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Yeah, I’ve stopped correcting people a long time ago. At this point, we might as well be married.
As for her job, I guess I forgotten to mention it. Yes, she quit her job late last year. It didn’t pay too well and the distance to and from work was eating into her paycheck even more since we’ve moved. So I told her that she should quit and focus on expanding her eBay business while I supported both of us. She had a lot in her savings as well so it wasn’t hard.
But now she’s beefed up her store enough to be making nearly what she was making at her old job. And we’re both incredibly happier now that we work for ourselves.She’s Steph, my girlfriend. Though girlfriend sounds so high school, so we’re partners. Not quite married yet but committed. Also partners in crime and full time eBay. Though she has her own separate store from my own.
Mar 24 – 30
Total Items in Store: 2136
Items Sold: 31
Total Sales : $1142
* ABOVE yearly average of $895
* ABOVE 2018 total week sales of $817
Highest Price: $245 (Michael Frances Higgins Studio Art Glass Wall Plaque Yellow Sun)
Average Price: $37
Returns: 0
Cost of Goods Sold: $70
Costs of Goods Purchased this Week: $0
Number of New Items Listed this Week: 51Great podcast this week! And not just because I was mentioned. 🙂 I’m really glad we had that discussion about goals in the forums. It really put my mind at ease and I’ve been relatively stress-free all last week. I think what really sent me spiraling into concern was the fact that my sales just happened to drop the moment I left my job. Obviously it makes no sense that those two things could be related, but you can see how it would mess with my head. But now I realize that my $1K+ weeks that I was getting used to were really above the norm for the level of my store. And once I really figured my weekly and monthly survival goal, it really put into perspective just how well I was doing even after sales have dropped.
Speaking of $1K+ weeks… This has been my 3rd best weeks of sales this year. The piece of art I sold really helped out, but it still would have been a great week without it. I sold a lot of random stuff and a lot of flatware. And I’ve been getting into my groove with listing. I’m making it a soft goal to list 50 items each week. I initially was going to go for 75, but I don’t want to turn this into a sweatshop.
03/28/2019 at 10:00 pm in reply to: What Sells On eBay: Carhartt vest, Kaleidoscope paper, Twister game, JVC Speakers, Zenith record player #59364Nice sale on that Zenith! I’ve been debating about going on Facebook marketplace to try selling some of my bigger items. Maybe I’ll check it out. Here are some of my notable sales.
I found these three pine cone shaped cuckoo clock weights inside our house when we moved in from the previous owner. So up on eBay they went. They don’t go for too much, but I did manage to get $20 for them. Easy money.
https://www.ebay.com/itm/303085899513This was a fun little sale. These fingernail clippers were from a box lot that I paid $2 for. I got lots of sellable goodies out of that one. Well I would have tossed these into the yardsale pile except they had some advertising on the leather case. So I listed it for $20, not thinking I would actually get that much for them. Well shockingly they sold for full price after about a month.
https://www.ebay.com/itm/303085899513So I sold my first “haunted” doll. I don’t even remember from where this came. I was nearly close to donating it after a yardsale but thought it looked weird enough to list on eBay. It took plenty of time but it finally sold for $40. I wonder if it was the creepy keyword that sold it or if someone just liked the looks of it.
https://www.ebay.com/itm/302814867720Here’s my big sale of the week. I acquired this string art picture of a peacock at an estate sale recently for $2. I didn’t have very good comparables to go by on eBay, so I listed it for what I thought was pretty high at $70. It sold within a few hours of listing. I probably should have listed it a little higher, but I’m glad for the sale.
https://www.ebay.com/itm/303103645297That does seem like a high amount for a roof, but our house is quite large. It’s a two storied 5500 sq.ft home plus a 3 car garage. It’s a lot of roof to cover. And we decided to go with a metal roof for longevity which was a little more expensive but we thought it would improve the worth of the house.
