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A lifetime ago, I spent a year at Christopher Newport University in Newport News. I liked taking the train from NJ instead of driving for the exact reason you mentioned. Safe travels.
My monthly auctions ended last week and I’m starting to really enjoy running these every month. It’s a very busy workflow for a few days as I get caught up on shipping everything, but if you’re a shipping nerd like most of us, that’s actually kind of fun. I list a few hundred items from my store at about 50% of my buy it now price and turn on best offers. A few items sell through offers, about 10% sell through bids (usually 1 bid, maybe 1 in 20 get a little bidding war going), then the unsold goes back into the store and a few more of those sell. The bulk editor is so fast now, the “busy work” of setting up auctions and changing prices and relisting everything takes me maybe 30 minutes total.
5/7/2023 to 5/13/2023
Items sold: 94 (63 via auction, 29 via best offer, 6 via seller initiated offer, 31 via promoted listings)
Gross sales: $3499.25 (up 33% from one year ago)
Net sales: $2370.04 (up 30% from one year ago)
Average sales price: $37.23 (down 40% from one year ago)
Highest price sold (net): $267.90— Mixed lot of graded and encased cards
I have spent a lot of my listing time the last few weeks on creating small and large lots. It took me a while to refine my process for creating these listings, but they’re becoming a larger part of my business. Really nice feeling to pack up a USPS regional (RIP) or flat rate box and get it on the way to its new home.
Lowest price sold (net): $7.56— Brian Ferneyhough contemporary classical CD
A possible argument in favor of running auctions on your oldest inventory: this CD sat in my inventory for three years without so much as an offer. Sure, it only sold for $10 (50% of my BIN price) but that’s still a profit, and now it’s on to the next.
I tried and failed to post this thread a few times, so in the interest of not breaking the forums again, I’ll summarize my week of scavenging instead of copy-pasting the cursed post. It was a really nice week of scavenging with a lot of diverse finds. Highlights include a framed Trey Anastasio (Phish) tour poster $6.49, 1/2 off the sticker color), a nice pile of weird old yearbooks and magazines ($1 each), an old Reuge music box ($1) which I might hang onto, and 56 pieces of Mikasa Garden Harvest china ($15). I’ve never sold china before, never even thought about it and would love some tips ($priceless), but I can see the appeal already.
I’ve had a lot of productive scavenging trips lately. Am I finding better stuff because I have more money to spend, I’m a more educated scavenger or because there’s better stuff to find than in past trips? Probably all three! But it’s fun to get out there and come back with a bin full of stuff that I’m excited to get listed.
Those Kokeshi dolls have a lot of character. This listing is a decent analogue for your incomplete set. You’re going to get a really nice ROI on that dollar bill!
Thanks for posting the thread. Amazing find. I’m impressed how you find these random items for a good price at sales where a lot of things are overpriced. Just another reminder to leave no stone unturned when scavenging.
Wow, the framers of your Hillier must be brutalists. Unbelievable. The previous owner might have treated the print with more care had they framed it themselves or rolled it up into a poster tube.
Related, it’s amazing how often thrift shops and libraries disregard unusual items. When I really make an effort to scavenge in those places (like this past week), I typically find at least a few items which are signed or have some other unusual provenance, but they’re priced normally. I suppose it’s good they’re being sold and not donated to some “charity” which will resell the books on all online platforms in a haphazard and inconsistent manner.
I had a feeling that might happen, so I copied and pasted it before I submitted the post. I tried to repost just now, but even if I change the title and submit the post, it disappears into the Scavenger Life forums ether.
All that talk of anime DVD’s last week must have finally spurred a sale on this item. Thanks Craig!
Hey, I would say I have nothing to do with it but eBay is funny sometimes, so I’ll take the credit. Like when a random person sends you a message giving you crap about how your price on something is too high and it will never sell? Almost always leads to a sale within a few days. I think the key here if you want something to sell is to talk about it with others. eBay can hear us everywhere!
The only crappy part on this sale was that I had to pay $2 per disc, so $64 since there are so many. This pretty much clears out my anime DVD haul – I only have 3 listings left worth about $50. I’ve made about $400 profit on that haul.
I hate the $2/disc places, such a strange way to do business. I have a box full of anime stuff from my haul photographed and will get listed sometime this week, plus a handful of stuff to sort into flat rate boxes which may or may not be profitable in the end. But should end up near $400 profit as well. Love anime collectors!
This sale clears out a good bit of room too, a nice plus.
The only pain in the butt about selling DVD box sets is how much space they take. Can’t wait until I’m in a bigger space (my apartment lease is up in September) so I can play around with different types of inventory storage.
