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09/11/2017 at 11:10 am in reply to: Scavenger Life Episode 326: What Is A Scavenger Vacation? #22717
Ugh, so much fomo right now that you’re in Europe. My wife & I need to get our next trip scheduled!
Week September 3-9, 2017
Total Items in Store: 909
Items Sold: 36 (5 Amazon)
Cost of Items Sold: $249 (20.4% of sales)
Total Sales: $1,222.29
Highest Price Sold: $119.99 (SEALED 10-Pack Maxell XLII cassettes)
Average Price Sold: $33.95
Returns: 1
Money Spent on New Inventory This Week: $0
Number of items listed this week: 0
Promoted listings test: 11 sales, $456.47 (37.3% of total sales), $24.07 fees (5.3% of sales)My week was already shaping up to be decent/around average. But on Friday, a buyer in the UK asked about several Beatles albums. After a lot of back & forth and working our details, he ended up buying 11 albums for $420 (gave him 25% off for buying a lot) plus $80 USPS Priority International with insurance. That sale bumped me up into a great week. Because I sold these, my COGS were a bit higher that I like but still in the acceptable range.
09/05/2017 at 1:25 am in reply to: Scavenger Life Episode 325: New Rental Done, Now Hopping On A Plane! #22548Can’t wait to hear about all of your European adventures!
Week August 27 – September 2, 2017
Total Items in Store: 936
Items Sold: 25 (2 Amazon)
Cost of Items Sold: $67 (9.2% of sales)
Total Sales: $726.41
Highest Price Sold: $90 (Bvlgari Sunglasses)
Average Price Sold: $29.06
Returns: 0 (1 NPB though)
Money Spent on New Inventory This Week: $0
Number of items listed this week: 0
Promoted listings test: 10 sales, $277.09 (38.1% of total sales), $15.49 fees (5.6% of sales)Just got home from the holiday weekend. Spent Thurs-Mon in LA for a friend’s wedding. Wedding was beautiful at the Andaz overlooking the entire city on the Sunset Strip in West Hollywood, but the weather was so miserable – 105-112 degrees the days we were there. Just walking down the street to lunch I was drenched. Also shocked that restaurants really weren’t air conditioned much. I was taking 3 showers a day.
Sales continued to remain steady, even with some extended handling times. September is upon us an need to ramp up into the holiday season! Plan on doing some serious listing on Saturday & Sunday, perhaps even going out picking which I haven’t done in weeks.
08/28/2017 at 2:03 pm in reply to: Scavenger Life Episode 324: A Day In The Life Of A Scavenger VIDEO! #22276@Jay – did you move all the shit outside?!?!?! LOLOLOL
Also, hope any Gulf Coast Texas scavengers are holding up ok out there… video coming from the scene look awful!
Week August 20-26, 2017
Total Items in Store: 957
Items Sold: 24 (3 Amazon)
Cost of Items Sold: $90 (13.8% of sales)
Total Sales: $651.89
Highest Price Sold: $42.50 (1964 The Beatles Second Album)
Average Price Sold: $27.16
Returns: 0
Money Spent on New Inventory This Week: $0
Number of items listed this week: 0
Promoted listings test: 11 sales, $299.46 (45.9% of total sales), $20.15 fees (6.7% of sales)Good week. Nothing crazy expensive sold, but nothing super low dollar either… just a bunch of bread & butter $25-$35 items. The Beatles album was from the big lot I bought about 3 weeks ago now. Update on that: 15 sold thus far for $575.
No picks this weekend. Mentioned last week that I was head down on getting a lot of listings up last weekend cause the next few wouldn’t have any. This weekend ended up hanging out at a friend’s place that recently moved back to the area – fantasy football draft, BBQ & beverages, bought & watched the Mayweather/McGregor fight, etc. Guys weekend. This coming holiday weekend we’re headed to LA for a wedding. We attached a couple extra days on the front to hang out, go to the beach, etc. Got an AirBnB in Santa Monica for the first few days, then staying at the wedding hotel for the last two.
Also, update on the lot. I have sold 14 of the records thus far for $525.
I originally found the guy on CL and bought a few LPs from him once, then bought some higher end LPs in a second go round. He was a personal collector, selling off some of his collection and mentioned that he had over 100 Beatles albums (65-70 that he would be willing to part with) and was selling some once he got organized. I asked that he let me know when he was ready – it took him a good 3 months to reply, but when he did I made him an offer on the whole lot. He wanted about $1100, but I talked him down to $750 cash on the spot. I have also found good deals on LetGo, but nothing to this scale and quality.
I usually first put the individual records into a sleeve live this. That should protect them from dirty/dust. Then I ship them in boxes designed for LPs. For important or expensive albums, I’ll either cut corrugated cardboard to pad front/back or sometimes put these 12×12 foam sheets front & back. All in all, the extra packaging costs less than $1 per album which I add to the handling charges. The extra care in packaging usually gets great responses from buyers.
08/21/2017 at 7:55 pm in reply to: No Podcast? Hey We Had To See An Eclipse in 100% Totality! #22060So crazy what a mess that is. After being faced with that, I too would assume a total loss. At least you took inventory, managed your listings, and are back up & running. I’m sure that $112 isn’t what you dreamed to make this week, but it has to be a blessing that at least a little income is starting to come in again. I assume you took the pictures/created the album to share with insurance? Did you have your inventory covered?
