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A brief overview of the past week of sales on Ebay:
Between both Ebay stores, I had over 60 sales for over $1k gross (shipping included for some orders, not all).
I briefly got up to 9,999 listings on the main store (yay!).
Now, the main store is back down to 9,970 items.
Just reached 950 items with watchers on the main store.
I still have 0 items with promoted listings (both ebay stores). A pox on the concept of promoted listings, meh.
Listed 20 items on the main Ebay store in the past week. There would have been only 9,950 items active if I hadn’t done any work. I wasn’t expecting to get any new listings up, so 20 is good for me having absolutely no time.
Main focus is elsewhere, so both Ebay stores are an auto-pilot experiment for this month. I do hope to get 10-30 items listed between both stores per week, if possible, which is hardly any work and just meant to boost listings and clear some floor space, not actually stock the stores. I like the idea of putting in A LOT of work when you have time, and then when you don’t just seeing the results of your previous efforts.
Sold-out of an RA item I purchased after Christmas last year. I am not used to a Christmas like q4 like most sellers are (Q1 is the best for my type of items), so it was nice to get a bump this weekend. Shipped most of them off on Saturday, only a few left to bring in tomorrow. Glad that my experiment worked, and very happy to see them gone. Now I can fill the area they were stored in with vintage that I am actually interested in dealing with (when I eventually have the time).Just started listening to the podcast. What interests me most about MLM schemes is how they are able to work in the days of the internet. You’d think people would search before they throw down $20k to participate in a scheme, but they spend the money first and then only complain when they make back only $5k, if even that much, and are out tens of thousands of dollars.
While selling on Ebay and Amazon directly isn’t a scam like that, what could be considered scams are the way certain Youtube gurus market their videos and then promote “mentorship” programs through their websites The ebook/course selling might also be a quasi-legal gray area of marketing to tentative newbies. If you get a chance to look at the ebay stores of some of these sellers, they are not making anywhere near the amount of sales they claim in their youtube videos, and some might not even be actually selling the items they claim to be purchasing on their youtube videos.
Maybe they say the courses and books are for “entertainment purposes,” like the way fortune tellers do, in order to not face any legal liability if people don’t make any sales after taking their courses or reading their books. I don’t know.
Here is an interesting Amazon scam that was uncovered this year:
“Amazing Wealth System” not so amazing, alleges the FTC
An FTC lawsuit alleges that money-making claims made by a related group of companies and individuals for their Amazing Wealth System are “amazing” all right – if by “amazing” you mean “not credible” or “unsupported by the facts.” The complaint charges the defendants with violating the FTC Act and the Business Opportunity Rule. One interesting factual twist is how elements of the “system” allegedly depend on subverting Amazon’s rules about online reviews and third-party sales.
Defendants advertise their Amazing Wealth System via direct mail, radio, YouTube videos, social media, and live events. (Consumers may know them by names like Amazon Wealth Systems, FBA Stores, Insider Online Secrets, or Online Auction Learning Center. But let’s be clear: The defendants have no affiliation with Amazon.)
According to the FTC, the defendants lure prospective purchasers in with claims like this:
“My name is Adam Bowser, and over the past 18 years I have sold over $50 million online. I’m going to be hosting a few local workshops around the Seattle area to share my secrets for making money on Amazon.”
“Get started selling on Amazon and make $5,000-$10,000 in the next 30 days . . . Even if you have never sold anything online before.”
“Just last year we sold over $12 Million on Amazon.com. Now we want to help you become our next Amazon success story.”According to the FTC, the three-day workshops shift the hype into overdrive, including the sale of more expensive packages like the $34,995 “Diamond” enrollment. As one pitch person said at a workshop, “So whether you want an extra $20- to $30,000 a year or you want to create a million dollar a year business, I’m going to show you how to do either of those.”
2,800 currently listed, 524 sold. Still seems like a good sell-through rate, and not *too* badly over saturated. I guess if you’re a seller typing “drapers and damons” instead of “drapers & damons,” AND you have a buyer that is searching using “and” instead of “&,” you have a good chance of selling your item with little competition.
If anything, that says a lot about the ebay search algorithm if it cannot combine all results for “and” and “&.” Bad AI!
Wow, that clothing is hideous! :O
Could it be selling well because other clothing resellers think there’s no demand for it? I see there are only 360 listings when you search “Drapers and Damons.” If someone’s a fan of that clothing line, there really isn’t that much to choose from. At that point, a “cheap, avoidable” piece of clothing goes up in value for the handful of people that might be fighting for the few pieces of it that a few, kind clothing sellers bother to list online.
