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Join the conversation in the forum>> Our Store Week Feb 23-29, 2019 Total Items in Store: 8140 Items Sold: 49 Gross Sales: $1,505.37 Cost of I
[See the full post at: Scavenger Life Episode 452: Will A Pandemic Affect eBay?] -
2/23/20 – 2/29/20
Total Items In Store: 3283
Items Sold: 20
Cost of Items Sold: $ 60
Total Sales: $ 664.08
Highest Price Sold: $ 60 (Shoes)
Average Price Sold: $ 33.20
Money Spent on New Inventory: $ 3
Number of items listed: 2Gut Sales Report for the week: This was again an average week in terms of sales. But still pretty good considering I didn’t have time to do much more than ship.
Challenge of the week: Personal life took over again last week and I need to get organized this week.
Scavenge of the week: Picked up a vintage 1920’s brochere for $3. Probably worth less than $50, but my wife and I thought it was real cool.
Mark S
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I really love those salt and pepper shakers Ryanne, I think I would have picked those up too. No major things to report here other than looking forward to garage sale season starting next week for me. I’m hoping to get my store to 200 this year, which is hard when I have these random 50-60 hour weeks at my full time job.
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Numbers for Feb. 2020, eBay store: steve-list
Total Listings: 1103
Items sold: 44
Gross Sales: $908.39
Cost of Items sold: $98.01
Highest Price Sold: $125 – County History Book from Tennessee
Average Price Sold: $20.64 – Average Cost: $2.22
Spent on new inventory: $227.40
Number of items listed: 68
Issues 1 (see wall of text below)This was an average month for me if I do not take the 4th quarter boost into account. The county history book was a nice sale although it took 8 months before the right buyer found it, but with a cost of only $4.00 it was worth the wait.
I had one big issue in February. On November 24th, 2019 I sold a tested film scanner to a buyer in Australia via the Global Shipping Program. On February 11th he opened a PayPal ‘Item not as described’ case stating that the scanner was broken. eBay wasn’t any help so I agreed on PayPal to issue a full refund after he returned the scanner and all of the accessories. He emailed me several times, 3 of the times he accused me of sending him a broken scanner, each time I emailed him images of slides and film that I had scanned when I tested it. He also wanted my off eBay email address (he wasn’t smart enough to know that he could of got it from PayPal). He also asked how much did I want for just the accessories. Long story short, after agreeing to the PayPal refund I did the J&R silent treatment as at that point he had 10 days to ship it back. He kept wanting me to send him funds for return shipping but PayPal told me on the phone that it was completely on him to ship it back so I just ignored him. On the 10th day he sent an email stating that he would be sending it back that day – but he never did. PayPal sent me an email a day later saying that the case was closed. A refund would of cost me $299.74 so I was pretty happy I won that one. I am pretty sure he was just looking for a discount. There was a lot more to this story such as my 3 calls to eBay and 2 calls to PayPal and what I am pretty sure was a fake repair invoice that he sent me a jpeg of.
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Just listening to the podcast and wanted to share the World Health Organisation figures.
Based on data from 44,000 patients with this (Covid-19) coronavirus (so far as of 1st March 2020), the WHO says:
81% develop mild symptoms
14% develop severe symptoms
5% become critically ill
Between 1% and 2% die from the disease. NOT 10%!!I think the 10 x worse than the flu figure refers to seasonal flu having a 0.1% death rate.
I hope it can be contained, but I fear that misinformation and panic will cause mayhem.
Jay – might be worth correcting it in the podcast?Lesley
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Your absolutely correct. If I said 10% death rate, I made a mistake. That’s what I get for acting like an expert. I’ll correct myself.
So far the mortality rate is even lower if you’re under 50. Hasnt been an issue at all for children under 10.
From what Ive read, they think COVID-19 might actually me much more widespread but people havent shown symptoms. So actually it could actually be much less dangerous than they think. Only the really sick people are people reported.
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Thanks for correcting Jay!
I think you’re right. There must be a high number of people with very mild symptoms who don’t report. I guess the risk is that they don’t self isolate and spread the virus.
