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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bm2fOc6oCy4&t=1273s The Pure Hustle guys have a podcast on this. Not sure they touched on the fact that it only applies to certain sellers (without a store). In theory, it will affect us if we are competing against those sellers and they don’t opt out.
As a buyer, I would be interested in seeing the actual shipping cost before buying in the cases where the shipping seems too high on an item I really want. Sometimes I message them to add Fed Ex please, etc.
I’m wondering what the motivation on Ebay’s part was for the change? Maybe new and smaller sellers aren’t great at estimating and end up looking high? Experienced sellers would notice and have an uproar because they want the cushion? Or they just are trying to attract buyers and counter Mercari’s move, etc.
Great job Julie and Sharyn! I’ve veered very off course and purchased too much. With any luck though, I will unload some death pile items when live selling this summer.
21 listings for me. I’m hoping this workweek is really good and then I’m gone on a weekend trip. I need to clear all the stuff inside the house in particular because we have – ugh – a three toddler family coming to visit us for a few days the following week.
@Craig here’s another example I got listed this week. https://www.ebay.com/itm/235531888076 In an isle full of boring glass this is easy to spot due to the texture. The french brand Lalique does very well but I just avoid getting into the bigger items and haven’t found it yet. The signature is subtle.
Incidentally, AI made this description for me. It’s more concise than when I tried it before.
@Thriftshift thanks for sharing this honest post. I had a series of issues, including just a late USPS scan but also a couple of lost items and I’m down to above average after years of TRS. Sux. Interesting that taking away promoted is a punishment – and also interesting that you are still having sales though. Brave of you re Whatnot. Are you doing porch pick ups for FBM?
I’ve never seen those clocks in the wild. I’ve started following some pickers on Instagram and some estate sales in the heartland look great.
“Glowy glass” is a big Youtube trend. I’m wondering how long it will last. Silly to me because it only glows if you put it under a black light in a granny display cabinet. It’s interesting to see what catches on. I hope brass doesn’t go out soon because I have some to unload.
Total
ItemsListings in Store: 934
Items Sold: 16
Gross Sales: $583 (including eBay fees, shipping, and taxes)
Net Sales: $365 (minus eBay fees, shipping, and taxes)
Cost of Items Sold: $89 (plus two items ours)
Highest Price Sold: $78 (pair of new pillow shams)
Average Price Sold: $36
Returns: 0
Money Spent on New Inventory This Week: $260 (some business supplies included)
Number of items listed this week: 4Life is settling down finally this week and working on listing again. Ebay did respond with some sales this time. I’ve been gathering up inexpensive display items for my live booth and I need to start sorting and putting prices on. I’m also networking on Instagram. Finally, I’m selling some larger household items and throw pillows off on Facebook because they take up so much room and there is too much stuff everywhere. They are actually doing pretty well and I can buy standard square feather inserts at one thrift store for $5.
I did a minimal amount of RA purchasing and found a number of things the few times I went sourcing last week. I found and tried an online estate sale auction and it was super fun. We normally don’t have those here.
For fun, I’m trying to figure out what Gen Z is looking for now in clothing. I started following some college student locals on Instagram who sell and model vintage clothes (usually 90s and Y2K). I will only have a small clothing rack in my booth but I thought it might help bring younger people in to look at my hard goods. Normally I only buy clothing for resale if it’s truly exceptional vintage and I happen to run into it. It doesn’t light my fire but I can scan through the racks pretty quickly. Since I’m not super confident on clothing picks, I should look at garage sales and places with lower prices. Also Gen Z is showing up in force at the thrifts lately. It’s fun to hear them chatter about it.
There used to be a nice Scandinavian lady on YouTube who posted about this subject. I can’t find her channel any longer. If you are lucky it might still have a sticker or be marked. I ignored it all for a long time but just started looking again. Basically I look for anything that looks like ice, nature, or midcentury starbursts. The Italian glasses stood out for their heft. It’s much better now with Google lens because my attention span for clear glass is short. I’m picking up small dishes to sell live as trinket trays in the booth ($1-3). They will look better in the sunlight.
I’ve seen mostly O. Stone online and mine has a longer signature but it seems to fit.
https://www.ebay.com/itm/335252635190 This is my pick because I’ve been venturing recently into the clear glass isle. I just take a quick glance and once in a while I pick things up. Barware seems to sell pretty well these days but I rarely find any colored or super cool ones.
