[ChristineR]

Total Items in Store: 455
Items Sold: 10
Cost of Items Sold: $116 + $13 free shipping
Total Sales: $294
Highest Price Sold: $63 two new dog art plates, paid $22 last week
Average Price Sold: $29
Money Spent on New Inventory This Week: $20
Number of items listed this week: 13

Slow week but Sunday was good again. I don’t really have a good scavenging story but I love to pick up overlooked household cleaning products at estate sales.

Treated myself to a rummage sale (one of the big annual 3) and it was kind of a bust. Not much older vintage stuff, more newer items, lots of shoppers, prices fairly high. I felt a bit zombie like in there. Also had a garage sale with my friend, which was hoppin’. I purged about 6 boxes of unlisted used stuff that was bulky, unbranded, or regrettable rookie picks and mostly got what I sourced it for. I decided sometimes I used to go a bit past granny chic right into too granny. I also found another box of vintage Christmas items to list while I was going through things. Now I need to reorganize a bit the unlisted items in storage. There’s some room on the shelves! Still plenty of backlog though.

Had my second real customer issue of all time. I can’t get this person to answer my messages. It involved a item that broke in storage and I’m working on a solution.

With Halloween events and continuing education seminar, it’s not looking good for listing this week. Boo. Happy Halloween! I can’t wait to watch Stranger Things 2 later.

[ChristineR]

To qualify as a Top Rated Seller, you can only have up to 0.5% of transactions with one or more defects over the most recent evaluation period…
The defect rate won’t affect your seller performance status until you have transactions with defects with at least 5 different buyers, or at least 4 different buyers to impact Top Rated status, within your evaluation period.
Hm, I have a .42 rate now without this one. But only 3 buyers if I get this one. So maybe ok? Ebay is flagging the % in my seller performance display.

[ChristineR]

Steve, I forgot to comment on last week’s video that your denim Levi’s fleece lined jacket really took me back to my high school days in the 1980s Napa Valley. I think every guy had one but I haven’t seen one again until now. Funny how certain things really trigger a strong memory for you.

I was lucky to find this super cheap in a bag with other worthless ones. It was actually worth more, but I took a best offer of $25 and the buyer was thrilled. https://www.ebay.com/itm/332380772554 One of those moments when I’m like “it’s a tiny piece of plastic someone is grateful to pay $25 for”. My husband has been telling the kids I’m taking advantage of people. 🙂

Paid $3 at a garage sale and praying they arrive unbroken. Sold immediately. https://www.ebay.com/itm/232531845059

I heart selling vintage nos linens. Paid $5 at flea market. Sold quickly https://www.ebay.com/itm/232516342234

I sold a whole bunch of these RA plates I source for about $10 in quick succession. https://www.ebay.com/itm/232523504359 I later was pleased to see on my own home page that Ebay was showing this first when I clicked on the horizontal image carousel bar for Anthropologie plates. Could have been a pin on Pinterest getting active too. Whatever the case I’m grateful. I just ordered the last remaining 4 from the retailer at clearance prices of $4. Also Ebay is showing this as my first suggestion to restock in the growth recommendations.

[ChristineR]

Total Items in Store: 454
Items Sold: 14
Cost of Items Sold: $142 + free shipping $29
Total Sales: $668
Highest Prices Sold: $85 & $86 (Giant vintage 50s Santa Litho art poster – paid $1 + free shipping; Used tea set)
Average Price Sold: $45
Money Spent on New Inventory This Week: About $110 (RA + Used)
Number of items listed this week: 19

Solid week on Ebay for my little store. My daughter had a long playdate this weekend and I treated myself to a little bit of morning sourcing and afternoon of listing. I was very picky about my sourcing and mainly bought things I have sold before. I did splurge a bit on a lot of Dansk flatware for $50 because that grumpy thrift lady knows her stuff. We were both grimacing after striking the deal. It was fun to get out and I had a long chat with a regular who has an antique booth about the pros and cons of sourcing estate sales, thrifts, and social networking locally. Renewed my pact to get through my rookie backlog and go to estate sales for the good midcentury stuff. I continue to work though the backlog, bringing one box of seasonal or similar items up from the garage at a time. I love taking a box down that’s listed. On the RA front, I sold a whole box of dog art plates before I even had the chance to unpack them so that was great too.

