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3/27/21-4/2/21
Total Items In Store: 2195
Items Sold: 30
Gross Sales: $832.77
Highest Price Sold: $224 (7 Schneider Electric Switches)
Average Price Sold: $27.76Returns: 1 $53
Money Spent on New Inventory: $0
Number of items listed: 46- A pretty slow sales week, but saved by a $200+ sale on Friday.
- I got an e-mail today from eBay asking me to join eBay Expressions? I did a survey and then was asked to join their members panel as a seller. Has anyone else gotten this e-mail and joined? Hopefully this will turn out to be a forum where I can discuss seller issues directly with an eBay team.
I found a similar listing on Terapeak that sold for $25 in May of 2020: F Schumacher ‘Aviary’ Bird Floral Les Belle Cinq Fabric 54”x128”
Have you tried checking there?
Julie B – Yeah, I don’t get it. This estate sale had a cabinet full of items that were make an offer on as well. I didn’t even look at it based on the asking prices on everything else. It can’t be good for them when people who are there to spend money are walking out with nothing. Seems to me they are losing in the long run. Oh well, there will be other sales and I’ve run into far more good ones than bad.
3/13/21-3/19/21
Total Items In Store: 2192
Items Sold: 28
Gross Sales: $1445.27Net Sales: $917.72
Highest Price Sold: $300 (23 Cans of Aeromarine engine oil)
Average Price Sold: $32.77Returns: 0 $0
Money Spent on New Inventory: $0
Number of items listed: 6- Overall a decent week in sales.
- Really hating the loss of yard sale treasure map. I tried using it on our trip to Louisville and got the notice that it wasn’t pulling from Craigslist anymore. I ended up using the Craigslist app to find some sales, but was so much easier on YSTM. We travel quite a bit and it was a great tool for pulling up sales in new areas.
- My wife and I went to Iowa on Friday and I located an estate sale that was a little out of the way, but in the general direction. We got there about an hour after it started and I didn’t think it was going to be very good as we saw people leaving without any goods when we pulled up. When we went in, the house was completely packed full of stuff…every room! Here’s the deal though. The prices were absolutely outrageous. Even with high prices, I can usually find a few gems to scavenge, but there was nothing here I could touch for reasonable prices. We spent 30 minutes there and left with nothing. The house was full of people and they were only selling a few items here and there. The lady running the sale was telling people everything would be half off on Sat and even cheaper on Sun, but it seems to me they are losing a ton of money with all the people like us that will never be back. Maybe I’m wrong, but it seems to me they would make more money in the long run if things were priced reasonably from the start.
3/6/21-3/12/21
Total Items In Store: 2201
Items Sold: 21
Gross Sales: $1109.83Net Sales: $696.15
Highest Price Sold: $200 (Apple Ipad)
Average Price Sold: $46.16Returns: 0 $0
Money Spent on New Inventory: $119
Number of items listed: 2- Sales were still a little light this week. I bought my wife a new iPad for Christmas, so I listed her old one last week and it sold fairly quickly for $200. I had a nice $300 sale on Friday, but it wasn’t paid for until Saturday so it will fall on next week’s numbers. Still not bad since I was out of town for a few days.
- We just got back from a 4 day trip to Louisville KY. We did quite a bit of thrifting while we were there and got some great deals at an estate sale we went to.
- Scavenger Tip: If you like bourbon and are ever thinking of going to Maker’s Mark in KY, sign up online to become a MM Ambassador. It’s free to sign up and they send you little Christmas gifts every year. Best part, you get to do the tour and tasting for free…normally costs $25 per person.
- I learned a lot about Kentucky Derby mint julip glasses while we were there. I see these fairly often at thrift stores and yard sales but never paid much attention to them. Some of the older ones are worth hundreds of dollars each. The thrift stores in that area know the value of them, but I see them for next to nothing in other parts of the country.
2/27/21-3/5/21
Total Items In Store: 2219
Items Sold: 28
Gross Sales: $1086.97Net Sales: $656.61
Highest Price Sold: $80 (Pair of Sliding Cabinet Drawers)
Average Price Sold: $22.89Returns: 1 $28
Money Spent on New Inventory: $19
Number of items listed: 66- I changed my sales reporting to Gross & Net sales. My net ended up being pretty close to the way I reported them before. Still a pretty low week for me, but I had a solid week of listing and I am already seeing some good sales from what I listed.
- Had to refund a buyer who bought a knife from me in January and it still has not arrived. Got scanned at a USPS distribution center and never moved from there.
