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Every evening we take a walk somewhere in our neighborhood or in our town. Usually the hour walk takes us 2-3 miles, allowing us to talk about the day
[See the full post at: The Numbers: May 1-7, 2022] -
05/02/22 – 05/08/22
Total Items In Store: 4338
Items Sold: 17
Total Sales: $ 685.64 (no shipping or included)
Highest Price Sold: $ 100 (New Shoes)
Average Price Sold: $ 40.33
Money Spent on New Inventory: $ 41.48
Number of items listed: Not sureGut Sales Report for the week: Sales are decent for this time of year.
Focus for the week : Just keep listing consistently.
Scavenge of the week: I picked up a pair of Nike’s for $1 at a garage sale yesterday. I had seen these Kobe Bryant shoes before and knew they would sell high. I will list for about $150.
Thoughts for the week: I am trying to think of ways to get my store my into auto mode. I already have a deal with a thrift shop, so I am halfway there.
Mark S
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I am trying to think of ways to get my store my into auto mode.
What is “auto mode”? What’s your deal with a thrift shop?
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Jay,
My deal with the Thrift shop is that I get first dibs on some of the items coming in. I go there twice a week and pick what I want. This basically takes care of most of my scavenging for the week. I get great items at a great price. So, my scavenging is pretty much on “auto mode”.
I lost my photographer. So, if I can get a photographer and my daughter to list, (or if she can do both when she is done with school for the year) that will pretty much put my store in auto mode so that everything is on a set schedule and I don’t have to do much work to get the job done. That is what I mean by auto mode.
Mark
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My deal with the Thrift shop is that I get first dibs on some of the items coming in. I go there twice a week and pick what I want.
Wow, that’s the scavenger ream to get the pick from the beginning of the stream. Do you pay a premium for that privilege? Why do they let you have that kind of access?
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Yea, the deal is awesome. It is like going to Walmart for scavenging.
I didn’t plan it. I just kept going in every time they were open. The manager saw me and got to know me and what I was looking for. He just started doing it for me.
I think it is also good for the shop because they get a quick turn around for sales on those items.
Mark
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In the past I’ve had this kind of relationship with thrift managers. One manager would see things he knew I’d want and save them for me. One time I came in and he went and grabbed a big box of Mens size 15/16 shoes – high end brands – for me. I made a mint on the box.
Unfortunately, turnover is so incredibly high at most of the thrifts even in management that maintaining that relationship is almost impossible.
The place I got the rainbow brite stuff is a church thrift. I went back the next day to see if anything else came out , but I really was going in to develop a relationship and make a cash donation to “grease the wheels” as they say. That’s when I found out that they rarely have the same person working. It’s a bunch of volunteers at the church. I don’t go there near enough to develop a relationship with over 50 people! Lol!
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Week of May 1 – 7
Total Items in Store: 1611 eBay, 36 Etsy
Items Sold: 12 eBay, 0 Etsy
Cost of Items Sold: $3 + $159 Commission
Total Sales: $376.42 eBay, $0 Etsy; Includes fees but no shipping
Swap.com $22.13
Highest Price Sold: eBay $133 Bissell Crosswave Pet Pro Multi Surface Cleaner (on commission)
Average price: $37.64
Returns: 0
Money Spent on New Inventory This Week: $10
Number of items listed this week: 38My store peaked up over 1600 listings today!
Sort of funny story: I went to a book sale today and picked up two Jewish religious books. Hebrew is written right to left so books start at what we would call the back and finish at the front. These books have both Hebrew and English. I picked up two of the books and saw a price written of $3; however, when the guy was ringing me up, he opened the book from what he thought was the front and saw a $2 price written there. It was half price day, so it was only a $0.50 savings each. I just thought it was funny.
I sold many items on commission this week, so my fees are very high. I guess I would have had a very poor week otherwise.
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I went to a large car boot sale yesterday- picked up a seven-branch menorah for £3. Fortunately there was half of a sticker left on the base, so now, after diving down rabbit holes, I not only know what a menorah is, but that this one was made by Ruben, who’s a member of an artist’s collective in Jerusalem. 832 dollars for another one.
I only bought it because I remembered reading about menorahs here on SL.
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There is a walking path right through the heart of my small New Jersey town. I try and walk on it every day, even in the winter, unless it’s raining or snowing. I like seeing the same characters and their pets, some who are friendly and some who really aren’t. Every town should have a place where you can walk safely.
I had a nice sales week thanks to an experiment with Promoted Listings Standard because of a 75% off promotion. It was fascinating to see the week play out and which items sold from the promoted listings campaign and which sold without the buyer clicking on the promoted listings.
