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02/06/2018 at 7:03 pm in reply to: For those who are new or considering selling on eBay part-time – $1,000/month #32351
My day job doesn’t pay much at all, but it’s immensely fulfilling work. It’s not really saying much — except as a comment on the low wages in education — that a pair of shoes will sell for more.
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This reply was modified 3 years, 7 months ago by
Habnab.
The only editing I do on my photos is rotating and cropping within eBay if necessary.
Because I’ve got a small shop, I take photos with my phone right into each listing. My setup is a small wood table tucked into my fireplace with a task lamp from home depot clipped to something nearby and shining directly on the object. The fireplace space becomes a black background and the wood usually looks great; in fact, this set-up works best at night, which is the most convenient time for me to take photos. Here’s a link to a listing: https://www.ebay.com/itm/253408119642
It may not work for you for various reasons, but a clippable task lamp was my only purchase and this has worked better for me than any all-white setup I ever tried to rig up.
02/06/2018 at 2:04 pm in reply to: For those who are new or considering selling on eBay part-time – $1,000/month #32308My approach — and my results — are very, very similar to Mrs. Kensington’s, right down to researching by the geographical searches for “vintage,” peeking in other people’s carts for items that I anticipate turning up on eBay, and following local sellers and tracking items I didn’t buy (to learn if I should have.)
In September I picked up a 30-hour-a-week job in education (long story) and I haven’t really noticed a downward turn in my sales. I get out of work in the early afternoon and hit a thrift before the kids get home from school. I’ve still managed to find really interesting pieces, even with all of the competition (and even with all the people who are at the thrifts when the doors open every morning. Things come out all day long, so don’t assume you have to get there first thing.) Recently, I’ve sold vintage lace and thread, vintage studio pottery, a painting, antique flatware, and a few pieces of jewelry. The lace was a low-dollar sale ($10) but overall my average sale price has been around $70. I’m aiming for a minimum average sale price of $50.
The institutional knowledge shared here is great. The other day I picked up a pair of Allen Edmonds shoes which I thought — correctly — were shell cordovan. $2. I wouldn’t have known about the brand or the cordovan without SL! Within 2 days I had 2 offers, each more than I make in a full day at my ‘real job.’ 😉
01/31/2018 at 8:59 pm in reply to: Looks like Ebay is partnering up with another Payment Processor #31760This message is so perfectly written in the worst kind of business jargon… and so couched in the reassuring blandness of therapy-speak… that its meaning is almost, but not quite, totally obscured.
I think (as Jay and everyone else has already said) that the tl/dr is that they’re downgrading Paypal to an “option” (you’ll have to leave the eBay site to use Paypal) and using this “Adyen” (<–netherlands based company) as the primary on-site payment method in order to keep more money for themselves. In searching for information about Adyen, I got a news alert that Paypal shares are down 10% on this news.
Right now, for me, it’s just something else to let wash over me like a gentle wave. 😉
I’m not sure I agree with Linda! When in doubt — at least about a strange/unusual handmade item at a decent price point — I’d almost always say go for it. I just threw together a quick Pinterest board of some of the unusual art items I’ve sourced at thrift shops and have sold over the years. Unfortunately, some of my weirder items never got saved, but here’s a sampling anyway:
https://www.pinterest.com/thatobject/items-from-the-thrift-shop/
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This reply was modified 3 years, 7 months ago by
Habnab.
01/27/2018 at 9:47 am in reply to: What Sells On eBay: Mushroom mugs, Car books, Lineman belt, Sansui amp, Columbia snow shoes, Native Barbie, Gun case #31394Milk glass! Wow. Never considered it. I may have to start gathering up those bud vases (even though I have a visceral aversion to milk glass… not sure why. Perhaps I had a bad bud vase experience as a child.)
I think I sort of lucked out with the candlesticks. I got a bunch of lower offers, around $150, which I rejected (and one I accepted but then the buyer canceled.) $295 is, I think, higher than market price. And, yes, I had “wedding” in the listing title. I think that’s what people are using them for (and in the grand scheme of Pinterest-ready traditional non-scavenger weddings, $300 is sadly a drop in the bucket.)
01/26/2018 at 6:47 pm in reply to: What Sells On eBay: Mushroom mugs, Car books, Lineman belt, Sansui amp, Columbia snow shoes, Native Barbie, Gun case #31376I recently sold a lot of 36 brass candlesticks for $295. This was just an assortment of vintage mix and match pieces, ranging from about 3 to 7 inches high. I picked them up here and there over the course of several months and then lotted them together. My favorite local thrift has started marking them up a bit, but the world seems to be awash in brass candlesticks for $2 and under. I started building another grouping and have almost 20 again with very little effort. They’re very heavy to ship, so weigh your box carefully. I’m expecting a little whammy from the USPS because my estimate (<– estimating is a bad idea!) was low.
Food for thought from MDC galleries. I haven’t often been challenged on shipping, and I seem to sell quite a bit to California (I’m on the East Coast) so I could end up eating a lot (or not, if I built in CA shipping!) but it’s something to consider.
Ryanne, I believe we have a D’Angelo’s locally although I haven’t been.
I’d never heard of Jimmy Johns until the conversation started here.
Small New England grinder shops FTW!01/22/2018 at 2:05 pm in reply to: Scavenger Life Episode 344: Decluttering and Auction Cravings #31036Jan 14-20
Total Items in Store: +/- 180
Items Sold: 10
Total Sales : $1449
Highest Price: $650/painting
Average Price: $145
Returns: 0
Cost of Items Sold: $480.25 (sort of)I had two consignment-type sales which I split 50-50, driving my cost of goods sold up way higher than normal this week. That said, I’m happy to split a $650 sale. Sales were decent, although my numbers as reported by the app and within eBay are over-inflated because eBay’s reporting things as though I received full price for all the items I took best offer on. I also find that canceled sales are not deducted from the income eBay tracks on the app, again creating over-inflated numbers (I’m not relying on the app’s information for any actual business purposes, of course.)
We have a big barn which I’ve been talking about improving to use for eBay for quite a while, but things keep coming up and devouring the money that we’d need to make it happen. I find it really hard to set goals and map out the necessary steps, especially when the tide of life keeps washing over us!
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This reply was modified 3 years, 7 months ago by
Habnab.
If you believe that eBay is doing something immoral and extortionate (becoming wealthy for charging people for “air” while providing zero benefit), it sounds like you’d be more comfortable selling at another venue such as a swap meet or flea market. As others have said, nobody is forcing you to sell on eBay. They don’t have a monopoly. You aren’t being exploited.
While it’s true that without sellers, ebay would have no money, it’s just as true that without eBay, I’d have no business. So it works both ways. My local auction house, at which my items would sell for vastly less than they do on eBay, charges a higher percentage than eBay to sellers (and a 20% buyer’s premium on top of it.) With eBay, I’m able to attract buyers from all over the world. Would my weird thrift store pottery and unsigned outsider art find a willing local buyer if I opened a brick and mortar store? Almost certainly not. In my mind, eBay is not at all a useless middleman but is rather doing me a service. And if they’re able to increase their profits by charging us a relatively painless 10 cents more per transaction, I’m not sure I can complain. I feel like my energy could be better spent improving my business and sourcing better items than by gnashing my teeth over listing fees.
Thanks so much for that link!!!
I just did this today. It happens. I’m not sure yet how it will turn out, as I just discovered the error about 5 minutes ago. I sent a big roll of decorator fabric to someone who ordered a painting. At least I haven’t shipped the painting yet!!!
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This reply was modified 3 years, 7 months ago by
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