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Thanks Amatino. I’m just having a mediocre listing week so far, so you’ve got a shot at it. It’s kind of nice to know I have company loving Ebay but having shopped to much initially and having so many other obligations. My husband worked all weekends at the hospital last schedule which was brutal. This time he has a better schedule so I hope to get some traction. Just before the summer sales slowdown lol.
04/09/2018 at 7:43 pm in reply to: Scavenger Life Episode 355: We Catch Up w/ Mark Tew, Not Your Dad’s CPA #37458Good luck Retro with your listing! Buying bargains and internet (not games for me, but still…) are both sirens, but you’ll probably feel better about everything if your life has more balance. Stick with the no thrift plan this month and see how you are feeling then. 🙂 Time management is a challenge for me as a working parent, so I totally get it!
Pretty slim week for me, with a weekend trip out of town. I listed 8 items, 4 from death piles. I bought a handful of items while away so hope to list more this week. I’ll be starting with those.
04/09/2018 at 7:26 pm in reply to: Scavenger Life Episode 355: We Catch Up w/ Mark Tew, Not Your Dad’s CPA #37456Hi Mark I have a question for you if you don’t mind answering in the forums. I do my own taxes. I’m part-time but I’m going to switch from hobby to business in 2018 as this is my third year selling on Ebay and the IRS guidelines indicate that I am beyond hobby treatment. Occasionally, I sell my kids’ items (at a loss) in my store on the same account as the items I buy for resale. I’d really prefer to not create a new account at this point for our personal stuff as I donate most of that. Do you have any advice?
As a quick follow up, my sales are small and I live in a very expensive place, storing inventory in part of the garage and a closet (not a dedicated space – I think that’s required?). I’d be somewhat apprehensive about taking home office deductions. It’s kind of like being a NYC hot dog vendor and storing your stuff in a penthouse apartment. It might look off.
Thank you in advance!
04/09/2018 at 7:21 pm in reply to: Scavenger Life Episode 355: We Catch Up w/ Mark Tew, Not Your Dad’s CPA #37455Total Items in Store: 409
Items Sold: 10
Total Sales : $613
Highest Price: $224 (New duvet and shams – purchased 1.5 years ago for +/- $85)
Average Price: $61
Returns: 0
Cost of Goods Sold: $202 + $5 free shipping
Costs of Goods Purchased this Week: About $35
Number of New Items Listed this Week: 8Had some nice sales over the weekend after I remembered to launch a sale. I’m curious if anyone is noticing a pattern of slow or no sales during the work week, with better sales on the weekends. I heard some rumblings on youtube about that.
As always many non-Ebay things going on, but spring break and travel is over so should be a bit easier to list. I’m a little bit nervous as I sell off more of my RA stuff without buying more, but I had a couple of really nice vintage sales too so I’m not sure why. Lots of bills for unusual things so need to list. Also need to pay quarterlies.
Regarding taxes, I have an offer and a question. There is a new withholding calculator. If you or your spouse have a day job anticipate significant changes in your tax situation like we do, you might want to check it out. https://www.irs.gov/payments/tax-withholding
I’ll ask my question above and see if Mark swings back to look. Have a great week!My goal is to increase the number of times per week that I sit down to list and focus on EBay. Eventually getting a few listings done most mornings before everyone wakes would be great to keep my small store active. Lousy time to take photos though.
04/07/2018 at 10:59 am in reply to: Scavenger Life Episode 354: The Long Game – 10 Years On eBay #37266Congrats ladies!
Around here we pay a bit more for items. I currently mostly shop at thrifts and have no problem looking things up in the store. I’m definitely still learning and have a backlog. Sometimes I’m pleasantly surprised, but more often I’m grateful I looked because it’s salable but not worth my limited time these days or may take a while to move. At rummage sales I will look things up in a corner some place as well even though prices are better. I’m finally at the point where it’s easier to walk with few or no items and I’m quickly able to consider the packing, shipping cost / effort, and storage requirement. At first it was difficult for me to leave any interesting saleable items behind unless there were condition issues. Thus, the Piles I’m still working.
Really not on a good Ebay track, but did manage to list 9 items before we went on vacation. Only 2 from death piles, as I had a box of long backordered clearance RA items arrive so I listed those first. Sat down to list twice but it was short lived. Sigh. Good times though with the fam while on our trip.
04/02/2018 at 10:03 am in reply to: Scavenger Life Episode 354: The Long Game – 10 Years On eBay #36883Total Items in Store: 401
Items Sold: 2
Cost of Items Sold: $19
Total Sales: $69
Highest Price Sold: $39 (New art plate – paid $10 clearance)
Average Price Sold: $34
Returns: 0
Money Spent on New Inventory This Week: $0
Number of items listed this week: 9Tiny numbers this week as I put my store on full vacation mode the latter part of the week. We went camping in Big Sur, amazing time with no internet access. I’m way off my Ebay game with a lot of unusual things going on and will travel again to Palm Springs this coming weekend for a friends’ 50th birthday.