My big plan so far that comes to mind is the renovation of our home. The roof is in bad shape and that may be the most costly portion. But we’ve got that sorted out already and it’ll be replaced in May. That’ll cost about $12K but our insurance might cover a good portion of it from what we’re seeing. Besides that, I’d like to get the back porch floor boards replaced because they’re starting to rot. Also the electrical throughout the house needs upgraded, the driveway needs repaved, the yard needs some landscaping done and I’d like a storage shed built in the backyard. Oh, and new vinyl siding. It’s a fine house really, it just hasn’t seen a lot of updating since probably the 70’s.
If I had a bunch of money, I would of coarse hire the best people to do all that for me without worrying about cost. As for how much that would cost… maybe a ballpark price would be $30-$50K. Of course realistically I wouldn’t need to have everything done at once. So each upgrade may only cost a few thousand.
Agreed, an awesome analogy! And it truly resonated with me. It’s all about the small accomplishments. I think I’m beginning to get my head on straight again. I’ll try to quit stressing so much and learn to appreciate the small victories. Perhaps I was dreaming of building a cruise ship from the start instead of working on a life raft.
Thanks, Jay. I think I’ve fallen into the trap of perceiving my average weekly sales as an end-all means of comparing how well I’m doing. That number is a double edge sword. It’s great to see myself exceed that goal, but when I fall short it can be devastating. I’m going to put some thought into a better means of evaluating my sales. The survival goal is fine (and important to know) but I’d like to figure out another number to reflect content. I’ll call it my comfort goal. I’ll give it some thought and come up with some ideas on that for next week.
My bare bones survival goal is around $350 a week. That’s for food and bills. I know I’m making double that for the most part each week, and that should be a good indicator that I’m doing fine. But like I mentioned above, I need to get over this mental hurdle that I should be making much more than that. I think I’m confusing my long term goals with my current expectations… and I need to quit doing that.
Thanks for the confidence, Retro! You’re right, I have been rather hard on myself lately. I guess I’ve just been comparing my better weeks and months to how well I’m doing now without really putting any context to it. But really, seeing everyone else’s numbers and how they’re very similar to mine helps me out a lot.
Your homeschooling analogy is interesting, and you might be on to something. Since quitting my “stable” job, I haven’t felt like I’ve come to terms with this new career. It’s one thing to switch day jobs, but working for myself from home is so radically different. Not harder per se, just unlike anything I’ve ever done. It’s going to take a little while until I find my rhythm. I guess I didn’t expect this mental hurdle.
As far as taking time off to decompress, I don’t know, it might help. But it might drive me crazy too. I tell you what, I’ll take it into consideration for later this spring once the weather warms up and I can have more things to keep me occupied. Warmer weather just might help to get me out of this funk too.
Mar 17 – 23
Total Items in Store: 2114
Items Sold: 26
Total Sales : $654
* BELOW yearly average of $903
* WAY BELOW 2018 total week sales of $1569
Highest Price: $70 (Peacock Bird String Art Picture)
Average Price: $25
Returns: 0
Cost of Goods Sold: $40
Costs of Goods Purchased this Week: $30
Number of New Items Listed this Week: 29I had a so-so week last week. A little better than the previous week, but I just wish I was seeing the numbers again from a year ago. It’s a tad daunting when the moment you quit your full time job to focus on eBay, your eBay numbers drop. But I believe you’re right about this economy at the moment. We’ve just got to tighten our belts, learn to be frugal and wait out this little recession or whatever it is going on. I feel confident that things will pick up again relatively soon.
There wasn’t much in the way of scavenging this week. We went to a tag sale on Friday. It was pure chaos. We were near the front of the line when they opened the doors and the house was instantly filled with 50 or 60 people. I barely managed to pick up some things that weren’t ridiculously priced, including a box full of vintage safety glasses for $3. I’ve just got to clean them up. I’ve done well with those in the past.
