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04/24/2017 at 9:22 am in reply to: Scavenger Life Episode 307: Getting Ready to Sell While Traveling #16982
Enjoy the trip! Hopefully you get some free time to scavenge or at least enjoy the new surroundings in between video jobs!
Week April 16-22
Items In Store: 863
Items Sold: 26 (17 Amazon)
Total Sales: $673.78 ($382.80 Amazon)
Avg Selling Price: $25.91 ($22.52 Amazon, $32.33 eBay)
Highest Price sold: $75 (Mario Lemieux autographed hockey puck)
Cost of Goods Sold: $164 (24% of my total sales)
Promoted Listings Experiment: 1 sale (11% of my eBay sales) for $30, $1.50 fees (5% of sales)
Money spent on new inventory: $413
New Listings: 36Back on the horse and it felt so good. Hadn’t listed anything and had the store pretty much on auto pilot for about 3-4 weeks with Passover with my wife’s family, Easter with my family, and other “life” things going on. Worked for a good 10 hours over the weekend taking photos, researching, listing, and organizing a stack of items that had started piling up.
This week marks a first for me – more Amazon sales (17) than eBay sales (9). I don’t have much on Amazon, but do have some retail arbitrage items that were discontinued and I bought a closeout lot. Those have been selling well.
COGs are a bit high for me, like to be under 20% at the worst and actually closer to 10%, but fell at 24% this week for a few reasons: 1) the RA items I bought in bulk for $5 each and they sell for $20 each (25% COGs), 2) sold a couple of “mistakes” (including a collectible Barbie I bought for $25 but could only sell for $20).
04/20/2017 at 11:17 am in reply to: What Sells on eBay: Pochade paint box, trucker hats, Marantz receiver, JBL Speakers, reel tapes, Polaroid case #16868I love the globe. I’m more in to it for the history and totally hear you on them taking up a lot of space. If you find the right ones, they are quite valuable – typically pre-war because of how different the countries & boarders looked each year. Not sure how you dated yours, but this is a fantastic resource: http://www.replogleglobes.com/howOldIsYourGlobe.php
Personally, the oldest I’ve had was 1945 with pre-Korea at the time named “Chosen” and a Japanese territory. Size also matters – super big and super small are the most valuable because of rarity. Everyone had a 12″-15″ globe on their desk, but few had 30″+ or below 8″.
Anyway, good stuff on all of your sales!
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This reply was modified 4 years, 4 months ago by
Brian Treasures from Grandmas.
04/20/2017 at 8:48 am in reply to: What Sells on eBay: Pochade paint box, trucker hats, Marantz receiver, JBL Speakers, reel tapes, Polaroid case #16857Love those old photo albums! I picked a few up recently and have them priced decently high. Such a cool old view back in time.
04/20/2017 at 8:42 am in reply to: What Sells on eBay: Pochade paint box, trucker hats, Marantz receiver, JBL Speakers, reel tapes, Polaroid case #16854Still have the store on auto pilot, but plan to change that over the weekend. Sales have been markedly slower than the past few, but things are still moving.
(4) Rolls of c1987 Kodak Kodacolor VR Color Film
I always pick up old film if it’s sealed. Got these 4 rolls for no more than $1 total at a sale. Sold for $30 within a couple weeks.1977 Iggy Pop Lust for Life Record
This was part of the lot of records I bought from a pretty high end collector selling off his collection. Found him on CL and have been buying 5-10 at a time as he digitizes the records. Normally if I find records in the wild, I pay no more than $1-$2, but since this was from a personal collection and I knew how rare it was, I paid about $35 for it. Sold for $100 best offer and the buyer already left me awesome feedback.Vintage Original Fisher Space Pen AG7-SH
Got four of these original Fisher Space Pens at an estate sale for $10 each. Sold one almost immediately for $50 a couple months ago and just sold the second for full price ($60), headed to Australia.-
This reply was modified 4 years, 4 months ago by
Brian Treasures from Grandmas.
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This reply was modified 4 years, 4 months ago by
Brian Treasures from Grandmas.
04/17/2017 at 12:38 pm in reply to: Scavenger Life Episode 306: We Love Flea Markets and Craigslist #16712You said she is in college, right? Sell it to her as interview or communication skills. You can never have too much of that.
04/17/2017 at 9:15 am in reply to: Scavenger Life Episode 306: We Love Flea Markets and Craigslist #16697Yeah, it’s been really great so far this year. In Q1 my gross sales were $8330 which is +61% vs same time last year ($5177). I’m on pace to have my best year since getting serious about this halfway through 2013 (I had $28,904 in gross sales last year).