Congrats R&J on your tenth year of selling and leveraging your Ebay profits. I was listening to an old podcast and you were describing how finding unique treasure for cheap and selling it was keeping you going. I think I am in that group as I love the vintage – art, graphics, textiles, home decor. It’s only fun when it’s not at an antique mall – when no one else has discovered it and it’s cheap. That’s the real high that keeps me going but I do like sharing it with people who appreciate it too. Though some profits would be nice right about now since we have lots of unusual expenses. Interesting how your small store sales are swinging without listing.
Hi Sigilini, I have a couple of tips. I have mostly shopped thrifts due to time constraints. I’m in a California city less competitive than LA, but pricey.
I hit the same thrifts often. Some turn over faster than others. If you visit them frequently, you’ll get a sense of that. The core old timers are in daily at opening and out in 5 minutes. Then, I suggest the religious and smaller and independent thrifts, as they are usually older volunteers without a “hot sheet” and are more likely to miss things than big chains. Try to learn outside your comfort zone with quality what sold videos.
Finally, I suggest trying rummage, estate, and church sales if your schedule permits. Church sales are the bomb, as the workers rarely know what they have. Some rummage sales will let you sort in exchange for shopping early if you have that kind of time. We don’t have bins here, but I would be intimidated and annoyed personally by the territorial regulars. Flea markets here are basically just mobile antique markets. It’s fun to look, but pricing is not for resale.
Sure, and maybe more of a seasonal idea due to weather out there. I’ve mentioned before that we met a retired couple who had stayed in some awesome places using this service. https://www.trustedhousesitters.com/how-it-works/
Hope everyone is healthy in the coming week. It’s such a big part of one’s life.
We have a ton of unusual life stuff getting the way of Ebay – planning to remodel our kitchen finally, my daughter’s orthodontics, birthday party, my son’s tennis, etc. etc. etc.. I just can’t seem to get a chunk of time to sit and list. We also are in the minority of people who are going to get hammered under the new tax act, so I’ll be sending any Ebay earnings to my quarterly payment. It would be a great time to have great sales on Ebay. I listed twice, only 9 items and 2 from death piles. Ugh.Total Items in Store: 444
Items Sold: 9
Cost of Items Sold: $44
Total Sales: $267
Highest Price Sold: $112.50 Needlepoint kit (Paid $10 estate sale)
Average Price Sold: $30
Returns: 0
Money Spent on New Inventory This Week: $0
Number of items listed this week: 9 (ugh)I love this forum and to philosophize and strategize. I have a lot of short blips of time to listen to audio and participate in this during my choppy days – while driving the kids around, work lunch break, having coffee in the morning, etc. I also truly love selling on Ebay because I’ve been at my day job a long time and need the mental stimulation. I am wired though to prefer listing in a good chunk of time, and this is where I fall down. Lately it’s been especially tough to get that freedom and we have some travel coming up to boot.
Sales only happened on two days. One of the days I was shopping on Ebay for my tween’s favorite brand of clothes. She’s finally done with the hand-me-downs and my selected thrifted items but used Ivivva ok. Also made some offers on Poshmark. As a buyer, I love best offer.
Enjoyed the discussion about all of the Ebay’s changes. I don’t love the fee increases but I’m hoping staying ahead of the curve and playing along with Ebay’s preferences will give me an edge over other sellers. Just a bummer to have a big backlog during this time of change because I think it required sourcing pivots.
Ok, now you know J&R that I love to do a little armchair quarterbacking since you share so much. I would love to see you find a way to do a (bimonthly?) trip to the City, you could get a camper shell for your truck, do your city Craigslist/Facebook/Offerup/Ebay furniture deliveries on the way in, hit estate sales and garage sales during your stay. As I’ve said before, you can pick up stuff for more than a buck but less than auctions because you have a great eye, lots of experience, and aren’t afraid to price high. You’ve got the storage to make it work. As always, feel free to ignore me. 🙂
Have been waitlisted. Got an email today that my listings will go in sometime in May. Says will lift visibility. It also includes a link to a guaranteed delivery page under the listings tab that says what you need to change/update to make listings eligible. None are listed at this time, but I guess I will need to switch to immediate pay. A bit unfortunate because I encourage my shoppers to visit my store and then use the shopping cart to buy multiple items. Now I would have to delete all of that language in my listings.
PS. My Cottage, I agree most times buyers don’t probably care about guaranteed delivery, but since the mobile filter is so prominently displayed on top of the search results I will participate.
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