Scavenger Life Episode 395: What Lifestyle Is eBay Supporting For You?

[Ryanne]

 What lifestyle does ebay afford you? Have you been there for a while or are you just getting started? Everyone seems to have a slightly different an
[See the full post at: Scavenger Life Episode 395: What Lifestyle Is eBay Supporting For You?]

[Mark S]

2019-01-13 – 2019-01-19

Total Items In Store: 2655
Items Sold: 14 (12 ebay, 1 Bonanza, 1 Retrospekt for $425 for 15 cameras)
Cost of Items Sold: $45
Total Sales: $942 ($517 w\o Retrospekt)
Highest Price Sold: $128 (Vintage Jacket)
Average Price Sold: $41.69 (excluding Retrospekt)
# Items Listed: 38
Money Spent on New Inventory: $100

Gut Sales Report for the week: This week felt really slow. I was hoping to at least break $500, which I did. I am glad to at least do that in these slow times. Retrospekt was a bonus here. I am sending in 15 cameras. Thanks again to the person on the forum that alerted us to this. I think I still have about 15 more that didn’t qualify, but some may in the future.

Challenge of the week: I ordered 2 extra rail bars for for clothing racks. This will allow me to have a total of three double clothing racks that are 5 feet each. That is a total of 30 feet of clothing rack space! That is all the clothing I want. So, this week the challenge is to get all my clothes on the new rack space and order every bag by lot #. I will be very organized on my hanging clothes then.

Scavenge of the week: Vintage Florsheim shoes new in the box. Got these at a church thrift store. This thrift store is a real nice store without the high prices. The main guy that works there recognized me when I came in the door and alerted me to the new shoes that just came in. There were actually two pair and I got both for $6 each. It is nice to get some help along the way!

Mark S

[flippincanada]

Not just eBay but a lot of local selling too.

For me it’s a very active side hustle that I’ve been doing for about 15 years. It’s served as a buffer in lean times a bonus in good times. I do depend on it but the time I put into it depends on how busy I am with other revenue generating activities. It has allowed me to quit bad jobs and turn down weak contracts a few times over the years. When I have the time, I spend it sourcing and listing. When I really need the money, I know that increased time and effort will always see me through. Hourly jobs and salaries don’t always produce higher revenues through harder smarter work. eBay and local selling always do

So,selling has given me freedom above all else. Freedom from financial stress, freedom to be choosier on my contract work and the the piece mind from knowing I can always fall back on reselling in difficult financial Times.

[Jay]

I can see scavenging and selling as a great hedge against bad job situations. Gives you F-you money to allow some flexibility. Employees get in bad situations when they have zero options.

[Retro Treasures WV]

Items in Store 1100
Items Sold 25
Total Sales $621.88
COGS $73.00
Total Profit $548.88
Average profit $21.96
Average sales price $24.88
New Listings 47

My sales volume is doing very well, but something just feels “off” about my sales. Maybe it’s the fact most of my sales are low dollar right now. I am on trend to finish a few hundred dollars below my January 2018 sales this month, even though I have 1100 items in inventory compared to my 975 average a year ago.

It is likely the shutdown is affecting sales. Man I hope this ends soon…

I’ve been on a listing tear the last 3 weeks. My system of creating listings at work during breaks is really helping me. Once I have a bunch of listings created, I tackle the photos in my ebay room as quick as possible. Then I upload and finish the listings at my leisure on the phone during down times to be more efficient.

I’ve listed as much in the last 3 weeks as I have in the previous 8 weeks combined! So while my sales are not where I’d like them to be, I am starting out 2019 on a positive path to get a lot more inventory up for sale.

[Dirt Poor Picker]

Been picking for over 30 years. Platforms since 1998. I was watching this podcast when it started on a different website. I can’t even remember the name of the old website now. I think it had eBay in the name or something.
My sales this year is like any year. A little slow. Some years are slower. The good thing is you can always change it. Bring prices down and have more sales. Use pricespectre or something to bring the prices down.

I have never did this full time. I was a nurse for 30 years. I did use this to travel with one time. Work part time and sell. I have partial VA disability and SS now. I am not saying I don’t make a full time income. I am saying I don’t rely on this money.

The only thing that changed with me is I used to sell everything. Now I have breathing problems can’t lift as much and I have switched to clothes, shoes and things I can pick up easy. I don’t think I like clothes lol. I don’t mind shoes.

I sell on eBay, Posh, no more Bonanza, I sell on Etsy. Locally and more. I source via auctions (online only) then pick up. I do Online Estate sale auctions. I source easy garage sales.

Quit sweating it peeps. It is going to fluctuate year to year. I have been through 3 recessions while selling and two were when it was online. I still made money, I just had to sell different stuff and list more is all. You just have to think outside the box. Lets see the 2001 recession I bought junk cars and sold the parts. Trust me more people work on there car during a recession. 2007 recession I bought more things that people had to have, household, graphing calculators, shoes and things like that. More people buy used when pennies are pinched.

[Jay]

Well said. Things go up and things go down. The key for us to make sure our spending is always assumes that things are going down. When things are good, we have plenty of profit.

[Retro Treasures WV]

What lifestyle does ebay support? ebay filled the gap caused by the pay cut I took at my new employer. While it was a pay cut, the hours I work went WAY down as I’m no longer on call or expected to work over on a regular basis. I put in my 40 hours in a low hazard work place and forget about work once I get to my car. That alone was TOTALLY worth the pay cut. That time I would have spent being miserable working over for free (salary exempt sucks) I instead spend on ebay, which I LOVE.

Currently my ebay supports the following:
– ebay is fully self supported with separate accounts than my normal checking account and payment cards. All inventory purchases, fees, and expenses come directly from ebay funds.
– Car payments are paid with ebay funds.
– All weekend getaways with family are paid for with ebay funds
– Yearly Vacation paid for with ebay funds
– If sales are good enough, I make the house payment with ebay funds.
– This year all Christmas gifts were paid for via ebay funds since my Christmas sales were so good.

Having ebay fund so many things frees me up to put the federal maximum into my health Savings Account every year, as well as putting a good chunk of my paycheck into 401K. In this day & age I consider that Health Savings account a far greater priority than 401K. One severe injury or illness to any member of my family can be devastating to our finances. I no longer have to worry about that, as I have a couple years worth of max out of pocket amounts in that fund.

[Dirt Poor Picker]

That reminds me, what ever happened to Mikey and his Wife, the ones that yah started with?

[Jay]

They moved onto other interests. Mikey got big into ultramarathons and biohacking.

[Dirt Poor Picker]

Man he was a character, used to love visit his store to see what he was modeling and how he was posing. Got some laughs. Yep. That is what I usually tell people when they say it’s slow, my views are down and fretting it. I usually say four words, Adapt and change it.

[Jay]

Yeah, sales will never be zero as long as you keep listing. If you live cheaply, it’s all good.

I think many people’s fear is more about some kind of “zombie apocalypse” where society shuts down and descends into chaos. That’s an understandable but irrational fear. If societal collapse occurs, then nothing really matters.

[totommyto]

First the numbers, and then to listen to what sounds like a great one, thank you so much again for making another Monday morning feel like a Friday evening!

1/13/19 – 1/19/19 (note – I do not cross list across platforms, items are unique)

eBay store totommyto

Total store items: 594 (Dumped a bunch of cheap consignment, so listings dropped but happy!)
Number of items sold: 18 (4 international)
Total eBay sales (not counting s/h): $571.00
Cost of items sold: $43.50
Consignment payouts $64.50 (One consignment acct gone, 2nd gone next month, working on 3rd!)
Highest price sold: $98 – Lot of 5 laundry machine coin boxes (paid $20)
Average price sold: $32.70
Returns: 0
Money spent on new inventory: $70
Number of items listed this week: 6
Sell through rate for the week: 2.8

Etsy store oldfleatoymarket

Total store items: 619
Number of items sold: 6 (1 international)
Total Etsy sales ( not counting s/h): $182
Cost of items sold: $2
Consignment payouts: $8
Highest price sold: $98 – Barbie doll Kimono fashion 1960’s
Average price sold: $33.33
Returns: 0
Money spent on new inventory: $34
Number of items listed this week: 2
Sell through rate for the week: 1.0

[almasty]

1/14/19 – 1/20/19
Items in store: 10,250 – main ebay store. 205 – 2nd ebay store – 25 – etsy – 2 – poshmark (all unique inventories, no cross-posting)
Sales: 41 – Main Ebay Store – 12 – 2nd Ebay Store – 1 – etsy – 0 – poshmark
Sales $ 760 main ebay store – $210 – 2nd ebay store – $10 – etsy
Highest Price Sold – $110 Book Main Ebay Store – $65 cup and bowl set (Yeah, I don’t know. My husband was like ???) on 2nd ebay store – $10 + shipping for a lot of 2 books on Etsy
New items listed: 115 between all 3 stores. I don’t have time to work on Poshmark at all, though my 1 bin of laundered clothes is giving me the stink eye.
COGs for all 3 stores: $73
Money spent on new inventory this week: $40

54 sales between all 3 stores, just below $1k gross. Thrifted one day this week, found hardly anything. No estate sales this past weekend. Sales this week felt busier than they were. I feel like if the shutdown hadn’t happened, or gone on as long as it has, this would’ve been a REALLY good January.

I wanted to get 200+ listings up between all 3 venues, but I was too busy. Will aim for 200+ this week, but I’ll be happy to just get up another 100+ again. I already have 90 items prepped and photographed, ready to be listed. I’ll work on those for the next few days. Those are “new” items purchased within the past few months.

Trying to divide my listing between new items (purchased within the past 6 months) and the backlog, but sometimes new items win. I’m still buying new stock, but not that much. Some of the backlog has been selling, sometimes overnight! Whatever works.

[Retro Treasures WV]

Well to be fair, we had a double whammy this month that is affecting sales:
Shutdown…and Marie Kondo.

