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11/05/2018 at 11:50 am in reply to: Trash Elf Twins Challenge 2018 Thread #3 From Week 31 August #51214
@VintageTreasures hope you get your Ebay mojo back!
Total Items in Store: Ebay 331, Mercari about 35
Items Sold: 9 Ebay, 1 Mercari
Gross Sales: $275 Ebay, $51 Mercari
Cost of Items Sold: $92 + $10 shipping included
Highest Price Sold: $51 Patagonia Vest on Mercari (Thrifted for $25 and my daughter wouldn’t wear)
Average Price Sold: $30 Ebay
Returns: 0
Money Spent on New Inventory This Week: $0
Number of items listed this week: 0I’m very grateful for these sales. I haven’t listed for weeks really on either platform. I have been dropping prices on items in carts on Ebay and promoting to likers and delisting old stuff on Mercari. Taking offers on used stuff I paid little for. Fundraiser is midweek, then I hope to get back to it. Calendar looks pretty clear until the holiday! Whew.
I went to Palm Springs Friday for another 50th birthday party. I had some free time and hit the true thrifts (not consignment or estate liquidators). It was quite fruitless. Everyone knows the value of the good stuff out there. Left in the thrift stores was one decade – 1980s pastel home decor and dishes. LOL. Makes me appreciate my home turf and I came home with all of my cash.
11/04/2018 at 7:36 am in reply to: Trash Elf Twins Challenge 2018 Thread #3 From Week 31 August #51159@Amatino Thank you for all of your hard work keeping the numbers and threads up. I have to say I’m proud of myself for curbing the shopping habit this year. I’m also excited to see some room opening up, slowly but surely.
I’m definitely a bit disappointed in my number of listed items, but it just makes me realize that I don’t have a lot of time in my life for this, so I need to be very, very careful picking going forward. I still have a significant backlog to work through, plus some items from my parent’s house. So, I’ll keep on truckin’. I should take new death pile pictures after I finish consolidating. It will definitely be an improvement over last year when things were kind of spilling out of boxes.
Perhaps we can just have a death pile support group thread for next year and throw a little party on here for people who clear the piles and graduate. No need as far as I’m concerned to keep tracking if you don’t have time. Good luck packing for your trip.
Much of the types of items I sold this week I have posted about before. However, I did sell embroidery floss for the first time. BO $10. I’ve passed over huge bags of this stuff before, so thought I would mention.
Also sold Quimper this week full price to Sir somebody Hemmingway (his Ebay name). This is the first one I have found without the man or woman pattern and a different color scheme.
WSJ Article on the FIRE Movement
Usually on my ipad or Facebook I can read a few articles without a subscription.
Hi Joe, as buyers we went and found one of the top producers at the firm that had the most listings in the area we are living in. That broker was pleasant but assertive and very experienced. She found us our house before it was officially put on the market. Also, someone else in her office had a large number of the local foreclosure listings and was in the know on that in advance.
There is also a local website where realtors exchange “needs and wants” – agents trying to put buyers and sellers together without going full on the market to minimize their costs and labor.
We bought another house FSBO and used our loan broker / licensed realtor to write up the contract for cheap, got a great inspector and escrow did most of the work. But as Jay said, agent is free to you, so you might as well get a good one. Good luck!
10/29/2018 at 11:44 am in reply to: Trash Elf Twins Challenge 2018 Thread #3 From Week 31 August #50876As a lover of vintage and retro items I enjoyed the marketplace video. Thanks for sharing. Last time I went to an event like that I was looking to pick, but next time I will know to just look and learn vs. looking to buy at those prices. It’s fun to see items in complete sets or staged and grouped skillfully.
Amatino, thank you for keeping track of the numbers all year. I don’t really feel like a winner since I still have quite a bit of piles to get through. I’m focusing on listing Christmas this week. I only have one and a half boxes since I liquidated last year except my new items. I listed 6 items this week, two from death piles.