2/14/21-2/26/21
Total Items In Store: 2133
Items Sold: 28
Gross Sales: $567
Highest Price Sold: $43 (Sima Video Copymaster)
Average Price Sold: $20.25Returns: 2 $126
Money Spent on New Inventory: $151
Number of items listed: 24- Sales for the week were low again and very low average price sold. February ended up being a pretty slow month for me and averaged less than $1k a week. Hoping things pick up in March.
- Scavenge of the Week: The Christopher Banks store in our local mall went out of business and had clothes 90% off with buy 1 item get 2 free. We bought over $100 worth and got a lot of good stuff. I added it to this week’s numbers even though it was actually on Saturday. My wife will be keeping some of the loot, but the rest will go up for sale.
- Thanks again for a great podcast. Got me thinking about how long I’ve been doing eBay now. Selling for over 20 years now and still love the process. It’s such a part of my life that I can’t imagine not doing it.
2/13/21-2/19/21
Total Items In Store: 2161
Items Sold: 26
Gross Sales: $717
Highest Price Sold: $100 (Brass and Marble Table Lamp)
Average Price Sold: $27.56Returns: 0 $0
Money Spent on New Inventory: $0
Number of items listed: 21- Not a great week for sales, but most of the week was on an extended handling time as I was out of state.
- There is a Habitat for Humanity store opening in my area in a couple months….I can’t wait, I usually get some great items at them.
2/6/21-2/12/21
Total Items In Store: 2198
Items Sold: 39
Gross Sales: $1090
Highest Price Sold: $100 (Notre Dame Cathedral Bookends)
Average Price Sold: $27.94Returns: 0 $0
Money Spent on New Inventory: $142
Number of items listed: 0- Strange sales week. Started off really well and then died off. Had a day at the end of the week with no sales at all. First day I’ve had with no sales since July of last year.
- Found an outdoor auction this week that had a very small attendance. Temperature outside was 6 degrees and about -9 with wind chill. A little brutal, but I filled the truck for $142. I had to leave before they got to the last few hayracks bc I ran out of room in the truck. Looks to be a pretty good haul.
- Great discussion on the freedom with not having a real job. I decided to take the week off from listing and spent some time ice fishing this week. Haven’t ice fished in 20 years and it was great to have the time to just go and have fun for no reason at all.
- Heading to Nebraska this week for a surprise birthday party. Hoping to do some sourcing while I am out there. I usually end up finding some unique stuff when I’m in NE. I’m going to try to get a chunk of stuff from the auction listed before I leave.
1/23/21-1/29/21
Total Items In Store: 2218
Items Sold: 39
Gross Sales: $1270
Highest Price Sold: $300 (Vtg Nutone Radiant Ceiling Heater)
Average Price Sold: $32.56Returns: 0 $0
Money Spent on New Inventory: $0
Number of items listed: 33- Sales ran similar to last week. Slow but steady, then a nice sale at the end of the week to bring it home. I ended up averaging over $1200/week for January which has historically been a slow month for me.
- I always find it odd when certain items that have been sitting in inventory for a long time suddenly sell out. I’ve had several of these Radiant Ceiling Heaters in my store for a long time…all the sudden they all sell within a few weeks. Makes me wonder what causes the sudden interest.
- I sold a vintage golf hat with original tags on it this week. They buyer messaged me saying he bought a $15 (tag price) hat from me for $30 and he will never be “taken” by me again. I offered him a full refund to return it. He responded that the hat is “dope” and said he was going to keep it, then asked if I had a matching shirt in size 2X I could sell him.
- Got an offer on a package of old clothespins that I had listed for $10 from someone in Nova Scotia. I don’t offer the best offer option on $10 items, so that was an accident to begin with. They offered $5, so I countered $9 since I messed up anyways. They countered $7 and I declined the offer and took best offer off of the listing…they bought them the next day for $10. It was a week of odd customer interactions!
1/16/21-1/22/21
Total Items In Store: 2199
Items Sold: 34
Gross Sales: $1118
Highest Price Sold: $300 (Vtg Nutone Radiant Ceiling Heater)
Average Price Sold: $32.87Returns: 2 $31
Money Spent on New Inventory: $59
Number of items listed: 55- Sales had been running pretty light all week, but I ended up getting a $300 sale first thing on Friday that jumped me up over the $1K mark.
- Great discussion on FB Marketplace. I for one love using it for quickly getting rid of larger item that I don’t want to ship.
1/9/21-1/15/21
Total Items In Store: 2199
Items Sold: 44
Gross Sales: $1526
Highest Price Sold: $140 (BK Precision Oscilloscope)
Average Price Sold: $34.69Returns: 1 $78
Money Spent on New Inventory: $187
Number of items listed: 13- A great week of sales. Some great high dollar sales and consistent sales all week.
