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I have this little snippit at the bottom of each of my listings. It probably still isn’t read, but at least I can say I warned them:
International Buyers – Please Note:
Import duties, taxes, and charges are not included in the item price or shipping cost. These charges are the buyer’s responsibility.
Please check with your country’s customs office to determine what these additional costs will be prior to bidding or buying.
- April 11 – 17
- Total Items in Store: 4,181
- Items Sold: 29
- Total Sales: $769
- * BELOW yearly average of $1,072
- Highest Price: $50 (Ekco Ekcoline Stainless Steel Red White Handle Spatula Flipper Turner)
- Average Price: $26.50
- Returns: 1
- Cost of Goods Sold: $37
- Costs of Goods Purchased this Week: $0
- Number of New Items Listed this Week: 56
It’s been another somewhat slower week, especially at the beginning. I think it has a lot to do with the weather warming up. People are preoccupied with yard work or outdoor activities and aren’t bored shopping as much. It’s all well and good though. I’ve prepared for the slower time of the year so that I myself can slow down and enjoy the good weather.
All last week, I worked on parting out cuckoo clocks. I bought a huge lot of old beat-up cuckoo clocks at an auction for $40. The previous owner was all into clocks, and it was obvious these were either the donor ones or were being saved for restoration. To maximize my profits, I disassembled these things as well as I could and listed all kinds of individual parts. I already made back my original investment and have got loads more to sell. And I learned a ton about cuckoo clocks for the future.
On an unrelated to ebay note, I had my shed built on Friday. I hired an Amish crew to come “raise a barn.” I’m not exaggerating when I tell you it took them an hour and a half to build my shed. Granted, the pieces were more or less pre-cut and the foundation was already built, but I sat there and watched them construct this thing with such speed that I barely had time to finish my coffee before having to settle the bill.
It’s pretty obscure based how very little information there is about it online. Just a thread about a guy selling his years ago. It’s called a Gould Recorder 6500 if you want to try. Judging by the brand and how well it was constructed, I think the thing would have cost a fortune back in the 1980s. I think I can part out some of it. The knobs and reel motor for sure. Maybe some of the electrical components that aren’t affected by the issues it’s having.
I had the same thing happen earlier last week. I received a message from a buyer stating that they will pay for an item that I accepted a best offer for. The thing was, they already paid several weeks ago. I figured it must have been a glitch in the system.
- April 4 – 10
- Total Items in Store: 4,155
- Items Sold: 30
- Total Sales: $731
- * BELOW yearly average of $1,095
- Highest Price: $85 (Double Brass Student Lamp w/ Handpainted Globes)
- Average Price: $36
- Returns: 0
- Cost of Goods Sold: $24
- Costs of Goods Purchased this Week: $0
- Number of New Items Listed this Week: 30
My sales were kinda slow this past week. Things weren’t too bad until Friday when sales just stopped. Saturday was pretty dead too. Then today (Sunday), I sold five things before noon. I wonder if it was something weird happening with the site, or if it was just coincidence.
That data recording machine that I mentioned last week is kind of working now. I got my dad to replace a couple capacitors that blew. Unfortunately, the thing is still not working as intended. I’m pretty sure it was donated to the electronics recycling center because it was faulty and this place decided to auction it off along with tons of other equipment they’ve received. Very shady! They told me that they’re having another auction just like this in a few weeks, so I’ll watch it to see if stuff sells for a lot cheaper. I wouldn’t mind paying a couple bucks for something to part out knowing it’s not working.
I forgot to mention about my scavenge this week. There was an online electronics auction near me that I’d been eyeing since it was listed. Naturally, everything that I wanted shot up beyond my price range in the last 10 minutes. But I did manage to buy a neat piece of equipment called a Gould Recorder 6500. I think it records data onto reel tape. Anyway, I picked it up at what I found out to be an electronics recycling facility. Red Flag! I brought it home and plugged it in and it immediately exploded. Not too dramatically, but there was certainly a lot of smoke. I’m glad I only spent $35 for it, but I wonder about all the other expensive equipment that was sold to the other buyers.
- March 28 – April 3
- Total Items in Store: 4,151
- Items Sold: 38
- Total Sales: $1,358
- * ABOVE yearly average of $1,101
- Highest Price: $250 (Lot of 18 Vintage Leather Hole Punch Tools)
- Average Price: $36
- Returns: 0
- Cost of Goods Sold: $52
- Costs of Goods Purchased this Week: $39
- Number of New Items Listed this Week: 86
Another good week of sales. I love seeing my yearly average steadily go up each week. It’s great positive reinforcement and lets me know I’m doing something right.
I made a decision to part out a rare board game this week. The game is called Feeley Meeley, and they sell for over $100 in complete and good condition which mine met both of those criteria. But I noticed that there weren’t very many individual pieces being offered for sale (and there are a LOT of pieces that could get lost or damaged). So I priced everything on the high end, but fair enough for serious board game collectors who are missing a piece or two. If everything sells, then I think I’ll have tripled my profits. I’ll just need to be patient.
