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NW Denver seller that exclusively sells hard goods through eBay hears that Troy and Veronica are moving into hard goods: “Nooooooooooooooooooooooo!”
Just kidding. I came to the same conclusion about clothing. Once I stopped looking at clothes, my sourcing became way more efficient.
Thanks Steve. I think the reason my vintage fireworks labels don’t do as well as others is because mine were made for domestic China market and so don’t have the warning labels that US buyers use to date their collections. (Required safety labels changed a few times from the 1950s to present, so it is easy to place a label in time if they have the ancillary labeling.)
When I finally quit my job to go independent, the fear of grinding out my life in a daily job was much greater than my fear of not having guaranteed income.
My favorite movie that captures this feeling exquisitely is “Shawshank Redemption”. Watch it with the perspective that it is a movie about people grinding it out in a thankless 40+ hour/week job for years and I think you’ll see how Andy’s escape gives us all hope.
1. Know your expenses. There is no substitute for having 12 months (or more) of data on how you and your family spend money. 2. Know how you will dial down spending when you experience a cash crunch. 3. Estimate adjusted spending for when you are not working. You may get to reduce some spending (e.g. work clothes, daily commute etc.) and add some new spending (health insurance, gym membership if you used one at work etc.). 4. Set an income goal that covers adjusted spending plus savings (pad out the emergency fund to full 1 year in cash), retirement (or reinvestment into a business that will give you wealth), and vacation, big life events etc. Don’t scrimp on 4 or you will just be quitting a job running on one wheel to go run on another wheel with occasional crises for spice.
Once you have that, you should be able to make a clear eyed assessment of the risk of quitting. That risk may be high or low and you may have high or low risk tolerance, so the rest is up to you. Best wishes.
I’ve been away in Japan for the last four weeks, but still managed to have sold 30 items for $990 in that time. It was a ton of work getting it all shipped today, but insomnia from the time change served me well.
Right before I left, I listed a bunch of enamel pins I picked with a lot. This is one of three that sold while I was gone https://www.ebay.com/itm/193306922653
When I was at a flea market in Beijing last year I bought about two hundred vintage fireworks labels. They haven’t sold as well as I had hoped and I have slowly been working to get out of the red on these. I took a best offer of $20 on this one https://www.ebay.com/itm/193216786529
I ignored a low-ball offer on these brand new P.F. Flyers and 2 days later the same buyer purchased them for full price https://www.ebay.com/itm/192711604947
I typically go to estate sales on the last day when prices are reduced. Thus it always surprises me when I find valuable stuff that has been passed over by multiple resellers before me. At a house in January, I found this 1st editionCivil War remembrance in a collector’s home. It sold within a couple weeks of listing. https://www.ebay.com/itm/193256863206
I love games and card games. When I find one that is unfamiliar, I usually buy it if condition and price are favorable. This one is out of print and commanded a decent price. https://www.ebay.com/itm/193291870898
It is good to be back home, and I brought back a few little dollar store things to list. Despite finding a couple flea markets, I didn’t really find anything I wanted to lug around and bring back for resale. Best to all.
I found this thread on Reddit that I will research further to see if there are opportunities that jump out. Probably I will just pick up wasabi flavored Kit Kats for my family.
List of Japan-exclusive items
byu/GabrielXCrescendo inJapanTravelJay, thanks for your input and of course for your incredible generosity in sharing your eBay experience through the Podcast and forum. (I learned of you through your 2015 interview with JL Collins & started following your guidance on setting up an eBay business in 2016. BTW, I saw Jim Collins in December and reminded him of my experience – he continues to positively remark on yours and Ryanne’s innovation and creativity).