I’m not sure there’s any stopping a global spread now. Only a slowing down to give health systems chance to prepare for those who will need help. The elderly, and those with pre-existing problems being the most vulnerable.
Fear and panic is understandable and (almost) inevitable. It’s interesting to watch how different governments are reacting across the globe!
I’m going to get back to listing… -
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Heard episode 452, been listening for 6 (?) years – you were “eBay Scavengers” then – and love you two! Each week I look forward to hearing you 🙂
I know we don’t want to, but I’m afraid we should not take the COVID-19 lightly. Years ago my husband got the flu. We all think, oh, it’s just the flu, no real worries. He ended up in ICU for 2 weeks because the virus attacked his pancreas shutting it down. He was 47, so not an “old” man. Although I was told each day that he would die that day, he survived, but as a diabetic after that virus.
My point, PLEASE everyone, no matter where you live, don’t live in fear, but do take precautions. DO go immediately to a doctor or the ER if you have any flu-like symptoms. It will cost you, but could save your life!
Sorry my first post on your wonderful forum is about this virus. I’ll introduce myself next time I have a chance to write. I’ve been a part-time reseller for 7 years, small time compared to most here!
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There was a particularly nasty flu virus back in 2012/13 I think. It was a 7 day “feel like death but no puking” bug”. I developed severe pneumonia in both lungs. It took me many, many months to recover and I even relapsed back at one point. Spent a total of 4 weeks off work.
It took years to recover full capacity in my lungs – breathing cold, dry air was next to impossible until about 3 years ago.
Pneumonia is the real killer. I recommend folks keep a finger blood oxygen meter at home in their first aid kit and go to the doctor at the FIRST sign of respiratory distress.
Why a blood oxygen meter? Because when your lungs start filling with fluid and shutting off your blood oxygen level drops very low. When I finally went to the hospital back then my blood oxygen SP02 level was down to around 80! Normal for me = 97. -
Its definitely a balance. COVID-19 is a new virus which makes some people vey sick. Some die (seem to be older and already ill poeple). Many others are getting it and not even realizing because it doesnt adversely affect them. No children have gotten seriously ill. There’s no vaccine yet so the only treatment is to muscle through it with medical help if needed. The unknown is the most scary.
The yearly flu kills thousands of people every year. I also had the flu around 2015. I felt like I was going to die. But then I didnt it. Five days of being sick was no fun.
Everyone stay healthy. Wash your hands often. Dont touch your face. Dont stand too close to people. The virus can only get in your through your eyes, nose and mouth.
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I have an iPhone and the white background is available when you list on the app. when you upload your photos if you click on a photo to edit it there’s a little button next to the trash can button that looks like a mountain. That’s where you can remove the background.
My thoughts on the tool: I hate it. Doesn’t work well and is a waste of time. It isn’t good at cutting out the item and removing everything so you have to drag your finger across the screen to erase what’s left. It’s very hard to remove everything without erasing part of the item too.
I tried on a hat picture and it whited out some of the letters of the logo on the hat.
From listening to the podcast eBay puts out, it sounds like the only real benefit of white backgrounds is that eBay submits all photos to Google and Google supposedly won’t publish photos in their search if the background isn’t white. I’ve seen pictures of items on eBay in Google search that didn’t have white backgrounds so I think it only applies to commodity items.
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Just a couple quick notes about the white backgrounds tool. I’ve heard people praising it and I’ve heard people saying it sucks. My Android is an older model and it isn’t available , so I can’t test it until I finally do get the new(er) phone I’ve been promising myself. BUT…for scavengers…I just don’t think the white background is vital. If you are going to try and use it, I suggest doing the gallery photo ONLY. That’s the only one that really matters for Google. Of course, an uncluttered background is still generally a good idea for the other photos, but white certainly isn’t necessary. And I agree with others who say even the white gallery photo is more important for commodity goods.
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Yeah, I got a couple of white poster boards a few months ago and I can fit probably 75% of my items on it to do a white background. I don’t worry about the larger items though and just put them on my carpeted floor. Just sold a $50 sweater that was pictured on my brown carpet so as long as the photos still look nice that’s what matters most.
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Good week on ebay.
