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We had a good life week. Got a lot of things done. Tied up a lot of loose ends. Had a good amount of free time to be ourselves. Plus we sold another $
[See the full post at: The Numbers: January 30-February 5, 2022] -
01/30/22 – 02/05/22
Total Items In Store: 4246 (was 4227 previously listed)
Items Sold: 15
Total Sales: $ 459.40 (no shipping included)
Highest Price Sold: $ 70 (DVD Player)
Average Price Sold: $ 30.63
Money Spent on New Inventory: $ 15.72
Number of items listed: 34Gut Sales Report for the week: Sales were slow and eratic. Not a good week by any metric. Low STR, Low ASP, etc.
Focus for the week : Trying to keep up with listing. Trying to get taxes done.
Scavenge of the week: Didn’t buy much, so a North Face Fleece that I bought for $4 was my best deal.
Thoughts for the week: I wrote a web application for my ebay store. So far, it records what you bought and where you bought it. The next step is to listing lots where you add items to it that you bought. Real basic, but I think it has some potential. Most software you see for ebay these days seems to focus on either listing or the tax side.
Mark S
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Weekly sales 1/30 – 2/5
Total items: 6933
Items sold: 153
New items listed: 350
Gross sales: $1,572.79
Net sales: $1,024.20
New buyers: 128
Repeat buyers: 1Etsy
Orders: 18
Gross sales: $220.00
Net sales: $187.00Gross sales total: $1,792.79
Net sales total: $1,211.20I had a very scavenger moment the other day. Took some trash to the dump and as I was pulling in, the truck dumped out a bunch of stuff and I noticed it looked like the contents of an older persons house. Ended up getting a vintage sled, a few records, some board games and puzzles from the 80s, linking logs, fishing poles and a firewood holder. I do an antique booth with my dad so this stuff is perfect for it so that should be an easy $100. I could have filled my truck up with other stuff but it would have been things I’d have to list on Facebook marketplace and I didn’t feel like doing that. It’s sad how much stuff gets thrown away that can still be used.
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Took some trash to the dump and as I was pulling in, the truck dumped out a bunch of stuff and I noticed it looked like the contents of an older persons house.
Finding stuff to sell in the trash is really the most fulfilling. It is incredible/scary to think of the hundreds of tons of good stuff put into giant holes each day.
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Our Store Week January 30-February 5, 2022
Total Items in Store: 519
Items Sold: 7
Total Sales: $335.68 (including eBay fees, shipping, and taxes)
Net Sales: $222.31 (minus eBay fees, shipping, and taxes)
Cost of Items Sold: $9
Highest Price Sold: $59.99 (1948 Alden’s Catalog)
Average Price Sold: $47.95
Returns: 0
Money Spent on New Inventory This Week: $0
Number of items listed this week: 10
Working on death piles since we were snowed and iced in for 4 days. Listed a box of old catalogs from the 40s, a couple have sold. Also sold some things from my in-laws house clean out, old valentines and such. Felt slower than normal last week, had a couple days of no sales.
@millionairedojo: Thankful you were at the dumpster to rescue the items. My biggest fear … my kids will back a dumpster up to the front door when I leave this world. Also have a couple of antique booths …it’s where I put the stuff that I don’t want to list for a variety of reasons. I call it my on going garage sale:)Jay, love that you had a simple week doing what you love to do. Those are precious. One of my goals in life is to be gentler with myself. Stopping to do something I enjoy throughout the day: a warm drink, a good book, a little nap. Thankful for eBay that gives me the opportunity.
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I have reseller whiplash from how quickly my sales hit the skids this month compared to last. A big reason is I haven’t listed as much due to having spent weeks taking inventory (my county tax assessor sent me a letter that I am to be taxed on my inventory – boo!) But as of this weekend I’m back to listing regularly.
I had a good estate sale haul yesterday, even though I waited until the last day of the sale. It was the estate of a couple who specialized in dealing Haviland china. I think everyone was spending so much time looking at the china sets that they walked right by all of the money items sitting in the driveway. The last day everything was 75% off. I only bought 7 things, none of them china. Each item cost between $5 and $20. 5 of the items should sell for around $150 each and the other two should be around $60 to $75.