I do not speak any Japanese except “thank you” “excuse me”, “bathroom” and “water”. I am traveling alone and staying in hostels. I love hostels because I get to meet other travelers. Meeting other travelers is my second favorite aspect of travel: you tend to get to know people on a pretty deep level (compared to co-workers, neighbors etc.) and you get to share travel experiences. Other’s travel experiences will allow me to choose my itinerary in response to reports from people that have just come back from somewhere. So far, I have booked a hostel in Tokyo for 5 days. (I use hostelworld.com and reviews by 41+ year olds to find best places good for me, white male 58 years old). I have also purchased a Japan Rail Pass that will allow me unlimited use of the JR rails (bullet trains and others) to travel for 3 weeks. I am traveling off-season which I hope means that hostels will not be full and I can book things on the fly. If you are interested in following you can find me here: http://www.instagram.com/somemodernconveniences/
Steve, thanks for sharing your experience on eBay. Sorry you were banned for the batteries. (It sounds like you were banned because the listing included “Orthofix”, is that right?).
Congrats also on selling the camping book. I love books and finding one that sells for more than pennies over shipping is a victory. My strategy is to look for items that have local appeal or were made in limited circulations.
Sales last week were steady, but nothing earth shattering. I split up the parts of an old board game called “Feudal” – a bookcase game from the 1970s. Someone made two purchases and bought five sets of armies for $37.50 https://www.ebay.com/itm/193059791841
I almost never look in the glass case of my local thrift store because there is usually no one about with a key and it is often overpriced. Last week, I came up while the case was already opened for someone else and I ended up buying several new in the box games including this pack of divinitation cards. https://www.ebay.com/itm/193291884293 These weren’t new, but they paid for themselves and for the three other items I bought with them.
Three sets of bakelite dice were free in a box of other stuff I purchased. I listed them for $14.50 per pair and forgot about them, Last week I had the happy experience of selling a pair. https://www.ebay.com/itm/193049156055
I bought fifty dexterity puzzles at a garage sale for $30 last year. I priced them high (most seem to sell at around $20) and put make offer on them. That strategy has worked pretty well in that I have sold nearly half of them for full price or best offer. This one sold for best offer of $30 https://www.ebay.com/itm/193074996157
I think I am going to aim for a goal of 20 items per week on average in 2020. eBay has been a great money maker for me in 2019, but it is not my only source of income and I need to balance other priorities as well.
Last week I listed 23 items. I am on target so far, but sort of falling behind because I am travelling for four weeks at the end of January.
Mike, thanks for your thoughts on describing vs. grading collectibles. Like everyone, I struggle with finding language to adequately communicate the state of an item. I am obsessive about photographing every angle & employing a macro lens as needed. (Unfortunately, that doesn’t work well work with clear glass.) I had not considered your point before that an expert used to looking at hundreds of something that I have seen one or two of may have a different perspective on what is described by “mint” or “9/10” or other grading statements. I will adjust course going forward.
Also, if anyone has tips on photographing clear glass, I would love to hear them. I tend to use a white background with a dark grey horizon line, but I still find it really hard to give viewers a good sense of an item.
(@huncrelan @MDCGalleries)
Theory 1: unintentionally sent to doublythumbs because the sender accidentally typed the wrong address.
Theory 2: intentionally sent to doublythumbs for an unknown reasonAll things being equal, I vote for theory 2. While my finger may hit the wrong number typing a phone number, there is no way I am going to accidentally type or write fifty characters and send a package to a correct address when I am trying to send something to my brother’s kid.
Congrats on the find/sale. I would love to see the pattern if you would be willing to share a link.
When I found two complete series of 12 Western Photography Guild photographs, I researched and found that the photos sold individually for around $25 to 50/ea but occasionally sold for $100/ea. I reasoned that a collector might pay a premium for a complete set and listed all 12 together for $1200. I sold one set for $1100 last summer (my highest single sale ever!) and this set sold around Thanksgiving for $850. I think there is sometimes value in keeping a collection intact. I am not sure whether the same applies to mass produced ceramics as people collecting are seldom in need of a complete set vs. individual pieces.
NSFW https://www.ebay.com/itm/192683138176 NSFW
You casually scan the purses and coats of your wife’s girlfriends to see what brands are trending.
