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Congrats! You are an amazing trash elf and I love that you are rescuing and repairing cool midcentury stuff.
Total store items: 327 Ebay, 40 Mercari
Number of items sold: 10 Ebay, 0 Mercari, 2 Facebook
Total eBay sales: $291 + $35 Facebook
Cost of items sold: $53 + $7 shipping included + FB items ours
Highest price sold: $62 (set of 3 new nut bowls, steady seller, paid $18 clearance)
Average price sold: $29
Returns: 0
Money spent on new inventory: $0
Number of items listed this week: 17 Ebay, 2 MercariNothing exciting but I did sell a few Christmas items immediately after listing them. Especially with seasonal, I’m pricing to move – slightly below competition instead of above like I used to. Also getting and accepting decent offers. I believe this helps with the regularity of sales in a small store, especially if you can’t get to listing. Was happy to get a couple of listing sessions this week. I have two bins of xmas and a few puppets left though that I hope to get to asap.
I’ve been very good about not shopping and focused on organizing inventory and listing. Feels right for me right now. Last week I did go through what I call the “Christmas throw up” and found a few craft kits. I love to do it when they first pull it out, but only made it to one store.
Hope you all have a great week on Ebay this week.
The artwork is tempting, but my personal favorite is the seashell people playing poker. That bowling ball is totally amazing!
TGIF.
I really like this topic.
Sourcing – this is the fun part for me. I see the old timer hard goods guys go in at opening for about 5 minutes, mainly empty handed. I aspire to this and I’m getting much better about it. Scoring multiples of an item or having a variation listing is great.
Listing / Photography – I do desktop keyboard, then add pictures in the app. Uber brief descriptions or sell similar to active. I think I’ve got it down to about what I can do in Ebay. Research – I get bogged down on art. I’ve really let go of having great photos. I focus more on great items and prices. When I shop, it’s all about brand and price. My lighting sucks but I have ok instincts and get close up. #1 time savings: listing like items in a sitting. #2 list some items on Mercari, which is 5x faster than Ebay for me personally.
Shipping – saving frustration more than time, but I bought a few items like the above-mentioned one handed tape dispenser. I have purchased a few boxes in sizes Ebay doesn’t offer. Searching for the right recycled box can be a time suck. I got free foam packing sheets for in between plates or breakables, then I use packaging stretch wrap to bind them in a stack. I’m totally hooked on the foam sheets now. I sometimes purchase rolls of large bubble if I can’t get any for free. I don’t include a packing slip and use pre-printed thank you stickers I get in rolls, with an extra strip of tape across the buyer’s address but not the bar codes.
For listed inventory and boxes, I sort large and small in two different areas. Large boxes are sorted by shape – tall vs. flat.
Yes, it does wear on you a bit to be spread a little too thin or make goals for yourself and then watch them get washed out. I got boxes of free bubble wrap from the work move and we have kitchen remodel stuff in the garage. It was just getting way out of hand. I also have way too many boxes I’ve saved. So, it was just time for me. Feels therapeutic. I still love selling online and one of these days I’ll sit down with my scented candle and do some nice power listing…
Total Items in Store: 361, 40 Mercari
Items Sold: 7 Ebay, 2 Mercari, 1 Facebook
Gross Sales: $166 Ebay, $108 Mercari, $15 Facebook
Cost of Items Sold: $22 + $18 shipping included + some items ours
Highest Price Sold: $100 (my son’s outgrown North Face coat on Mercari)
Average Price Sold: $23 Ebay, $54 Mercari
Returns: 0
Money Spent on New Inventory This Week: $8 one thrift stop, 4 items
Number of items listed this week: 18 Ebay, 6 MercariStill need to listen but caught the beginning. R & J Good luck with your business plans. I have a guess what it might be and maybe you can figure out if it makes sense (both financially and for your lifestyle) being open limited hours or even days. I hope you continue to enjoy selling on Ebay and podcasting. It’s been fun to listen to your journey and I wish you all the best.
Terrible time of year but I’ve been taking time to consolidate all of my inventory in half full boxes. I just emotionally need to do some physical work and create order in my environment at this time in my life. Patchy work schedule and I hope to list as well this week. I have a bit of Christmas stuff I really want to move out.
Hi I listed 24 items this week. I might catch a break from work this week and was surprised that I have a couple of bins of puppets and Christmas so want to get on that asap.
