegged, something I never do. Flea Market Flip, Project Runway, Game of Thrones. Today I got an hour to list so yeah!
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08/28/2017 at 1:33 pm #22272
Aug 21-27 2017
• Total Items in Store: 840
• Items Sold: 18 eBay 1 Bonanza (2 t shirts)
• International 2 via GSP
• Total Sales $1480 $1450 eBay / $30 Bonanza
• Highest Price $400 Toshiba TV
• Average Price Sold: $78
• Returns: 1 Pendleton shirt for fit
• Cost of Items Sold: $235
• Cost of items purchased this week $40Fun video, nice to turn the visuals in my minds eye to actuality.
That deck on the river house is amazing, I love all the details and finishing touches. You must’ve spent a fair amount on the furnishings, those adirondack chairs are great, I’m looking for a pair myself.-
08/28/2017 at 7:27 pm #22294
thanks steve! these are the chairs we bought ($220 for 2 w/ side table included, a great price since we had to buy 3 sets [yes we spent a lot on everything, even being scavengers!])
https://goo.gl/hYDeD6
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08/28/2017 at 1:58 pm #22273
I especially love the farmhouse–I could totally live there. although you didn’t run your numbers I notice that your main store had another really excellent week–I think that the 2 stores are educational for new resellers–on the “flagship store” you list way more stuff, and constant listing is key, there is no way around it.
Total Items in Store: etsy, 477, ebay, 212
Items Sold: 14 on etsy, 4 on ebay
Total Sales: $804 ($654 on etsy)
Highest Price Sold: $95 fur coat on etsy
Average Price Sold: $44After 2 very slow weeks sales have picked up, I am looking forward to the Fall. Just need to keep stocking and listing.
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08/28/2017 at 1:59 pm #22274
Definitely interesting as Steven s said .. to turn the mental visuals into a reality. For some reason I thought that Ryanne’s office was just a few yards off the main house in one direction and the Farm House [1st reno.] was in your back yard at maybe a further corner. I just didn’t put together you had to drive to it. I did know the new reno. house was down the road, but from the video, it looks miles down the road, especially with the time lapse sped up, seeing the bridge over the river.
So to settle the mind – visual question, just how far from your main house is Ryanne’s office [in yards or miles], the farm house, the farm house storage shed and the new house? At a population of approx. 4,900 you guys are going to be the “Land Barron’s of Luray – Page County.
One thing for sure, looking at the accumulation of inventory items, right after you order up the new storage building, in my opinion, you guys need to start thinking about a Inventory Organization System, a SKU number system and the method you will use to track it. If you start that process now and work on the tagging method then after the building is complete you will be ready to just move things into place.
Thanks for also letting us see the pretty country all around you. Bet is it gorgeous in the fall.
mike in Atlanta
- This reply was modified 6 years, 7 months ago by MDC Galleries & Fine Art.
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08/28/2017 at 3:46 pm #22280
“One thing for sure, looking at the accumulation of inventory items, right after you order up the new storage building, in my opinion, you guys need to start thinking about a Inventory Organization System, a SKU number system and the method you will use to track it. If you start that process now and work on the tagging method then after the building is complete you will be ready to just move things into place.”
I will second that! Perfect time for it.
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08/28/2017 at 7:31 pm #22295
office is about 20 steps from main house. farmhouse (rental #1) is 12 miles from our house. riverhouse (rental #2) is 8 miles from our house. rental #1 and rental #2 are 16 miles from each other. our county has 25,000 people, our town about 5,000. we’re hardly land barons, but we might be getting there if we can handle it.
we will be starting an inventory, bin numbering system with the new building. mostly so our helper can ship for us when we’re away.
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08/28/2017 at 8:30 pm #22302
“we will be starting an inventory, bin numbering system with the new building. mostly so our helper can ship for us when we’re away.”
That was our big push. We have our boys ship for us a lot, and it saved them time finding items.
