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@Almasty, we had a great manager at my very busy Goodwill who shipped out a lot of the good stuff to be sold online. They have trouble keeping staff. The new guy seems to be very enthusiastic about moving things out – they are remodeling soon – so I’ve been finding sets of items with one low price on the outer item. We also had a local chain that learned their lesson and had to reduce pricing and pay to advertise that after they got all backed up. So, hopefully things will turn around where you are shopping.
@Amatino sorry for your loss hon.
Zero for me last week. Was dealing with solving a thorny issue outside ebay, day job busy, and kid had performances. We also tackled the garage and it’s back to 75% swept and under control. Got one car back in there. Made me realize there are lots of piles boxes in there, probably around 20 boxes in all including the stuff from my folks’ house. Ugh. I’m off because school is out and will try to list as much as possible today.
One of the death boxes is full of vintage 60s purses and shoes. Some are animal skin – croc mostly. Do any of you happen to know where it is legal to sell that?
Total Items in Store: 257 eBay, 35 Mercari
Items Sold: 8 Ebay, 4 Mercari
Cost of Items Sold: $75 + some items ours + free shipping $7
Total Sales: $299 Ebay, $39 Mercari
Highest Price Sold: $45 Midcentury Franciscan Platter Paid $2 at rummage sale last week
Average Price Sold: $30 Ebay, $10 Mercari
Returns: 0
Money Spent on New Inventory This Week: $20
Number of items listed this week: 0Thank you to all of the trash elf veterans today. I’m off with my campfire candle burning and ready to list after this while my daughter is out of school.
I’m bummed to hear about the slow sales for our members. It could be any number of things really affecting sales – steady shipping increases, competition, Ebay tech issues, behind the scenes Cassini tweak, etc…
After taking my summer hiatus, I have to say that many of my recent sales are from me making an offer to watchers or getting offers on best offer. Unlike earlier, I’m willing to take lower margins and price better with 365 day Terapeak info. I figure if something similar hasn’t sold in a year on Ebay I shouldn’t be going way out there pricing-wise. I need to move stuff out.
I think that while I’ve been learning to take less profit to get more volume, maybe internet shoppers have been learning to pay less and wait for an offer to be floated to them using their phones. I also note that my millennial coworkers appreciate vintage decor but are careful with their money and are quite concerned about money. So I think great items at great prices will overcome other obstacles and I’m making it my new reselling motto.
Last week I mentioned that I tried the newer area of the Ebay app “may not sell – revise it” with the reduction suggestion button. A small sample but I did sell 3/4 of those items last week. Also news that old Mercari stuff is getting a look and moving. $10 bucks seems to be what those buyers like but most of it is stuff from our house that I would have donated.
I also think staleness is a considerable factor but I just don’t have time to devote to babysitting old items. Running sales is how I plan to address that issue.
Hoping for an uptick in sales for one and all trash elves.
Another vote for being transparent about how stale listings are treated and what is considered stale by Cassini.
@Mallybills thanks for asking!Yes, I watch ThePaperCastle when I can’t sleep. She shows East Coast brands that I find here where people retire to the warmer climate. Not really art pottery, more china/collectibles.
She’s how I learned about my favorite thing to sell – needlepoint and cross stitch kits. Very overlooked in all sourcing areas. Easy to pack, ship, and list. I’ve found a number of them over $100.
I follow the Bitossi FB group but I’m never lucky enough to find any. Typically I only go to the FB group for id when I’m stuck.
@Temugin has put his finger on it. It would be totally in Ebay’s best interest to show the buyer the cheapest shipping as the default. Worth the effort to program that. Being on a coast, the location of my buyer will make a big difference. It’s impossible for me to show them all the best price with the current functionality, and my listings are more likely to be passed over by a long distance customer who otherwise would have bought it. I imagine making this change would generate more sales for Ebay right away.
I also agree with him that many buyers probably aren’t aware that Ebay doesn’t count weekend days. I didn’t know that until a year into selling.
@mallybills Thanks for asking!:O Sharpie! I thought packing tape was bad.
Honestly, I’ve had mixed luck with pottery. The ones priced under $50 seem to not sit as long but I have had a couple of great scores over $100 that were very collectible. In California we have a plethora of earth tone stoneware. I’m not sure about that. Also, I always check down low at the thrift store in the platters. I’ve found some cool pieces stacked in there.