[ChristineK]

True! My husband is convinced that the shutdown is affecting sales. I’m not so convinced, as I think 800K people (or 800K households) overall probably aren’t making a huge dent in Ebay sales. Marie Kondo is another story though. I can see this trend affecting sales.

In the past month, I’ve found myself listing a lot more on Poshmark, Etsy and now also Mercari, and a lot less on Ebay. I’m not always even cross-posting on Ebay anymore. Like the caller said, Ebay has made listing cumbersome. It’s so easy on both of the other platforms. I don’t see either of these platforms going anywhere. Maybe Ebay can take notes and make listing as simple as Poshmark and Mercari make it.

Don’t get me wrong, I still like Ebay for longtail and more one-off esoteric items. For everything else, I feel myself migrating to other platforms that aren’t as much of a time suck as Ebay though.

• This reply was modified 7 years, 2 months ago by ChristineK.
• This reply was modified 7 years, 2 months ago by ChristineK.

[Jay]

It’s difficult to say but it’s not just the 800k direct government workers. It’s also about all the private contractors that depend on the government. Plus all the corporations that makes money from the government.

The uncertainty of the government shutdown also just creates confusion and doubt in the wider economy. Just ask around. When people say “I dont know about the future” is not a good economic atmosphere to be in.

[ChristineK]

Really good points that I didn’t think about…I can totally see how overall fear of the greater economy could lead to a downward trend in sales.

[almasty]

Shutdown’s Pain Cuts Deep for the Homeless and Other Vulnerable Americans

Unfortunately, the cascading effects of the shutdown are being felt a long way down the line from just 800,000 federal employees.

“One month after the government shutdown began, its effects have begun to hurt some of the most vulnerable Americans: not just homeless people, but also those who are one crisis away from the streets. And nonprofit groups dedicated to helping low-income renters are already scrambling to survive without the lifeblood payments from HUD that began being cut off on Jan. 1.”

Now, whether these are potential customers on Ebay, I don’t know? I’m sure there are people in this economic position that look for deals on gently used clothing and other items on Ebay. At the very least, the landlords are not getting paid, and they are more likely in a position to not be shopping out at local businesses or eating out, OR buying unnecessary items online since they are not getting paid by their renters and are most likely having to dig through savings (if possible) or using credit in order to pay down their mortgages.

[almasty]

Actually, I think Marie Kondo would have the opposite impact on my sales if this was a normal economy – I carry a lot of historical and sentimental type items that would draw more of an interest in them if people were looking out for them. They are still “wants,” so they are low on what is necessary to buy.

My items with watchers count has surged to its highest point ever over the past month – I am currently at over 1,200 items with watchers. This includes very cheap to expensive items. They just aren’t moving at the rate they should be moving, especially the lower end. These are not items that people need right away, so they will not be purchased until the economy is better.

I have also decided not to run any sales until things improve. As soon as the announcement comes that the shutdown is over, I will immediately put my store on sale in order to jostle buyers into action. Until then, it’s not worth it. As much as buyers want to buy certain items, the money isn’t there.

[MDC Galleries & Fine Art]

Off topic here but just had to share an experience we had at Goodwill yesterday.

We only visit Goodwill stores about once a year. Not a real source for our type of inventory. But over a years time we do accumulate bins of items that we decide not to list for various reasons. After reading the more recent posts on places to donate, we should have listened to the adivce of the SL Members and gone to a place to donate our bounced inventory where it would have done some good.

Here is a short note I replied to Goodwill online when they asked for my comments. Reading my reply tells the whole story. And what a heart dropping moment when we heard that sound and could see the collector “Clifton” do what he did.

Dear Goodwill Upper Management team:
We are an online seller and donated about a hundred items we did not wish to list. Approx. 50 items were misc. clothing, many new with tags and approx. 50 items of glass, ceramic or pottery.

All were very good items that were suitable to be placed on your shelves for sale. In fact some of these were items we originally bought at Goodwill.

We brought all of these in using our plastic tote bins which we asked to be returned. Well due to what we think was the need for speed, all of the items were quickly dumped into a larger rolling bin and we could hear that probably almost every item was destroyed and we could hear all the hard good items breaking in a loud crashing sound.

Guys, there was Stueben pieces, Waterford, Tiffany glass, Staffordshire, Royal Doulton, Andrea by Sadek, Murano, misc. jewelry, good water glasses, and crystal of all sorts in there.

We calculate well over a thousand dollars worth of items at your resale margins in there you could have resold if your collector would have taken them out by hand and placed on a cart.

They only had minor issues with them that made them undesirable for us to re-sell in our Ebay and Etsy stores.

Instead, it sounded like everything was broken as it was dumped in from that height into a rolling dump bin and hit the bottom with a loud and sustained crash as the collector continued to tip and empty our full plastic totes into that large collection bin.

We will never donate to you guys again. Everything in the future will go to a local church which holds periodic sales to raise money for the poor.

the management team at
MDC Concepts, Inc.
MDC Galleries and Fine Art

This experience just sucked rocks for me. Susan and I both discussed that we are going to seek out a local church charity that holds annual or semi-annual rummage sales and make sure our off casts are used to generate income for a charity that will put the money to good use.

What was a final joke, was when I filled out the online receipt, listed what items we donated, I got a small screen that informed us that the value of our donations would provide 13.2 hours of traning for some person in need of a job. What a joke. All of the hard goods were destroyed. They have nothing to resell and is going to provide squat for anyone.

BTW this Goodwill has posted new prices for the clothing racks at $6.99 to $9.99 per item. And as we left I checked out the men’s shoe rack and it was mostly single super large size shoes left. Very few pairs. I picked up one “left” shoe, a Johnson and Murphy all leather upper and half leather sole with some heel wear, made in Italy and that one, single shoe, size 9-B [not even a super large shoe] was priced at $24.95!!!! At our margins we would be listing that at $250 for the single shoe.

Goodwill’s have become a complete joke for us. No wonder we don’t go there any more.

Mike, Susan, Lisa, Christie the management team at MDC Concepts, Inc.
MDC Galleries and Fine Art
SmartParts Equipment Parts divs.

[Sharyn]

Sorry to hear about your experience, Mike. I’m assuming that the manager did not have any idea that the employee is doing this, and I hope that they take action. I don’t do much with my local Goodwill either. There is a church thrift store in the area, and I can just drop stuff on their porch when they aren’t open.

[ChristineR]

Total Items in Store: 334 Ebay, About 55 Mercari
Items Sold: 6 Ebay, 2 Mercari
Gross Sales: $259 Ebay, $43 Mercari
Cost of Items Sold: $38 + $3 shipping included + a couple items ours
Highest Price Sold: $120 best offer (Set of 4 designer hard place mats, paid $6 indy thrift)
Average Price Sold: $43 Ebay, $22 Mercari
Returns: 0
Money Spent on New Inventory This Week: $21
Number of items listed this week: 34

Another quiet week but I was able to get some listing done thankfully. I’m full digging into the piles of coffee mugs and textiles. Checking comps on Ebay first, then putting some on Mercari instead if under $15-20. I also started cross posting my oldest Ebay vintage listings to Mercari as an experiment. Did sell similar to anything with the 18 month band on Ebay.

Ebay is helping us pay for our teenagers. Turns out that teens are more expensive than little kids. We’ve had a lot of extra expenses including college touring trips, theatre tickets and weekend trips, SAT prep course, lessons, two in braces. Ultimately, that’s where our “extra money” is going these days, though I don’t pay most of those things directly from my Ebay account. I’ve shifted from plowing $ into inventory with RA to draining my profits and using the $ to maintain. Not glamorous, but some fun with the occasional smaller scale trips in there. Ebay totally helps us offset the high cost of living here so I’m grateful for that. Unfortunately, I only seem to have enough listing time available to help grease the wheels a bit.

That’s cool Ryanne that you are inspired to clean out by the show. There was one girl on the show – the stewardess I think? – who really wrestled with letting go of potentially useful, practical items. It can be hard to weigh priorities when you are a scavenger. I’ve yet to get on this in earnest, but partially because I know that I’ll just be adding to my death piles by taking things out of the closets. I’m trying to get rid of the boxes, not add to my backlog of low dollar items!

Finishing the podcast while I clean stickers off coffee mugs. Have a great week!

[BethGreen]

Wiser words were never spoken: We have our time and we hang out together…we eat together, we talk about everything, we get to experience the world together…That’s the whole point!
One of the things I absolutely love about this podcast is the philosophical aspect. So few people seem to live this way.
I started selling on eBay so I could stay home with my kids. Ten years later, they are all school age and I struggle sometimes with the fact that I could make more money if I got an outside job. But the fact is, it would be a major lifestyle change. My kids can do the activities they want and I am there to pick them up, to greet them with a hug when they get home, to make real home-cooked dinners, to not be exhausted when my husband gets home so he gets positive attention from a happy wife…and doesn’t have a laundry list of home chores to complete. It sounds really traditional. But it works out really well for us.
On the podcast you spoke about eBay not showing all the listings in a search. The thing I’ve noticed is, if you check that “show me all the listings” box…the number of listing results does not change. Try it out. I really believe this is not ethical, to charge a listing fee (or subscription fee that includes listings) and then not actually receive that service for it. I sometimes worry that this is where Promoted Listings is headed. That only people who give a bigger cut to eBay are going to be seen at all.

[ice_queen]

MDC- These are many of the reasons that we wont donate to Goodwill anymore.
I will say though, that the single shoes likely had a pair in the back. Our store only has singles out on the floor and you have to ask them to go get the other one if you want to purchase them…it started about 6 months ago..I never buy them for resale b/c of their crazy prices, but discovered this new system when my kiddo needed new basketball shoes for her own use. Crazy right?