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08/29/2017 at 9:30 am #22315
Wow, that is a lot further than I ever imagined. So round trip maybe 35 miles plus if you hit both houses and do the triangle trip and then back home. Do you still have someone to do the cleaning and laundry for you at the Farmhouse? I think I recall you did have someone some months back. If so that at least save you from having to go and spend even more time doing that.
Looking forward to seeing the new building arrive and photos as it progresses. Suggestion: do a scaled layout on paper of the aisles and shelving placement. Consider traffic flow and the use of a rolling between the shelving rows. We use a rolling cart, have a pick list, and just go down the rows from low bin numbers to high and pull as we “roll along”. Our cart can hold up to 6 to 9 smaller plastic bins. We keep several just stacked under the top shelf. Pull them out as we roll along and fill orders. Then at the end of our trip up and down the asiles we just carry the bins to our shipping area.
Now don’t get me wrong, we only have about 6 16 foot long x 7 feet high shelving so not a big area, but the point is to get organized and create a “system” of bin placement, item numbers on each item, then those items placed in numerical bins.When you store items just reverse the process. Tag items with a tag that already has numbers printed on them, a short descrip or even skip that, and your SKU number. Put that on each item, log that item into your software as you photograph it, place in the “carry totes”, then place on the rolling cart in oder of low numbers to high numbers. Then just roll along and stop at each bin, open and place in the bin. We even have our laptop sitting on the rolling cart. As we place the item in the bin, we enter that bin number directly into our software and hit enter. Then search for the next SKU number, rinse and repeat. A system for everything going into storage and a reverse of the system for everything to be pulled out. Same system we sued at the large printing company, just much smaller.
Can’t wait to see how you guys get your “shit” organized. Ha-Ha LOL 🙂
Mike at MDC Galleries in Atlanta
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08/29/2017 at 9:41 am #22316
Yep, we have a woman who cleans the house (unless we choose to do it and save money). For city people, it probably seems like a lot of driving, but its normal here in the country. Traffic around here is when there are three cars on the road at the same time. We’re always going into town anyway so we’re always close by our properties.
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08/29/2017 at 10:09 am #22321
I know that you are very familiar with the North Atlanta area. If we went 20 miles from here in Gwinnett County that would place us over around Marietta. That would mean down I-85 to “Spagehtti Junction”, west on I-285 around the loop, then up I-75. That is about an hour trip one way, and if any accident at all, even a slight bump or car stall and you can make that an hour and half to two hours one way or 3 to 3-1.2 hrs round trip. Just murder in Atlanta to drive that distance. I was stuck in traffice on the top of Spagehtti Junction one time so I counted the lanes of traffic. There are 22 lanes that come together there. So I played a mental game of trying to figure out how many cars were stuck there. So I decided [for easy math to use a base 10] and said to myself each car is approx. 10 ft. in length [and we all know most are longer]. So 22 cars were side by side on those 22 lanes, then take a mile of 5,280 divided by 10 ft long so I figured approx. 528 cars in that mile times 22 lanes equals 11,616 cars in just one mile of traffic. AND that traffic was piled up for as far as I could see in both directions. Miles and miles. Atlanta authorities say millions of cars per day go through “Spaghetti Junction”. That is why Atlanta was hit really bad when earlier this spring that section of I-85 was on fire, then collapsed. And you knowing Atlanta, you know I kid you not.
This is one reason we do our scavenging and picking within a 10 mile radius of our home mostly. We would speed 4 hours out of the day going over and up I-75 or out I-20 east or west. If we travel, we just head up north Georgia way. We go to auctions more upwards than through Atlanta. The Atlanta airport is 40 mles South of us. Good luck getting there on time.
So three cars on your roads when you go to your houses. I just can’t imagine it. 🙂 🙂
Mike in Very Busy Hot ‘Lanta, as they say.
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08/29/2017 at 3:04 pm #22329
Agree with Jay. I have a thrift shop right behind my house, but to get to the other one closest to me, I drive about 15 miles. One way. Not a lot of traffic usually, but Amish buggies and farm equipment can slow you down pretty quickly….as can slowing down just to see the sites, like an escaped pig the other day LOL
So, the kind of driving Jay is describing is pretty much the norm for a lot of us living in the country or small towns.