Incredible score!!! I’d love to see pictures of some of the stuff you bought. Congrats on having the confidence to make such a big purchase. It’s really exciting to break even so quickly, too.
It sounds like there are a lot of similarities between the hobbies of model trains and trading cards. Cards basically shifted from a perspective of collecting a set or a specific player to a hobby where card values fluctuate based on timing, quality and rarity of the card and player because kids who grew up in the 1990s (when “insert” cards became a key aspect of the hobby) are now adults with disposable income. So the demand for boxes and cards that cost hundreds or even thousands of dollars is there.
This is the first week I can remember where my high and low sales were in different categories besides sports memorabilia, collectibles or trading cards. Instead, it was two library sale items — an anime set which was my scavenge of the week a few weeks back, and a vintage book. Who needs a handheld scanner when you’ve got knowledge and time?
Is this the start of a new trend in my store? Not really, trading cards are still the bulk of my sales on eBay and I basically equal my weekly ebay sales through my trading card consignment port. But I’m mixing in new items like the DVDs and books, and my process for selling cards has changed a lot in the last few months. It’s keeping things fresh, and I’m excited for how my store will continue to transform.
4/30/2023 to 5/6/2023
Items sold: 27 (22 via best offer, 19 via seller initiated offer, 3 via promoted listings)
Gross sales: $1405.68 (down 49% from one year ago)
Net sales: $769.04 (down 60% from one year ago)
Average sales price: $52.06 (down 23% from one year ago)
Highest price sold (net): $115.11— Berserk Box of War DVD set
Lowest price sold (net): $8.07— Progress and Poverty by Henry George
First time posting numbers in a while. My grandfather died a few weeks ago. He lived a good long life and was healthy for almost all of it. We should all be so lucky. I miss him so much. Thank you Jay and Ryanne for this podcast. I would most likely still be working a dead-end job (or two or three) if I had never found Scavenger Life podcast and forums. I had so much extra time with my grandfather because my schedule is so flexible. I will treasure that for the rest of my life. And I was able to pay my bills in this time as well.
No surprise, eBay has been in the back of my mind most of this year. Just ran my business on autopilot, ship what sold and list a couple things when I had a few minutes in between running around. I did find the time at the very end of March to run a batch of 10 day auctions which boosted my April numbers. It is so interesting what gets bids and what doesn’t. I have another batch of auctions ending next week and I’ve received bids on sterling silver coins, signed batting gloves and an airbrushing DVD. Why didn’t these bidders send an offer when these items were listed as BIN/BO? Who knows, but I love to see this stuff sell.
My trading card consignment sales were my bread and butter for the last few months, since no shipping. A reminder that eBay is great, but it’s helpful to have another venue for sales, especially if life gets busy and you’re relying on selling for all or most of your income.
It will be nice to really get back in the swing of eBay over the next few weeks.
April 1 to April 30, 2023
Items sold: 155 (63 via best offer, 27 via seller initiated offer, 68 via promoted listings)
Gross sales: $7717.31 (down 28% from one year ago)
Net sales: $5096.98 (down 33% from one year ago)
Auction sales: $1872.72
Average sales price: $49.79 (down 13% from one year ago)
You always find the coolest stuff, then I look at the price and think, wow, people are really paying that much for this? Hard to shake that scavenger’s mindset, even though I know yes, of course people will spend amazing sums of money on their perfect thing.
I think you’re definitely on the right track with your high price on that fabric. Your perfect buyer is going to make something very…tragic out of your fabric, and you can’t put a price on something as epic. Unfortunately, pricing is part of what we do! I would have priced your fabric high as well because I also use a $100 minimum on anything that I personally love.
Shame they were a net loss but I love those teapots, hopefully will find one lurking in a dusty old thrift someday.
I will have to start taking a closer look at platters and serving dishes as I’d pass most of those by without much of a glance. I love researching antique and intricate items even when they’re worthless, so it’s really very helpful to see your lot auctions with so much detail about what affected the hammer price.
Great advice on the shoes. I have found a local thrift I really like, and I mostly stick to searching the junk I know (books, movies, music, board games, maybe some kitchen items that I usually end up keeping), but I’ll have to give the shoes section a try next time. I have a decent eye for quality. Those boots are real nice. Do anything special to clean them, or just photograph and send them on their way once the right buyer comes along?
You got a whole kitchen table for a fiver? Plus vintage often equals quality when it comes to furniture. Meanwhile my eBay desk, a boxy old man’s desk from the 80s (don’t worry I’m replacing it soon), cost me $20 at an estate sale…
I might need to move out to the west coast…