I’m not sure what exactly it is – in fact, it’s probably a combination of things… being more selective, willingness to pay more for quality items, better photos & descriptions, most items in store to date, and also my promoted listings tests. Additionally, moving to a condo with less storage about 18 months ago, I’ve had to focus on smalls – 311 of my 836 listings (37% of my store) fall into Records, Playing Cards, and Cassette Tapes because they’re easy to store. 🙂
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This reply was modified 4 years, 4 months ago by
Brian Treasures from Grandmas.
04/16/2017 at 9:49 pm in reply to: Scavenger Life Episode 306: We Love Flea Markets and Craigslist #16657Podcast sounds like an exciting one. Very excited to go to The Stormville Flea next weekend! You guys should take a roadtrip for the weekend 🙂
Week April 9-15, 2017
Total Items in Store: 836
Items Sold: 15 (4 Amazon, 1 Bonanza)
Cost of Items Sold: $114
Total Sales: $557.66
Highest Price Sold: $100 (Iggy Pop Lust for Life record)
Average Price Sold: $37.18
Promoted Listings Test: 3 sales, $234.99 sales, $11.75 fees (5% of sales)
Returns: 0
Money Spent on New Inventory This Week: $0
Number of items listed this week: 0Decent weeks without a lot of effort put into the store as we were traveling for Easter. The Iggy Pop record was a great sale, but also sold some cast iron & marble bookends for $55 and vintage Nike bowling shoes for $80 to help out the average sales price.
04/14/2017 at 12:01 pm in reply to: What Sells on eBay: HP keyboard, L.A. Olympics hat, Bumper sticker, Hurricane lamp, Can opener, Bank bags #16609That pocket watch is absolutely gorgeous! Amazing find!
04/13/2017 at 8:43 am in reply to: What Sells on eBay: HP keyboard, L.A. Olympics hat, Bumper sticker, Hurricane lamp, Can opener, Bank bags #16552Killer sales, Steve! 1) I’m 99% sure my dad had that 1984 Olympics hat back in the day and 2) Intercourse PA – love it as someone from Central PA. There are several towns in the middle of the state that have questionable names – Blue Ball, Climax, Virginville, Lickdale. Maybe the Puritans that initially settled the state had a bit of a sense of humor.
Some decent sales this week:
Vintage Lion Gold Gilt Cast Iron & White Marble Bookends
Fell in love with these at a higher end estate sale a couple months ago. I’m a Leo and always pick up lion stuff like this. Like a few items I have listed, I actually had these displayed in use in my office/eBay room. Bought for $10, sold for $65 best offer.1977 Star Wars Darth Vader Necklace
We all know Star Wars stuff sells. This is an original 1977 Darth Vader necklace. One of those things “who would wear this around”. But, I had what I believe was the whole set of necklaces & rings and they continue to sell well. This sold for $25 best offer.1980s Nike Bowling Shoes
Couldn’t believe when I found these. It was the last day of a sale and something like this should have gone on the first day. These looked like they maybe were used once or twice. Paid $2 and sold for $85 best offer.Vintage Cancer Zodiac Gold Tone Coin in Pendant
Last week I showed a George Washington medallion on a necklace that I got in a big box of costume jewelry at the flea market. This was also in there and it took forever to sell. Good thing is I didn’t pay more than $0.25 for it and it sold for $25. I guess looking holistically, the box wasn’t a mistake to buy, just a long tail pipeline as I’ve probably made 100x my purchase price on the items over about 2 years.Also continue to sell quite a few records (including this really good one on Bonanza – Grateful Dead Europe ’72)and just found a guy on LetGo with a large lot of records that I’m going to check out tomorrow night.
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This reply was modified 4 years, 5 months ago by
Brian Treasures from Grandmas.
04/09/2017 at 10:45 pm in reply to: Scavenger Life Episode 305: The Biggest Transfer of Wealth in Human History #16315Week April 2-8, 2017
Total Items in Store: 846
Items Sold: 22 (7 Amazon)
Cost of Items Sold: $98 (15.7% of sales)
Total Sales: $625.82
Highest Price Sold: $70 (2) (Brown & Sharpe Slant Line Micrometer and 1903 John Nutry Stevens Mfg Co Bank)
Average Price Sold: $28.45
Returns: 0 (1 NPB though)
Money Spent on New Inventory This Week: $0
Number of items listed this week: 0
Promoted listings test: 8 sales, $231.93 (37% of total sales), $11.52 fees (4.9% of sales)Pretty good week considering I didn’t do any listing or maintenance on my store – this weekend was just too nice not to be outside. Spent some time along the river here in Hoboken, went to Woodbury Commons outlets upstate NY, and then BBQ’d at my in-laws house. Nice little weekend.