I get emotional on Ebay only about giving up on stuff that is not selling. I finally donated a handful of items a couple of times last year that had very few views and it hurt a little bit. It’s like admitting defeat, but I know I can make better choices today as a picker and there is just so much stuff out there to keep the store more active. I also get a bit impatient and frustrated talking to the basic store reps overseas. I always end up politely asking for a supervisor.

R&J: after enjoying some time at home I’m wondering if you might like to do more multi-day sourcing trips in the nearby metro area(s)? Perhaps you could swap AB&Bs with someone or sign up for an online luxury pet sitting service? Reflecting on some of the great items you pulled out of there before I imagine you would find even more amazing stuff. Just a thought. Have a great week everyone.

• This reply was modified 8 years, 6 months ago by ChristineR.

[ChristineR]

Mostly new stuff selling but a handful of vintage and used items. I always get excited when the thrifts put out the Halloween stuff they’ve been hoarding but this year was kind of a bust. I check for high quality costumes and home goods. Maybe someone picked it early.

Did find these Fall / Thanksgiving plates. Paid $1.99 x 4 and they sold 15% off. Have another set of 4. https://www.ebay.com/itm/232429857616

I’m super attracted to this kind of 1950s kitchenware. Thrilled that someone might use these again daily. Paid $1.99 x 6 at GW. Sold 15% off. https://www.ebay.com/itm/232484154898

I don’t do plush normally but I do pick up quality Folkmanis puppets when I see them. Paid $5 indy thrift. https://www.ebay.com/itm/232495647658

This vintage gift wrap took forever to sell. I think free shipping helped. Apparently it does better on Etsy. I have a lot more to list at home. Have some listed that’s been up quite a while. https://www.ebay.com/itm/231992087935 I used a recycled Amazon book box to ship safely.

Have a great weekend.

[ChristineR]

Hi Ryanne – my comment disappeared after editing. Thanks!

[ChristineR]

My store is a hybrid of narrowly focused RA and used items. At least 50% of sales have been new, but I’m adding a lot of used lately from my backlog. I am #1 type on Jay’s list, buying undervalued clearance items, mainly at one retailer. The new items move much faster. I’m happy to get 2-4x ROI on these items with better velocity. There have been less than a handful of losers that I lost money on or that haven’t sold in the two years I’ve been doing this. I love selling new, discontinued items because: (1) the buyers are very happy to find replacements or rare items in new condition; (2) I’ve never had a new item return; and (3) people who aren’t familiar with the brand or don’t have the specialty retailer discover the item (especially animal related art items), often via Pinterest. I do have some competition and I’m not at all happy about the new buy box Ebay has come out with, but I’m willing to hold the items longer to get a higher price and these are not commodity items by the time they hit clearance. The best part of being a new item reseller is that I can cherry pick and experiment with the best of this retailer’s stuff, and not be saddled with their overhead, obligations to keep refreshing with new product, or spinning off the losers or poorly manufactured items. I have occasionally picked items from Ross and TJ Maxx and if I had more time and no vintage backlog, I could see that being a good opportunity if you had a good eye and went often.

I also love the fabulous returns on unique vintage items, but with a couple exceptions like Pyrex they move much more slowly for me with my small store. If I didn’t have the new items keeping the store active, I suspect that I would have some pretty quiet weeks.

• This reply was modified 8 years, 6 months ago by ChristineR.

[ChristineR]

Does anyone have experience selling vintage holiday cards? In lots or individually? I bought a whole huge box of mostly used cards. The art is so retro and amazing. These are from the 1940s and 1950s (postmarked). I also found 2 of these giant 1950s Santa art posters and countered an offer of $50 for one, then thought again. http://www.ebay.com/itm/332405474219 Couldn’t find any comps. If you see new old stock boxed cards from the 40s-60s I would totally pick that up. Vintage wrap in the package too.

I also heard this week that replacement bulbs in unusual colors like pink, orange, and black are very hot, like over $100. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EvUX6JRLGSg This is the podcast I was listening to. This Christmas lady on during the second half of the podcast is in one of my Facebook pinning groups.

• This reply was modified 8 years, 6 months ago by ChristineR.

[ChristineR]

I’m glad your son is safe Simon, but I’m sure it was still unsettling. My dad is up in Green Valley where I grew up along the Napa and Solono county border. They were lucky to have an advisory first before evacuating Tuesday. Today and tomorrow will be the test with the North wind change. I told him to take our family slides and he got most of the photos still at his place. We would lose some of my grandma’s paintings but he’s in a better position than most. I really feel for the early fire victims in Santa Rosa. Makes you realize you should have all of your photos, videos, and hard drives together in one place, which we don’t.

