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The quarantine has been my excuse for trying FB Marketplace. For me, the items I am putting on FBMP are items that are heavy or bulky so that the cost of shipping eats up half the cost to the consumer (and profit to the seller). In the last week, I have sold 10 puzzles, 20 pounds of loose Lego, and a bike exerciser. I have people coming tomorrow for a Cobb portable grill and a dog kennel. Best of all, because of social distancing, I can leave things on the porch and have them Venmo me the $s or put cash in a box.
I am most excited about getting rid of some bulky stuff that has been hanging around for too long. The down side has been a feeding frenzy of PMs one night and people messaging me after midnight (happened twice and I returned the favor at 7 am by answering their questions in detail with multiple responses).
With regard to puzzles, it is obviously critical not to sell incomplete puzzles. I buy and sell only puzzles I am interested in working. I sell ones I have completed about as often as I trade them with friends.
One time, I bought thirty 1000 piece puzzles from a single seller at a garage sale. (They were all Wysocki puzzles by Buffalo, so pretty desirable). I only worked a few of them and saw each was complete and felt comfortable listing all.
Another time I bought six puzzles from a jumbo thrift store. One after another, each I worked was missing one piece. After three puzzles with missing pieces, I realized that someone had maliciously removed one piece from each. Those puzzles all went in the garbage and I don’t buy puzzles or board games at that thrift store anymore.
On Sunday, I listed three lots of jigsaw puzzles. Yesterday I sold the last of those three. They are not big dollars, but they take a lot of space and I pick them up for a couple $s each to work them at the dining table every now and again.
I also sold a lot of crochet flyers, and I have been selling a few more wooden trains than usual. I think everything going out the door has been less than $50. I make up that people are interested in shopping (because they are consumers and stuck at home), but financial worries have struck rich and poor so they are shopping for little things.
BTW, I tried out FB Marketplace for the first time this week and sold a massive two-person sleeping bag (15 lbs) for $100. OMG, I loved just wrapping a bungee around it and walking it to my buyer’s car and putting it inside and getting a handful of cash back! I am starting to look aroud the house at what else can go up on Marketplace.
Thanks for your help @pythonesk. I will skip the pinking shears.
Sold something old: https://www.ebay.com/itm/192102569041 When I started out (in 2015), I had some initial luck with souvenir items. Of course, I started buying every souvenir item I could find. Most have been donated back to thrift stores, but this little set stayed in my store with price reductions every 6 months or so. Finally sold for $7.50! Wow.
Something new: https://www.ebay.com/itm/193354736812 When I was in Japan in February, I picked up 10 of these stickers for a dollar each. As far as I can tell they are sold exclusively at the Studio Ghibli Museum which is not easy to access (you have to buy a ticket a month ahead). I put a high price on these and was pleased to see one sell last week.
Something borrowed: I came across a box of doll stuff at a garage sale the same week that I read a “what sold” here by @totommyto about selling barbie shoes for $50. I paid too much for the doll stuff, only to find that despite it being a lot of stuff, there were really only a few things inside that were vintage Barbie. Often, when I make a mistake sourcing, the item sits in my death pile mocking me for a year or two until I look at it with fresh eyes. I might have gotten a better price for this Bubblecut Midge, but I don’t know nearly enough to be selling Barbie stuff at top dollar, so I am happy to have recouped my purchase price on the entire endeavor. It sold within 24 hours of listing: https://www.ebay.com/itm/193379858422
Something green: Selling parts of things is one of my favorite Ryanne pearls. I am not sure why this masticating auger from an Omega J8001 juicer is a lovely shade of chartreuse, but It got me a little green: https://www.ebay.com/itm/193367828203
Thanks Sharyn. I see what you mean. If you follow my link above, the price displayed is for the sample, not the BTY price. When my items are displayed in search though, the price range of $5.00 to $22.50 is displayed:
I did look at the order of my variations to see if I could get the higher price to display on the item page, but it seems to be defaulted to show the lowest price. I looked at other fabric listings that have this same variation, and it was the same on theirs as well. Thanks so much for taking a look.
Thanks again for your help. I measured the full length of fabric and it was north of 15 yards. I decided to sell this fabric by the yard instead of as a single piece. I also have a second piece of fabric that is identical to this one but green. I did not bother measuring the second one, as it weighs nearly 2x much as the first. I listed 20 yards available BTY, and I will measure it if it gets close to the end. Here are my listings:
IVORY:
https://www.ebay.com/itm/193390273224GREEN:
https://www.ebay.com/itm/193390276091Please feel free to offer suggestions. Also, should I pick up some pinking shears to cut this fabric, or is it OK to cut with regular scissors? Thanks again, Daniel.