- I am generally very good at following Jay and Ryanne’s advice on dealing with “bad buyers” with silence. That being said, I dealt with a buyer from Australia this week that just about threw me over the edge. The situation was exacerbated by the fact that I couldn’t get the buyers refund processed through eBay for some reason despite multiple calls and chats with them. The red flags were everywhere with this buyer, but I was lulled by the chance to make a good sale on multiple items. Buyer offered a decent price on 3 items, then offered a lower price on a 4<sup>th</sup>, then we went back and forth on shipping costs, then wanted a 5<sup>th</sup> item for free with a higher shipping cost. Classic bad buyer behavior. After figuring everything out and getting paid, the buyer came at me with issues with tracking not being uploaded (it was). At that point I looked at his feedback left for others and immediately cancelled the order and voided the label. I did explain to this buyer exactly why I cancelled his order (I know…not smart). Shipping was $60 on a $78 sale and I’m sure I would have ended up losing big on this one. This was on Tuesday, and I am still getting nasty e-mails from this buyer…which of course I am ignoring. End of rant..sorry!
- Scavenge of the Week: Went to an auction this week and filled my truck for $187. I listed 10 items the next night and sold 3 of them for $216 in less than 24 hours. My auction is paid for already and I still have a nice pile in the garage to list still.
- Great podcast this week…can’t wait to hear about the possible new venture.
1/2/21-1/8/21
Total Items In Store: 2227
Items Sold: 44
Gross Sales: $1054
Highest Price Sold: $79 (Iridescent Snap-On Tools Hat)
Average Price Sold: $23.96Returns: 1 $39
Money Spent on New Inventory: $31
Number of items listed: 13- Fairly slow week as expected in early January, but sales picked up late in the week and I ended up hitting my $1K goal with $300 in sales on Friday. Also, a very low average price sold and no items over $100.
- I found a few items to list at some thrift stores we visited while on our ski trip up in Wisconsin, but still very low on inventory. Looking forward to a couple of auctions that I usually do well at that start back up next week.
- I am interested in getting my 1099’s from eBay and PayPal to see how they match up with switching to managed payments in the middle of the year. This will be my first full year of not having a regular W2 job, so I can’t wait to get my taxes done and see how it all plays out.
12/26/20-12/31/20
Total Items In Store: 2248
Items Sold: 54
Gross Sales: $1546
Highest Price Sold: $85 (Vintage Industrial Grinder)
Average Price Sold: $28.61Returns: 0 $0
Money Spent on New Inventory: $35
Number of items listed: 15- Happy New Year all!
- Sales picked back up this week and were well above average. A lot of mid-range priced items and nothing over $100.
- Flatware sales have been very good the last few weeks. I love buying sets of flatware for cheap and then listing in small lots by type (salad fork, soup spoon, etc.). In Nov, Dec and Jan I usually sell a ton of them as people try to replace missing items in their sets. Sold one set of 4 dinner forks for $65 this week. I paid $7.50 for the entire set at an auction this summer.
- Scavenge of the Week: Went to Home Depot to see what they had for Christmas clearance for my yard. Ended up getting 10 bottles of insect control concentrate on clearance for $1 a bottle. They consistently sell for $15 a bottle. Unfortunately, Christmas stuff sold like crazy this year, so no good deals on new items for my outdoor lights next year.
- Used the time away function for the first time this week while we travelled to Wisconsin for a few days. I’m very impressed with the process. Worked perfectly and was so much easier than changing the handling time on 15 different shipping options and manually changing the ensuing copies that crop up.
12/19/20-12/25/20
Total Items In Store: 2282
Items Sold: 28
Gross Sales: $847
Highest Price Sold: $100 (Enerpac Hand Pump)
Average Price Sold: $30.24Returns: 1 $65
Money Spent on New Inventory: $68
Number of items listed: 20- I hope everyone had a very Merry Christmas.
- Sales were much lighter this week. Especially at the end of the week which was to be expected with the holiday and the shipping issues.
- I am currently up to 3 items that are in shipping limbo. One is for a special type of sealant that my customer needs to complete a project. If that one doesn’t start moving in the next day or two, I am going to send out a new one and ship it priority to get it there faster.
- I’m a lot like Ryanne when it comes to needing to be doing something. I have very little inventory to list right now, so I’m spending the time organizing my storage. It keeps me productive and will give me additional room once I can fill up on inventory again.
- Possible Scavenge of the Week: I purchased a bicycle at an online auction that I have to drive out to pick up on Tuesday. Got it for $12 and it may be worth over $300. Fingers crossed!
- Have a happy and safe new year!!