Sales c/w shipping: CAD$3,734, 19 sales, COGS: $1,888, Fees: ~$485, Postage: $508 –> Gross profit: $853
Expenditures: $1,015 –> Cashflow: $2,234
Sold a microscope for $550, paid $150. 2 big projectors for $830, paid $50 each I think.
Been listing a whole whack of medical stuff, which has been selling fairly well. -
Items in Store 1492
Items Sold 35
Total Sales $818.00
COGS $100.00
Total Profit $718.00
Average profit $20.51
Average sales price $23.37
New Listings 21Sold a ton of low dollar items this week. Every dollar counts!
I committed this weekend to listing death pile clothes. Man…that’s brutally depressing knowing what clothes went for a couple years ago. Case in point, I came across a stockpile of Soccer Referee jerseys. A couple years ago I was easily selling those for $30 a pop. Now? I had to lot them up in sets of 3-6 in hopes I get $10-15 apiece.I’ve had a vacation booked for Orlando starting this weekend for a while now. Our last 2 family vacations have been cancelled due to hurricanes, so we switched to March to avoid ALL natural disasters. Quite freaking ironic….
Anyways, we’re still going….pending everything not being shut down by then down there. The irrational fear surrounding this virus has become quite absurd.
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I live in one of the worst places in the country to be stuck in a possible pandemic, so I’ve had to make plans over a possible eventual quarantine and/or slow-down in business. We’ve also had our first case confirmed, so it’s “officially” here (probably been spreading for a few weeks anyway) and people are starting to take notice and are already starting to change their work and commuting habits.
I’ve spent less than $50 on new stock over the past 2 weeks. Skipped a few good auctions, some library sales, estate sales, usual thrift store runs, buying stock online. Just working through the new stock I got in before I stopped buying and the backlog. Sales were fantastic on Saturday as well, including a lot of older stock moving. Currently running a sale to get even more sales in before it potentially gets worse. The buying is really good right now, the sales are good – my concern is over how the economy will be over the next few months. It really could go either way – sales could be like Q4, or sales could completely come to a halt. The uncertainty makes me not willing to spend a lot of money to buy the current good things – once this blows over, there will still be a lot of good stock to buy.
I never thought that this is something I would have to be concerned about, but since it is my f/t income, I do have to take precautions for all possible developments that might come up and impact my business. Can I get through a few weeks with my store on vacation? Yes, I had already planned on putting my store on vacation for a week this winter if I got the flu. Can I get through a possible slow-down in sales due to how this might change the economy over the next few months? Yes, I will alter my buying habits, list only what I’ve got in my backlog and run more sales in my stores. Can I get through a possible increase in sales due to people buying like it’s Christmas? Yes, I stocked up on shipping supplies a month ago just in case I had trouble buying any due to supply chain issues. It’s just prudent to look at all angles of your business and try to stay on top of all possible developments that might hinder or spur it.
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2/23/20 – 2/29/20
Total Items In Store: 915
Items Sold: 52
Total Sales: $ 2513.97
Cost of Items Sold: $ 1210.49
Highest Price Sold: $ 195 ($30 pair of Sneakers)
Average Price Sold: $ 45.58
Money Spent on New Inventory: $ 613.12
Number of items listed: 79Gut Sales Report for the week: This was our best sales week since we have started selling, but overall it was also our best sales month as well, so it wasn’t a one time thing. We sold 180 items in Jan, 182 items in Feb ($8,295.59 total/ 143 Posh, 32 Mercari, 7 Ebay), so I’m hoping this is a positive trend and not some sort of 1st quarter bump that will end up crashing in the 2nd quarter.
Challenge of the week: We are in a constant battle to keep our house in some sort of an organized fashion, but with how aggressively we are trying to grow, it’s been a battle where we win some weeks and lose others.
Scavenge of the week: Nothing out of the ordinary, we picked up a lot of bread and butter items as that’s mostly our business model. We find rare or cool sneakers one in a while, like the pair we sold this week, but our business isn’t reliant on those.
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The last few weeks have been quite good for my 800-900 item store, more like years past where $1000 to $1500 was the norm. Perhaps this time of year is busier for us all as people are shut indoors and mildly depressed. Nothing like purchasing stuff to improve your mood.