[Doublythumbs]

Jan 13-19
Total Items in Store: 2038
Items Sold: 35
Total Sales : $989
* above yearly average of $901
* above 2018 total week sales of $886
Highest Price: $160 (Golden Shield Deluxe Transworld 90 Wave Band Transistor Radio)
Average Price: $28
Returns: 0
Cost of Goods Sold: $113
Costs of Goods Purchased this Week: $.50 cents
Number of New Items Listed this Week: 85!

Well, I said last week that I would focus on listing, and I nailed it! 85 new unique listings in a week. That might be my personal best. And it’s always nice when newly listed items sell on the same day or a few days later.

Not much else has been happening in our neck of the woods. I went to an estate sale after work one day but everything was tagged with high prices. I overheard the lady running the sale say that she had a shop, which indicated to me that she knew how to research prices and price accordingly. Well good for her, but if they need all of that stuff out of the estate asap, she’s got to price to sell. I didn’t want to leave empty handed, so I got a little Joe Cool Camel cooler for .50 cents.

We’ve got the roof replacement all set up and scheduled, so that takes some weight off of my mind. Next up, taxes! Should be easy this year because I set up all the framework last year. I’ll just have to adjust some deductions and things and ship it off to my CPA. That’s money well spent right there. Tax stuff just goes way over my head when I get into it.

[Geoff]

Man – got nailed with some flu like bug. First the kids and then me. Have not listened to the podcast yet but looks like a good topic.

1/13/19-1/19/19
Total items in store (beginning of week): 418
Items sold: 22
30 day sell through (rate): 23.22%
Gross Sales: $1,333.97
Cost Paid for Items sold: $155.03
Shipping Cost: $301.02
Ebay Fee’s: $105.45
Paypal Fees: $46.96
Total Costs: $608.46
Net Profit: $725.51
Profit % Rev: 54%

[Jay]

Your average selling pirce was $60. Thats incredible. What were you selling?

[Geoff]

The outboard motors went well — one sold for mid 300.

ZENITH 13″ VHS/VCR/TV COMBO – MODEL TVBR1322Z
Parker Quartz MCM Art Deco Watch & Native American style USA Watch – not working
Lot of mixed Antique and Vintage Screws — many wood screws, bronze Flat head
Genuine 1PK PGI-72 (1-Pack Photo Magenta) Ink Cartridge for Canon PIXMA PRO-10
Lot of Antique Brass Screws
Genuine Canon PGI-72 10 Color Pack for Pixma Pro-10
Salomon Large Body 400 LT fr 154 Snowboard w Switch step in Bindings K817 8922
ILCO PK755 Vintage Key Fitchburg, MA w Brass Key Chain
Louisville Slugger 125 Genuine M110 PRO STOCK LITE Powerized TPX 33″ 28.8 ounces
1939 or 1940s Evinrude Elto mate 4263 1/2hp outboard motor
1970 JOHNSON 1.5 HP Outboard Engine Model 1R70R
Urinary Catheter Coloplast Self-Cath FR 14 Straight Tip Male Ref 414 Exp 10/19
Vintage Wooden Folding Chairs Mid Century Modern – needs restoration
Franklin Mint Limited Edition Wayne Michigan Centennial Proof Coin Medal Bronze
Sony CDP-CX400 CD Changer w/Remote & Keyboard – Nice condition Fully Functional
90 Urinary Catheter Coloplast Self-Cath FR 14 Straight Tip Male Ref 414 Exp 2020
Quasar VHQ-940 4 Heads VCR With Remote Control
Lot of 66 CDs Rock Country Pop Sinatra John Mayer Jazz please see photos
Five (5) Antique door knob rosette / Plate / Backplate appx 2″ x 2″ 2 holes

[totommyto]

Geoff,
You have a interesting store, great range, cool salvage finds

[Geoff]

thank you

[Libby]

Jan 13 -Jan 19, 2019

Total Items in Store: 3512
Items Sold: 83
Gross Sales: $1149.96
Consignor Commission (COGS): $377.52 (32.8%)
Highest Price Sold: $101 (Sugarboo Picture Frame)
Average Price Sold: $13.85
Returns: 2
Money Spent on New Inventory This Week: $0
Number of items listed this week: 112 (48 personally)

Gut sales report: Felt like I spent the majority of the week shipping
very low value items. I thought it was going to be reaching to get to
our goal of $1,000, so I was actually suprised we made it. Happy to
get rid of some low value items and free up some valuable space.

[Inglewood]

Just listening and thought I would chime in on remote controls. I would love to find a bin of remotes…they are my #1 bread and butter item. There is a hierarchy though to remotes:

Top Tier is any remote from cable or satellite companies. People rent the boxes, and they are unusable without a remote. I’ve had stories where if your remote is broken (or missing when you cancel your account and have to return the equipment) they charge up to $150 to replace it. Your local cable company will also have replacement remotes on their website – they are usually over $50 – just price yours below their price, and you have a winner. I usually get mine for $1 or $2 – and they sell quick. People buy universal remotes to get by, but when they need to return equipment they get desperate…

High-End universal remotes (like Harmony remotes) are also in this category. They are harder to find, but even older models sell for top dollar.

Second Tier is TV remotes for modern TVs. Again, they are useless without remotes and lose functionality. If you find a remote that someone needs, they will pay top dollar for it. A tip I have is to buy as many remotes you can for your TVs when you find them in the wild – I have 5 back-ups for my TV if anything breaks (I need my TV to work) – and if I change my TV, I’ll just sell them to pay for the new one.

Third Tier is audio equipment – usually mid-tier or higher tier brands. Even average brands like Sony, Kenwood, Panasonic, etc. sell well…these are longer tail, but will sell if priced competitively.

The last area I buy is specialty remotes for high-end items – like fireplace remotes, remote window coverings, and A/C units. These vary wildly. Check it out online in store before you buy…

Everything else I avoid – VHS, old TV, DVD, camcorder, cheap stereo brands, etc. are absolutely worthless.

[Dirt Poor Picker]

@Inglewood I used to make a killing at vintage stereo equipment, remotes, vintage boom boxes (cassette, 8-track, even cd), as well as remotes and other things. I wish I could still do it. My health is to the point I have to be in a thrift store and out in less than 10 minutes or it gets embarrassing with my breathing and I don’t use my oxygen because I think that is as much embarrassment as well. So I go in shop for shoes and I am out. I do hire someone about once a week to hit the Goodwill bins with me. I rest while they find then go through what they found and take what I think is good. Just seems funny I can buy 300 pounds when I was in good health and they might find 50 pounds in two hours and by the time I go through it, it is down to 35 pounds.

[Mark S]

Inglewood,

I have like 5 back up remotes for my cable because we always seem to lose them. They after awhile, they show up again. I like having the 5 around so I never run out.

Mark

[Simon]

I’ve sold a lot of remotes over the years. I’m surprised to hear about remotes for cable company boxes. I’ve always avoided them as they seem incredibly common. I’ll have to research those in future.

Another one to look out for ….. the other day I paid $1.50 at a thrift shop for a corded remote control for an adjustable bed. It wasn’t branded but I could find it online using the model number on the remote. It sold quickly for over $50

[simplicio]

Hi guys, thanks for the podcast.

Yep, calling about bills, absolutely. I had my internet bill cut to 1/5 of what I had been paying after I nagged them about poor quality connection. It’s still terrible service but at least I get what I pay for!

I had a slow week but I didn’t put much time in either.

Sales: CAD$726, 4 items, COGS: $51 –> Gross profit: $558
Expenditures: $558 (mostly shipping my 3 pallets to my town)
Cashflow after tax: -$150
Listed: $0
Scavenging: none apart from waiting for my auction haul to come to me
Notable sales: Calcium electrode $200, bought for $5. Hearing aids $321, bought for $40.

I am really itching to list right now. Can’t weight to get my hands on my big buy.

[indomatt239]

Just a quick thought about the call that you had about late shipping metrics. For most items of mine that weighs more than a pound, I set the calculated shipping options up with PARCEL POST as the primary option and PRIORITY as the secondary. Ebay does not factor in our shipping discounts when calculating shipping, so PARCEL POST usually appears to the buyer as the slightly less expensive option. When the buyer checks out, their estimated delivery date is based on the slower PARCEL POST option. Using my shipping discounts, I then upgrade the shipping to PRIORITY (the upgrade sometimes saves me a dollar, and sometimes costs me a dollar, but it evens out). Item then shows up at buyer’s door well before the estimated delivery date, and is insured to boot. Keeps my late numbers way down, and makes for great feedback as well. I fact, the majority of my defects for late shipment come from buyers that take several days to pay on an item that had been purchased with one-day handling turned on, but by the time that they checkout, I had switched the business policy to 2 days or more so I could take a day off or go to a auction. Ebay will fix these for me, but it really isn’t worth the phone call unless the percentage gets too high.

MOST buyers will opt for the less expensive option, and some savvy ones will adjust at checkout to ensure they get their item quicker. Either way, it works out for me.

[Jay]

Good advice. We do upgrade some buyers to Priority if the price makes sense, but many items are too big to upgrade.

It seems illogical that eBay punishes sellers for shipping time they have no control over. It’s not a huge deal. Just annoying.

[MDC Galleries & Fine Art]

Yep IM239… This is our exact same procedure. Use the Parcel as the first choice and then always ship Priority. With our TRS+ discount it always comes out less costly for us to upgrade.

A tip on getting yourself an extra day and something we dislike about Ebay’s handling this.

We do not accept any offers after after a certain time that would not allow us to pull, pack and get the USPS.

We have Same Day / Next Day selected as ship time. Well when you accept an offer early usually Ebay will say ship today, but here is the BIG BUT, if you accept an offer any time after the post office closes for the day and EVEN UP UNTIL 11:59 PM at night, Ebay still sees that as the Same Day so we have to ship the next morning.

But when offers come in after say 3 pm in the afternoon, we don’t accept until the next morning when we open. That then gives us all day [that day] and the next day also.