The promotional period for savings on the fees ended this weekend, but I’ve already created a new Promoted Listings campaign to run for the rest of the month. I’m not sure that I understand how Promoted Listings works, and it’s one of those things where I don’t think I want to understand it. But I’m happy to use it, and think it might be something that I’m always using going forward. I have just been running a fixed ad rate of 2% or 3% on all my listings, but if anyone with more experience has better ways to use it, I’d love to learn from you.
I’m going to try a few small markdown sales over the next few weeks (15% off, maybe 20% if I’m feeling adventurous) and see if anything crazy happens when I combine a markdown sale with promoted listings.
5/1/2022 – 5/7/2022
Total items in store: 2096 (up from 2084)
Items sold: 37 (27 via best offer, 5 via seller initiated offer)
Gross sales: $2601.44 (up 32% from one year ago)
Net sales: $1896.62 (up 35% from one year ago)
Quantity sold: 37 (up 0% from one year ago)
Average sales price: $70.31 (up 32% from one year ago)
Highest price sold (net): $329.60 — Cale Makar Jewels of the Draft autographed patch card
This card is a good example of how intricate modern trading cards can get. Cale Makar is one of the best young players in hockey, and the colorful Jewels of the Draft autographed patch cards are among the most popular for new rookies every single year. I had this card listed for over a year and and I increased the price a few times because the listing kept gaining watchers. Over 50 by the time it sold and I had received at least that many offers, most of them lowball. To be honest, I was starting to wonder if this card (and others like it) was ever going to sell. Or maybe those interested in it were just happy to add it to their watchlist and not buy. Sometimes that doubt can creep in when you have a higher priced item or an item with a lot of interest but no buyers.
But this week, the card finally sold to a buyer who offered a mere $1 below my $399 buy it now price. I thought that was an odd offer, and the buyer had low feedback, so I was cynically expecting that maybe they wouldn’t pay. But they paid the day after I accepted the offer and sent me a message thanking me for being patient about their payment. Then, this weekend they left happy positive feedback with a message of gratitude because I included some other cards in the package. I had a few nice buyers sending me messages this week. If only they were all so pleasant! But thinking about it, most buyers are either pleasant or quiet.
Lowest price sold (net): $11.10 — Connor Zary SP Game Used autographed patch
It’s always interesting when similar cards end up as the high and low sales of the week. The Cale Makar card is from a nicer set, and nicer quality card, but ultimately the difference in price between that card and this Connor Zary comes down to the quality of player. This Connor Zary card is on its way to Kamloops, British Columbia, Canada, where Zary played in the minor leagues. He’s still trying to find his way to the pros, so there’s not as much of a collector base for him just yet. Always an opportunity to make a few bucks on cards like this here and there, and a huge part of building my knowledge base was finding the items I could buy for $5 and list for $20. But I’m not listing, or buying, as many cards at these prices as I was a year ago. It will be interesting to see if that’s changed in a year, and in what ways.
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a huge part of building my knowledge base was finding the items I could buy for $5 and list for $20.
Are you now buying big lots of cards to find the gems?
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Are you now buying big lots of cards to find the gems?
Every once in a while, but it’s become more about buying individual cards for $10 and up and selling for $40 and up. I still buy the less than $5 cards and list for $20, but the last few months I have been sending 90% of those directly to consignment. I might only get $15 or $10 selling there because of higher fees and so many flippers involved in the process, but it’s worth it since the consignment selling is so hands off. All I have to do is set the price.
I have also started buying in larger quantities. A few years ago, I might buy 10 auctions from one seller for $50 but now I’m much more likely to really search through all of a seller’s listings for a week and spend $100 and up on 20 or 30 cards. The consignment sales have really helped with this as well since I can process inventory much faster.
Auctions are such a huge part of the trading cards world, and there are almost infinite bargains to be found based on the way that cards prices fluctuate and because auctions are so volatile as a selling method. Of course, you need the knowledge and patience to sift through all these listings.
There are definitely buyers who go the other route to buy large lots of cards and hunt through them for the gems, and I love doing that when the opportunity comes up.
It’s been about eight months since I started doing this full-time, and I knew when I made that shift that I would need to adapt, and change, or else my sales would eventually plateau. So I am sure my methods will be different a year from now. Maybe I will be buying all large lots of cards and hunting through them, or maybe I will only sell cards through consignment. I really enjoy making these changes on the fly, and experimenting to see what works and what doesn’t. I’m sure it would drive some people crazy!
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I saw this video and it made me think of opportunity for an ebay lifestyle in small towns. Apparently there are many small towns in rural areas in North Carolina (away from Charlotte, Raleigh, Wilmington, Asheville etc.) that are struggling and have super low priced housing. Here is the link to the video.