@craig-rex Yeah, I was really excited to accept that offer. First editions were getting $400 when the show first came out on Netflix, but with those kinds of hypes you’ve gotta jump on the trend quick to make the most profit.
I’m not sure if they were a reseller or not. It may have been an alt account if they were since they didn’t have anything for sale on their store page. I’m really glad I did the research on those tapes. I know I probably left a few hundred dollars on the table taking the offer, but I couldn’t pass up that kind of money up front. And now I have a lot more knowledge on cassette tapes for the future.
March 21 – 27
- Total Items in Store: 4,098
- Items Sold: 40
- Total Sales: $2,560
- * WAY ABOVE yearly average of $1,095
- Highest Price: $1,050 (Lot of rare Sony SHF Cassette Tapes New Old Stock)
- Honorable Mention: $275 (The Queen’s Gambit 1st Edition Hardback Book)
- Average Price: $64
- Returns: 0
- Cost of Goods Sold: $99
- Costs of Goods Purchased this Week: $0
- Number of New Items Listed this Week: 22
It was a fantastic week over on my end. Several hundred + dollar sales really brought up my average, plus that fantastic sale of the Sony audio cassette tapes. I struck a deal with the buyer for the whole lot of them (I originally had them for sale individually). I normally wouldn’t have done so, but the sale was too good to decline. He got a good deal considering what they’ve previously sold for, and I got a quick thousand bucks. I know I left money on the table there, but I also know it may have likely taken a year or more to sell them all individually.
Also, I took a bit less for The Queen’s Gambit book than I originally wanted, but I think the hype from the Netflix show is past its prime, plus the book was a library copy with handwriting and such. I was happy for the sale.
March 14 – 20
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<li aria-level=”1″>Total Items in Store: 4,105
<li aria-level=”1″>Items Sold: 27
<li aria-level=”1″>Total Sales: $709-
<li aria-level=”2″>* BELOW yearly average of $1,064
<li aria-level=”1″>Highest Price: $125 (Vintage Snow Lion Sleeping Bag)
<li aria-level=”1″>Average Price: $26
<li aria-level=”1″>Returns: 0
<li aria-level=”1″>Cost of Goods Sold: $27
<li aria-level=”1″>Costs of Goods Purchased this Week: $0
<li aria-level=”1″>Number of New Items Listed this Week: 54It’s been kind of slow over here on my end last week. That’s the way it goes sometimes I guess. I managed to get a lot of items listed, so that’s a plus. This week I’ll be taking care of some stuff around the house, so I’ll neglect my listing duties for a few days. Gotta get an area behind my house leveled off for a shed. Fortunately, I got locked in on the price last year before the cost of materials skyrocketed.
March 7 – 13
- Total Items in Store: 4,082
- Items Sold: 50
- Total Sales: $1,325
- * ABOVE yearly average of $1,082
- Highest Price: $100 (30″ Wood and Painted Ceramic Crucifix Cross Wall Decor)
- Average Price: $26
- Returns: 0
- Cost of Goods Sold: $37
- Costs of Goods Purchased this Week: $0
- Number of New Items Listed this Week: 30
I was glad to see business picking up again last week. It was mostly a lot of lower value items, but that’s okay by me. I’ve been sort of sluggish in my listing goals lately. I think the sudden warm weather from a couple weeks ago to getting cold again really zapped my energy. But I’ve got a lot of good and easy stuff to list this week so hopefully my numbers will reflect that next time.
It’s very true about what you mentioned on the podcast, about not quitting your day job right off the bat. I would have never survived if I decided to immediately switch from working a desk job to the eBay biz. I started selling in the spring 2016 while working full time at the university. I didn’t feel confident enough to quit until winter of 2019. It took me almost three years of hard work to build up my eBay business to a point where I was making enough to support myself with that income alone.
Feb 28 – March 6
- Total Items in Store: 4,091
- Items Sold: 22
- Total Sales: $463
- * WAY BELOW yearly average of $1,063
- Highest Price: $100 (5x 5-Piece Place Settings MARGATE ARCADIA Flatware)
- Average Price: $21
- Returns: 0
- Cost of Goods Sold: $38
- Costs of Goods Purchased this Week: $0
- Number of New Items Listed this Week: 49
It was a SLOW week for both me and Steph. But I think this may be the calm before the storm type situation. When those stimulus checks get sent out later this month, I believe all our sales will be through the roof.
I feel pretty accomplished this week. I churned out a ton of old Bibles and cookbooks that I get for $7 total. One Bible immediately sold for $55. I also finished up the last of my first big photo slide haul. I spent a little over $100 for thousands of slides and so far I’ve netted over $1700! They take some time to list, but I enjoy doing it so it’s a win win.
Thank you for letting me know about the store subscription changes. Looks like I’ll definitely be downgrading to the Premium store. I might wait until the beginning of April so I can snag that $150 package supply coupon. I hope they don’t get smart and stick me with the cost difference after I downgrade.