We do have our store hours set in our Preferences, but Ebay still ignores those. So if we accept an offer at 10 o’clock at night, Ebay thinks that the remaining 2 hours is the first day and you now only have the next day to ship. But if you wait on that 9 PM offer and accept it only after mid-night, then you have the whole day when you get up and also the day after that for same day-next day.

So in order not to have to respond late at night, we just do the accepting or counter offering, etc. when we open each morning around 7:30 am to 8:00 am.

Makes me wonder about those that have Same Day handling and you accept an offer at 9 PM, does Ebay acctually think you are going to ship in the next 3 hours at night?

Mike at MDC Galleries and Fine Art

[Sharyn]

Comments on the podcast:

Re lifestyle: About four years ago, I was laid off from my job because my company moved to another state. I wasn’t able to find a job in my line of work that was within a reasonable commute. That’s when I started selling on eBay. My profits prevent us from having to sell our house and buy something with a lower mortgage. My husband still has his job, so we have insurance and a steady income.

Re cell phone company: For whatever reason, Sprint does not have coverage over my neighborhood, so we were unable to sign up with Ting. We ended signing up with Consumer Cellular, which uses T-mobile. We have three phones, and our bill is usually a little less than $60.

Re remotes: I hadn’t used our VCR for a while, but I needed to test a VHS tape recently. I had the issue with the batteries messing up the remote. I didn’t know to clean it up as you mentioned in the podcast, but now I’ll have to try that out. In the meantime, I bought a new one off eBay for $6 plus shipping.

Anyway, my numbers:

Week of Jan 13-19
* Total Items in Store: 1320 eBay, 10 Mercari
* Items Sold: 12 eBay
* Cost of Items Sold: $8.10 + $0 Commission
* Total Sales: $253.39
* Highest Price Sold: $79 Pilates Pro Chair
* Average Price Sold: $21.11
* Returns: 0
* Money Spent on New Inventory This Week: $0
* Number of items listed this week: 38

Things to do list: I want to track my progress against my to do list just to keep myself motivated. Last week, I should have mentioned that I organized my bookmarks. Not a big deal, but it did take an hour or two.

This week, I took six pieces of handmade stoneware made by the same artist and lotted them up into two listings. These are new items that I feel are nice enough, but haven’t sold yet. I have a few other categories where I want to do this. On the other hand, I had four belts in the same size from a purchase over two years ago, but two of them have sold in the past month. So, I crossed that off my list.

The last thing I did this week was to create a listing for a multipack of labels that I purchased in quantity over a year ago. I have them listed separately by type, and NONE of them have sold. I’m very close to just getting rid of them. I’ll give this listing enough time to see if this multipack will sell; otherwise, I’ll be cutting my losses.

[Ryanne]

you can check Ting’s coverage map, they have Sprint (CDMA network) as well as GSM (t-mobile, ATT)
https://ting.com/coverage#

[Sharyn]

Ah, yes, now I remember. At the time, the CSR at Ting told us that they were planning on adding T-mobile at a future date, but they couldn’t give us an exact date. So, we signed with Consumer Cellular and have been pretty happy with them. We can consider changing if we ever become unhappy with our service, but we are good for now.

You guys have two lines for $50; we have three lines for about $57.50 (with all the taxes and whatnot).

[Jay]

Thats a great deal. The key is to find a service that doesn’t charge you a set fee per phone, but just charges by usage. On months when we only use wifi at home, our bill can be $20 total.

[Sharyn]

Yes, Consumer Cellular has that. We’ve gone to the higher data plan, rather than down, even though I use wifi whenever I can. I could blame it on my teenage daughter, but, frankly, I’ve gotten used to checking my emails and (I hate to admit it) Facebook when I’m out of the house.

That reminds me – looking at our account usage, I found that my daughter’s phone uses a chunk of data every night at midnight. I have to find out what is happening there.

Oh, yeh, maybe I can blame it on her!

BTW, Consumer Reports rates cellular service providers. Every year, both Consumer Cellular & Ting are in the top three. I just checked, and the current lineup (from #1 to 3) is Consumer Cellular, Project Fi (Google), and Ting.

[Jay]

We never limit of internet usage when out in the wild (though we wait to watch videos at home). The key is to always be on wifi when at home. Is your daughter not connected to wifi at midnight? If she is, doesnt really matter how much she’s downloading on wifi.

[Terri]

Sharon, that chunk at midnight might be apps updating even if she’s not signed into your wifi network. One time when my son got a new phone and his data usage went up dramatically, it was due to that setting.

[Sharyn]

Yes, I expect that it has something to do with her apps updating. She should be connected to wifi, so I don’t know why it is using data.

The reason I know about the data use is because she lost her phone for about a week, and I checked our account to see if someone was using it (if it had been stolen). All I saw was that midnight activity. She had the phone on vibrate, so that is why she couldn’t just call and listen for it. Ends up it fell behind a box, and she found it right before I was about to bring her old, cheap Moto G back to life.

[buytikiselltiki]

Really wonderful podcast, thanks.

So much to say, not enough to time right now.

Sadly, obsessed with the Marie Kondo show, only watched a few so far but am folding clothes and finding there is a much better way to do things.

Very very slow eBay sales – but in the middle of listening tot he ‘cast, sold a book that had been up for a year for full price. And I said to myself…selling something really does…

SPARK JOY!!!!

Started eBay in 1997 as a way to make money on things I had lying around the house – from promo movie stuff to toys I had saved from the 60s. Amazing!!! A hoarding issue is often attaching too much value to something, and, you know, being able to sell it yourself and not get ripped off was pretty cool. Back then an auction almost always got traction. Oh the stories!

Naturally, soon started buying because, well, you could find anything.
And anything you got, you could say ” well, I can always sell it!”
What did it pay for? Highlight was a family trip to Disney World financed entirely by my Major Matt Mason toys. Remember having a wad of cash ( it was all money orders back then) and feeling pretty good.
Needed a minivan and used steady eBay cash flow for rationalization.

All long ago, these days there are fewer big hits and more nickels and dimes, fees are way up , postage costs are way up, buyers are steeped in the return anything culture…

But buying something cool and having someone from anywhere in the world want it more ( like 10 times the money more )

SPARKS JOY.

Put the hassle aside (jeez, the local delivery return) and there’s an awful lot of fun to still be had!

Ok, going to fold some clothes.

[buytikiselltiki]

OH, sorry, MDC re: Goodwill – that is very upsetting.

Part of the scavenging game is to know what something is worth, and to respect that value, maybe even find a good home for stuff.

There is so much stuff coming in that I will grudgingly accept that stuff might end up in the dumpster if it hasn’t been bought.
But sheesh, even before it is in the store…..

Also noticed that Goodwill prices are THROUGH THE ROOF – must be some initiative.

[SilverFoxFinds]

@TheHustler – don’t be embarrassed by using oxygen, especially if it’ll get you back in the game in a way that you appreciate, or feeling more comfortable on a daily basis. Get a little travel wheely and see if you don’t love it.

eBay for me pays for bills and investing. I’m doing the Uber Frugal Month Challenge via Frugalwoods this month, to see how I can bring down and keep down the various discretionary spending, including groceries. Food has always been an area where I’m happy to explore and spend, but I’m enjoying the creative aspects of drawing it in a bit. Plus, I love an uncrowded house and kitchen.

Beyond income, eBay is most important for the lifestyle and the bills I’m not paying. I source irregularly and not often weekly, so save on gas that would be spent on regular commutes. I have no clothes or accessories, etc that an office job requires. And on and on. I take mid-day breaks from listing or doing stuff around the house, when my energy is at its lowest, to read, nap, or do something different. I listen to podcasts that co-workers would hate to have me listening to all the time. And on and on. Spring and Summer will have me in the garden more during the daytime, and I can eBay in the evenings. When I want to visit friends or family in DC for a long weekend, I can do so with short notice and not having to ask for the time off. I do get bored with eBay, and I really don’t like trafficking in so much STUFF, but c’est la vie – it’s making a certain quality of life possible.

Oh yeah, my numbers for the week. As the slow start suggested, numbers were down from the previous week:

01/06/18 – 01/12/18
Total Items In Store: 1005
Items Sold: 23
Sales (Total Sales – Selling Costs): $678.90
Highest Price Sold: $100 – Garmin Edge 1000 Accessories Lot
Average Price Sold: $29.52
Cost of Items Sold: $52.00
Returns/Refunds: 0
Money Spent on New Inventory This Week: $0
Number of Items listed this week: 61

[ChristineR]

Jay you asked how much time people spend on Mercari to make the $50 a week. Barely any time at all. It takes me more time to ship a clothing item than to list one. When you use the Mercari app, you realize how the Ebay app should be working – it’s so straightforward and logical. And then you kind of wonder how Ebay listing ever got so cumbersome. Plus the “upgrades” and suggestions in the updated app version are making it even less like I want it to be, so I will do the whole thing except pictures on the desktop.

Mercari has an efficiency to be enjoyed, but I hear it’s not a list and forget it platform. Items are meant to move. On the other hand, there is less competition, better Google reception, arguably a different clientele to be reached, and it really doesn’t take much time at all. If you decide to give it a go, I’d try your hipster appeal items and pop culture items if you have any. Maybe hats you said weren’t moving well? If you decide it’s not for you, that’s certainly ok too. If Mercari is smart they will hire Marie Kondo to advertise.

[MoCoyotes]

1/13 – 1/19

Total Items in Store: 2720
Items Sold: 51
Cost of Items Sold: $50
Total Sales: $1879
Highest Price Sold: $93 (Axis & Allies game)
Average Price Sold: $36.84
Returns: 0
Money Spent on New Inventory This Week: $25
Number of items listed this week: 50

Sales are double in dollar amount and items sold from last week!