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08/29/2017 at 9:42 am #22317
yes we have someone clean the farmhouse, though we also clean when she’s not available or we want to save a bit of cash. we do all the laundry. our ebay helper does the laundry when we’re traveling (and she does ebay stuff while it’s washing/drying, the perfect combo!)
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08/28/2017 at 2:03 pm #22276
@Jay – did you move all the shit outside?!?!?! LOLOLOL
Also, hope any Gulf Coast Texas scavengers are holding up ok out there… video coming from the scene look awful!
Week August 20-26, 2017
Total Items in Store: 957
Items Sold: 24 (3 Amazon)
Cost of Items Sold: $90 (13.8% of sales)
Total Sales: $651.89
Highest Price Sold: $42.50 (1964 The Beatles Second Album)
Average Price Sold: $27.16
Returns: 0
Money Spent on New Inventory This Week: $0
Number of items listed this week: 0
Promoted listings test: 11 sales, $299.46 (45.9% of total sales), $20.15 fees (6.7% of sales)Good week. Nothing crazy expensive sold, but nothing super low dollar either… just a bunch of bread & butter $25-$35 items. The Beatles album was from the big lot I bought about 3 weeks ago now. Update on that: 15 sold thus far for $575.
No picks this weekend. Mentioned last week that I was head down on getting a lot of listings up last weekend cause the next few wouldn’t have any. This weekend ended up hanging out at a friend’s place that recently moved back to the area – fantasy football draft, BBQ & beverages, bought & watched the Mayweather/McGregor fight, etc. Guys weekend. This coming holiday weekend we’re headed to LA for a wedding. We attached a couple extra days on the front to hang out, go to the beach, etc. Got an AirBnB in Santa Monica for the first few days, then staying at the wedding hotel for the last two.
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08/28/2017 at 7:33 pm #22297
ha, yes we moved all our shit outside. but it’s going to rain, so we sorted it, kept any essential hardware/paint/stain, put that BACK inside and brought everything else home (some of which is now outside our house… hmmmm)
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08/28/2017 at 6:18 pm #22284
I really loved seeing your places on the video. I do so miss your what sold videos, Ryanne. I hope they return someday. Even if you film your computer screen like I do, which saves a lot of time.
We were deep into laundry and garbage at our Airbnb listing this past week too, so it helps to know our peers are doing that as well.
Have a great trip.
Beth
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08/28/2017 at 7:36 pm #22298
i do miss doing a what sold video too. just been so busy and our stores have really been doing well, so it’s hard to keep up.
oh yeah, airbnb is all about laundry and garbage/recycling. jay brought a truckload to the dump and i brought a carload to the recycling today (wouldn’t all fit in one vehicle!).
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08/28/2017 at 7:11 pm #22287
Store Week 8/20/17 – 8/26/17
Total items in store: 1464
Items sold: 23
Cost of items sold: $23.75
Total sales: $763.15
Highest price sold: 2 at $75 each (Vintage Puukko knife and vintage Ren and Stimpy poster!)
Average price sold: $33.18
International Sales: 2
Returns: 0
Money spent on new inventory this week: $71.00Yes, someone totally bought a Ren and Stimpy poster for $75.00! Gotta love eBay!
It was a pretty good week for me and this week is starting off well. I’m taking some really cheap offers too – cleaning house to make room for the good stuff!-
08/28/2017 at 7:38 pm #22299
POWDERED TOAST MANNNNNNN!
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08/28/2017 at 10:09 pm #22304
As I have gotten older, I have come to realize that because of this fast paced, serious and often times intense world we live in, sometimes you just need to sit and watch a cartoon. I have never seen this one before. Thank you for sharing
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09/01/2017 at 11:27 am #22432
HA!
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08/28/2017 at 8:25 pm #22300
Sells have really improved over the last 6 weeks. I used the slow summer to trim the fat off my store and make some adjustments, and it looks like they helped. For one, I now sell most things with free shipping. Sells seem to have picked up as a result. I also now try to list higher quality items, which as time has passed I have gotten better about finding. I hit my 1st 4,000 dollar month this month on eBay, with close to 1k on etsy and several hundred on FBA as well. I plan to scale up etsy and have some niche craft items to list soon. Now if I can just keep the rat wheel spinning fast without stopping.