I spent about half a day consolidating my inventory and boxing up some loose items in my garage. Still plenty of piles, but I did clear some space. Our guest room closet is half cleared out and half with listed inventory. The dwindling new inventory area in the garage takes a lot less space and I can move listed items onto some of those shelves. A pretty good dent all in all. My store is down by about 50 items since I haven’t had a good listing Fall due to outside issues and busyness. Also organized my boxes and need to break some down and move out. Not really the right time to be doing this vs. listing but it feels good to me right now. I hate clutter.
Have a great week!
Under $30 – 59%
$30-50 – 28%
$50-$100 – 9%
$100 + – 4%
Interesting that many of our percentages are ballpark close. Ugh I have lots of death pile items under $30. Otherwise, I’d be interested in a challenge.@silverfoxfinds Thanks for continuing to share your sales. I finally checked out your store and I like to sell the same kinds of items but have fewer higher dollar ones. I can’t tell you how many wooden salt and pepper shakers I’ve turned over looking and have never found any Dansk. Where do you source mostly again? Thanks.
Thankful for the ideas and answers in the podcast and forum. Happy Thanksgiving trash elves!
@almasty I like your blog entry and point about people blowing $20 and under casually online. Being very part-time and in a rich sourcing area, I think I’m ultimately going to fall between you and HistoryNerd. I’d like to get the ASP up, but it would be good to take more than 1-3 packages to the post office since I stop at the bin most mornings.
I’m glad I’ve been doing it long enough to consider all of the non-cash costs of taking in an item to my house and dealing with it. If I’m on the fence, I always ask myself if it’s worth dealing with it and think about what I already have at home.
I’ve been down this path as well, though I’m punishing myself by making myself list most of my death piles rather than donating. Anything new I buy is either over $25 or super easy to list and ship with no research or difficult packing (certain craft kits, unopened paper goods). Through experience you learn to evaluate based on a number of factors, not just the $ amount. Plus, you know what is available in your area and what has done well for you in the past. I also use my phone for things that before I would have taken more chances at thrift prices. Many times I end up putting things back.
I have a new wrinkle that I might try lots or less expensive items on Mercari because it lends itself to faster movement, lower prices, lots, and in some cases, lower shipping. Though I have a suspicion that Mercari is mostly young shoppers who are somewhat likely to do price comparisons and have no hesitation to make offers. Also, most buyers know junk when they see it.
Listed 22 items but some multiples. Happy Thanksgiving ladies.
I started cleaning up my garage. There are quite a few boxes that are almost empty. It will feel really good to consolidate and I’m happy to see the piles going down, even though there is much more to go. In January if we have a new post. I’ll take pictures and compare to last year. Definitely a big improvement in 2018! I’ll have to settle for that.
I’m also hoping to try vintage on Mercari and see if I can move things out faster.
Good luck ebaymom digging out from under that bin inventory. I didn’t do it at the bins, but I made the same newbie mistake. I’m getting there slowly but surely and my shopping habits are drastically different now.
Total Items in Store: 349, About 25 Mercari
Items Sold: 8 Ebay, 3 Mercari, 2 Facebook
Gross Sales: $586 Ebay, $93 Mercari, $40 Facebook
Cost of Items Sold: $236 + $44 shipping included + some items ours
Highest Price Sold: Ebay, $355 (New bedding set, paid $150 summer clearance)
Average Price Sold: $73 Ebay, $31 Mercari
Returns: 0
Money Spent on New Inventory This Week: $150 (RA, 3 item set) + about $80 at indy thrift xmas boutique
Number of items listed this week: 18 Ebay, 4 MercariFelt busier on Ebay this week. Mostly some of my remaining RA items selling this week so kind of a high COGS and shipping. I’m still loving Mercari. I haven’t gotten to listing vintage there, but will try. It’s so fast and simple to list or cross post and I encourage others to give it a spin for bread and butter items. I don’t think it would take enough time to significantly limit your activity on other sites. Plus there is no social media sharing required and the promotion feature and Google treatment is great.
I haven’t been shopping lately, but indulged a bit this week. My favorite indy thrift has a special Christmas sale. They hold back new in box items, toys, and holiday items all year. It’s always fun and prices are higher than their regular prices, but I find gifts and a few nice things to resell.
Got to pay free shipping & return this week for the first time. Buyer mistakenly thought they would get $200 extra worth of item included. What? So, that didn’t feel really great to pay shipping both ways on a PFRE. But at least she didn’t lie about the reason and blame me.
I only have 5 items stuck in the make offers to buyers. I can’t seem to get any new ones. None of them sold. I’m still lowering prices on items in carts only. That’s produced spotty results.
Also a quick warning to my friends with the 1% promoted test and others. If you revise the item, Ebay sticks in a high percentage – above trending! – and you have to manually lower it again.
Have a happy Thanksgiving everyone!