[Winchester38]

January 13-19, 2019

Store 1
Total Items in Store: 1,556
Items Sold: 12
Gross Sales: $376.31
Cost of Items Sold: $25.60
Highest Price Sold: $72.99 (motorcycle parts)
Average Price Sold: $31.36
Returns: 1
Money Spent on New Inventory This Week: $25.15
Number of items listed this week: 41

Store 2 (CAD)
Total Items in Store: 663
Items Sold: 9
Gross Sales: $205.92
Cost of Items Sold: $3.15
Highest Price Sold: $100.00 (vintage patch)
Average Price Sold: $22.88
Returns: 0
Money Spent on New Inventory This Week: $0
Number of items listed this week: 23

Amazon.ca sales: $545.31 (CAD) (Approx $136.33 net profit)
Amazon.com sales: $1,929.35 (Approx $482.34 net profit)

Slower than usual in our main store last week. Fortunately, our second store and amazon were both up, so same same, but different.

No real obvious reason for the main store being slow, but these weeks happen. I spent yesterday and today out buying (local thrift store had a big sale on), and now have four or five large IKEA bags full of stuff (mostly clothes) to try and list over the remainder of the week. Hopefully increased listing will push sales back up to normal levels.

[ebaymom]

My Store Week Jan 13-19, 2019

Total Items in Store: 1068
Items Sold: 12
Gross Sales: $215.38
Cost of Items Sold: $16.36
Highest Price Sold: $45.99 (Old Carhartt Overalls)
Average Price Sold: $17.95
Returns: 0
Money Spent on New Inventory This Week: $10.72
Number of items listed this week: 4

Ebay for me pays our property taxes and kids extracurriculars and other bills… We did the opposite of what a lot of you all are doing and talking about – we lived out in the country in the middle of nowhere for the last 5 years on 10 acres surrounded by woods. It was very inexpensive – it was completely private – we did really love it and enjoyed this rural lifestyle. However, everything has pros and cons – I felt it was time for us to move back to the city (suburbs). My sister and her family were able to transfer into our state and the opportunity came available to move two doors down from her (we both built new houses on the same street) – my husband’s work is only 1 mile away now (a 10 minute commute compared to a 2 hour daily commute) – we are back in excellently ranked schools and close now to our doctors and other services and I don’t have to drive 45 minutes to get to a Starbucks or a Target… (Of course now it’s HOA fees, our property taxes will more than quadruple… and there is NOTHING like seeing the star-lit sky and being able to have a mega bon-fire with nobody to worry about out in no-man’s land… we definitely miss that.. it was a difficult choice but I’m looking forward and not back. I told my husband, let’s move and I promise you I will cover the cost differential with my eBay earnings. So that’s what I’ve been doing – I also get to sign my kids up for whatever classes and sports they are wanting – ebay helps pay for that.

[tam from Tam’s Vintage & More]

I have been selling about 3 years. I am 52 and hope to retire from the PO at 56 1/2. We don’t get a pension exactly so I will need to work after that. I would like scavenging to be my main job. I just gotta keep striving for the better stuff and higher prices! We have mostly used our profit for ebay business related stuff. More storage, scavenging trips etc. but at some point sales will need to increase to support a retired me. Now off I go to work for neither snow nor heat nor darkness shall keep me from accomplishing my appointed course with all speed. Mostly darkness and cold… and I work indoors… but still.. We deliver for you!

[Jay]

Are you a career USPS employee? I thought they received pensions?

• This reply was modified 7 years, 2 months ago by Jay.

[totommyto]

Chiming in on on the podcast question.
Ebay (Etsy) is the backbone of my lifestyle. Basically when I am not working, I am out finding or thinking about finding good old stuff to sell, and then all the work involved putting that item in the pipeline. Other then my primary cushy security job and online selling, I take walks, sit outdoors with nature and a cigar, spend time with family (including dogs), eat out more than a little bit, drink good beer, watch Netflix, go to a good movie, and listen to music. (I would like to fish and hang out on the beach more).
So, the biggest chunk of my time is spent at the regular job, yet I am free on the computer with loads of down time, so within reason I can work eBay/etsy and even check in here with all of you. Living in Naples Fl affords a pretty good lifestyle in itself. So it is not so much the extra money earned supporting a lifestyle, it is the intrinsic lifestyle itself that comes about from doing the eBay business, if that makes sense.
On the other hand, as we close in on real ‘retirement’ age, my wife and I are considering changing up the whole show! But for now, this is me.

[Mason]

Great podcast! I have a pile of star notes. I have been collecting them for years for fun I guess. I will happily kondo them to ebay if people buy them! Do they sell well?

[Inglewood]

eBay has been very key in supporting me in many chapters of my life:

-in the late 90’s, I sold enough sports memorabilia to put a down payment on a house when I was 20.
-our engagement ring and wedding rings were bought by selling items on eBay – our whole wedding was paid for by eBay profits. Our rings were bought on eBay even…
-any time over the years we needed a large purchase (appliance, furnace, roof, etc) we would get into “eBay mode” to pay for it.
-when I’ve been unemployed (a few times in the 2000’s) it got me through the months I didn’t have a job.
-now I’m going to be unemployed in the near future – it will be my job moving forward until retirement benefits kick in. Until then, it’s purely retirement savings for the future.

I also enjoy it. It’s kind of a hobby that pays instead of costing money. All my friends and family are into golf and spend a lot of money on it – I hate it! But put me into a situation where I can buy stuff and flip it for a profit, it gets my heart racing when I find an amazing find, and every sale gives me a “high”. Just hearing the “cha-ching” sound can lift my spirits when I’m feeling down!

[Jay]

Wow, that’s a long history of selling. Those are some great scavenging benchmarks.

[Simon]

Inglewood – I have your journal forum thread bookmarked. I hope you’ll keep giving us updates on your situation.

[Inglewood]

I’ll be giving monthly updates in the journal I started…I’m curious to see where I end up at the end of the month. It’s been very busy and I’ve scaled like crazy. I think we’ve scavenged and listed 350 items so far this month (and we both are still working full time)…busy busy busy…going to push all weekend long again and give a monthly update in a couple weeks. No football this weekend to distract me either…

I think my overall January numbers will be interesting to anyone who wants to scale quickly. Stay tuned!

[Terri]

The youtube universe has been all over Konmari for several years since the book came out. My son first introduced me to the book/method and, after he texted me a photo of his sock drawer, I was a convert. Konmari(ed) my closet a year or so ago and have stuck with it. The post-laundry folding takes more time, but the payoff in streamlining everything else makes it more than worth it.

Since the Netflix series has brought her mainstream, I expect there will be a trickle down impact at the thrift stores for a period of time. Bad news for us sellers is that if a good part of the population truly embraces her method, their purchasing of clothing, shoes and “stuff” will nosedive.

[Jay]

Yeah, the Netflix show is just mainstreaming the Konmari method. I seriously doubt it’ll have any long lasting effects. Most people are stuck in their ways.

[Inglewood]

It’s just a fad – if you do any research on her, she started her methods in Japan, where it was a fad in the mid 2000’s. Then her book was published in various languages in Europe in the early 10’s and was a fad. Her book was published in North America in 2014 and was a fad (I remember her on a few talk shows, and shows like CBS Sunday Morning), and I assume it will be a fad again.

Netflix somehow has very good PR for their shows. I assume something else will be coming up in a few weeks. Before Kondo was Bird Box, and I already can’t stop hearing about some show called “Roma” on Netflix this week. Just was Netflix’s bi-weekly PR cycle for a show that someone gets everyone talking.

Netflix amazes me as a company…awesome PR, lousy accounting. I think they have reached their zenith and will interesting to see how they start to pay all the money they owe when all the new competition gears up in the next few months/years.

[ice_queen]

So, I haven’t posted in a long while and wasn’t much of a poster even when I did. I had a bunch of “life” things get in the way of full time work for the last 6 months. But, life has straightened out and here I am again, which a clean and organized eBay space in my garage, inventory completed and back at it. Full time. Well, as full time as a person can be with three kids and a household to run. 🙂
Here are my numbers for my first week back at the grind stone. Its a bit pathetic, but I am hopeful for quick listed inventory growth now that I have devoted space and no other “work” to get in the way of the good stuff.

Total Items In Store today: 595
Items Sold: 9
Cost of Items Sold: $5
Total Sales: $157
Highest Price Sold: $36 (umbrella)
Average Price Sold: $17.44
# Items Listed: 75
Money Spent on New Inventory: $0

[The_SEAM_Store]

Week Jan 13-19, 2019

Total Items in Store: 3547 listings for 5407 total items
Items Sold: 92
Gross Sales: $5924.75
Cost of Items Sold: $595
Highest Price Sold: $381 (NWT Filson x Levis Collaboration Hunting Vest)
Average Price Sold: $64.40
Returns: 5
Money Spent on New Inventory This Week: $647.57
Number of items listed this week: 98

Amazon Experiment
Amazon Products – 45
Items Sold – 6
Gross Sales – $227.12
Average Price Sold – $37.85
Some spent on amazon this week – 0
$ Spent on amazon inventory this week – 0

Scavenge of the week, a 1996 Lego electric train set in original box with 3 expansion track packs. Bought for $25, assembled, tested and listed it in about an hour, sold for $250 shipped, in under 24 hours. Loving that.

[Jay]

Incredible. You seem to net $4k a week after COGS and fees. Thats incredible. Remind me what you do with all the money? Thats about $16k a month unless i’m misunderstanding your numbers.

[The_SEAM_Store]

Incredible. You seem to net $4k a week after COGS and fees. Thats incredible. Remind me what you do with all the money? Thats about $16k a month unless i’m misunderstanding your numbers.

Thanks. It’s been a crazy few weeks for sure, and this next week is stacking up nicely as well.
I don’t know how long my numbers will stay up like this, but I will ride it out as far as it goes.

What you can’t see in the numbers…let’s see.