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08/29/2017 at 9:50 am #22319
JFH .. So you think doing the Free Shipping is driving sales? That topic has always been a big back and forth here on SL. I see where Etsy is really pushing that feature also. The schools of thought are to weigh each item along with guestimated packing [which we do and are pretty good at hitting it right on the money] then rounding up to the next half pound, and then picking a spot 2/3 rds of the way across the USA [approx. 2,200 miles away] and look at calculated shipping to that area and then build that into the price of the item. Then use Free Shipping on everything. But the down side is when you run a 20% off Sale in your store and also accept an offer of another 10-15% even below that you are reducing the cost of shipping that you “built in” by the same percentage.
So there is the rub, and the concern for most who sell individual, unique, OOAK items.
Mike at MDC Galleries in Atlanta
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09/02/2017 at 12:10 am #22463
MDC, yes, I do. I do think it depends on the things you sell. I am primarily a contemporary clothing and shoes seller, and both of these venues are very competitive. I think it helps with search results when buyers search items with free shipping. I simply figure the shipping into the cost. Sorry for the late reply, it has been several days since I logged in.
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08/28/2017 at 8:51 pm #22303
Yay! I love Ryanne’s videos.
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08/28/2017 at 11:03 pm #22310
RR Store Week August 20-26, 2017
Total Items in Store: 1,347
Items Sold: 27
Cost of Items Sold: $32.56
Total Sales: $573.87
Highest Price Sold: $102.97 (3 lots of deodorant to the same customer)
Average Price Sold: $21.25
Returns: 0
Money Spent on New Inventory This Week: $0
Number of items listed this week: 53Missed my goal, but things are finally starting to pick up. Lots of low dollar items went. I’ll take any sale, but wow…nothing over $40 bucks. I counted the three lots of discontinued Teen Spirit deodorant as one sale, as they were all bought at once by the same buyer. Officially in the black after spending $150 at an estate sale last week. That’s really high for me; I’ve been spoiled by the nice estate sale ladies giving me huge discounts. I gulped when the guy hit me with $150, but I knew it was good stuff.
Off to DJ, then watch the video. Have a great week, everyone!
*Paul*
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08/29/2017 at 1:54 pm #22327
Loved the day in a life video! All the attention to detail, from Ebay items to all the small things you need to think about for customers to feel comfortable and happy in an airbnb. You can tell how much you care for what you do, it’s not just for a paycheck.
Plus, y’all make rural living look nice! I’ve always lived in large cities, but to have a place like that farmhouse. Wow!
I’ve actually had a good week of sales on Ebay this past week. A few large multi-order sales (1 of 20 items!) and some nice sales of older stock. The store is now up to over 7500 items.
I’ve been getting a lot of stock in, but just haven’t had the time to list any of it. I did list 80 items last week, but it’s not enough to catch up with new stock being brought in, or to wittle down the boxes of unlisted stock I’m still going through.
- This reply was modified 6 years, 7 months ago by almasty.
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08/29/2017 at 11:16 pm #22344
August 20-26 2017
Total items in store: Etsy 529 // Ebay 489 (Items not crossposted I list different types of things on Etsy and Ebay)
Items Sold: Etsy 12 // Ebay 12
Cost of items Sold: Etsy $17.49 // Ebay $45.39
Total Sales: Etsy $81.20 // Ebay $236.88
Highest Price Sold: Keen Boots $55
Average Price Sold: $13.25
Returns: 2
Number of items listed this week: 67 (Listed at $919)Two returns this week, and another on the way. One grumpy buyer, that I am annoyed with myself over because I let the person get to me. I let them cause me stress even though I just wanted to move on. I was very professional through-out so I am happy about that at least.
Looking forward to watching your video! 😀 Thanks!
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08/30/2017 at 1:38 am #22345
Hello everyone.
