The Numbers: Week July 23-29, 2023

[Jay]

A couple weeks ago, Craig suggested an experiment. We really love his contributions here and appreciate his insight on how he runs he store. His sugge
[See the full post at: The Numbers: Week July 23-29, 2023]

[Retro Treasures WV]

Wow that house looks AWESOME! I felt like I was looking in one of those interior decorating magazines looking at your photos.

 

Did you have that acrylic/tree stump table made or did you find it scavenging?

[Jay]

Thanks. It’s been a long ten months. I hope Ryanne will post some before/after.

During a long renovation, we spend time scavenging for art and furniture. We got that table for $300 at an auction. Usually closer to $2000: https://www.frontgate.com/root-coffee-table/1543439

No idea how something like that is made. its real roots/wood and solid.

[Retro Treasures WV]

Items in Store: 2421
Items Sold: 44
Total Sales: $1,686.00
COGS: $246.00
Total Profit: $1,436.00
Average profit: $32.64
Average sales price: $38.32
New Listings: 65
Items scavenged: 16
Listing 2023 weekly Avg: 36
Sourcing Allotment: 25

My my, how perspective can change on a dime. I feel DISAPPOINTED that I ONLY have $1700 in sales this week. How funny! In the last 4 weeks I’ve made as much in sales as the previous 15 weeks combined!!! I really was hoping to hit $2k 3 weeks in a row.

Ebay Sales this weekend were dead. I didn’t get a chance to photograph or finish listings until this weekend as it was a busy week. On top of that, we had a bug go through our house that finally made it to me. I felt like crap all weekend. My two oldest kids did plenty of shoe cleaning and photography so I still knocked out 65 items in two days. I still have 30 drafts that need photos. Not posting any new listings for 5 days likely hurt me. Well maybe I can get back on track this week with another $2k week.

Fun listing fact – in the last 9 weeks I’ve listed 733 new listings. This is as much as I’ve listed in the last 44 weeks combined!

Premium hoarder numbers for the week:

Shoes – 6 pair for $522

Clothing – 3 items for $189

I powered through and listed all the lower dollar hoarder shoes that were basically throw ins. Multiple pair of Sperrys. I also listed the lower dollar new in box shoes that are definitely real.

I got some more positive feedback from premium hoarder shoe buyers.

Specificially this one:

https://www.ebay.com/itm/266329021840

I had a gift receipt from a gucci store for this pair, but when I looked at online guides for fakes and compared photos this one was questionable.  I didn’t have the shoes anymore so I was just going off memory and my listing photos. This was the weekend where I was freaking out thinking I had bought a ton of fake shoes. I’ve calmed down a bit since then and I think the amount of fakes is just a few pair.

 

I’ve made about half my investment back so far on only 33 sales – 15 clothing & 17 shoes.

I’m averaging $60 per item on clothing and $150 on shoes – though I’ve mainly only listed used lower dollar shoes. If these numbers continue trending I’ll end up around $50k in sales once everything sells.

Scavenging wise, it was a dead weekend. Yard sales were sparse and disappointing. even the big annual high school sale that I usually load up at was crappy. I did score a wireless pet fence system for $10 at goodwill that sells for $150. I’ve sold them before and it is always an insta-sale. The poor sourcing is ok though – I needed a break from sourcing so I can work on death pile listing this week. I already have my van loaded with plenty of death pile items as well as some more premium hoarder clothes and shoes.

I have my inventory building organized and made space for 14 bins of new items this weekend. I have 3 weeks to  list 267 items to complete my 1000 listing summer goal. Let’s goooo!

[Jay]

 If these numbers continue trending I’ll end up around $50k in sales once everything sells.

That’s nuts!

[Retro Treasures WV]

The real nuts is that there is 10x more stuff that I haven’t seen yet. I may be able to go look at the real stash later this month.

[Julie B]

Is it just me or does there seem to be more clothing hoarders as of late?  The last two weekends in a row the estate sales I went to both ended up being borderline clothing hoarders/ clothes shopping addicts.  Saturday was closets and closets and closets full of NWT Talbots clothing being sold for $2 to $5 a piece.  The weekend prior was a NWT Chico’s and Berek sweater hoarder.  I cleaned up at both.  The irony is I went to both sales looking for hard goods because I already have a great source for clothing and quite frankly, I’m a little burned out on clothes.