Last week I sold about 15 items for $1300, a few big sales and a lot of old inventory.
To answer the topic on FB Marketplace feedback, only the seller can initiate a review of the transaction, then the buyer will get a message that the seller rated them, the buyer can then do the same type of review. No text, just whether the person was timely, item as described etc.
So as to prevent a feedback war the seller can just not leave a review. -
Thanks for the podcast R&J
Here are my numbers for this week:
Items Sold: 53
Total Sales: $1033.01
Cost of Items Sold: $140
Average Price Sold: $19.49
Average Cost of Item: $2.65
Highest Price Item Sold: $94.95 ICOM/NAVICOM IC-A22 VHF AIRCRAFT BAND RADIO TRANSCEIVER/RECEIVER/HT
Number of items listed this week: 65 worth approx. $1492
YTD Sales: $8797
YTD sales compared to this time last year: +22%
Average age of items in store (in days since listing): 446
Average number of days between listing and selling this week: 320
Median age of sales (in days, between listing and selling): 186
Sell-through rate (for the week): 1.46%
Months till retirement from full-time job : 4Another strong week for me and the year is going well (relative to this time last year). I’ve been able to collect a lot of low-priced inventory recently and just need to find the time to get it all listed and put away.
The background-removing tool arrived on my Android app this week. (I’m in the beta-testing program so not everyone may have it). Up till this point it’s only been seen on the iPhone app.
Nothing interesting to report this week.
Hope everyone sells lots of trash this week.
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Week of Feb 23 – 29
* Total Items in Store: 1466 eBay, 35 Etsy
* Items Sold: 21 eBay
* Cost of Items Sold: $34.50 + $17.87 Commission
* Total Sales: $430.11 eBay
* Highest Price Sold: $65 for 1924 Book “Laws of Ma Chiang” (Mahjong)
* Average Price Sold: $20.48
* Returns: 0
* Money Spent on New Inventory This Week: $0
* Number of items listed this week: 33I noticed in GoDaddy that sometimes the sale price included shipping and sometimes not. I’ll keep a better eye on that because I might have been over-reporting my numbers. I did have a decent week. The value of that book was a surprise.
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Sharyn, I noticed that with my GoDaddy numbers too. My sales were including shipping income and tax collected. It started doing it last week. I sent them a message this morning and they’re reviewing it for me now. Thankfully I think it’s a recent glitch and not something that would have affected our numbers for months on back.
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Feb 23 – 29
Total Items in Store: 3,585
Items Sold: 32
Total Sales : $754
* Below yearly average of $912
Highest Price: $100 (West Bend Lifetime Stainless Dutch Oven)
Average Price: $24
Returns: 1
Cost of Goods Sold: $52
Costs of Goods Purchased this Week: $0
Number of New Items Listed this Week: 398Great podcast Jay and Ryanne! For the caller who is wanting to know when to expect making 1K a week, I agree that it’s hard to give a good answer. It all depends on what kind of stuff you’re selling. I’m now at 3500 items in my store and I’m close to reaching that goal as you can see by my average gross sales over the past year. So maybe in my case, 4000 or 5000 items will bring that average up to $1000+. It also greatly depends on the market as most of us saw with 2019. All I can say is keep working at it and keep track of your numbers and you’ll make it to your goal eventually. I sold my first item almost exactly 4 years ago, so it does take some time and dedication.
So last week I listed almost 400 items…. allow me to explain. At an auction last summer, I bought a large box full of old SAMS Photofact electronic schematic sheets for like .50 cents. They generally sell for about $10 each with free shipping. It was a no-brainer, right? I didn’t realize how much work it would take to list these things. The pictures were a breeze, but even with a template, typing out the description and titles for all these took me probably 30 hours total. And to stay ahead of the competition (because there are literally tens of thousands of these listed), I had to provide free shipping. I sold a few already, but after shipping and fees I’m only netting about $5 each. I don’t know if it was worth all the time and effort, but I might give it a couple of months to see how well they sell. If they’re stagnant, I’m going to de-list them rather than pay the $40+ extra a month in listing fees.
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> If they’re stagnant, I’m going to de-list them rather than pay the $40+ extra a month in listing fees.