Haven’t posted in a long time, but life kept me busy. Between new job, supercharging Amazon, trying to keep Ebay afloat and vacation in Europe I did not find time to post the numbers but I did listen to every podcast.
I just saw the vlog and your rentals look amazing! You guys are a inspiration of entrepreneurship!Since I don’t remember what was the last month I posted I will just post 2 images from my GoDaddy account.
That has breakdown for everything (sales, returns, shipping, fees expenses and so on). That should show a realistic picture of how a business that is 85% Amazon looks like.
Here is the overall for 2017:
Overall 2017and here is the breakdown:
2017 breakdownThanks,
John- This reply was modified 6 years, 7 months ago by John Baston.
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08/30/2017 at 11:18 am #22355
Great seeing a day in your life!
I keep meaning to post my weekly numbers and then life gets in the way, so for now I will just try to keep up with posting more regularly.
I finally feel like I’m in a groove with daily listing. I’m at 940 items listed and hope to be at 1,000 by the end of this week. I went full time with eBay in April, but between travel, kids being home for the summer, puppies, and my freelance writing and editing gigs, I couldn’t get a routine down until now.
I envy you with the new storage building. We downsized a couple years ago, so I’m running my eBay business out of 2 storage units located down the hall from our 1,200-square-foot condo. They are big storage units and I have separate areas for storage bins, shipping and even a small photo studio, but nothing like you’re about to get with the new building.
I hope you’ll post another video featuring the new building when you get it all set up.
Enjoy your trip!
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08/30/2017 at 12:37 pm #22357
I finally finished your video. That was a great idea to do that! Love the view on the second house. You all are so creative and bold with your design and decorating. My wife and I stink at that kind of thing.
Couple of notes:
– I keep ebay open in my iphone safari browser in classic mode. It gives you full access to the regular ebay site. When I pull inventory this gives me direct access to the inventory custom SKU and full title right in a list format, as well as the date I am required to ship by. If I need to look at photos to verify the item then I use the mobile app because photos are more friendly there.– How in the blue blazes do you all find your sold inventory with zero inventory control system???!!!??? I relied on my memory and listing start date for a long time but started to lose my sanity once I passed 500 items. I would look at the start date and use other listings with the same start date so I’d really be looking for a pile of items to know I was in the ballpark. You have more than 6000?!?! I simply do not comprehend how you can look at a sold item you listed years ago that may or may not have been relisted a few times due to unpaids, cancels, or returns and know where it is. How often do you have to dig through multiple bins? All I can think is that you all must have steel traps for memory.
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08/30/2017 at 7:12 pm #22375
We have 6000 items split up over about 60 categories.
Each category has its own bin.
Pots and pans, Knives, Remote controls, Tools, Trivets, ………Plus our clothes are all on hangers in categories:
Men’s button shirts, Skirts, Women’s winter coats…..So no bin or rack has more than 100 items.
When something sells, we know what category it belongs to.
Only lost about 5 things in 20,000 sales over the past 10 years.But this is not a system that is easy to teach our helper.
This is why we’ll follow everyone’s advice and soon have a real inventory system.-
08/30/2017 at 8:15 pm #22380
Our 2 Cents when it comes to bin numbering….
Two major schools of thought. The first is to group like items together as you are doing, and number them <group name>-1, <group name>-2, etc. We do this, with D1, D2 for Dress Shirts, J1, J2, for Jeans, etc.
The second school of thought is to be like Amazon, and just number the bins 1, 2, etc. and you place items in the first bin available (so commingling unlike items).
I would suggest the first option. Since we are all human and sometimes put items in the wrong bin, at least if it is with like items, you have a better shot of finding it quick by looking in 3-5 bins of the same item…than having to look through every bin.
Also, I would keep a spreadsheet (we keep it on Google Docs) of every item and what bin it was in. Serves as a great back up, and if you DON’T find it, you can look at the items you listed before and after it and that may help you find it.
PS – Have you ever wondered why it is “A Penny For Your Thoughts” but you have to “Put Your Two Cents In?”… Somebody’s making a penny…
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08/30/2017 at 12:49 pm #22358
Does anyone here use FOTOFUZE to clean up the background of their pics?