08/21/2017 at 7:30 pm in reply to: No Podcast? Hey We Had To See An Eclipse in 100% Totality! #22059AMAZING!!! I saw it briefly from up here in NYC, but was stuck in the office for most of it. I love the shot of Jay that looks like he’s getting a suntan!
Week August 13-19, 2017
Total Items in Store: 977
Items Sold: 23 (4 Amazon)
Cost of Items Sold: $193 (20.0% of sales)
Total Sales: $964.48
Highest Price Sold: $300 (Lalique Cat on pedestal with box)
Average Price Sold: $41.93
Returns: 0 (1 NPB though)
Money Spent on New Inventory This Week: $170
Number of items listed this week: 80
Promoted listings test: 8 sales, $466.97 (48.4% of total sales), $31.69 fees (6.8% of sales)Another really good week for me, so I continue count my blessings. COGS were higher than I like, but a bunch of the sales we part of my effort to get higher quality items – the Lalique cat cost me $100 (sold for $300), a set of Pinocchio lobby cards I paid $15 for (sold for $70), I paid an average of $15 each for some of those Beatles records (sold for $40-$100 each). My average price sold reflects these higher quality items, but so does my COGS.
Put my head down and listed a ton over the weekend. A big stack of records I had been putting off, a death box of odds & ends collected from the bottom of box lots, and a couple NIB items that my wife got as gifts from work.
No picks this weekend as I focused on listing (the dollar “spent” is the cost of the items I did list). I will be away for the next two weekends, so I wanted to get enough listed so I could set it and forget it for a bit.
That Pendleton shirt is awesome. I always look out for Pendleton blankets mostly, haven’t had a ton of luck with the few shirts I’ve found. Definitely on my BOLO list now!
Some of my good sales over the past 7 days:
Lalique Cat/Kitten in Box
Bought this at an estate sale about a month ago. It was priced at $200 and I left an offer of $100 and got it on the last day. Sold for $300 best offer.Connecticut State Seal Painted Cast Iron
Bought a box of these cast iron state shields on the last day of an estate sale. They were basically giving everything away a couple hours before closing. Bought the box of 11 for $10. This was the first to sell for $50 best offer.1942 Forward America! 11×14 Offset Print Serigraph
One of those really neat caches we all talk about filling the pipelines. Bought a stack of 30 of these last year for $20 total. I’ve been selling them for $24.99 each little by little – one every other month or so. So far have sold 8 for $200.LOL, YES! As long as no one sees it. 🙂
I’m in the same boat here in the NYC area – space in a condo is incredibly limited. Similar to what TSatt said, I focus on “smalls” or things easy to store. For example, all of my posts about records – they’re a staple of my store because I can fit all 300+ I have listed in a corner of a closet. Other things always filling my store for the same reason: Hot Wheels, cassettes, action figures, video games, trucker caps. I have 950+ items stored in a spare bedroom all in a closet, a dresser, in my computer desk drawers, and in an armoire. To the casual guest or passer by, it all looks like furniture. 🙂
Great strategy! I would have offered the same deal the first day that you were there, just to see what happened. Sometimes, even on the first days they’ll be willing to wheel & deal, or at least write down offers & take your phone number.
Thanks Mark! I’m pretty confident too, but part of me of course was nervous shelling out $750 all at once. In a normal circumstance, I likely never would have done so, but I’ve bought from this guy in the past and he keeps such good care of his records and also has primo early stuff. The best thing before this lot I ever got from his was a first pressing mint condition Iggy Pop Lust for Life record. Sold for it for $140 after paying him $20 for it.
Week August 6-12, 2017
Total Items in Store: 915
Items Sold: 34 (19 Amazon)
Cost of Items Sold: $161 (16.4% of sales)
Total Sales: $982.50
Highest Price Sold: $80 (Beatles White Album with inserts)
Average Price Sold: $28.90
Returns: 0
Money Spent on New Inventory This Week: $0
Number of items listed this week: 0
Promoted listings test: 7 sales, $205.86 (21% of total sales), $10.65 fees (5.2% of sales)Another really great week for me, but this time driven by Amazon. I believe this is only the 2nd or 3rd time ever that my Amazon sales (19) outdid my eBay sales (15) in given week. I only have like 6 different items listed on Amazon, with quantity. They’re just some RA items with high profit margins and sales really come in waves, potentially when stock is short or there is a delay in shipping from retail. Whatever, I’ll take it – not high dollar individually, but an awesome 10x profit margin.
Update on the record cache I bought last weekend… sold 10 for $375 gross this week. Halfway to hitting my total purchase price of the lot ($750), but only a quarter of the way through the inventory. Getting exciting.
No listing or picking this week. Was away for a funeral in western PA, although I did make a connection on LetGo that I may have my brother meet up with to pick some items.
08/10/2017 at 5:14 pm in reply to: What Sells On eBay: Models, Pipe Stand, LL Bean shirt, Teva sandals, & a couple Facebook Marketplace sales #21641Amazing sale on that lantern. Love learning from everyone here… I would never have looked twice at that at a yard sale or flea market!
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