At your level it’s probably time to get that anchor store subscription so that you can free yourself about worrying about insertion fees. I made the jump last year and my ebay fees went down.
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One week in and, no sales.
Items in store: 35
Items sold: 0
Total sales: 0
COGS: N/A
Total Profit: 0
New listings: 2Find of the week: Box of 12 Halco HPS bulbs in the trash of a home store, listed for $7 each (lowest on ebay) so I can hopefully make $50+ on them over time. (p.s. – we bought $45 of stuff from the store that threw them away, so it will eventually pay for that shopping trip!)
No sales yet, but I have four auctions with at least one bid totaling $35, so hopefully next week I’ll have some real numbers to report. Several items have watchers and I’ve received several low-ball offers. Looking to list about 30 more items this week, found a bunch of stuff in the trash.
Now that some items have some action, my partner is much more excited about this new venture and is planning to source some items herself this week.
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R & J (or anyone who remembers)
Was it Wave accounting (free software) that you recommended in a recent podcast?
Mark
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My Store Week Feb 23-29, 2019
Total Items in Store: 7488
Items Sold: 71
Gross Sales: $1,153
Cost of helper: $20
Highest Price Sold: $120 (Large collection of French CDs)
Average Price Sold: $16.24I agree – Corona Virus is a wildcard. There is reason for concern that orders will fall along with the broader slowing of the global economy, and there is reason for hope that orders will rise from people becoming less inclined to shop in physical stores.
The background tool is bad; not developed enough to be useful. But I think it is a positive indicator, that eBay is trying to develop tools for amateur retailers to market more professionally, rather than just trying to convince them to sell their things cheaper.
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Thanks for being a voice of reason on the Pandemic. Though it seems inevitable that it will reach all corners of the US (and world), we can only do so much and have to go on with life. I’m in the camp that thinks it will be good for online sellers. Hopefully there will still be staples in the grocery stores to buy.
I missed posting last week, but thought it was an interesting show. My store definitely leans toward long tail. This week was a great example. My average for sold listings was 350 days, with the longest being 1345 days. I started selling in the Spring of 2016, so this was one of the first items we listed.
A better week this week. Sold another piece of the Civil War era currency to boost things at the last minute. Lower average as I’m taking a lot of lower offers to clear out older inventory and boost sales.
Week Ending 02/29/2020
Total Items in Store: 1176
Items Sold: 26
Gross Sales: $1,002.83
Gross wo Shipping $792.19
Cost of Items Sold: $128.47
COGS Percent 16.22%
Highest Price Sold: $108.00 (Civil War fractional currency)
Average Price Sold: $30.47
Returns: 0
Money Spent on New Inventory: $0.00
Sold via promoted listings: 13
Promoted Percentage: 50.00%
Average Days Listed: 350
Longest Listed: 1345
New items listed: 25 -
Enjoyed the podcast. I’m sitting on the don’t freak out side of the Coronavirus fence, and am really enjoying the satirical memes out there. Anyone see the short video of the asian guy spitting into the gutter while it’s raining, then a bus coming by and splashing it all up on the crowd standing at the curb? A friend posted it on FB with the title “shortest horror film ever.” It’s good to be abreast of (real) news, but the churning cycle of headline updates isn’t really doing anyone any good. Keep calm, and wash your hands. All the time.
Lower sale amounts last week – though I report my Net rather than Gross Sales, so I have a real idea of what’s coming into my pocket. Approx 90% of my current sales are the items I put on sale at 40% off – so, selling lots of lower dollar (or perhaps right-priced) items right now. Happy to finally clear them out. Today’s sales – just for fun: French soap, and vintage 1940s crocodile heels (both on sale).
Hit up a few estate sales this weekend while my Mom was visiting, and we had a good time picking up a few items here and there, but nothing major. She’ll occasionally find some good scores at a little country auction she goes to each week, and I look forward to attending that with her when I’m visiting. Glad to share this hobby with her!