Sales were steady all week with the two big-ish sales coming mid week to put me above an average week. With Easter coming up next weekend and us travelling to my parents’ house in south central PA, unlikely I’ll do any listing or sourcing this week. It might be a good thing, though, as 2 weekends from now is the Stormville Flea where I’ll likely spend more than my fair share.
04/07/2017 at 8:43 am in reply to: What Sells On eBay: Eyeglass cases, Prince guitar picks, Nodder mug, B&O phono cart, Vintage camera case #16184A milestone day! Congrats!
04/07/2017 at 8:43 am in reply to: What Sells On eBay: Eyeglass cases, Prince guitar picks, Nodder mug, B&O phono cart, Vintage camera case #16183Great sales Steve! And yes, I’m very jealous of your free packing materials! I can usually get free boxes & air pillows in my condo’s recycling room, but never a massive bag of peanuts like that.
My interesting sales of the past week:
Vintage Brown & Sharpe Slant Line Micrometer No. 599-3 with box & paperwork
Love love love old precision tools. They last forever and are still just as useful today as ever. This one I bought at an auction for $10. Sold for $70 best offer. I’ve sold the larger ones for over $200 before.Pre-War German Dietzgen Reliance 10 Piece Drafting Kit
Another type of item I always buy, assuming the price is right. This one I bought at the flea market for $3. Normally, I assume they will sell for $20-$30 easily, but after research This one commanded a bit more because it was pre-WWI German made. So even with the case in poor condition I got full price $50 for it.1903 John Nutry Stevens Mfg Co Brooklyn NY Metal Box Bank with Key
Another auction buy for about $10. Took a chance on it because I know that old banks like this can be quite collectible. I was able to find the actual patent sheet for this particular one so I included it in the listing. I’ve had it for a bit over a year, but I took a best offer $70 and it’s headed to Japan via a drop shipped in CA.Vintage George Washington 1789 1st President U.S.A 1797 Medal on Necklace
This is one of those insane sales that you just can’t figure out. I’ve had this for probably a good 2-3 years. Bought it in a box of costume jewelry at the flea market, so probably didn’t pay more than $0.50-$1 for it. I’ve had it on sale so many times, promoted it, ended & relisted it… no bites, not even a low ball offer (cause I’d probably have taken it). It was on clearance sale for 75% off and the sale just ended and it sold for full price – $50.c1983 Microsoft MS-DOS Operating System for Rainbow 100
Never ever would have picked this up without the podcast. After hearing the success with old software that R&J and others have had, I picked it up for $1 at a sale. Took about 2 weeks but sold to an apparent MS-DOS collector for $40 best offer.(4) 1974 Kentucky Derby 100th Anniversary Glasses
Got these at an estate sale about two years ago… paid up at $10 because quick on the spot research was showing $200+ prices. Unfortunately, after deeper research, there were two versions of these glasses – one made by Federal Glass that commands the big bucks and then ones like these that were generic. Still sold for $45 best offer, but not the massive score that I was hoping for.(2) c1950s Eveready AA No.1215 1.5V Heavy Duty Flashlight Battery
Scavenging at it’s best! Bought and old radio for like $5 and pulled these out. Sold the radio for $50 and then these for $15! Clean old batteries definitely have a market.04/05/2017 at 9:14 am in reply to: Scavenger Life Episode 304: Do a little bit today, then do a little bit tomorrow #16000In Q1 they were backed up on the 6×4 bubble mailers for like 2 months. You might be right.
04/03/2017 at 12:12 pm in reply to: Scavenger Life Episode 304: Do a little bit today, then do a little bit tomorrow #15837On a separate note after it was called out on the podcast, I just got an eBay email about my supplies coupon being ready. Maybe they are listening to the show!
04/03/2017 at 11:15 am in reply to: Scavenger Life Episode 304: Do a little bit today, then do a little bit tomorrow #15823After hearing how easy it was, I took out a $4k PayPal Working Capital loan in January to pay off some debt elsewhere in my life and also have some cash for larger purchases at my disposal. I did the 30% per transaction repayment plan and anticipated it taking 6-7 months to pay off. With some good Q1 sales, however, I’ve paid of 65% of the loan in the first 90 days putting me a good 1-2 months ahead of schedule. At my current rate of repayment, I should be done by mid May as opposed to end of June. All of this assumes that my weekly sales are at least $500.
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