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Poor week of sales. I turned off promoted listings because someone posted that they can raise the percentage rate without your permission. We had company and I’m still cleaning out for the garage sale so didn’t list much. Looking forward to unlisted items being more organized. Went thrifting with my cousin while she is visiting and she found some great deals on clothing. I didn’t buy anything to resell but it was fun to look.
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Items in Store 1737
Items Sold 21
Total Sales $596.00
COGS $41.00
Total Profit $555.00
Average profit $26.43
Average sales price $28.38
New Listings 46
Items scavenged 74
Listing 2022 weekly Avg 45
Sourcing Allotment 2So far this year sales have been a strange rollercoaster. I’ll have 2-3 weeks of strong sales, then a week with half the sales. Rinse, repeat.
I scavenged WAY too much this week, but at least I got some listing done. My local goodwill continues to increase their prices. They’ve went all in on pricing up their shoes they think are valuable. It started with just a pair of nikes here and there. Today they had some mens sperrys and polo ralph lauren boat shoes – all priced at $19.99.
Oh well, it was fun while it lasted. I adapt and move on. If the numbers make sense, I still buy shoes. They still miss quite a few valuable ones.
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Week Ending 5/7/22
Total Items in eBay Store: 1048
Items Sold eBay: 6
Gross Sales eBay (W\O shipping and tax): $525.00
Net Sales (After fees) eBay: $430.00
Total Items in Etsy Store: 202
Items Sold Etsy: 0Cost of Items Sold: $80.80
COGS Percent 18.79%
Net Profit Margin: 66.51%
Highest Price Sold: $200.00 Toy Jeep
Average Price Sold: $87.50
Returns: 0
Money Spent on New Inventory: $0.00Average Days Listed: 37
Longest Listed: 64
New items listed: 7Third week in a row I’ve only sold 6 items. Thank goodness large sales are thrown in there. This was a strange week in that my average sale was only 37 days old. Normally I average about a year. No sales at all this week so far.
Finally finished a side project that has been taking up a lot of my time and I’m hoping I can get back to more steady listing.
We made a fast trip up to Luray on Saturday to look at another house for sale. We liked it and made an offer over listing price and still got out bid. Buyer waived all inspections and appraisal. That is one crazy real estate market now.
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We made a fast trip up to Luray on Saturday to look at another house for sale. We liked it and made an offer over listing price and still got out bid. Buyer waived all inspections and appraisal. That is one crazy real estate market now.
Which house was it? Who do you think is buying at these prices? I live here and am still not sure.
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The house is at 1477 Clearview. Needed some work, but had a nice view of the mountains and would have made a great AirBNB.
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Yeah, houses under $200k are going fast because everyone wants an Airbnb property. I’m curious if we’ll see a saturation of rentals.
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Yes, at under $200k you can keep payments under $1000 per month and the math for an AirBNB is pretty easy. I have wondered if the saturation point is going to be reached pretty soon. With that one being so close to downtown and to the entrance to the park, it felt like it had some protection built in. I guess the buyer agreed.
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I think there are now a lot of out-of-town investors who are discovered Luray as a place for rentals. Knowing how difficult it is to find quality, consistent cleaners, I’m curious how these investors will handle their day-to-day operations. And as more rentals come on the market, everyone will compete for guests. Quality is really going to make or break places.
A rental can make sense on a spreadsheet, but we’ve found that reality is much different when you’re in hospitality.
I hope you can find a place to buy. We’d love to have you as a neighbor.
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Update: Arg. Covid finally caught up with my family so we need to postpone the yard sale. I’m probably about 75% done with going through all of the boxes and bins in my garage. There was a lot more stuff from my parents’ house than I thought. Many items I inherited were broken, repaired, or defective in some way. I’ve put some lower in carnival glass, all of the mildly chipped items, etc. into the sale for cheap and threw out some things. I did find a solid silver bowl from my grandparents that might to go for a few hundred dollars and some Murano glass that’s cool. I caught up with a couple of boxes I can identify as a period of me being junk drunk on my favorite independent thrift store after I first discovered it. <Shakes head> But, that’s a cheap lesson. All in all there is PLENTY here to list that’s worth selling. It will be pretty organized when I’m all done.
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My whole family was sick last week. My wife and I still have some lingering issues from it. I was tested for COVID and was negative. I did some research on COVID testing and omicron and based on when I was tested the odds of a false negative is pretty high.
Why do I suspect COVID now? Because the last couple days I thought I was going nuts because I smell cigarette smoke CONSTANTLY. Yeah, that’s a post COVID thing some people get. Nice.Its gotten worse and worse. For the last 24 hours I’ve felt like I was living in a cig smoke cloud.
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@Retro hope you can get some relief soon! My daughter was pretty sick with bad cold / flu symptoms. She tested negative for days, almost to the day she started feeling a lot better. Finally tested positive on the morning of the show. A whole bunch of the theater kids got it and one of the teachers.
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