This week, my goal is to list list list. I’ve been slacking lately due to various things (sickness, vacation, projects). But I need to kick it into gear like I’ve said I wanted to. I’m sitting on a lot of cool stuff that I just know people are eager to buy.
03/22/2019 at 2:09 pm in reply to: What Sells On eBay: Ray Bans, Long Haul jeans, McIntosh preamp, Florsheim shoes, Zippo #59082Nice sale on that preamp, Steven! Were you a little nervous dropping $1200 on that equipment? I’m sure you know what to look for when testing stuff out. I had a few notable sales last week…
This marble top plant stand was included in a pile of stuff that I won at an auction. I almost didn’t take it with me, but I ended up with just enough room in the car to squeeze it in. I’m glad I did. I cleaned it up, listed it for $100 and took a best offer of $82. It only cost me about a dollar. The best part is, the legs screw off so packing it was super easy.
https://www.ebay.com/itm/303050023050I had a buyer wanting only the tackle box (for a lower price of course) in this lot of fly fishing lures that I listed for $45. I respectfully declined since I didn’t feel like taking more photos of just the lures. A few days later, someone else bought it for full price.
https://www.ebay.com/itm/302926792611Here was my big sale of last week. This little military hat powder compact came from a great box lot that I only paid $5 total. I didn’t think much of it at first since it didn’t have a brand or anything. But after some research, I found that others have sold for around 40 and that there were no others listed at the moment. So I went high at $50. It took about a month but it finally sold for full price.
https://www.ebay.com/itm/303028675857Here’s a tiny lapel pin from some obscure financial program that I found in a jewelry box of junk I paid a couple bucks for. There was very little information about this Morgan Ronan, but I figured somebody would know. Well I underestimated that fact because it sold within hours of listing it for $20. It might have had something to do with being 10K gold, but I weighed it and it was about $20 worth of gold anyways according to the market.
https://www.ebay.com/itm/303095214278Thanks, Jay. I know I had a bit of a mental financial crisis last week, but the discussion we and others had really brought me back to earth. I have a better understanding now about what my livable needs are and how easily that can be achieved. These are exciting time no doubt and I’m so glad to be a part of this community with everyone.
Mar 10 – 16
Total Items in Store: 2108
Items Sold: 21
Total Sales : $544
* BELOW yearly average of $910
* BELOW 2018 total week sales of $1005
Highest Price: $50 (WWII Military Army Hat Makeup Powder Compact)
Average Price: $26
Returns: 0
Cost of Goods Sold: $30
Costs of Goods Purchased this Week: $0
Number of New Items Listed this Week: 19Another week of low dollar sales, but this time I had an excuse. I spent 6 days out of town for a wedding down in Florida. So I wasn’t listing a whole lot and my store was on vacation mode with a high handling time. I still made a lot of little sales while I was gone. And I’ve got a lot to pack today. The good news is, I’m feeling better after my sickness and I’m ready to get down to business!
Great podcast this week! It was perfect because I experienced a lot of FOMO over the weekend. Boca Raton is a pretty rich area in FL. Lots of sports cars and gorgeous houses (and beautiful women, but I digress). And I couldn’t help thinking what I was doing wrong that I couldn’t also be living this lifestyle. But then my buddy there told me that a vast majority of those people with the luxurious lifestyles have burnt a lot of bridges, hurt a lot of people and have made their money in unethical ways to get to where they are in life. That made me feel a lot better with my own lifestyle. I sleep well at night and I’m happy.
No scavenge of the week for me. And not for the lack of trying. I hit up a few thrift stores down there and they were just as dismal as the ones up here. Overpriced junk. Thrift stores have really become my least favorite means of sourcing.
03/17/2019 at 4:58 pm in reply to: Hi from West Virginia. Along the Banks of the Beautiful Ohio River. #58783Hi Chuck. Where in WV are you from? I lived on the Ohio River in Wheeling for a long time until recently.
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