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From hat I remember, you left your last job to focus on scavenging and you were unsure if it’d work. Have you built up enough steady sales to feel good about being independent?
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Well this is a make or break year for me as far as full time reselling. I dipped into savings way too much last year and can’t continue to do that so I have made it a goal to work smarter and double my profits over last year. I was able to do that for the month of January without creating a sweatshop for myself. But February is off to a bit slower start. I’m sure I can do it if I just imagine having to draft a resume, go on job interviews and work regular hours for someone else! I don’t think I can ever do that again! And with that said, I’m off to list. 🙂
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Week of Jan 30 – Feb 5
Total Items in Store: 1401 eBay, 30 Etsy
Items Sold: 21 eBay, 0 Etsy
Cost of Items Sold: $38.68 + $19 Commission
Total Sales: $635.92 eBay, Includes fees but no shipping
Highest Price Sold: $150 for Vintage lamp/clock/sculpture piece
Average price: $30.28
Returns: 0
Money Spent on New Inventory This Week: $15.55
Number of items listed this week: 4I had quite a good week especially considering the past few awful weeks. My big sale was an item that sat in my basement maybe three years before I bothered to clean it up and test it.
I picked up my second load of stuff from my neighbor’s home. His wife was really quite the shopper. I counted six boxes of brand new shoes, plus a new in box Bose speaker system, several boxes of new clothing, and a few fireplace antiques (even though they have a gas fireplace). His wife just liked to shop.
I’m enjoying going over and talking through all the stuff. Two of his items sold during the past week.
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Items in Store 1607
Items Sold 23
Total Sales $1,082.00
COGS $210.00
Total Profit $872.00
Average profit $37.91
Average sales price $47.04
New Listings 27
Items scavenged 10
Listing 2022 weekly Avg 43
Sourcing Allotment 12I had a rough week with my breathing and general exhaustion last week. Then this weekend I had a massive migraine that took me out Saturday evening and most of Sunday. I wasn’t able to hit my 40 item listings due to the migraine, but that is ok because I wanted to space them out of this week anyways. I still have 44 items ready for photographs that I’ll piece out all week a couple a day.
My oldest daughter has pretty much given up on doing ebay work. My 11 year old son got the cash fever so I put him to work cleaning shoes this weekend. He did a great job. The best part is he finished everything I gave him – 25 total pair of shoes.
One 0f my big sales was the control panel from my old dryer. I rebuilt the dryer that came with my house a few times – new rollers, new element, thermal fuse, etc. The last time it broke I decided enough was enough and bought a new one. We were backed up on laundry and I couldn’t wait several days to get the replacement parts again. I had two loads of clothes that needed dry NOW.
Since the only issue was in the heating element section, I trashed that part and kept every other part of value. I finally got it all listed last week and immediately sold the control panel for $125. Once it’s all said and done I’ll make close to enough to pay for the new dryer.
In a followup to the post I made about my local goodwill individually pricing shoes, I went to list the 4 pair of nike’s I paid $15 each for this weekend. One of the pair threw a red flag with the tag, so I did some checking on if they were fake. Sadly, 3 pair of them were clearly fake. I still listed the one real pair (the lowest value pair) for $100 so I’ll still make money. The 3 fake pair are my size so I’ll wear them.
I should have known better but I was blinded by greed at the store. I’ve handled alot of real Nikes and not many fake ones. The differences are pretty subtle and hard to spot on casual inspection. Once you really study the differences it becomes quite apparent they are fake. Even if I didn’t make money on that transaction it would have still been worth it for the hands on education aspect
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Retro,
I can usually spot questionable fakes with Ugg boots, Coach purses, etc. But, I am not sure I have seen (or knew) a fake pair of Nike’s. What were the tell-tale signs of a fake pair of Nike’s?
Mark
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The really valuable pair was the easiest. The tag was in the wrong place, had a wrong color code, and was missing a patent mark on the sole.
the Jordan 6’s had subtle issues – perforation misalignment, poor quality reflective material, different rubber texture and minor font issues. This pair was the most subtle.
the Jordan 11’s have a “u” dip on the back. It is never deep enough on fakes, and particularly on mine the two shoes were not even in the ballpark of being even or consistent in the material thickness. One was like a 1/4” shallower than the other.