A portion of my sales are consignment items, once a month I pay my 7 clients for the prior months sales. The total client payout this month for December sales was a big one, just over $4000. It’s typically in the $2500-$3000/month range.

I also have a running Paypal working capital loan from a buyout I did in November. That’ continues to scoop $2200/month off the top, and will for the next 3 months.

I have a home office, but we had to build it. Just under 1 year left to pay on the 5 year loan. It’s going to be a big relief when it’s paid off.

In this busy season I typically spend more on inventory to start preparing for next fall, and put back money to rebuild our comfort cushion for the slow season.

Some is sent into my self employed 401K, not as much as I’d like, but we are focussed on other short term debt first.

Medical Bills and Health Insurance premiums….enough said. Ouch.

We send in extra premium payments monthly on our mortgage, and once taxes are done and over with, We will send in a larger lump payment with some of the excess, if any.

Then if there is anything left over, we will take a vacation to somewhere warm in February/March.

[T-Satt]

Seam Store: Thanks for the info on your numbers. Jay beat me too it this week, but that was my question too, as in how much of your sales goes back to the consignors (your COGS just seemed low to me, and I was thinking that the consignment payment was the difference).

So rough math would be that your consignment “COGS” is about $500-$750 per week, right?

[The_SEAM_Store]

Seam Store: Thanks for the info on your numbers. Jay beat me too it this week, but that was my question too, as in how much of your sales goes back to the consignors (your COGS just seemed low to me, and I was thinking that the consignment payment was the difference).

So rough math would be that your consignment “COGS” is about $500-$750 per week, right?

Yes, that’s probably a safe number. The 2018 monthly payout average was around $2125….so yeah $500ish/week.

[Simon]

Here are my numbers for the week:

Total Items in Store: 2621
Items Sold: 41
Total Sales: $846
Cost of Items Sold: $84
Average Price Sold: $20.62
Average Cost of Item: $2.06
Highest Price Item Sold: $59.95 SONOS BOOST – wireless extender
Number of items listed this week: 49
YTD Sales: $2426
YTD sales compared to this time last year: +-12%
Average age of items in store (in days since listing): 362
Average number of days between listing and selling this week: 167
Median age of sales (in days, between listing and selling): 55
Sell-through rate (for the week): 1.56%

It felt as though this week I was only selling hats this week but I checked the numbers and hats accounted for 70% of sales this week which isn’t too unusual. I find it odd that people buy baseball hats when it’s freezing cold outside. I thought the market for them would be much more seasonable than it is.

In regard to what eBay does for my lifestyle, I might be the most boring person alive but all our ebay profit goes straight into our checking account and it’s used in the same way I use the income from my day job. I don’t differentiate. Our financial goes remain the same. So, at this time of year I’m paying the normal bills plus fully funding Roth IRAs for my wife and I for 2019. (My big financial goal right now is for me to retire from my day job in 18 months and do eBay for part-time income).

Hope everyone has a great week!

[tam from Tam’s Vintage & More]

I just listened to this weeks episode. About the late shipping rates the last 3 months: not only do we ( the post office) have way more volume, we have a huge army of untrained temp workers. Not an excuse for poor service. Just an explanation.

[Jay]

Understood. We’re not ragging aboutUSPS being late. But eBay should punish the seller because things get busy at the post office.

[Geoff]

Second that – put another way – Ebay should not err on the side of dinging sellers due to lack of reporting or function within their own processes. If they do not have a data point that proves the seller did something wrong it would be better to leave it alone.

• This reply was modified 7 years, 2 months ago by Geoff.

[Libby]

Thanks for the information, I just got dinged with about 10 late shipments for the beginning of January. Called ebay and the rep said I would need a letter from the post offce saying they were having an issue, and the defects would be removed. Really doesn’t sound like something I will be able to get, or even something that ebay would accept . . . hate to be skeptical, but has anyone gotten this response from ebay support or tried getting the defects removed this way?

[VintageIron]

Just wanted to give you a follow up response to the lady who called in and is getting dinged on late shipping. She said over the last few months she has changed her handling time a few times using the bulk editor. I have had the same problem in the past. The problem is that if you have submitted offers to potential buyers ebay will not allow you to edit the handling time on that item. So if in the last 48 hrs someone sent you an offer and you countered them ebay will not change the handling time on that item. So as time goes on and you keep bulk changing your handling time you will inevitably have several items with the wrong handling time. Then when they sell you might think u have 2 or more days to ship but in reality they are still same day or 1 day handling. This has happened to me when I was gone for 3 weeks on a work trip and kept changing the handling time to count down. Then the following month I couldn’t figure out why I was getting late shipping dings.

[tam from Tam’s Vintage & More]

Ps. Jay- people who started w the po before 1986-ish are civil service and have a pension. Around that time We switched to 401k’s. I started in 1989, which makes me FERS. We get a little something to help w our insurance but nowhere near the 80% of salary those that started earlier can get dependent on years of service.

[T-Satt]

Week of 1/13-01/19
Total Items in Store: 2,500 (Up 47% YOY)
Number of Items Listed: 23
Number of Items Sold: 80 (Even YOY)
(Includes 0 Etsy, 0 Bonanza, 0 TrueGether, 3 Poshmark, 0 Mercari)
Weekly STR: 13% (Down 7% YOY)

Total Product Sales: $2,159 (Down 4% YOY)
Sales Volume Variance to Prior Year: $0
Sales Price Variance to Prior Year – Down $97
Cost of Items Sold: $455
Cost of Labor: $0
Highest Item Sold: $125 – Chippewa General Utility Copper Caprice Bridgeman Boots
Competition: Highest Priced Sale: Veronica wins the week (edged me out by $10 late in the week!!!) and Veronica leads for the year 3-0.

Clothing
# Listed: 1,558
# Sold: 58
STR: 15%
ASP: $24.88

Shoes
# Listed: 444
# Sold: 11
STR: 11%
ASP: $39.72

Hard Goods
# Listed: 498
# Sold: 11
STR: 9%
ASP: $25.37

Etsy
# Listed: 174
# Sold: 0
STR: 0%
ASP: $0

Poshmark
# Listed: 311
# Sold: 3
STR: 5%
ASP: $32.67

Mercari
# Listed: 87
# Sold: 0
STR: 0%
ASP: $0
 
As a follow-up on our revamping of listings, there is definitely something to it. Sold a LOT of older items after updating the listings. I’m sure part of it is the algorithm seeing these as new listings, but also a big reason is that we got pricing in line, we got the items in the right categories/item listings, etc.

Poshmark is continuing to show some results as well. We achieved Poshmark Ambassador status this week, and we definitely saw a huge jump in our followers as a result. Sales are becoming more consistent, so I will continue to crosspost as we go. Like the caller said about Mercari, the crossposting on Poshmark is fast since we have SixBit (quick find on the photos, copy/paste, etc.)

Going to continue our process of revamping listings until the end of the month, then we have 3 months until we do it again. This is why I like tending the garden rather than list it and forget it. Sometimes, things change and you have to change with it…

[Jay]

Your sales seem about in line with what you normally make each week. I don’t see a flurry of sales.

Is it a gut feeling that items sold because you re-listed as new? I only ask because we’re always selling older items even without re-listing as new.

If you’re actually lowering the price significantly, the price reduction would probably be a more likely selling point.

• This reply was modified 7 years, 2 months ago by Jay.

[T-Satt]

We had seen our sales volume and Sell Thru Rate drop over the past few weeks, and compared to last year, the drop was more pronounced. Normally, yeah, we sell a few older items here and there, mostly hard goods.

But there were a lot more items that did sell this week (clothes and shoes) that were older items that we had just made changes too since Jan 1 when we started. So we got back to where we should be by selling out some of our older items that we just updated. Plus, it was good to really look at the current sales prices of some items and brands that have become saturated. I could see where I need to reprice items to get sales to come through since the market has shifted.

[Jay]

That’s a good data point. You have always listed items as new every 30-days in Sixbit, correct? So is the big change here just lowering the price on older items?

[T-Satt]

Jay: Yes, we list almost everything as 30 Day listings. We do some GTC if it is multi-quantity.

Yes, SixBit does the relisting for us, saving us a lot of time. The downside is that it isn’t a “true” relist, as it still seems to eBay that the listing keeps the prior history. So you get the bump for “ending soon” and “newly listed”, but not for it being a BRAND NEW listing to eBay when you auto relist.

When we shut of the auto relist and then resubmit the listings, then we can select “Send as New”, and SixBit will resend the listing as a brand new listing. Like “Sell Similar”, but since this is a database, you don’t have the potential screw-ups.

So what we are doing is looking at the items more fresh this trip. Examine pricing, examine the listing description, title, and DEFINITELY the categories and item specifics. We will do this type of work every 4 months so that we don’t get behind on markets changing. I really didn’t deep dive on shirts last year like I should have. That has killed our STR. Changing that now, though our ASP will drop, we are going to move that low dollar stuff out (and then not rebuy).

The big thing in the last few weeks has been the REALLY old stuff that has moved after we have done the updates. Last week we sold 11 items that were a year old, 6 of which were clothing items I had just tweaked. I know that doesn’t sound like a lot, but that is for clothing…

For reference, I did a data dive: we hadn’t sold that many 1 year items since November. And we sold 8 items that were over 500 days old. So 10% of our sales were items over 500 days old. In clothes…that shouldn’t happen…

Plus, those items are older than that, but they got a “creation date” in SixBit in July 2017 when we moved to SixBit.

[Jay]

Understood. That’s great that Sixbit has that much functionality. Old clothes can definitely become long tail and sit for a long time. Glad the prices changes helped.

[Anonymous]

Hi Elves 😉 I am Linda in New Orleans. I sell my vintage and older collectibles – hats, cloisonne, pottery, handbags, vintage jewelry, so I don’t scavenge, except in my house thought my things. I have had no sale since 14th of January. Usually around 300 items in my basic store. a New Orleans girl. Nice to meet fellow elves. Thanks!

