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I’ve been reselling since my teenage years (I’m 46). I’m always learning, and from a lot of different resellers. But Scavenger Life has a way more personal connection to me than any other reseller. I’ve listened to/watched every episode/video of theirs on YouTube and these are some of the lessons I’ve learned.
Some of them are things I knew already to a greater or lesser extent, but they’ve given me a fresh perspective, a deeper understanding or greater appreciation of their significance. Without further ado, here are the top 10 things I’ve learned from the Scavenger Life podcast:
1) Set it and forget it: Ron Popeil was right! (aka “list it and forget it” or “list it and leave it”): Right off the bat, here’s one of the most important things I’ve learned from Jay and Ryanne. There was a time when I’d go through and reduce prices on my listings to “sell things faster”. But the real effect was that nothing sold faster, they only sold for less money. Leave yourself room for best offers.
2) Auctions are generally a bad business move: Auctions may be good for clearing out the crap (sometimes). But most auctions don’t get no bids (unless you give things away) unless you’re giving the item away. And those that do rarely bring much. Be patient and wait for the right buyer to come along. The right buyer will rarely be on eBay searching for the item you’re selling within the window of your auction.
3) Price high w/best offer: Don’t be afraid to ask what your item is worth. And if you don’t know “the value”, price high. Even if you do know – unless you’re selling a commodity or common item with dozens of comps (where the main selling factor will be price) – price high and allow interested buyers to make an offer.
4) Learn about other brands: Learn about different brands that you aren’t already familiar with. If you’re selling clothing, learn about higher end fashion brands. If you sell vintage homeware, learn what brands of kitchenware and other household items are bringing the bigger money. When you see unfamiliar brands, it’s good not to overlook so many treasures.
5) Upgrade your eBay store! (don’t let free listings limit you): If you don’t have an eBay store, get one. I had a basic store subscription for almost 5 years (since getting more serious about selling on eBay and realizing that paying per listing is a waste of money). Prompted by Scavenger Life, I upgraded to a Premium store earlier this year. What a great move that was.
And if you have a subscription but run out of free listings, it’s time to upgrade! For too long I let the basic subscription limit my activity by waiting until I had more free listings available. Bad move.
6) Longtail items and “the pipeline”: It’s OK to have items that sit for a year or more. If you have the storage space, let it sit. Don’t constantly reduce prices or remove “dead” listings. Every week I sell at least several items that have been listed for over a year. Sometimes several in 1 day. If the money is there, stuff it into the pipeline. You could put that $5 bill in the bank where it’ll collect 0.02% interest or you could let that item that’s worth $150 sit in the pipeline and marinate. The pipeline pays way more than the bank.
7) ABL (Always Be Listing): It’s easy to get lazy and take a week off. It’s also easy to say “I’m going to wait until I have more free listings available” (upgrade your store subscription, silly!). You can’t sell what isn’t listed. And the more options you have for potential buyers to come across, the greater your chances of selling items every day.
8) Oddball items: Don’t be afraid to step out of your comfort zone and diversify your inventory. No matter how much you love your video games, clothing, action figures, whatever, there WILL BE times when your niche category just doesn’t sell as well as you’d like. Sometimes the answer is to broaden – not deepen – your inventory.
9) Large inventory is key: Again, get a store subscription and don’t be afraid to upgrade. Have lots of listings; as many as you can. The more listings you have, the more often you’ll be included in search results and the more hooks you’ll have in the water.
10) Change handling time: “Vacation mode” is a useless non-feature that eBay really needs to fix. It fools countless sellers every day into thinking it actually does something. You can use vacation mode if you want to. Just know that eBay metrics only care about handling time.
Honorable mentions:
11) Let things go: Don’t hold your items too dearly. Sometimes that high price isn’t actually what anyone is going to pay. Listen to the offers you get; if they’re consistent, it may be telling you the true value of your item. If you have a collection of things you no longer love, sell it off. If you have death piles weighing you down, get to listing.
12) The word “detritus”
What are some lessons you’ve learned from Scavenger Life?
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Can I share on this thread?
–No drama returns. Never ever get into long arguments with a buyer no matter how kooky. Just accept the return and use eBay’s process to dispute if necessary. Silent method always wins.
–Dont let Death Piles suck your energy and life blood. Either tackle a pile of items you’ve been avoiding or re-donate. Living amongst piles of unlisted inventory will destroy your mental health.
–If you’re always angry/sad/scared/worried about ebay and your business, get a therapist. eBay isnt ruining your life. Its probably something you’re not dealing with. Often lack of anger management, loneliness, addiction, co-dependence, abusive relationships, etc
–If you’re not listing, you’re hoarding.
–Do your numbers. You dont need to be an accountant to do a simple calculation of how much your making and spending each week/month. You’re probably doing better than you think.
–Look at your expenses. The less you spend on your life, the less money you need to make. This could be packing your lunch instead of eating out….to geographic arbitrage where you move to a much cheaper location.
–Dont make a sweatshop for yourself. Usually this happens to new sellers who are selling stuff way too cheap so must work to the bone to make a living.
–There’s nothing wrong with a Steady State business. Too many Youtubers are often yelling about growing and growing. And if you arent growing, you’re failing. Figure out how much you need to make each month to live, and create a steady state business. The rest of the time is yours to enjoy. https://bemorewithless.com/the-story-of-the-mexican-fisherman/
–eBay is a cash machine. Insert items you scavenge in the wild and cash comes out. Use that cash to live a good life. Use the cash to invest in other businesses.
–Amazon is all about commodity items where you compete on price, but Irony, Nostalgia, and Authenticity are the currency we trade in. Weird objects that are worthless to most people are extremely valuable once you put them in a different context. Be a curator.
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@Jay – Most certainly! This may be your house but you can also be the guest of honor. This is all about compiling points of wisdom and you and Sharyn made some great ones. Thank you.
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