Thanks everyone, I really appreciate all the input. I will post a link when I have a listing completed. -Daniel.
I have never understood the mystery of why a woman just suddenly shuts off communications but have experienced it several times myself.
Hey @old-dad, I am also an old Dad. I wonder if this is a generational thing. I never experienced this before this past year when it happened to me twice in what I thought were simple friendships. I found it pretty hurtful – made me feel like a creepy old man.
With eBay GSP, eBay (or Pitney Bowes) is on the hook for the safe delivery of the package after it leaves the US. If that were not the case, I would not include GSP on fragile items. It looks like with Etsy’s global shipping the seller is on the hook for insuring the package:
Under “REFUNDS AND CLAIMS”
If you insured your package through Shipsurance, learn how to file a claim.
It is a difference worth noting, especially if they expand to allow items larger then 16 oz.
Great advice @old-dad. I am copying this response for the next time I get this complaint from a buyer.
Hi Steve. Welcome from a fellow FIRE enthusiast. For me eBay reselling gave me the flexibility to pull the trigger on retiring (RE) after I hit the low end of my FI goal. That was 20 months ago and I have been loving the job-free life ever since. For me, the scavenger life is awesome in retirement because (1) I use the income for travel and to not worry about my kid getting into Georgetown (OK, I still worry about that – he hasn’t heard back from them yet). (2) It fits my personality – I get in touch with my inner hunter/gatherer (3) The research keeps me engaged in new learning every day.
Like you, I am confident in the economy as an engine of prosperity. The news cycle loves to cast doom and gloom, but the current bearish turn in the market just means that everything is ON SALE. I have initiated the process to take a lump sum pay out of my pension with the goal of dumping it into a blue chip dividend paying ETF.
BTW, I stalked your Insta and started following (commented on your latest post).
We are at risk of exponential growth in virus cases. Interventions are intended to slow or stop that growth. If number of infections double every six days, exponential growth would look like this:
Date –> Infections
March 10 –> 2000
March 16 –> 4000
March 22 –> 8000
March 28 –> 16,000
April 4 –> 32,000
April 10 —> 64,000
April 16 —> 128,000
April 22 —> 256,000
April 28 —> 512,000
Early May —> 1,000,000
6 days later —> 2,000,000
6 days after that —> 4,000,000I hope that unchecked growth like this will not persist. If things don’t change, then somewhere in May, the US will no longer have ICU beds and ventilators and doctors will be making hard decisions about who to put on a ventilator and who may be equally at risk of death, but does not get a ventilator.
Sources: This is a brilliant YouTube video explaining the risk of exponential growth of COVID-19. It has a CDC tag on it, though it does not appear to have been made by the CDC: https://youtu.be/Kas0tIxDvrg
This article is from March 10 and is where I grabbed that stats above from:
Thanks for your posts Steve and Sonia. My sales have been sporadic, but I was glad to see this candelabra sell https://www.ebay.com/itm/192574238809 I have had it for three years.
I sold some pieces of Old Curiosity Shop ceramics. I think these were awarded to customers of grocery stores in the 50s & 60s. https://www.ebay.com/itm/193251782366
I like to get vintage items that are still new in box. Also museum store items have done pretty well for me. This NIB Revere reproduction letter opener checked both boxes: https://www.ebay.com/itm/193078173839
The value of a large marketplace is that this valueless enamel pin that was tossed in a drawer lot can find a buyer willing to pay $12.50 plus shipping and tax to own it. https://www.ebay.com/itm/193304954677
One of the favorite tricks I learned from SL podcast is to part out broken stuff. I listed this old camera case because why not. Sold it for full asking plus shipping. https://www.ebay.com/itm/192921932529
I have not had any eureka moments about what might get a lift in sales, but I have thought that the pandemic may lead people to question whether they want to buy items from a source that could be infected. It may never emerge as a concern, or people may just move away from buying things that are not packaged new. I had this thought after having the morbid thought that estate sales may pick up due to COVID-19 associated mortality, and then thinking that perhaps estate sales will disappear as people worry that the home they walk into may be a source of infection. Sorry – pretty dark thoughts.
