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@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.
11/19/2018 at 10:04 am in reply to: Trash Elf Twins Challenge 2018 Thread #3 From Week 31 August #51926Listed 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!
11/17/2018 at 8:17 pm in reply to: Promoted listings experiment RESULTS: Reducing all promoted listings to 1% rate #51880@MyCottage I hear what you are saying and indeed the algo is complex and designed to generate a conversion. However, promoted listings is an add on feature. Am I confident that Ebay’s changes are seamlessly integrated into the existing system. No. Also I had some things promoted at 5.1% and I decided I’m not really willing to pay Ebay that much extra, especially since I’m trying out free shipping and returns on first class items and some PFREs. So, I’m trying out the 1%.
It would be interesting to know how many sellers are going for promotions and how much that changes since they added it to the listing interface.
11/17/2018 at 10:23 am in reply to: Promoted listings experiment RESULTS: Reducing all promoted listings to 1% rate #51857Enjoying this discussion. I’m banking on the fact that many sellers are anti-fees and I’m willing to pay 1% more in the hopes that I get shown before them. Also, I think there might be a chance that Ebay’s system is not sophisticated enough to rank items based on the % promotion (plus #1 @mycottage above), so why not do it on the cheap and see if it helps. Unfortunately, it’s difficult to tell if it’s working or not, especially since I’ve been taking a lot more offers lately, which I suspect really helps sales.
I’m getting down to the bottom of my retail arbitrage inventory and noticed that some of my last expensive bedding has disappeared from Ebay. I don’t sell similar. Again, it’s not a huge part of my inventory missing but a bummer because it’s summer / tropical bedding and I have no idea how long it’s been down. Just a head’s up.
Hey, nice to see you guys, R&J.
I have heard some really interesting things from Pete and some big picture insight I really liked. However, I don’t really follow him because I don’t want to sort through the chatty hang outs and store visits. If anyone has any favorite videos of him discussing Ebay / selling online to share links to, thanks in advance.
@millionairedojo. Thanks for sharing. This is a prominent tool on Mercari. I’m trying it on EBay, though they only are giving me the same 5 items without new ones replacing offered ones. This would be a great addition to Ebay. I’ve also been lowering prices on items in carts when I get those emails, but only a few times has that resulted in sales.
Sending good thoughts. Sometimes business goes on the back burner, and it’s ok for important family reasons.
Total Items in Store: 334 Ebay, about 30 Mercari
Items Sold: 12
Gross Sales: $788 Ebay, $63 Mercari
Cost of Items Sold: $283 + $27 Shipping included + some items ours (loss)
Highest Price Sold: $365 Bedding set from summer clearance to NYC (paid $145)
Average Price Sold: $66 Ebay, $31 Mercari
Returns: 1 started for $150, buyer mistakenly thought would get an additional item with order.
Money Spent on New Inventory This Week: $11
Number of items listed this week: 3 EbayI still follow a few Youtubers and hear the same couple of get rich quick cheap production guy commercials nonstop. Super young kids in tank tops encouraging drop shipping or some other scheme on Amazon. I hope other youngsters don’t fall for that stuff and get into debt.
Still crazy in life. A lot has to do with kids. Even if you don’t have little kids, life can be demanding and there can be not much time left for Ebay. I’m still taking offers like a madwoman on existing inventory. I can’t believe it’s holiday time already. Feels like it was just summer.
Got trolled on Ebay with $5 offer on a $300+ item. Who bothers with that? Overall, my offers have been pretty reasonable and I’m glad I turned it back on. Continuing my 1% promoted listing experiment. Thanks for those who have been reporting about that.
11/12/2018 at 11:35 am in reply to: Trash Elf Twins Challenge 2018 Thread #3 From Week 31 August #51522I only got 3 listed. Chaotic week.
Halloween plates link
Steve, as always great sales. Congrats on your numbers of late.
Even though they are lower dollar, I still pick up vintage Hallmark cards NIP. Super easy to list and ship. Sold Harry Potter Card Sets for best offer $25 with shipping included. They did take a while to sell. I paid $1 per set. This is one of those times I really should have gone all in. We had a thrift that was storage locker clean out items. They had a bunch of Harry Potter items from a Hallmark store including displays. I don’t know why I didn’t offer to buy it all. Doh!
I had these Halloween plates up too high at $60 through the holiday. I like to take down my holiday stuff after if I can’t liquidate it since I’m over my 250 basic store subscription listings. But, I usually wait a month or two. Took a best offer on these of $30 plus shipping. I thrifted for $8 last month at GW.
Took a best offer of $20 on this 50s Cake Tinbecause it’s so big and I want to move things out of my garage and consolidate. I paid $3 at a church sale, and was relieved to get great feedback because it did have some wear for sure.
Finally, sold this vintage cookie cutter pin. These folk art molds can do pretty well. I’ve sold a board style as well. They are to make Springerle, a German holiday cookie. I got this for $2 at my favorite indy thrift. Speaking of vintage cutters, I think this is an often overlooked item. vintage tin cutter lots can do very well. Also, discontinued Martha Stewart by mail cutters do great.
Have a great weekend! Please send your rain to us California. We need it badly.
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