I was happy as a clam after trying it and seeing how great it made my white background look, and made the items pop. Then I realized the pictures were not zooming when loaded into ebay. Fotofuze for free only did 700 pixel pictures.
To get to higher resolution (1500×1500) is a minimum of $5 a month, which allows you 1500 photos. $10 a month for unlimited photos.
Anyone have the subscription? Is it worth it overall? Are there other alternatives that do the same and are free? I know I know, but I’m an ex-techie and our motto is “free is better than cheap.” But that usually applied to food. Oh well, I digress.
Any help on alternatives or a push to sign up for Fotofuse would be appreciated.
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08/30/2017 at 8:08 pm #22378
We use PhotoScape. Free to download from the internet, love it. Cleans up to white background, auto level, auto contrast, crop, etc. We love it so much we won’t list without it.
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08/31/2017 at 1:02 pm #22400
Thanks T-Satt. Just downloaded PhotoScape and placed in my Graphics Utility folder. We will explore it later when we get a few minutes.
Mike at MDC Galleries in Atlanta
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08/30/2017 at 1:21 pm #22361
Beverly,
Bonanza has a background burner that you can use on eBay as well. I don’t know if it does what Fotofuse does, but it is free.
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08/30/2017 at 1:51 pm #22363
Thanks! I just tried the Bonanza Background Burner on one picture that I had also used FotoFuze on. It did result in a picture that ebay zoom worked on. However, it took my square pic and made it rectangular, not desirable. The result was very similar to FotoFuze except the edges of the item were weird, lots of little triangles in the shadow, not crisp and clear. It also was a ton slower than FotoFuze and can only upload and download one picture at a time (maybe there’s a way, but I didn’t see it on my first attempt). Anyway thanks for the suggestion, maybe there’s another one out there.
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08/30/2017 at 2:27 pm #22365
Hello,
I use paint 3D which I have found to be beneficial and it works with the eBay zoom feature. -
08/30/2017 at 5:07 pm #22370
Beautiful country! I would never get anything listed, I would be chasing Trout in that river…..
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08/30/2017 at 8:10 pm #22379
Total Items in Store: 745
Items Sold: 18
Cost of Items Sold: $32.56
Total Sales: $465.90
Highest Price Sold: $69.44 for Chinese Postcard
Average Price Sold: $25.88I had a great week this last week. Thanks to Jay and Spinachetr for the old podcast on postcards. I had 4 1960’s or 70’s postcards of street scenes in China. I put them on auction and one sold for $70 and the others didn’t sell at all. Go figure. I also sold an 1990’s Harley Davidson t shirt for $40. I found that shirt crumpled up at the bottom of a box at a yard sale. You never know what you will find when you dig. My store is really picking up after I hit 700 items. I reorganized all my items and realized I have at least 100 items of junk from a couple of months ago when I started. Thanks for all the help and encouragement.
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08/31/2017 at 8:49 am #22388
Loved the video.The new house looks amazing. I would love to get that recipe for the keto zucchini bread. I’ve been eating keto since may and have lost 21 pounds. Have a great trip.
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09/01/2017 at 4:23 am #22418
Loved the video of your Virginia life. Sometimes I wish I could wear a Go-Pro all day to see where the time went. Even if I stay home all day every day is so random. Have been spending time getting random projects done around our house like getting the upstairs carpet restretched and the downstairs patio door slider resealed because it was leaking water into the house, plus got one car repaired, and still taking care of our son’s house which is on the market and requires all kinds of city inspections and repairs, plus having a bit of a social life.
So listing has been slower than usual, but my sales have definitely been up from last month and from this time last year. I’m so glad I took the time off last month to dump around 20% of my old store inventory into an auction and reorganize the remainder. I actually enjoy listing now. And I’m back over 1000 items. Won’t be long until I have the same number of listings but with higher value items.
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09/02/2017 at 11:10 pm #22486
“Won’t be long until I have the same number of listings but with higher value items.”