Ps one of the Facebook pottery nerds suggested putting flour on a hard to read signature.
Locally I find the thrifts couldn’t care less about pottery. GW doesn’t send it out for online. If you are stuck trying to id, I suggest trying Facebook groups. Enjoy!
@Sharyn we will be doing that paperwork this time next year. I don’t imagine Ebay will be getting a lot of attention.
Listed a couple of big items on Craigslist and Facebook that are in the middle of our garage. We started tackling that and I realized I have more large Ebay and USPS boxes than I need so I’m cutting loose some of those loose. Unfortunately only got one item listed on Ebay this week, it sold right away and I’m pleased about getting the garage back in shape again. Will need another couple of stints in there and then we can get the cars back in.
Also, I have a new storage closet at my dad’s for backlog. I’ve put the boxes of fabric items in there and some original death pile Starbucks mugs. It helped to get those out of the garage so I can focus first on just part of the piles and get to the back row of boxes that came from my parents’ house. I don’t think I have much Christmas to list but I do have some winter items and some larger items that would be good to be rid of soon. My kids’ fundraiser is this week and then November should be pretty quiet by comparison. yeah! for listing.
Total Items In Store: 257 Ebay, 40 Mercari
Items Sold: 6 Ebay, 2 Mercari
Cost of Items Sold: $39 + $3 free shipping + some items ours
Total Sales: $157 Ebay + $25 Mercari
Highest Price Sold: $54 New platter (paid $25 clearance)
Average Price Sold: $26 Ebay, $18 Mercari
Money Spent on New Inventory: $0
Number of items listed: 1 – sad face
Buyer issue: Pressure from a Mercari shopper to split a lot and then switch to free shipping on an $11 item “because other sellers will do it” (so to give her the item for free.) No thanks – silent treatment!Speaking of silence, it was cricketsville so almost all of these sales came from make an offer / promotion or a 10% sale on Ebay that I ran midweek. Definitely helps to stir the pot. I believe making offers to watchers is a very powerful tool. I’m so glad Ebay finally caught up on that. ASP down, but I need to move some stuff. Also I noticed this week on the Ebay app that it suggested three items to reduce price – it gives you a button to reduce by a certain amount. I tried clicking those. Got an offer right after on one of those, a tiki mug. I figure they must suggest high view items that are likely to convert.
Regarding the list and forget discussion, I don’t have time to relaunch stale listings but if I did I would. I do think Ebay generates results that are not necessarily totally logical and individual seller-friendly and I do believe that certain actions affect your listings’ treatment under Cassini. It would make sense that new listings are treated differently than stale listings. They pretty much tell you in the fine print they don’t show all of the listings all of the time. I don’t think anyone can say for sure whether or not it works for others. As discussed, it might depend on the types of items in your store and the pricing level vs. comps. Best for anyone interested to try it out, and for those who have tried it to share results. That’s what I love about this Forum. If you try it, be sure to watch your multi-quantity numbers resetting.
Question: will ebay override your charging sales tax for your own state or is it safe and necessary to take that off? I don’t believe that is clear. Also, for tax Paypal purposes, it seems like they should not have it create revenue for you.
Have a great week!
Going forward there is an affordable program ($40-50 per year) called Easy Auction Tracker for smaller sellers. You have to remember to upload your data at least quarterly (within 90 days).
@Simon sorry you are affected by the power outages. What a mess with the companies. It seems like the State will have to take them over. Hope your area is missing the major wind event and out of danger. It’s passing South of us this time.
Personally I don’t have an issue making an offer, but I think I don’t do it as readily in person in the setting of a garage sale as I would online. I also think the public is getting more confortable shopping online and making offers. Certainly those that use other platforms like Mercari and Poshmark are probably expecting and looking to make offers. So, that would be an argument for higher with BO.
In the past the “listing me” is always wanting to get top dollar, but then the offers come in sometimes and the “selling me” just wants to move more product. I love having the Terapeak year data available now so I can price near the top and with best offer. I think reviewing that data keeps me from totally overpricing except maybe on rare and unusual items. I should probably be pricing more on the 60-75% of solds because I have so much backlog and sales are good with Cassini.