[Anonymous]

scavenge through my things, not thought.

[ice_queen]

Oh, I wanted to update on something folks were talking about a long time ago.
The issue of listings going “missing”. I feel like the assumption back then was that these must be people who did 30 day listings and some just slipped through the cracks on re-listing.
Part of my restart is that I have settled on an inventory system and have been going to every single item in my store (b/c its a small store of just under 600 items right now its not that bad), and there are LOTS of items that have disappeared. I never do 30 day listings and know that these things were listed. Just this morning I inventoried 5 small bins (52 items total in those bins). Of the items in those bins, there were 18 that were no longer listed. just vanished. gone. This is another reason to do ink frog or whatever (which I don’t…) b/c now I have to resist these things all over again.
I don’t know how it happens or why, but I can absolutely say that it does happen. fairly often, it seems. It also seems completely random. These items were listed at different times and were across several categories.
I’m not sure what a person could really do about it, other than regular inventory checks which just don’t make sense, but just thought I would share.

[Retro Treasures WV]

The general thought is that a lot of these items were returns, unpaid items, or cancellations that weren’t relisted. Granted I forget sometimes and this accounts for a few.

Having said that, I keep all of my emails for sales, returns, cancellations, relistings, and unpaid item cases. When I did my big inventory conversion, I would search these emails when I came across an unlisted item. In most cases, I had no record of the items ever ending for any reason.

[Mark S]

Retro & Ice_Queen,

I think that returns, unpaid items, or cancellations are one of the main causes of this. So, I have made a spreadsheet for each of these types transactions. I have a column “Back to Inventory” and “Relisted”. This forces me to put these items back into my inventory and to relist them.

The reason for this is that when something goes unpaid, it just sits there without getting relisted or put back into inventory. Or, you may relist it and then it sits there and gets lost. Then when it sells, you cannot find it in your inventory.

The other culprit is users asking questions about an item. You take it out to answer the question and then leave it somewhere instead of returning to your inventory.

Mark

[MDC Galleries & Fine Art]

Absolutely Mark:
These factors can throw a kink into any system. Any pulled item for any reason, if not shipped, needs to be replaced as soon as possible back to it’s original storage space.

At times when we accept an offer we pull that item and begin the packing process in anticipation that payment will come through shortly. But in the case on unpaid items or cancellations the item does not get shipped and it may end up sitting for a while before we replace it into the system.

So now if we pull an item prior to payment when we pull the original inventory tag off the item and pre-pack, we then tape the inventory tag back onto the box, where the label will go and wait for payment. Also by using WonderLister, the item is still in the database as sold, but not paid. When we replace we just adjust the database.

If payment goes unpaid, we just place the box back into it’s original space. Yes, it is usually a larger item being in a box with packing inside, but we usually make room for it.

But little things like this, especially pulling the item out of it’s space for any reason can lead to errors in placement and finding in the future.

Mike at MDC Galleries and Fine Art in Atlanta

[Mark S]

Mike,

“Also by using WonderLister, the item is still in the database as sold, but not paid. When we replace we just adjust the database.”

I followed you except for the sentence above. What exactly do you do here?

Mark

[MDC Galleries & Fine Art]

I have a user made folder and when we accept an offer we type in the word sold in the “Notes” section of WL. Then because of the rule we created on the Sold Folder, it sees the word “sold” and places a copy of it in that folder. But yet the “Status” column in WL still shows the item as “Active”. This way we always have a short list of the “solds” but no payment rec’d.

I did this some time back, thinking if we had a bunch of offers we take and were waiting on payment we could be working on them while waiting. But that was back when I was hoping for a ton of daily sales and offers. After experience set in, we never sell more than a few things per day and we can keep track of that mentally ourselves. It was just wishful thinking we would have so many sales per day that we couldn’t keep track of it. And most buyers also pay rather quickly to boot. I guess I could actually just delete that folder.

Mike at MDCGFA in Atl.

[T-Satt]

Mike: Just curious then the difference between SixBit and Wonderlister. In SixBit, the Sales section has three parts: Awaiting Payment (sold not paid), Awaiting Shipment (paid not shipped), and Fulfilled.

Does Wonderlister not break those steps out?

[MDC Galleries & Fine Art]

Nope. WL does not have those break outs in the sold tab. You would think it would because Ebay has it broken out like that and WL should be able to just map to those fields somehow.
Just sold, [ a custom field at my request=sold off Ebay=my stab at trying to get WL to let me track Etsy Sales manually], Unsolds and a few other abandoned fields where they were beta testing the Etsy and Shopify but those have gone dormant since they said they were not sharing any data with “outside” non-internal sources????

I am still wanting to make the SixBit transfer but due to 2 of the 4 house lots selling and me getting those 2 under construction I haven’t had a moment to do anything but list, direct our 2 assistants and some accounting stuff. You may have noticed very little here on SL also. Just no time to read through 100+ SL posts and jump in to post replies. But things will get better early summer time wise.

List on everybody…
Mike at MDCGFA in Atl.

[T-Satt]

Thanks for the info Mike. Go kill it on the houses!

That would drive me crazy, as I like to do a quick reconciliation every day or so to make sure SixBit and eBay/Etsy/Poshmark are in sync. I recon the Awaiting Payment, Awaiting Shipment, and total running listings to each platform to make sure nothing is missed.

[Retro Treasures WV]

I never ever pull an item until it is paid. I have 2-3 day handling times, so it is no sweat to wait until payment.

[MDC Galleries & Fine Art]

We have same day, next day shipping as we are TRS-Plus. I took an offer a little while ago and we are packing it right now, but no payment yet. But if payment is rec’d before 11:30 it will go out today.

We ship some items within hours of payment and that has been mentioned along with our cocoon packing technique in a lot of our feedback.

mike at MDCGFA

[Retro Treasures WV]

I get 2-3 unpaid items a week. No way am I pulling/packing those items.
How many unpaid items are you getting?

[MDC Galleries & Fine Art]

Only 1 or 2 a month if that. Most of our buyers all pay. We may have about a dozen packed items in our staorage area from years of unpaids. We are very lucky in that respect.

And we have unpacked an item or two and put back in place and then re-used the box on the next item.

Without diving into the details of last year yet, our Sales were about $25k on 450 items sold so Our avg. sales price is in the $40 to $50 range. Out of that amount of items of approx. 8 items per week no real volume pressure and most pay. Now when that doubles and it will, we will move to the pull, pack and process only the solds that are paid. And if paid after our store cut off hours it will be the next day.

mike at MDCGFA in Atl.

[ice_queen]

I know that there are any number of possibilities. I will day though that I have only EVER had 3 returns. So I would know if one of these items had been returned. I don’t pull items until they have been paid. And if someone has a question I stand there and answer it while I have the bin open and then replace it. I truly can not think of any reason other than a problem inside of eBay for why this is happening in my case. But I absolutely could be missing something…

[retiredtreasures719]

Good podcast this week. When I restarted selling on eBay after I retired it was for extra spending money. At the time I was grandfathered in on health insurance so extra $$ was for fun stuff. In the last two years, the grandfather clause ran out and I am now paying an much larger chunk of my monthly pension for the same health insurance. eBay has transitioned from fun money, to money to help get us through the month. I am also still working on getting out of debt. All that being said, my goal for 2019 was to step up on listing to increase my eBay sales accordingly. We have had so many emergency expenses in the last six months (furnace, plumbing, unexpected car repairs) that I also need to rebuild our emergency fund.

With that in mind, I have been diligently plowing through my death piles while waiting for estate sales to kick back in gear. I have given up on Goodwill (which used to be a major source for me) because my local store has become so trashy and their prices in some cases are downright ridiculous. When I found out they were spraying for bedbugs a minimum of once a week I said no more! My sales aren’t where I would like them to be, but I am an optimist, so I am hoping for improvement as the year progresses. Still working on weeding out the lower price items and replacing them with higher priced better quality items. I also seem to have been having a rash of items people make offers on and either don’t pay or ask to cancel the sale. My numbers would be much higher if I hadn’t had all the cancellations. I also haven’t been able to list as much as I wanted because I signed my dad up for Hospice and have been spending lots of time working with them.

eBay January 13-19
Total sales. $133.96
# sold. 13
Avg. sale. $10.30
# listed. 17
# in store. 1110
Returns. 0
Unpaid items. 1
COGS. $12.25
$ spent on new. $26.95
Highest sale. $24.99 Los Angeles Pottery Bread dish #51 1962

[bcfol440]

Great podcast episode!
Ebay has afforded me (only selling PT 2 years, FT 6 months)
1. a nice chunk of savings / money during times of layoff
2. FUN. I am having fun.

Jan 13-19
Sales: 22 items,:
$622
Return: 2 (one for smell?, one for order by mistake).
A low week for me, but I am still persisting.

I have been listing daily trying to get my store to $100K by summer. Will post my update to goals end of Jan.

[Jay]

I have been listing daily trying to get my store to $100K by summer.

Do you mean you;’e trying to get the value of all your items to $100k if they all sold at full price?

[bcfol440]

Yes, store value at $100K entirely.

[Marie in Florida]

Total Items In Store: 450
Items Sold: 6
Total Sales: $190
Highest Price Sold: $55 Doc Martens
Average Price Sold: $31.66
STR 1.3% for this week

Felt like an average week Which is miles better than a bad week.
My customer who did not open a case, but wants a return, has probably hit the point of no return. He is now well over 30 days and I do not have the glasses back. I had directed him to open an Ebay return. He didn’t. I’ve told him to call Ebay. As far as I can tell he hasn’t. He insists that he returned the glasses and gives me the address of some city I’ve never been to. He insists this is the return address. Pretty sure he confused me with some other seller. So which one of you received the unexpected gift of a pair of vintage sterling lorgnette glasses?