I really enjoyed hearing your perspective. I’m glad you joined the forum because you are where I think I’m headed with this being way more selective. I’m also interested to hear where you source.
Total Items in Store: 364, 50 Mercari
Items Sold: 5 Ebay, 1 Mercari
Gross Sales: $123 Ebay, $10 Mercari
Cost of Items Sold: $8 + $11 (Shipping included) + some items ours
Cost of helpers: $120
Highest Price Sold: $65 Christmas craft kit, paid $2 thrift
Average Price Sold: $24 Ebay, $10 Mercari
Returns: 1 $10 broke in transit (supposedly); buyer sent nasty message so I refunded immediately since I was busy and it was cheap
Money Spent on New Inventory This Week: $0
Number of items listed this week: 6 EbaySlow week on Ebay, busy week outside Ebay. I’m working a performing arts school fundraiser. Went to the giant rummage sale at the fairgrounds before opening to buy baskets we needed for the fundraiser. It was really hard to be in there and not go back to shop but it’s time to keeping working the piles. Husband wants to get the holiday stuff into the garage. I have some consolidating to do so that will help. Don’t feel too sorry for me though because I got more baskets at the thrift store one day and picked up a Le Creuset dutch oven for $12.50 (to keep).
My goal is to test run some NIB Christmas items (Papyrus 90% off clearance that didn’t sell on Ebay last year) on Mercari this week and also list some items on Ebay. Glad you had a couple of free days in SF. Have a great week everyone!
10/29/2018 at 10:02 am in reply to: Scavenger Life Episode 382: Treasure Hunting with a Fishnet #50856I have been hunting a bit myself for used Patagonia on Poshmark, Ebay and Mercari. At least what I am looking for – light puffer vests and jackets – sell at pretty strong prices. Sometimes things go at pretty good prices on Mercari fast, you might put a search out there. I see the solds (you have to filter them out on Mercari) and it seems people are quick to snap up good deals on there.
Funny thing is I have no interest in selling clothing on Ebay for profit. I didn’t want to do measurements and get into specifics too much. I know some brands but it just doesn’t excite me even though it is easier than vintage hard goods to ship. This is our stuff on Mercari that I would have handed down in the past or donated. One other drawback of Mercari is that they don’t let you charge sales tax and I can’t export into my spreadsheet program so will have to use paper records and collect as I go.
10/28/2018 at 1:52 pm in reply to: Scavenger Life Episode 382: Treasure Hunting with a Fishnet #50823It will be interesting to see. I think there is a pretty good chance Mercari might take off for the reason that I like it – it takes very little time and effort to sell and promote to likers on this mobile app. Most people don’t have a lot of time but are on their phones a lot. It’s also different than Ebay because there are a lot of younger people on it I suspect and Mercari needs to adjust to the American “customer is always right” way of thinking. Google treatment is important too and it’s so different and better than local pick up sites. Your audience is much bigger. So, we’ll see.
I’ve actually gotten pretty strong prices for our used Patagonia stuff and some death pile Disney mugs – pretty close to Ebay pricing. My daughter’s Gap clothes didn’t sell well, even with mark downs. So prices depend a lot on how good your items are. I’d estimate I get about 10-30% less on Mercari than Ebay but the velocity is really nice. There is no shortage of items to list – it’s the time that I personally am short on. I’m leaning toward moving more merchandise out at better prices. Serious collectibles though I think still would be best on Ebay or Etsy.
10/28/2018 at 10:12 am in reply to: Scavenger Life Episode 382: Treasure Hunting with a Fishnet #50819@TSatt I have really LOVED selling on Mercari because it is super fast to list and very streamlined. It’s very, very fast and easy to cross-post and there is no sharing like Poshmark. You just need to remember to say any flaws in the description since you are not prompted to. I also started selling on there because Google loves Mercari. It’s a really cleverly designed app experience that makes Ebay look super dated and clunky.