I know the “bolo” clothing people are devaluing their items listed by constantly boasting about what’s “popular” like it’s their job. They’ve created their own competition with thousands of pieces of similar clothing items being introduced to the marketplace to compete with them. It is smart to take up an opposing strategy, by listing the items that look like junk but appear to oddly be good bread & butter.
11/07/2018 at 7:09 pm in reply to: Booksellers Protest Amazon Site’s Move to Drop Stores From Certain Countries #51377Looks like the protest was effective!
From an email list I’m on that includes ILAB subscribers (I am not a member of ILAB):
Dear Colleagues
It is with great pleasure I report to you that the booksellers in the Czech Republic, Hungary, Russia and South Korea will be able to continue to trade on ABE Books into the future if they wish to. They will not be cut off this month nor in the future.
Fabrizio Govi (ILAB Vice President), Angelika Elstner (ILAB Executive Secretary) and I have just finished a meeting with the CEO of ABE Books Arkady Vitrouk and Udo G?llman.
The meeting began with Arkady Vitrouk apologising for the behaviour of ABE Books in announcing that they would withdraw their services to our colleagues in the Czech Republic, Hungary, Russia and South Korea. He then went on to absolutely assure us that none of the booksellers, neither ILAB members or others will have to stop trading on ABE. They will now also continue to allow the booksellers in other countries, Poland for example, where there is no ILAB affiliated association to trade as well. Arkady told us that ABE are very well aware of the mistake they have made. He stated that it was a “bad decision” and that they deeply regret the hurt and harm they have caused. Throughout the meeting Arkady and Udo were keen to make amends. During the meeting there was none of the corporate speak that the statements issued earlier contained. They did not avoid questions, rush us or in any way try to defend their actions. Arkady apologised a number of times. All questions were answered carefully and they were prepared to answer all of the questions we put to them.
The root of the problem is ABE’s enforced shift to a new payment system as their current payment system closes at the end of the year. Angelika, who took notes throughout the meeting, will be in touch soon with more details but I wanted to make sure you immediately heard the result of the meeting.
We also talked briefly about some of the other issues that annoy the trade. Arkady assured us that they were aware of the issues we touched on and they very much want to work with us. They have a long list of improvements and they are working on them. He is keen to continue to talk and we felt this was genuine. I should also add that the meeting took place at 4.30am for Arkady such was the importance of it to ABE.
I would like to take the opportunity to thank everyone who participated in this extraordinary and unprecedented protest. Without your voices and “vacationing” books we would never have gained the media interest. Without the protests on the list and the media attention I know we would not have so easily got this excellent outcome. I wish to thank and acknowledge the outstanding contribution of Simon Beattie in his call to join him in putting our books on “vacation”. I would like to thank the ABA for their decision to no longer accept ABE sponsorship which was another very significant factor in too. There are very many others without whom this dramatic turn around would not have happened. I wish to thank the actions of the National Association presidents in spreading the word. And, vitally, every single person who wrote an email, withdrew their books, spoke to customers or the media, worked on the spreadsheet or any other of the many, many things that made this campaign so powerful. This historic, unprecendented action is a success for us all.
In light of the very good resolution and goodwill shown by ABE Books I have decided that tomorrow when I get up (it is just before 2am now here) I will put my books back to work on ABE.
Very best wishes to all
SallySally Burdon
ILAB President11/07/2018 at 12:31 pm in reply to: Ed Welch Journal of Antiques Article – Selling Higher Priced Items #51351I’ve been interested in certain pieces of art at one of my local thrift stores that have been priced too high for the past few months now – $75 to $200 apiece. As someone interested in collecting and selling cheaper pieces, it was just too much for me to speculate on or buy for myself.
They finally lowered the prices and cleared them out. I was able to get 1 for $20, but I think most actually sold at the original asking prices.
My husband and I did research for an hour on the painting and were able to determine what it was, country of origin, materials used. No artist name. Gallery label on back of frame. We found 2 examples of previous ones sold from 4-5 years ago on Worthpoint. 1 sold for $400, the other for $800. There have been no similar items on the market since.
Ours is not as fancy as the previous ones sold, and has damage to it in places – small holes in spots, but appears to have been framed that way. I am going to send photos of it off to Sotheby’s and Christie’s in the next week to see if they are interested, because sales of paintings from the region have gone up in the past 2 or 3 years. Otherwise, I expect to price it at that higher sold range with obo on ebay if they are not interested.