• This reply was modified 7 years, 2 months ago by Marie in Florida.

[ChristineK]

Well, I have an answer for this question that I couldn’t have fathomed when I heard the podcast a few days ago. Reselling is supporting the fact that I now need to homeschool my 4th grader. She goes to our town school (which we love BTW), but her class has been growing increasingly chaotic for months. Something seemed wrong with her teacher, but I couldn’t put my finger on it. We really like him. He looped up with the kids, so this is her second year with him. Well, he QUIT. We found out this morning. He’s just fed up, and he’s going to an entirely different career.

They don’t know what they are going to do, and they’re scrambling to bring in a “permanent sub” but I don’t see anyone lasting in that classroom for more than a week. Reselling for a living means that I own my time so I don’t have to leave her there with sub after sub for the next 4 months. It means that I don’t have to scramble for a spot at a private school that doesn’t impress me. It means that I can homeschool her including bringing her to different homeschool classes during the day. This is all still really new for me and I’m still processing it, but thank goodness I had this option.

[Retro Treasures WV]

Congrats! Join HSLDA, and seek out a state homeschool group to stay abreast of the laws.
What state are you in if you don’t mind me asking?

[ChristineK]

We’re in Florida. I’ll join HSLDA and a homeschool group for sure. Thanks for those recommendations! My friend homeschools so I’ve already texted her that I’m going to need some help to get going.

Our daughter will go back to the town school in August, so this is only temporary. I’m just thankful that I have the flexibility to do this. I’m still reeling. I’ve never heard of a teacher randomly quitting during the school year. It’s not like he’s working at the mall or in an office something. I feel for the parents who don’t have the flexibility to suddenly become homeschoolers for the next 4 months.

[Retro Treasures WV]

Just make sure your school will allow her to enter 5th grade next year. I’m in one of the worst states for homeschooling. Here, they can refuse to accept your homeschooling and make them repeat the previous grade.

Once you get to high school here, they will make them start at 9th grade if going back into the school. So people have to decide prior to 9th grade if they will commit fully to homeschooling all the way through high school.

[ChristineK]

I’ll definitely make sure of that. I need to talk to the principal tomorrow to make sure I’m going about this correctly. She’s really great…I’m sure she’ll understand the unusual circumstances and won’t keep her from being promoted next year. I’m willing to bring my daughter in for testing too if need be.

[thriftypenguin]

As far as the issue with late shipment rates goes, aren’t you guys in Ebay’s guaranteed delivery program? If you’re using the handling time option, and not door to door, your shipping time is covered under Ebay policy as long as you item is scanned by the post office within your handling time.

Link: https://www.ebay.com/help/selling/shipping-items/offering-ebay-guaranteed-delivery?id=4645

It doesn’t directly mention the late shipping metrics for TRS, but if they’re covering refunds because things were late then shouldn’t they also be absolving you of any dings resulting from the post office’s delayed shipping times?

The only time you the seller are supposed to be responsible for the amount of time it takes to get your item to your customer (barring missing your handling time) is if you’re in their “door to door” guaranteed delivery.

[Jay]

Thats a great point. Thanks for the link:

“If the buyer paid for shipping and the item arrives after the guaranteed delivery date, as long as you’ve met your handling time and ensured the package was scanned at the post office or by your carrier, we’ll refund the buyer’s shipping cost or pay for their return label if they no longer want the item.”

Unfortunately it doesn’t say anything about not counting it late. We should call for clarification.

But this also says that eBay will pay for return shipping if the buyer doesn’t want it. Im not sure Ive ever seen eBay pay for a return label. Has anyone seen this policy in action?

• This reply was modified 7 years, 2 months ago by Jay.

[The_SEAM_Store]

I don’t think I’ve ever had a guaranteed delivery order show up late. Of course, I use Best Offer, so most of my transactions aren’t guaranteed delivery eligible……unless the buyer pays the full Buy it now price.

53 out of 1184 transactions in the last 90 days.

• This reply was modified 7 years, 2 months ago by The_SEAM_Store.
• This reply was modified 7 years, 2 months ago by The_SEAM_Store.

[Jay]

I didnt know that accepting a Best Offer kicks it out of the Guaranteed Delivery program. Did someone tell you this, or is it posted on their website?

[The_SEAM_Store]

Yes. One of the eligibility requirements is for it to be a fixed price purchase.

Reason: You can’t very well guarantee delivery for a best offer, since it could go for a full 5 round counteroffer, which with 48 hours per offer/counteroffer could take up to 20 days to negotiate. (Worst case)

If the buyer chooses buy it now, the guaranteed delivery click starts when payment is made.

[Jay]

I don’t see where it says you cant have “make offer” on fixed priced listings to be included in Guaranteed Delivery: https://pages.ebay.com/seller-center/shipping/ebay-guaranteed-delivery.html#listing-eligibility

Do you have a link that clarifies that requirement?

My understanding is that the time starts ticking once the buyer pays.
–Buyer makes offer
–Seller counter offers
–Buyer counter offers
–Sellers accepts offer
–Buyer pays. Seller must ship within a day. Guaranteed Delivery based on time of payment.

[The_SEAM_Store]

To clarify, you CAN have best offer as an option, but the buyer does not have a delivery guarantee unless they Buy it Now.

Additionally, say you accept an offer, but the buyer doesn’t pay for a week, you obviously can’t guarantee the original stated 2 day delivery date, that has since passed 5 days ago.

Best offer purchases are also not eligible for other promotions, such as % off sales, milti-item discount promotions etc. These features also come off the Fixed Price part of the listing only. Best offer is just an added option for the buyer. They can’t have the best of both worlds. They have to choose between asking for a better price, or taking the shown discount.

In terms of a guaranteed delivery, they have to decide whether they want to pay the asking price NOW for the guaranteed service, or ask for a discount which voids their guarantee.

• This reply was modified 7 years, 2 months ago by The_SEAM_Store.
• This reply was modified 7 years, 2 months ago by The_SEAM_Store.

[Jay]

I understand your logic and it makes sense. But where did you learn this?

Did a Customer Service rep verbally tell you this, or do you see it explained on eBay’s pages?

From this eBay link, I dont see this exception about “make offer”:
https://pages.ebay.com/seller-center/shipping/ebay-guaranteed-delivery.html#listing-eligibility

[The_SEAM_Store]

No, they are not really that clear with this stuff…are they.

Ok, here’s the deal. I have been testing the options out for an hour or so with my second account.

When a buyer searches by guaranteed delivery, they are quoted the expedited shipping rate that will get it to them in the designated time frame. When they chose Buy it Now, they buy it with the expedited shipping automatically added as the default

If they choose to submit an offer, and it is accepted, it appears that the buyer can still technically have guaranteed delivery, but, at checkout they would need to manually select the shipping upgrade that shows the guaranteed delivery date. Additionally, during the offer process, the original guaranteed delivery date could expire, if the buyer takes too long to complete payment.

• This reply was modified 7 years, 2 months ago by The_SEAM_Store.

[Jay]

Agreed. Its not clear. I do see that only certain shipping options are guaranteed to be delivered by a certain date. For instance on one of our listings, FedEx Smart Post not guaranteed, but USPS Priority is guaranteed.

On another note, its interesting that it does say that eBay will still count items as late even if you fall ship in the one day handling time:
https://pages.ebay.com/seller-center/shipping/ebay-guaranteed-delivery.html#m22_tb_a1__3

“We will not protect against late shipment defects, and a seller’s listings can be deactivated from the program if they fall below the performance requirements. We reserve the right to rescind this seller benefit at any time.”

[Libby]

Thanks for all the information, I have actually had a customer use the Guaranteed Delivery as there package was held up by the Post Office (I have no idea why it was stuck in Philly for a week). I asked the buyer to submit a guaranteed delivery claim and he had the option of returning the item and getting a full refund, or keeping the item and getting the shipping refunded. He chose to have shipping refunded and keep the item. I was not involved in the process or payment, buyer just relayed this to me and was very happy. It did not show up on my late delivery report.
However, items that were held up through no fault of my own, did show up on the late delivery. There was nothing ebay could do about it. It remains on my late shipment report.

[Jay]

–Do you use “Make offer” on your listings? we’re trying to determine is the “make offer” option kicks the item out of the Guaranteed delivery program.

–When you asked the buyer to start a Guaranteed Delivery Claim, is this something different than starting a Return?

[Libby]

Sure, I went back and looked at the transaction (I have the best offer option on all my listings). The listing where the guaranteed delivery case was open was one I accepted a best offer on. So . . . guaranteed delivery works when you use best offer.
The guaranteed delivery claim is something different than a return, as the seller, you don’t see the details.
https://pages.ebay.com/shipping/guaranteed-delivery.html

[Simon]

Just as a quick follow-up. I checked my late deliveries and I only had 1 late delivery in my last 420 transactions on my Seller Dashboard. That one was valid. So I suspect the problem with late deliveries is a regional or local problem. It looks like my post office was working on all the days they said they were working over the holidays.

[Jay]

That’s good to hear. We suspect that maybe larger boxes in Parcel Post get pushed aside since they are not priority and are difficult to fit on the trucks.

[pythonesk]

We’ve been Kondoing our stuff too. Never thought I’d be folding underwear and honestly I don’t know how long that will last. I don’t understand the whole “sparking joy” thing either, but we need to downsize and the show did spark tossing/thrifting. Now that I’m retired I actually have time to do stuff like that.

[jchi680]

In brief, eBay allows me to get rid of stuff in the house and make money off it. It’s “beer money” and helps to save more money for purchases. For me, I’d love to add more items to sell but at the moment am not able to. My goal for it would be ideal to make a side income that’s 20-25% of my main income. A way to get closer to retirement and contribute.

[Jay]

That’s a very reasonable goal. Keep at it!

[Author]

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