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Just RA for me this week. I didn’t go as deeply into after Christmas sales as I usually do. The Williams Sonoma brand discounts were not deeply discounted enough for me. I think in February or early March they are more serious about clearance. I did have a haul at Anthropologie. Picked up a few clearance items for us at Marshalls.
No used shopping. Flea and some of the thrifts are closed. I did pick up a 50% off bag of Lenox flat ornaments after scanning the barcode. Will toss in the Xmas bins for next year probably.
I was pretty excited in terms of what sold last week, not necessarily the prices. I sold some Christmas cards I posted after Christmas. Also sold some more old listings of dishes! I still think these are cool but I’m being way more careful about picking up this kind of thing. The mugs are cool but not rare on Ebay. The plaid plates are fun but super long tail – like years. The bowls took a year or two. https://www.ebay.com/itm/335658544393 https://www.ebay.com/itm/335658553209 https://www.ebay.com/itm/235819204357 I’m really trying not to just source things that I think are attractive and I’m using google lens more often if shopping.
I didn’t list much last week – 4 new RA listings only. We did get a new rescue puppy. I will post a picture soon.
I dread the boxes of linens waiting for me. Have some loose purchases lying around too. Need to reorganize.
I had a similar experience with UPS and have not offered them as an option since. Took it to the mat and spent a lot of time but never got paid. I’m sticking with Fed Ex (haven’t yet made a claim with them). Though, I think Ebay underestimates Fed Ex shipping at times and some sellers feel that Fed Ex is predatory. I did have a $35 upcharge for shipping a tube and not sure what else. I’m afraid to look. Both are close to my house but the UPS parking lot is a PITA, so Fed Ex wins there as well.
Total Items in Store: 1200ish
Items Sold: 22
Gross Sales: $1066
Net Sales: $609
Cost of Items Sold: $167
Highest Price Sold: $63 (Preowned Christmas pillow – estate sale $5)
Average Price Sold: $48
Returns: 0
Money Spent on New Inventory This Week: $20?
Number of items listed this week: 32Definitely pretty good sales but running discounts to get them. Have used even further discounts after Christmas.
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I did some Christmas clearance shopping this week. At some stores the sales are actually better right before Christmas and they still have a pretty good selection. Sold this set already (paid $34 on Monday) https://www.ebay.com/itm/235880218928 I won’t be going in too deep this year on RA clearance since I have so much inventory.
Didn’t buy much this week but did pick up this at the flea market for $10 https://www.ebay.com/itm/335738334243 I actually haven’t done very well with Legos.
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https://www.ebay.com/itm/335651282994 I like this Scandinavian pottery (a rare find here). Paid $4
This sale is what Ebay is all about. A doctor wrote to me to get fast shipping on this item for his wife, who had these as a child in Sweden. https://www.ebay.com/itm/235819204323 I paid like pennies I think.
Death piles and super duper stale listings – thank goodness out the door! https://www.ebay.com/itm/235819208764 https://www.ebay.com/itm/335658535177 Purchased in maybe 2014. This ornament series I think used to be worth good money. It’s been listed for YEARS
I got busy this week with 32 listings.
As far as the DP challenge goes, I did get rid of somethings at the live markets and online but probably not nearly enough to compete. So many piles left for 2025. Ugh. I’ve made a deal with my husband to take on some household expenses with my Ebay income so I will need to get much better about listing in 2025. I did warn him late Jan and Feb are always very slow for me. I hope that if I list more, it will be not quite as dead.
I really should look back on the shipping charges and see what happened with Fed Ex this past year. I think I only had one or two notices. The vast majority is all going Ground Advantage and I don’t sell a ton of larger items, so I’m too lazy to deal with Pirate ship.
Week of 12/1-7:
Total Items in Store: 1175 or so
Items Sold: 25Cost of Items Sold: $220 or so (two items ours)
Total Sales: $1,424; Net sales $850
Highest Price Sold: $109 (Set of three new plates, spring or summer clearance items)
Average price: $57
Returns: 0
Money Spent on New Inventory This Week: $25 maybe? I lost track. Not much scavenging.