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Total Items in Store: 270
Items Sold: 1
Total Sales: $48.59 (including eBay fees, shipping, and taxes)
Net Sales: $5.02 (minus eBay fees, shipping, and taxes)
Cost of Items Sold: $14
Money Spent on New Inventory This Week: $0
Number of items listed this week: 0
Oof. Horrible week. I did run a 15% off sale and made a few offers. No takers. Can’t complain since I haven’t been listing. Taking care of myself and my teen.
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01/30/22 – 02/05/22
Active Listings: 530
Items Sold: 7
Total Sales: $ 651.22 (doesn’t include taxes buyer paid)Selling costs: $149.85
Highest Price Sold: $ 197.65 (cloud drive)
Average Price Sold: $ 93.03
Money Spent on New Inventory: $ 0Working on getting through the backlog before I buy anything new. I do a lot of consignment sales. My goals: get through consignment backlog, then start moving towards a greater percentage of items being mine.
Have a great week everyone!
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<div id=”:1bd” class=”Ar Au Ao”>
<div id=”:1b9″ class=”Am Al editable LW-avf tS-tW tS-tY” tabindex=”1″ role=”textbox” contenteditable=”true” spellcheck=”false” aria-label=”Message Body” aria-multiline=”true”>Therehave been a lot of great conversations and info here lately, and it is helping my productivity. I listed about 20 more items last week than usual. I created at least 3 new listings every day (thanks to inspiration from posts by @retro-treasures-wv and @millionairedojo among others) and it didn’t feel like much, if any, extra time. I have hundreds, if not thousands of good, quality items to list, so it’s nice to see a small improvement in my process. Maybe this can become my new normal level of listing.
With that said, the Northeast is going to see some warmer weather this week and weekend. It’s been a cold winter, so mid-50s is going to feel like summer, and one of the best things about this life is the flexibility to take the time when I want it. No need to ask a boss. No guilt. Things will even sell while I am enjoying the weather and the time. It’s the best perk of building the pipeline.
1/30/2022 – 2/5/2022
Total items in store: 3362 (up from 3319)
Items sold: 60 (34 via best offer, 12 via seller initiated offer)
Gross sales: $3747.16 (up 33% from one year ago)
Net sales: $2754.78 (up 40% from one year ago)
Lowest price sold (net): $5.10 — Jean-Guy Gendron 1972 Year In Hockey autograph
I have all of my listed inventory on plastic shelving units and bookcases in one bedroom of my apartment, but I’m at that point in my eBay life with 3000+ items where all the extra stuff that’s needed to sell full-time — shipping supplies, death piles, inventory I’m not sure quite what to do with — has been migrating to the desk, then underneath the desk, then to the floor in front of the shelves. Every couple days I get it organized and then it gets messy again. Around the start of this year, I decided I needed to do something before I lived the scavenger’s nightmare and got swallowed up by my stuff.
One of the ways I decided to solve the problem, for now, was by getting more selective about what I would list, and much more aggressive about slashing prices on $15 and under inventory. This has led to a few $7 sales like this autographed card of a hockey player from the 1970s.
Most modern card sets feature current players and teams, but there are a few in each sport every year where the cards span players from throughout the years. I like these kinds of sets since they often sell quickly as long as it’s a decent player and the card has some rarity with a good serial number. This card didn’t have either of those factors, so it sat in my store for at least two years before it was finally purchased.
Ironically, the card traveled just a few towns away to its forever home. I must have spent something like $2 on this card three years ago. I built my store inventory on these $2 purchases to $7 sales. You need a lot of them to actually make money, though.
Highest price sold (net): $508.71 — Joe Burrow rookie card #10/10 graded 8.5
This is an amazing sale for me. I’m sure it’s in my top 5 highest sales all-time. I bought this card for $125 before the season. Prices usually drop when a sport is not in season, but that was a lucky auction win even then. Not one I really expected to win, but that’s how the card buying game goes sometimes. There are so many new sets and cards and auctions that it’s impossible for every card to sell for the “best” price every time.