In 2021 I went to the estate sale of a lady who had an ebay auction addiction where she bought mostly obscure ’90s european designer clothing.  I’ve profited over $15K from that sale so far.  I wish I had gone back on the last day of the sale but by then I was overwhelmed with the amount of clothing I already had to list.

[Jay]

I think a lot has to do with the rise of fast fashion which really exploded in the last 10-15 years: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fast_fashion

People can buy new clothes so cheap now through outlet malls, Ross, and other discount places. It’s like crack cocaine for clothing addicts.

We certainly dont feel the same power of selling clothes on eBay as we did back in 2008.

[JasonK]

Nice to see your airbnb business is still growing. I’d love to do something similar here in Florida but the real-estate in Sarasota has gotten too rich for my blood.

I’d say your experiment wasn’t a total dud but double the sales at half the price makes you think, did you really come out ahead? Guess it depends on your objectives. Another thing to analyze, were you selling more “old” items or was most of the sales boost from newer items. Either way, not a bad week overall.

[Jay]

You hit the nail on the head. It’s a success because most items were old items so glad to see them gone, but its a losing game if we sold everything this cheap.

We never know what people will buy which is why I always say we don’t have control no matter how low we bring prices down.

 

[BrianB]

The latest house is beautiful. I assume this is an addition to your short-term rental properties? Good work.

[Jay]

Yes, that link we included is on Airbnb, where you can rent the place.

[BrianB]

Oh, yeah, sorry. I was so focused on the nice pictures I didn’t notice the site was air B n B. Really looks nice.

[Sharyn]

That new AirBnB is gorgeous. I almost want to take a long weekend in the fall and go. I’ll have to talk to my family about it. One thing about it, other than how nice it looks, is the number of full bathrooms. Your other homes have only one full bathroom, and this one has three.

My week was pretty sucky with three days where I had no sales. Interestingly, I’ve had one sale from Etsy for a few weeks in a row, and I’m getting low in inventory there. I did bid in an online auction last week, so I’ll have to get more inventory back up there.

Week of Jul 23 – 29
Total Items in Store: 1714 eBay, 25 Etsy
Items Sold: 6 eBay, 1 Etsy
Cost of Items Sold: $3 + $12.50 Commission
Total Sales: $119.17 eBay, $35.90 Etsy; includes fees but no shipping
Highest Price Sold: eBay $34 for 1960s Lady Sutton Shirt; $35.90 for Vintage Glengoyne Whiskey Pitcher
Average price: $22
Returns: 0
Money Spent on New Inventory This Week: $116
Number of items listed this week: 13

[Ryanne]

This house and our first rental have 1.5 baths. The other two only have 1 full bath. Just to get techinical 😂

[Sharyn]

Yes, I guess I was just counting the full bathrooms.

[Sharyn]

I happened to take a second look today, and I see I misread the 3 bedrooms 4 beds as 3 bathrooms 4 beds. I don’t know how I didn’t see the 1.5 bathrooms. Either way, it is absolutely stunning.

[Ryanne]

Hi all!

Here are the before photos on my Dropbox. Let me know if you can’t see them. What a project! So happy its up and listed on Airbnb finally. Hope some of you really will come visit.

[Sharyn]

I can hardly see how the before and after photos are even related. From narrow and boxy to light and airy, just doesn’t compute!

[Julie B]

How is that even the same house?!  Bravo! You have an amazing eye and work ethic.

Edit to add:  The cat pillow – so cute.

[Ryanne]

thank you!

[Temudgin]

That house is amazing; the reno and furnishings! And the listing looks great. You are real pros at all of it.

Week of 7/23 – 7/29
Total items in Store: 355
Items Sold: 4
Gross Sales: $68.46 (w/o eBay fees, shipping, or taxes)
Cost of Items Sold: $0 (including consignment commissions but not the original cost of family castoffs)
Highest Price Sold: $25 plus shipping (Bosch Refrigerator FreshProtect Ethylene Absorber Starter Kit)
Average Sales Price: $17.12 (not incl eBay fees, shipping, or taxes)
Returns: 0
Money Spent on New Inventory: $0
Number of new items listed: 13

I have not posted here in a while, partially due to some travel and also because sales have been abysmal for June and July so not worth reporting; 4 items sold is the most I’ve sold in a week since May. At least I’ve been listing.

[Jay]

Travel is good! Slow sales is bad. Listings is the key.

[Antique Frog]

Looks great! Really nicely furnished and gorgeous staircase/landing/attic room.