It is fun to find items like this when you don’t expect it, but I like running my business knowing the cheap, steady bread & butter items will sustain me. It is just fun to sometimes go way out of your comfort zone.
11/05/2018 at 11:57 am in reply to: Booksellers Protest Amazon Site’s Move to Drop Stores From Certain Countries #51215From this website:
“In an official statement to the International League of Antiquarian Booksellers (ILAB), Udo Göllmann, a senior Abebooks official responsible for rare and collectible books, explained that it is “no longer viable for us to operate in these countries due to increasing costs and complexities.” In a second statement, Abebooks clarified that it recently selected a new credit card processor that does not offer services in a number of European and Asian countries. Inexpicably, Abebooks’ parent company, Amazon, allows booksellers on its site from all of the affected countries.”
What’s interesting is that Amazon is still selling in all of these countries themselves. They have not offered a clear explanation why sellers on Abebooks from these countries are not allowed to sell directly through Abebooks.
11/04/2018 at 11:41 am in reply to: Ed Welch Journal of Antiques Article – Selling Higher Priced Items #51161Good article and discussion!
There are definitely both limitations and benefits of being an online seller, specifically an ebay seller. It is a good place for a beginner collector to start without too much money or experience. The ability to see a seller’s feedback and detailed feedback helps.
A seller’s reputation and feedback might at this point be enough to validate someone, like an old-time seller being known by word-of-mouth in the pre-internet age. The ability to see a seller’s wares and to see if they specialize in a field or not vs. being a generalist seller might also help with various price points.
It’s really a toss-up for selling expensive items, whether being a specialist or not helps, whether being on ebay is a help or an hindrance, etc,. I do agree to sell a truly rare, expensive item, you *probably* need to have your own group of buyers waiting, work shows, have a b&m, or use an auction house. The definition of “expensive” though really depends on who you’re talking to. I have sold “expensive” items through Ebay and other sites in the past, but I have never sold anything truly “expensive” (for me)($5k+), so I don’t know what it takes to routinely go about it selling online.
According to a recent Ebay search history for antiquarian/collectible books, there have been at least 50 that have sold for more than $5k on ebay over the past few months. Only a few have been sold from auction houses. How many by sellers are book dealers or just happened to find an amazing score? I don’t know. All I know is, that shows that there are definitely people out there willing to make large purchases on Ebay without hesitation.
Maxsold can be pretty magical. Earlier this year, I went to a maxsold auction pick-up that also had a fill a bag sale.
They originally planned on having a second maxsold sale, but then figured they’d be better off just having the people already there buy more of what they wanted. The sale was not advertised to the general public.
I ended up filling up a few boxes of 1960s magazines, records, barkcloth fabric, and 1940s-1980s clothing for $30. On top of the auction winnings I had originally come for.
Also, they had a few lots with no bids that they let everyone take what they wanted from. There was one lot 95% full of junk I had thought of bidding on for the good items, but decided against it. This was one of the no-bid lots. I ended up getting the items I wanted from the lot for free, without having to worry about getting rid of the junk.
That’s the only time that has happened at a maxsold pick-up foe me, but it was cool.
One bad thing about Maxsold is that you have to take everything that you want, which can sometimes be A LOT of junk. If you don’t take it all, they’ll indicate it as not picked up and ban you from bidding on future auctions.
10/30/2018 at 11:24 am in reply to: Sellers Aren't the Only Ones Getting Fed Up With Goodwill Pricing! ;) #50954I don’t understand the sort of peerson that would walk into a Goodwill and spend $80 on 1 clothing item. Do these people actually exist? Is Goodwill looking for a person confusing Goodwill for a brand new clothing shop?
I hear complaints about Goodwill selling clothing for $8-15 apiece, but at least that’s more realistic pricing compared to $80.
That being said, I still sometimes have amazing finds at Goodwill. They don’t know everything. It’s not as good as it used to be, but that goes for most thrifting.
How long does it take you to research/list each item? I’m not incredibly huge on ephemera – it seems like each piece would take a lot to research to get the right keywords. In my mind, listing 10k ephemera items is a HUGE time investment. Is there a method to it, or is it just slogging through each listing?
-It depends. Sometimes, there are comps. Other times, you have to go on outside research. A lot of items I list will be similar, so it makes it easier to just batch process everything – photograph, research, price, list. Just like anything else, you come up with processes for it to make it easier overall.