The card did not receive a perfect grade, but the value in the card is in the type of set Panini Spectra (a thick, colorful and popular high-quality set), the rarity of the serial number #10/10 and the player on the card, Joe Burrow, who was the #1 draft pick quarterback a few years ago. He had a lot of growing pains his first two seasons, in fact his team was pretty terrible, but this year he and his team the Cincinnati Bengals have had a magical run in the playoffs. This card sold within about two minutes of the end of the last game they won which qualified them for the upcoming Super Bowl. In hindsight, I could have raised the price $200 and it still would have sold.
You are probably reading this thinking it’s nuts to spend $600 on a football card. And it’s not even autographed! But so many of the buyers and sellers of expensive cards use money in a different way than scavengers do. Cards are another asset that can go up or down based on a ton of different factors, and in a world where expensive Tom Brady cards are worth tens and hundreds of thousands, $600 for a scarce rookie of one of the up and coming quarterbacks could prove to be a huge bargain in a year…or three years…or ten. It’s very doubtful it will be worth significantly less unless something dramatic happens to alter the modern trading card market or Burrow gets injured or retires unexpectedly, and while those things are possible, there are hundreds and hundreds of expensive Joe Burrow cards selling every day. It’s not like this is his most expensive card. In fact, this is a pretty unremarkable sale of a star player’s rookie card in the modern card world, even though it’s an amazing sale for me.
I don’t have the stomach to hold onto any of these cards for too long, or the slightest notion what the card market will look like in ten years, so I will happily take my $350 profit, reinvest some to keep the pipeline going and put the rest away…at least for now.
My favorite sales this week were cards of more obscure players: numbered rookie card of the Bengals kicker Evan McPherson for $40 (to the UK) and a 15 year old rookie card of Rams offensive tackle Andrew Whitworth for $40. Everyone wants the top cards of quarterbacks, running backs, receivers. Who would want a kicker? But some collectors do. Everyone has their own reasons for why they love the stuff they love.
I like selling these cards most of all. It reminds me of looking through boxes of cards at the local shop as a kid. It has been interesting to see these prices rise over the last few years, with a lot more people interested in buying and selling cards than before the pandemic. I would have sold these types of obscure players cards for $10 or $20 a few years ago. Timing is a factor in these sales as well — these buyers are paying peak prices because the players are about to match up in the Super Bowl. But it’s not just the top players and rarest cards who see their prices rise, it’s everyone and every type of card as long as the card’s got some unique factor to it.
The card market isn’t at the crazy place it was in the frenzy of the early pandemic, but I have the knowledge to know what’s a good deal and what’s not, and with that knowledge comes the potential for profit. Learning how to manage the timing of when to list has been something I always struggled with. So this week was a nice ego boost along with the nice payday. Always great to see those two things align.
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Its so awesome you can store such a huge inventory in a relatively small space.
–Do you have your own long term collection that you keep for sentimental value, or because you think they’ll grow in invetsment?–I assume you follow all these sports and see who’s playing in the big games to judge who will get popular (like Burrow). Is that time consuming to juggle finding and repricing who you think will be popular in a period of time? -
It has happened. A friend found outrageous prices on eBay for a baseball card that her husband owns. I quickly brought her back to earth showing her sold prices from $25 to $1250. Can you give me a quick rundown on what would make these more valuable or not worth anything?
It is this card:
https://www.ebay.com/itm/294405006642
This is what has her so excited:
https://www.ebay.com/itm/265526362751
Obviously, this one is graded 10, but I don’t think it is worth $21k. I need to peel my friend off the ceiling, or, at least, her husband.
Thanks!
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Hi Sharyn,
It is always difficult to talk people out of their irrational beliefs about what they think something is “worth.” So you will need a hefty dose of luck, along with knowledge. But let me give you some insight.
You have already done some of the work by looking at sold listings. I find that showing people the most recent sold listing — in this case, a sale of $15 with free shipping — will get their head out of the clouds.