Number of items listed this week: 2Week of 12/8-14:
Items Sold: 22
Cost of Items Sold: $130
Total Sales: $1055; Net sales $670
Highest Price Sold: $105 (Used set of 4 Christmas bowls)
Average price: $48
Returns: 0
Money Spent on New Inventory This Week: $70 (one online, small flea market haul) Not much scavenging.
Number of items listed this week: 14Sales felt really strong after Thanksgiving, then I’m surprised at the 12/8-14 numbers because it felt quite slow. My ASP looks pretty good though COGS is high due to more new items going out this time of year. It wasn’t a good time to slack off listing in hindsight and the second week we were all sick. I’ve been listing on Ebay pretty consistently this week and have some last minute Christmas stuff going out. Today I listed on Facebook Marketplace and thew a couple of larger fragile things onto Instagram – though most of my Insta followers are other sellers.
Sold a couple of low dollar things on Mercari, not much. (They have the Japanese CEO coming to the US and will reverse their fee changes mostly after the new year pretty much in case you hadn’t heard).
District (Niknax and VAMP) had no sales, which is pretty bad for Christmastime. The Niknax lady is trying to make things better for non-live sellers, but it’s going to be hard for her. She let way too many sellers and types of inventory in quickly. The VAMP lady is really tightening up and getting rid of inactive sellers but also they have fewer people selling live. It will be interesting to see how that all shakes out. I’m rooting for VAMP, since I’m in a pretty small group of approved sellers there.
Overall, I feel like I am needing to list more and offer bigger discounts to get Ebay sales. Had a slower 4th quarter for sure than in prior years. I am concerned about consumer demand in the new year but I will try to be really consistent with listing and – knock wood – hope to have more time for it. I’m finally done listing the Christmas! and moving on to kitchen goods for the moment. I’m also going to be joining @Retro in doing some consolidation and organizing of my piles and inventory boxes in the next two weeks. No pop up markets for me for quite a while so perhaps I will also list some more small art on Ebay.
I hope everyone has a wonderful holiday season with your families. Be kind to yourself if the holidays presents challenges. One of our dads can’t travel and it will be just 5 of us this year around the table. Have a fun White Elephant party this weekend with family friends. Missing our lost doggie.
@VL, sorry you are going through that painful experience. I’m glad you are having such good sales! Congrats on that. My sales slowed last week (a week before the shipping deadlines.) and I feel like I need to work harder and cut prices to make sales. Just plan to keep listing and hope for the best in 2025.
I had a buyer want something super thin and lightweight but 18″ long for Christmas. Ebay let me pick a Fed Ex express option at a good price and the DIM weight looked ok. They didn’t call it express within Ebay. I think it was a two day option for an envelope. I feel like I will get hosed. They fed Ex guy said they have a special envelope it has to fit in (not mentioned on Ebay). While at Fed Ex he confirmed he can’t make a special note that their employee checked the weight and measurements personally. 🙁 He also confirmed it’s not a good idea to use an unboxed poster tube through them, even though they sell them. I won’t do that again!
oof. I was just watching a well connected Portland vintage reseller and she said they believe Fed Ex engages in predatory repricing. I did have a huge upcharge on a long skinny item this year that I noticed. I haven’t been notified of any other changes and haven’t been paying attention. I had a huge problem with a UPS insurance claim so I have not been using them.
One Christmas a last minute buyer selected Fed Ex and then Ebay would not let me print the label. I was super nice and went to Fed Ex and paid the rack rate which ate my profit on the gift. For a few years after I shut my store down at this time, but I think I will leave it open again this year and get what sales I can. Most people are picking USPS ground and I only have Fed Ex alone on a small handful of large items.
Thanks to R&J for continuing the forums. https://www.ebay.com/itm/235868615125 Some wealthy person donated a whole group of these Hansa (UK brand) realistic animals. (This one is actually the less realistic teddy). It sold right away, they usually go for more but it’s big so I didn’t want to hold on to it long. They weren’t played with and had the tags. I paid $15-20 for the two I got. Should have gone all in probably but I’m trying to limit what I pick up. This is a good brand to look for – all hand made, high quality. Also got a super nice feedback from the buyer because I put it in plastic inside the box, and the carrier left the box in what became a snowbank. It’s in the 70s here but I try to remember not everywhere.
