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Yeah, the shipping seems way off. I have it set for FedEx smart post, which is cheaper than Priority, but still… I just increased the weight from 8 to 9 pounds. Also, it was set as “large envelope” mistakenly instead of “package” so I have fixed that. I also added a $5 handling cost (which I never do) to help buy a box if I have to. Shipping cost should come through higher now. Thanks!
Cool to hear that you’ve sold paintings like this!
I am curious to see what kind of offers I get…
In the short term, my experiment has been working great. I am a best offer convert now. Prior to trying this, I was only using best offer for my more valuable items (over $200 or so). By adding best offer to many other items, my sales had a significant uptick over the weekend. I got a couple of people buying items outright, without making best offer, on items that had been languishing for months. I think ebay might be moving items with best offer higher up on views. I got about 10 best offers over the weekend that I countered and then the buyers lost interest, but I don’t care because I know I’ll get more best offers on those items. I sold a couple other other items by countering offers. Since I raised all the prices by $5 to $10 at the same time I added the best offer option, I really am not losing money by accepting reasonable best offers.
If this works, I might start using the “Or Best Offer” option as a default on all new listings, unless I really don’t want to entertain offers on a certain listing.
I saw this article and wondered if she was a reseller. (It’s certainly possible, but she may have had a mental health issue or some related reason to steal stuff from donation bins in the middle of the night.) There’s definitely a line between scavenging and stealing, and it seems that she crossed it. It is very sad for her family though.
Wow, thanks for the info on Monroe Salt Works pottery. I guess you’d be more likely to find it in New England and the northeast since it’s from Maine. I will look for it. It’s the kind of pottery I’d never give a second look at otherwise, so it’s good to know it’s valuable.
Wow, Mike, this helps a ton!!! Thank you so much!
Fingers crossed that there are a lot of pieces (and of course that they’ll still be there) when I go back!!!
Thank you, Jay! Once I take some photos I will link to them. I will check out the video too! Mainly I’m wondering where/how to find a box big enough for this huge painting. Do I need to make my own box with very large pieces of cardboard?
I think Ambien can make people do stuff like this. Just sayin’. Funny story!
I have my own “bad buyer on ebay story.” Years ago, long before I started selling, I ordered a $200 coat for my husband on ebay. I didn’t realize that my mailing address stored in ebay was to our prior rental house where we no longer lived. I think the address in Paypal was current and accurate.
Anyway, I never received the coat and after a couple of weeks followed up and discovered to my horror that it had been shipped with Priority mail confirmation to the old rental house. I called my local postmaster who said there was nothing that they could do to help. I went to the (“low-rent”) rental and politely asked the new tenants if they’d received the coat and they said no. Of course, they were probably lying, but there was nothing we could do about it because I’m not interested in Jerry Springer style altercations. I did trust the post office, so the coat was definitely delivered to these people and they did … something … with it.
Anyway, I appealed to the seller, who gave me a full refund. I really didn’t understand ebay at the time and I wouldn’t have given him a bad review or anything had he not refunded me. I was shocked that he refunded me because I really didn’t think it was his fault. But again, I didn’t understand the system or know if he had some kind of insurance available, or if he was just eating the loss. So if you were that seller, I’M SORRY FOR BEING THE WORST BUYER EVER! 🙂 I will try to pass along that good karma to other buyers though!
Nancy, I have noticed the same thing about buyers on Etsy — they do not seem to be as price-sensitive as ebay buyers. If they want the thing, they buy it! I have added a $1 handling fee to my Etsy postage (you have that option) and as far as I know, this hasn’t affected sales (but you know, maybe it has?) The handling fee is not visible to buyers — they just see a shipping fee that is $1 more.
Jason K – Regarding your comment about being sick all the time with your baby in daycare, please know that IT GETS BETTER! I was soooooo sick for the first winter my daughter was in daycare, with multiple bad colds and bacterial infections. Yuck! But knock on wood, two winters later, I haven’t been sick in months! (I did get the flu last winter, eeek!) I think you will eventually develop resistance to a lot of the daycare bugs. That’s why the teachers never seem to get sick.
I’ve had a great week, in my humble little part time seller way. My sales really picked up over the past couple of days — though Cyber Monday was flat. People are clearly in a gift-buying and coat-buying mode. I haven’t had a return in a while either, yay! Providing partial refunds to people with legit complaints for items I don’t want to have to re-list has helped prevent a couple of returns this fall.
Another cool thing is that my husband, who was dubious about my ebay hobby (addiction!) is getting more into it as he’s seen what I can sell. The other day he was saying it’s like creating money from nothing. Exactly! We’ve enjoyed taking some trips to thrift stores as a family and he’s shown incredible talent in finding high-end men’s outdoor gear that I wouldn’t have thought to look for. And also, OMG, he just cleaned out his closet for me to have many more vintage outdoorsy items to sell.
I don’t track my numbers, but my current goal is to get my store to 250 listings and keep it at that level. Based on prior performance of my store, 250 listings would result in income of approximately $500 to $1,000 per month, depending on whether I’m able to sell higher-$ items in any given month. I have about 210 listings right now. 250 is somewhat arbitrary, but I’m going for it because that’s doable with my storage and sourcing resources, and it’s the maximum amount of listings you get for “free” with my store subscription. I like how Ryanne and Jay recommend 500 listings as a sustainable level, but for me, I have a strong gut feeling that 500 is too many, but 250 is just right. (Did I mention I have a FT job, a young kid, and limited attic storage space?!)
Thanks for another great podcast! Sorry your sales haven’t been spectacular but it’s great that you are getting all your death piles listed so you can start scavenging for higher dollar items again.
Yeah, totally agreed: cheesy vintage 80s including Coogi and vintage Lacoste and LL Bean are great sellers. This is a bit off-topic, but I have amazing success with vintage outdoorsy brands like Woolrich jackets from the 70s. The “run of the mill mall brand” stuff you mention just won’t sell for me. I am getting pretty good at buying the stuff that sells and leaving everything else behind. I’d rather sell fewer items for more money than try to make up the difference with volume. I’m a part-time seller.