So far I have been spinning off things from our own house (mostly clothing) and I’m willing to promote to likers and drop prices. I sell everything shipping included on Mercari. Shipping prices are good except first class, so I use Paypal for that. FedEx for Mercari can be beyond slow but have the best pricing.
The drawbacks are that you tend to fetch lower prices on Mercari, but the fees are less – 10% and no Paypal fees. You have to pay that fee on shipping if you choose to do shipping included. I’m in a Facebook group where people report much faster sales, including items that sat and sat on Ebay beforehand.
Mercari is very cut and dried with customer service. The buyer has to work a bit to get a return approved within the three day window. It’s all done by email. I had to cancel a sale once when I accidentally reactivated a listing after returning from vacation, and they sent a little smack down email and posted an automated notice on my feedback board.
I look forward to trying it out for vintage hard goods. Haven’t done that yet, but shipping cost over a pound is better than Ebay. Mercari is clearly sharing more of their commercial discount vs. Ebay. I would be cautious about selling electronics or high dollar items on Mercari though at this point. I’ve heard some horror stories, but who knows how good those sellers were.
10/25/2018 at 6:29 pm in reply to: What Sells On eBay: Hood scoop, Stratoscope photo, Mailbox, Carhartt vest, Amplifiers, Crescent moon shadow box #50768Kind of slow after a few weeks of not listing. Sold this vintage nos blanket for best offer $200. I could have sold this several times for $200, but I kept missing the offer notification and would later see it expired. Paid $40 at indy thrift and got great feedback from a gift giver.
Sold this Mexican sun face pottery for best offer of $60. Paid $7 at indy thrift.
Gotta love the right Christmas craft kits. Sold this Bernat kit full price. Paid $3 at thrift store.
Let’s hear it for death pile items moving out! vintage frig book, Starbucks mug, pyrex lid lot. Some of the less desirable pyrex isn’t really worth much and is a pain to ship, so I just lotted up the lids and sold the casseroles on facebook.
10/22/2018 at 11:08 am in reply to: Scavenger Life Episode 382: Treasure Hunting with a Fishnet #50531I think location is a big factor, but you may or may not have to deal with more competition in urban places too. The sweet spot is finding places where valuable things are still being overlooked and there are wealthier types who donate great items. Here the cost of living is very high, we have lots of elderly people, and the minority of younger people are working hard to pay for it so they have less time to scavenge. But down the coast a half hour there are more young people on it with their phones out. Also the employees down there are better at spotting good stuff. Our Goodwill is constantly hiring and cannot find good workers.
10/22/2018 at 10:00 am in reply to: Scavenger Life Episode 382: Treasure Hunting with a Fishnet #50523Total Items in Store: 359 Ebay, 54 Mercari
Items Sold: 6 Ebay, 4 Mercari
Gross Sales: $321 Ebay, $58 Mercari
Cost of Items Sold: $73 + $30 shipping included + some ours
Highest Price Sold: $200 (NOS vintage blanket, paid $40 indy thrift)
Average Price Sold: $53 Ebay, $15 Mercari
Returns: 0
Money Spent on New Inventory This Week: $0
Number of items listed this week: 2 MercariIt’s been a crazy Fall with unusual happenings both challenging and fun. Ebay is what I do with my “extra time” and it’s just not fitting in right now. My strategy is to take offers on old stuff and keep the store active.
I hope you enjoy your stay in beautiful SF up there. You might look into major rummage sales as an option in the urban areas. Perhaps worth it if you can also hit some estate sales or auctions on the same trip. You won’t have to invest as much and there are two of you to split up and conquer the sale. I follow someone great on Youtube (thePaperCastle) who lives in NJ and does very well with rummage sales at a cheap buy in. She has gotten to know and calendar her favorite rummage and church sales. Personally, I adore rummage sales but we only have 3 big ones each year as the area around our city is not as densely populated.
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