This week I picked up a set of 4 of these. https://www.ebay.com/itm/314803095639?itmmeta=01HVHSRRJSW6T0N3QY8FFMJQBS&hash=item494bba0857:g:aycAAOSwCJVk7zK3&itmprp=enc%3AAQAJAAAA0KQKoVroTCZvFMphnk1YRImhIPuERutc9TMHS7DACt%2FlzFcERQuCRAgqZH8WRdqbYsTe4IYa22i%2BFMXgwiMU2x5ZjLlHvsJOCyKWKaKFWyJvpSLZ1V2GBHvTlPNP027R%2Bxp6TfSDlX7SadfGWwmeNi64NlqWif2tLNSnLWxUHMZoUZR3hRepJ%2BZdmJItOKBg%2BbX%2B0YLsi567fCYAaWVRsskYUaUq%2Fmqa8MF8Ws2HLgUA6QUFIe%2BcASa4a%2FxJPvO%2FKQzUD7dSBkAazsYDZhvUpmU%3D%7Ctkp%3ABk9SR76J47ncYw They are super heavy and kind of interesting.
It was pouring this weekend and nothing was going on BUT there was an online estate sale (not common here). I had so much fun joining in and bought about $100 worth of items. One nice Mid Century artwork, some folding shelves and tables for my live booth, a large lucite craft drawer kit, and an awesome Orla Kiely carry on suitcase. I got two nice small rolling travel bags, vintage ash trays, and some art books I don’t need that I’m hoping will pay for some or most of this spend. That could be addicting! The artwork does have some browning, so it’s a little hard bidding online, but I’m still glad I bought it. It is a signed and number piece by this guy I’m pretty sure https://www.invaluable.com/artist/foss-oliver-kxe2lnxlfp/sold-at-auction-prices/
I’m still an art novice, so I have to figure out how to describe it. Not a painting, not a lithograph. Serigraph maybe? https://imgur.com/gallery/55f5mEQ
Welp, only 4 listings and some drafts. I’m delighted the fundraiser is over and it was better than last year. Need to get Ebay into gear again. I have a lot of recently purchased items to list, so sadly no death pile progress. The annual realtor neighborhood garage sale is coming up and I have to decide if there is another layer I should shed and if I will ever get our better used clothing listed online. I have to sort some things for the live selling after, so might have a small sale.
@Jay thanks! I’m super excited about it. I hope it’s worth the effort in the end. Will post photos in May or June when I get there. Either way, it’s fun finding my local vintage peeps. Delayed covid reentry.
Total Active Listings: 937
Items Sold: 6
Gross Sales: $208 (including eBay fees, shipping, and taxes)
Net Sales: $99 (minus eBay fees, shipping, and taxes)
Cost of Items Sold: $28
Highest Price Sold: $47 (2 new shams, Mercari bundle flip)
Average Price Sold: $35
Returns: 0
Money Spent on New Inventory This Week: $100
Number of items listed this week: 14Whew after a few weeks of not listing much my Ebay store is on life support. I’m definitely feeling the sandwich generation pulls as both of our dads have been having health problems and my daughter is struggling with some things. This week took a lot of time with the fundraiser, but I just have one more day of that and I feel good about stepping up. I do have a couple of weekend trips coming up but generally speaking life should calm down during the weekdays. Knock wood. We continue to have a lot of unusual expenses cropping up but the last car will be paid off in July. I need to get Ebay cranking again.
I also flipped some things this week on Facebook that are non-vintage – some Pottery Barn pillows and bulky items we have in our living space. Some ours and some I bought for Ebay. FB marketplace could be great but I just don’t want to have people coming by the house for resale items and I don’t have the patience for meet ups. About half of those items sold right away.
I haven’t had much time for sourcing but over the past couple of months I have tried out a few estate sales. It’s a very wide variety of pricing and quality of stuff available. I like the idea of hitting up Friday sales and occasionally going back to the bins when it’s less crowded on weekdays. It would be good to get things at lower price points than thrifts, but I also love my thrifts for certain things they don’t care about pricing up. Estate sales are kind of nice for buying practical things. I joked with my husband that I finally scored some tin foil at the last one.
Finally, it’s a ton of work but I’m really driven to sell live at the pop up market. It wouldn’t be worth it until tourist season begins because the space is not super cheap. Despite the work I am connecting with other dealers and vintage lovers, even on Instagram. I’m trying to get some idea of the desired Gen Z clothing items to add just a small rack of clothing to the mix. Hopefully they will see decor items they like as well. I need to start on price tags and sorting and sign up for square. I have been able to score quite a bit of inexpensive metal display racks but will need to add trunks, baskets or some other things for the ground space.