That’s great, Linda! I continue to slowly move in that direction as well. Thought sometimes it seems very slow. I’ve just started this same strategy of auctioning off old low value inventory (thanks SL folks for the idea). Feels better to use free auction listings for the crap I need to just get rid of, listings that are just going to waste otherwise. Last week I moved about 30 items to auction, and only 2 sold, but that’s 2 more than had been selling previously. So I’m going to continue with that approach for now.
I wonder if anyone ever uses the free auction listings for items they would normally put at fixed price, but they’ve maxed out the free listings in their store level. I mean, you could set your initial bid to whatever you would have set your fixed pricing listing to. And if you don’t want the buyer to have to wait a week for the auction to be over, you could always set the Buy It Now price to be the same as the initial bid or just a penny higher. And set the auctions to relist when not sold. That would buy you a bunch of free listings. I probably wouldn’t do this myself, b/c it seems not worth the hassle to have two different configurations for my main inventory listings, but for folks looking to squeeze as much as possible out of a store subscription, maybe that’s an option?
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09/03/2017 at 8:24 am #22492
We use auctions sometimes to move slow inventory, or something that had a flaw that we missed. FYI though: if you do auction with Buy it Now, your BIN price has to be 20% higher than your initial bid price.
Our best method for moving slow inventory has been to move it to our store category called Clearance Sale. Then everything in that category is put on sale at 75% off.
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09/01/2017 at 11:20 am #22430
I don’t think it was in this episode, but Jay was reading from something that stated you couldn’t use “standard”, “economy” or “expedited” shipping for guaranteed delivery. You had to be specific what carrier you were going to use, but I’ve searched all over and don’t see that information. Could you please post that or mention where you saw that? Thanks much! Love your podcasts. Can totally relate with so much of your business model. Been listening for YEARS! 🙂
Gina
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09/01/2017 at 11:41 am #22436
Be smart to just read the entire Guaranteed Shipping Program info on eBay’s website: http://pages.ebay.com/seller-center/shipping/guaranteed-delivery.html
Always best just to get info straight from the source.
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09/01/2017 at 11:43 am #22438
I have, several times, Jay, but I don’t see any reference to what was mentioned in the podcast about having to identify the carrier. Guess I’ll inquire about it on eBay for Business. Thanks.
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09/01/2017 at 11:53 am #22439
Scroll half way down the page:
http://pages.ebay.com/seller-center/shipping/guaranteed-delivery.htmlLook under the question “I opted in to the handling time option. What are my next steps?”
It says:
Note: Guaranteed listings with the handling time option must state the carrier service (i.e. not generic services such as standard, economy, or expedited). “Flat rate freight” cannot be listed as a shipping service. The listing location must have postal code so eBay can determine the guaranteed delivery date.
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09/01/2017 at 11:56 am #22440
You may want to click on the link Jay provided and look below to Guaranteed Shipping. Then below that shipping options are discussed and links are provided. It is all going to depend on how you as a seller choose to engage the practice of Guaranteed Delivery.
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09/01/2017 at 12:17 pm #22442
I clearly missed the “Note”. I appreciate you taking the time to point that out. Thank you!
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09/03/2017 at 11:13 am #22493
Home movies! Woo hoo! I will second that it was definitely fun to see what we’ve been hearing about all this time. Thanks! Have you guys been to Iceland before? I was never stationed in Iceland but I did prosecute a General Court Martial there that involved a week-long visit in the winter and one again in the summer. It was quite amazing to see the country at such different times and it is really beautiful.
For numbers I don’t have much to share as my lengthy inactivity has apparently put a curse on my sales. But that’s ok because life is still getting in the way lately for me too and limiting my eBay time. My sympathies to you, Christine. At our house, we’re still getting settled in after our move and last week was crazy. One kid started high school where he knew but one fellow student (whom he’d met only a couple weeks before) and I took the other kid off to start college a couple states away. Fortunately both kids are pretty independent and resilient, having traveled and been away from home a lot with and without parents, not to mention the periodic military uprootings they have experienced, but last week was still not an easy one for maintaining parental sanity.
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