If I list a book, I will list 10-20 other books at the same time and get through a box of them. For ephemera, I will list 20-50 at a time.
Once the item is listed, it’s just listed. I feel I can coast by now on those listings because the work is done. All I had to do was put in the work over the years. The hard part was building up processes, getting the work done, and being consistent with it. Now, I’m at the top of the paper mountain.
I enjoy listing and sorting through ephemera, so it is fun and the research is enjoyable. My eyes glaze over when I read about large clothing or shoe inventories. Enjoying what you list is key.
There used to be a person here – think his name was spinacheater or something like that – that had a large inventory of post cards. Is your process like his?
-Yeah, that’s Popeye’s Postcards.
Another reason I haven’t done ephemera is that I really haven’t seen much of it available around my area. I’m probably not looking in the right place.
-Yeah, I think you see what you want to see when sourcing. I know I skip a lot of stuff that is “good” when out in the wild, but it’s just not for me!
I believe I remember you saying you also sold on amazon and that most of your listings are books, right?
Do you minds sharing info about your amazon sales too? I would expect far more sales a week on that many items.
-Oh, the items I have listed on Ebay are a completely different inventory from Amazon. I don’t cross-post.
To be honest, seeing someone with a 10k item store getting less than $1k in sales in a week gives me anxiety. $725 in sales a week does not justify the store cost of having 10k listings. Am I missing something here?
-Here is how much it costs to have an Ebay store: $299.95/ mo with annual subscription
I list mainly books and ephemera on the main Ebay store. Very long-tail (or short-tail, sometimes items sell within minutes of posting). Minus COGS, shipping, fees, etc,. I have more than paid for my subscription fees AND made a profit off of 1 week of sales to have an anchor store subscription.
In terms of running a *business*, my business runs more like Popeye’s Postcards. Just a smaller amount of items. He currently has over 17,000 items listed on Ebay. My store is tiny in comparison.
On Popeye’s ebay store:
I have over 200,000 postcards on hand that I’ll be listing from.
That is pretty much where I’m at, except it’s probably more like 20,000 unlisted pieces of ephemera, books, etc, that I can sort through to list on Ebay. I probably don’t have to source again for several years, and I’ll still be maintaining $600-1k a week in sales based on what I already have. My business is not dependent on constantly running to thrift stores, rummage sales, etc,. THAT would be an anxiety producing business for me.
Different businesses for different folks.
Alright, I’ll post my numbers for the week because I am falling out of the “buying” mode and into the “sell it all!” mode, so I want to see more clearly what I am actually doing:
October 21-27:
Total Items Listed: 9,900
Items sold: 47
Gross Sales: $850
Highest Price Sold: Book for $175, paid $3.
COGs: $30-35
ALSO: Sales include free shipping, so deduct roughly $125 from sales and COGS to get a more accurate reflection of actual sales (also, fees, taxes, etc,. not as pretty as of a number as it actually looks!)
Listed: 50 listings? Not as much as I wanted to do, but pretty good for not really having time to list.I got in a last-minute Christmas ephemera buy this week, which I hope to finish listing through today. Those account for most of the new listings on the Ebay store for the week. Once I am finished with that, my efforts are back to my other selling venues (Amazon, etc,.) and prep for Q1 of 2019. I got in a good collection this weekend which will be good for Q1, it just needs to get listed this week.
I still have thousands of ephemera items to sort through from purchases this month, so I’m really not going to be buying too heavily again in the near future. Gotta list it all! When I have the time to work on Ebay, I will sort/cull/list, but otherwise I have enough stock to get by on without having to about sourcing. I set it up on purpose like this, so I can focus on other things. I did not put much time at all in for Ebay this week. I’m just coasting at this point through the holidays. I’ll continue listing new items, but I’m not too worried about being stocked up for November-January on Ebay at this point. I think I already have a good number of listings up to have a strong holiday selling season without having to be constantly listing.
Sales seem promising for this week. I’ve already had 4 sales today, and it is still early.
Removing all that tape would wreck the packaging. What the heck, Goodwill?
10/24/2018 at 3:56 pm in reply to: Thrift stores refusing to sell you items because they know they're good finds #50671No, I bought the other items I wanted to buy. I just didn’t want to make a stink over it because I couldn’t tell how honest his intentions were in terms of selling it in the store, but then I felt upset about it after leaving the store like I should’ve made a fuss over it and not wussed out.
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