I spent a few hours last week vacuuming mouse droppings and dog poo off the floor of a hoarder’s house (and off the sofa- tide marks where the mice ran along the cushions), so I’ve got a really biased opinion 🙂

[craig rex]

@Jay I love to see the results of experiments, good bad or ugly. I agree that it’s not exciting selling items for $10 no matter how you get to that sold price — buy it now for $10, 50% off sale or an auction with a $9.99 opening bid that only gets one bid.

But it’s nice getting those more expensive $100+ sales from price reductions and sales. Would the same stuff sell in six months or a year at its original higher price? Maybe! But I think there are a lot of instances where it is preferable to close the sale now and use the cash for something else. Especially for you and Ryanne, since you have other income streams which gives you a more freedom to experiment with eBay if you choose.

Love the new airbnb listing, the transformation is unreal and that coffee table is something else. I hope to come visit and explore the Luray area sometime in the next year or so. Everything you two are working on is a huge inspiration to me.

Two weeks worth of numbers for me this time around. I have a big scavenge of the week type post coming up soon which I can’t wait to share with everyone. Just finalizing one more piece of the deal before I post it up. It’s not related to sports or trading cards in any way, and I don’t think I would have had the confidence to make the deal if it weren’t for the conversations on these forums.

7/16/2023 to 7/22/2023

Items sold: 39 (18 via best offer, 15 via seller initiated offer, 25 via promoted listings)

Gross sales: $1587.66 (down 40% from one year ago)

Net sales: $1044.65 (down 51% from one year ago)

Average sales price: $40.71 (down 18% from one year ago)

Highest price sold (net): $60.96 — Domingo German (New York Yankees pitcher) Bowman Chrome 1st autograph

Lowest price sold (net): $9.75 — Dylan Carlson (St. Louis Cardinals) Leaf Flash autograph # to 25

7/23/2023 to 7/29/2023

Items sold: 27 (15 via best offer, 4 via seller initiated offer, 18 via promoted listings)

Gross sales: $1196.09 (down 50% from one year ago)

Net sales: $831.82 (down 57% from one year ago)

Average sales price: $44.30 (down 20% from one year ago)

Highest price sold (net): $126.47 — Amazing Spiderman 2011 Marvel Comic Cuts panel card #5/80

Lowest price sold (net): $11.16 — Stories from the Mines DVD (anthracite coal mining documentary)

I was on time away for the second half of the week of the 23rd, so I am really happy with these numbers. I sent a message to every buyer reminding them I could not ship until the middle of the following week and no one had a problem with it. In fact, about half of them sent messages telling me to enjoy the time off. So much of our online communication has become nonexistent or automated that I think it’s almost a nice surprise when you find out you’re dealing with another human being.

[Jay]

I cant wait to hear about this haul you purchased. Knowing you, I bet you went all in.

[Steve List]

J and R, you must have a touch of magic to transform that old-looking shack into the beautiful Air B and B it now is – fantastic eyes. It has been amazing following your adventures from when you started refurbishing your first live-in house to now when you have four Air B and B’s along with a coffee shop, and a coffee bean roasting facility.

Monthly numbers for July: 07/1 – 07/31

Total listings: 1593
Items sold: 38
Sales: $788.21
Highest price sold: $140 Ghost on Pumpkin Blow-Mold – local pickup
Average price sold: $20.74
Cost of items sold: $51.40 / average cost: 1.35 each
Spent on new inventory: $12
Number of items listed: 89

About the same numbers as last month although I did have two $100 plus sales, both for items that I paid less than $5 for. I have been holding back from going to estate and yard sales as I just have too much stuff to go through.

[Lukastreasure]

Wow, I’m gob smacked with the house. 🙂  I can’t believe what you did with the place.  It was so dark and cramped, but we saw it when all the rooms were stuffed with junk.  What a vision you had.  It turned out really nice.  Did you have to haul off all the junk in the woods, too? Congratulations!!

[Jay]

I personally trucked away four loads of garbage and junk. Then we had a backhoe load up two construction dumpsters of those old out buildings.

With a project like this,its best to just strip it all away and start fresh. There was no “lets just remodel” to be done.

[Lukastreasure]

<p style=”text-align: left;”>I can believe it.  That was a lot of stuff.  They reminded me of my father and grandfather who never threw anything away just in case they ever needed it.</p>
I’m so impressed by the transformation.  You guys really have the eye for it.  Pity you didn’t put your videographer skills to work and video the process.  That would be a hit on YouTube.

[Author]

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