Similarly, there are a lot of active listings for Clemens 1985 Topps Tiffany — and almost any other 1980s cards because that was really the beginning of a ten year era of very overproduced cards. This article explains why using a pretty straightforward example at the beginning. If your friend responds better to pictures, here is an article with an infographic explaining why 1980s are mostly worthless from a supply and demand perspective. And if they like story time, I grew up with boxes of cards from these sets in my dad’s closet. So did most collectors who grew up in the 1980s, or had parents who did, and everyone saved those cards. They are so easy to find today, and have been since…well…the 1980s. So the demand is just not there.
Next, here is the PSA population report for the Roger Clemens 1985 Topps Tiffany. I wouldn’t show your friend this because they’ll see 4 digit numbers for sold listings and freak out. But this will allow you to see that the vast majority of graded cards don’t receive a 10 grade. In the case of this Clemens card, PSA has graded 48 with a 10 grade — but they have 644 in a 9 grade, 703 in an 8 grade, and 86 in a 7. Yes, more cards have been graded a 7 than a 10. The average sales price of this Clemens card in a 7 is $150. But the current cost of grading is $100 for non-PSA members. Add in the cost of shipping and insurance (required by PSA), plus the cost of selling on eBay — and I’m sure you can do the math. Even if it’s graded an 8 (not likely)
Also keep in mind that the vast majority of people who submit cards for grading aren’t people like your friend’s husband. They’re card experts who only submit the best of the best cards for grading and submit dozens if not hundreds of cards for grading at a time to save significantly on fees. What looks like a 10 to someone who is not familiar with cards is most likely an 8 or worse. That’s especially true for cards that are 1980s or earlier. Take a look at any of my listings and you’ll see cards which are protected with both a thin sleeve and a thicker hard sleeve. This is how modern cards are treated, since their value is in manufactured scarcity, and many of them still regularly grade less than 10. Cards which haven’t been protected that way — like most from the 1980s — are nearly certain to have some damage. Printing was also less reliable then, so if the centering is off, that will affect a card’s grade even if it’s direct from a set.
Finally, it’s possible that your friend may be confused about the exact card she has. She likely has the year and player correct, but Topps Tiffany was a special version of the regular Topps set, and it’s not as common as the regular 1980s Topps sets. Here is a guide to telling the two apart, and there is a gallery image with an example showing a 1985 Topps Tiffany and regular 1985 Topps card side by side.
I hope this helps you. I can tell you from my own experiences with acquaintances who hear what I do, and feel the need to share with me all the details about the nest egg that their husband/grandfather/uncle has, that they will remain convinced they are sitting on a goldmine no matter what you say. They will also still have their “very expensive” cards the next time you talk to them, and the next, and the next. I think for a lot of people, believing they have these very expensive cards or knickknacks or heirlooms in their closet is a defense mechanism, an ego thing. Like the kinds of people who play the lottery every so often and say things like “got to be in it to win it.” They don’t win, just by the numbers. But people need something to believe in to justify their own irrationality.
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People need something to believe in to justify their own irrationality.
I should post this to the top of the blog. I know we’ve had experience meeting (usually older folks) who are utterly confident that what the have is almost priceless.
I even see it in owners of old buildings on the main street of our small town. They are obsessed that their property is worth hundreds of thousands of dollars…even though they havent improved the property is decades. Blind to any comps. Building is crumbling into the ground. But they are sitting on a goldmine.
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@craig-rex – Thanks for all the information and analysis. I’ll send that to her, removing anything about “irrational beliefs” and all that 🙂
To be fair, I was communicating with her via Facebook and then email. I could tell she had some excitement about the price she saw, but also understood when I sent her eBay solds. I think she gets it, but will appreciate the analysis.
Not everyone knows that you can look at sold listings. My sister-in-law had been doing retail arbitrage for years before I showed her how to see them.
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Total On eBay: 73
Items Sold: 2
Total Profit: $38.07
Average Profit: $18.54
Highest Profit: $22.14 (Adidas Indoor Soccer Shoes)
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Sorry I missed this. It is going well. It just brings up insecurities in us both that makes it hard at times, sad at times… and I tend to not always do things that are good for me at times like these. I am sure it could be a lot worse.
Say, is there any way you could ask Ryanne to check her email she uses to receive requests for this website and the old podcast. I sent a request for something a few days ago and I think she may have missed it.
Thank you.
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