2/23/20 – 2/29/20
Total Items In Store: 710
Items Sold: 17
Net Sales: $355.68 – 25.88 commission sale
Highest Sold Price: $75 Blundstone slip on shoes
Average Sold Price: $21
Cost of Items Sold: $79.25
Returns/Refunds: $33 on an old Ironman watch whose plastic band snapped in transit
Money Spent on New Inventory: $19
Number of Items listed: 5-10ish-
I’m with you, with all that air time to fill the news seems to latch on to events that normally wouldn’t cause such alarm, not that this is anything to ignore but the hype is concerning.
As a former truck driver I am used to washing my hands at every opportunity, never got sick.
I’ve always been cautious when shaking or having to touch public surfaces, it’s like I hold my hands out and away from myself until I get to that bottle of Purell haha.
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Hello all! Jay and Ryanne, thank you again for the show!
Late to post and life has been very busy with a lot of movement.
I was ‘just a body’ at the regular job Sunday night and was able to list 25 items while listening to your podcast X 2! Then you fine folks kept me company on the way home and then you kept repeating yourselves, but no worries.
So, life has been busy and I’ve been AWOL from the forum for a few weeks traveling, getting one kid off to Alaska with his wife for work, helping another kid in Ohio with wedding planning, and responding to surprise interest concerning the sale of my home, and all that entails. I decided to keep a handling time of 5 days on my eBay items for awhile.
Listing Sunday night and spending time right here right now feels like a big break.
I’ll check in when I can and hopefully share some solds at some point as well.02/23 – 02/29/20 (no cross listing is done between platforms)
eBay store: totommyto
Total store items: 803
Number of items sold: 16
Total eBay sales (not counting s/h): $516
Cost of items sold: $19.50
Highest price sold: $75 – an obscure 1/64 diecast mini car knock off of hot wheels, paid $1
Average price sold: $32.25
Returns: 0
Money spent on new inventory: 0
Number of new items listed this week: 0
Sell through rate for the week: 2.0
Number International sales: 1Etsy store oldfleatoymarket
Total store items: 634
Number of items sold: 2
Total Etsy sales (not counting s/h): $40
Cost of items sold: $2
Highest price sold: $21 – GMC tie pin
Average price sold: $20
Returns: 0
Money spent on new inventory: 0
Number of new items listed this week: 0
Sell through rate for the week: 0.3
Number International sales: 1 -
There was an tidbit of info in the Ebay Spring Seller Update 2020 concerning international shipping. The duties and taxes are handled differently between the International Standard delivery and the GSP:
https://pages.ebay.com/seller-center/shipping/ebay-international-standard-delivery.html#m22_tb_a1__5eBay international standard delivery is a Delivered Duties Unpaid (DDU) shipping solution—buyers won’t pay duties and tax at checkout on eBay, but may have to pay the carrier for duties and tax on delivery. The Global Shipping Program (GSP) is a Delivery Duties Paid (DDP) shipping program—buyers pay duties and tax during checkout on eBay via GSP. eBay international standard delivery gives you full control of what you want to charge buyers for shipping (Free, Flat, Calculated) from end to end. With GSP, the buyer always sees the GSP shipping charges, and also any costs you set for the domestic shipping leg (Free, Flat, Calculated).
You can decide which works best for you in terms of the duties and taxes the different countries will charge.
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Week of 2/23-2/29
Total Items in Store: 3,296 (Up 13% YOY)
Number of Items Listed: 75
Number of Items Sold: 44 (Down 58% YOY)
Weekly STR: 6% (Down 63% YOY – PY STR 15%)Total Product Sales: $1,786 (Down 47% YOY)
Sales Volume Variance to Prior Year: Down $1,942
Sales Price Variance to Prior Year: Up $361
Cost of Items Sold: $264Lowest sales volume in a week since 2017. And if it wasn’t for a $400 suit that sold on Poshmark, it would have been worse. For the first time ever, we had 0 sales of hard goods all week. And this is with 525 hard good items listed…
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Our recent sales have been higher than Q4 (which was lower than expected) so maybe there is more online shopping going on. I’m very worried about the coronavirus because my mom is 80 with respiratory issues. She still lives independently but we help her out, so I don’t want her to catch it or for me to catch it and give it to her. And remembering last year when I was going through chemo, I can’t even imagine how scared the people are who are currently in chemo
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