• This reply was modified 8 years, 6 months ago by ChristineR.

[ChristineR]

Total Items in Store: 402
Items Sold: 12
Cost of Items Sold: $97 + Free shipping of $15
Total Sales: $387
Highest Price Sold: $64 (Artsy measuring cups and spoons)
Average Price Sold: $30
Returns: 1 item broke in transit – buyer was great
Money Spent on New Inventory This Week: $0
Number of items listed this week: 33 (love my new iPhone 8 – upload photos to app, seems faster)

Hope you have a wonderful trip to SF and enjoy getting home afterward. That’s a lot of travel! I’ve not been shopping and continue to hack away at the piles, digging out Christmas items in particular that I don’t want hanging around next year. Feels good to be getting some Ebay traction now that we are in our regular school routine. I take one large box upstairs from the garage at a time and it makes me feel good when I have a box of items listed and it goes back down.

I’ve heard people speculate before that accepting a best offer seems to give you a sales spurt and I saw that this week. I should probably go through my old listings and put BO on more of them. It’s funny – I thought I would try to create a lovely Etsy store by now, but I’m kind of doing the opposite and just taking super quick photos with the Ebay app on my dining room table. Whatever it takes to just GET STUFF UP.

Have a great week.

[ChristineR]

Nice Ebay arbitrage item. Had sold before for $90. Buyer paid full price. http://www.ebay.com/itm/332372655008

Paid $3.99 at GW. Took best offer of $45 http://www.ebay.com/itm/232284073751

I’ve been very unenthused about listing Hallmark ornaments, but have had a couple of nice sales. http://www.ebay.com/itm/232497847217

Sold quickly, paid $5 at indy thrift. http://www.ebay.com/itm/332381732983

These are from an estate sale. Paid $3. Sold immediately. Vintage linens do well for me and I think the free shipping has been helping. Promotions not so much. http://www.ebay.com/itm/332388384046

Splurged a bit over the coupon on some colorful ebay stickers and Boxes with the circle logo. Kinda fun for nerds.

[ChristineR]

Thanks Beth for mentioning this no scan issue. I had it too and needed to call. A buyer just asked me to wait to ship something, and combined it would knock me out of TRS. Update: just checked and it’s no longer there. 🙂

[ChristineR]

Total Items in Store: 372
Items Sold: 18
Cost of Items Sold: $128 (new RA and used) + $42 free shipping
Total Sales: $648
Highest Price Sold: $199 Koi art plates
Average Price Sold: $38
Returns: 1 tiny Wonder Woman costume from the college end of year rummage sale with tags cut out – didn’t fit. Free shipping (ouch) but basically got it for free.
Money Spent on New Inventory This Week: $0
Number of items listed this week: 0

A good sales week for me. The higher priced sale was a woman whose moving company broke one of hers so she’s ok paying up since they will reimburse her. A lot of low profit sales in there too – auction to get $ back on slightly damaged collectable ornaments. Unfortunately realized I had created some new listings and inadvertently left the free shipping box populated. I know I didn’t check it. So, lesson learned and just searched and double checked my actives this morning. I do think using free shipping has probably helped my sales, but is skewing my average price lower.

Last week my regular job picked up and we had some extra school events going on, so sad to not list. Hope to get back my Christmas stockpile soon and get back over 400 listings. There is great quantity of piles left in my garage and guest room closet, but I’m starting to feel a bit of breathing room and I don’t really feel the urge to shop much. I know there will always be plenty of stuff out there and I’d like to get inventory under control. At my rate, it will be a long haul.

[ChristineR]

Yes, monthly. I don’t check my invoice every month but I have more often in the past few as I’ve started using Smartpost more often. About a year ago I stopped getting any free listing promos. I used to get them all the time. The calculator wasn’t working in the field asking about the number of TRS items, but I think at about 425 I’d be better off upgrading without the credit. I’d do it before October 1 if I knew I would have good listing time available this quarter. Hopefully you will get the extra coupon amount if you do.

[ChristineR]

Thanks! Good to know. I don’t have guaranteed delivery yet either. Too much of a small fry. I just got dinged on a package Ebay says never got a scan but the tracking shows it did. Need to call.

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