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Hey BethGreen:
Check out this post from a few minutes ago….
It is located over in the “Sloooow” section of the forum.
Then think about the “number of cha-chings” making one feel good. Would you rather have 1,000 cha’ chings for a $1 each or one cha’ ching for a $1,000 sale. While I understand what you mean, hearing the constant cha’ chings elicites a feeling of excitment, after years of hearing those and knowing many are low ball offers on already low priced items, one can tired of hearing them.
I wish Ebay would make a different sound for different scenarios. A different sound for an offer, a different sound for a sale, and again a different sound for a high dollar sale or offer. better still allow the sellers to set different sounds for the different types of communication from Ebay.
But as I mentioned in the link above, I rather it be quite as much as possible so I can concentrate on marketing on other platforms or be in the art studio and get only a few cha’ chaings for higher dollar amount items, thus equaling less shipping for the same dollar amount.
The equation = Use my brain instead of my back”
Just my opinion though.. that and $.50 will get you a half a cup of coffee!
Mike at MDC Concepts, Inc.
MDC Galleries and Fine Art in Atlanta
SmartParts Home decor-
This reply was modified 3 years, 7 months ago by
MDC Galleries & Fine Art.
Good morning:
guess this fits the bill about something Jay said a year or two ago. Selling higher dollar items equals less work. Taken to the far fetched, sell one $5,000 item per month times 12 mos. = $60,000 per year and you only have to ship 12 items per year. SO.. HOW SLOW IS SLOOOOW!!! Seems like that term is relative doesn’t it.Certainly satisfies my concept, of use my mind and not my back.
We took Jay’s comment to heart as we pulled all our inventory out of those 6 antique booths two years ago. We pulled about 3,000 items. At about that same time Jay mentioned not working so hard on selling very low cost items. So we took a long hard look at 600 sq. feet of piled up inventory and started weeding out. We donated almost a thousand items that were all priced at the booths less than $10, we then sent about 1,000 to a local auction house everything that was too large to store, box and ship [furniture type things], then we took the last thousand all over $10 and up and we started to list.
Proud to say as of the end of 2017 all death piles are gone, only about a dozen items left from the booths to list. Currently, we have 921 items in our store, have sold 475 items for approx. $15,000 during 2017 = an avg. Selling price of $31.00 per item. This avg. to approx. $1,250 per month with an avg. of approx. 40 items sold per month or approx. 10 per week.
Much easier to look at the overall period this way. Smooths out the highs and lows. By using WonderLister and Quicken for business we do pull a P&L [profit and loss] statement every month quaretly, year to date and year end. This way we can keep tabs on everything but not every week like others here on SL.
Doing weekly numbers to me is like investing in the stock market then watching the Dow Jones and Ticket Tape every day. Then why not every hour. That can drive you bonkers. Yes we all have slow thing, but pulling a P&L monthly and quarterly smooths those wild swings out, as well as the anxiety it causes by watching the financials “too” closely.
So, back to my opening statement. Buy low as you can, sell high as you can, make those the highest items you can find and sell to target that goal of a targeted number. In other words, use your brain and not your back. AND REALLY HOW SLOW IS SLOOOWWW! It depends on the time frame. If you compare minute by minute, or weekly. Short time frames are going to produce wide spikes and deep valleys. But, look at your financials quarterly and things will look a little rosier. If you see growth quarterly and then certainly yearly, then you are on an upswing overall. Now just get that upwards trend, moving at a sharper upwards incline. That is one of our longer, annual goals.
Our next goal is to open up all the art portfolios we have and start to list all of the signed, fine art prints we have. We have hundreds of them and most are all over $50 and up each and we have multiples of some that I was commissioned to do for other artists.
Then, on to listing the original paintings we have and most of those will all list for over $100 each.
At auctions, we are doing early preview of each item we are targeting to buy, researching while we go to lunch prior to auction and targeting only those items that we think we can list for over $50 and creating a “we will pay up to this much” list for each item. We use that as a cut off point of when to drop out of the bidding. The goal again, buy less for more money that will sell for more, then in turn we will sell less quantity of items for higher dollar amounts.
Then of course cross list all of this on 4 or 5 various platforms all managed by WonderLister as our main centralized listing, tracking and managing software program.
Final Goal…. Use our brains and not our backs. Sell less for more to make more.
Just our approach. It can change.Mike at MDC Concepts, Inc.
MDC Galleries and Fine Art in Atlanta
SmartParts Home Decor-
This reply was modified 3 years, 7 months ago by
MDC Galleries & Fine Art.
I apologize Jay. Didn’t think about the “promoting products” scenario. It was coming to my mind as a chance to get tax information that is specifically geared toward re-sellers which may help many of the SL newbies and keep you and Ryann from having to answer all of the same old questions about inventory and COGS and COA among other things.. That focus was meant to provide help not promote.
What you may want to do if you decide to revisit with Mark is to compile a long list of questions from here on the forum and forward them to him ahead of time and then he can be more prepared to provide clearer answers.
You are like Yul Brenner in the King and I, where he says to Anna the school teacher.. “Ha, I make better question than school teacher has answer!” … Dah, dah, dump tea dump dump [musical theme starts from The King and I at this point]. π LOL
Mike at MDC Galleries
I believe he does and also addressed that when the interview was done. You might try to search for his interview and listen to it and read some of the following weeks of Q&A in the forums.
Oh .. Think I forgot the Discount code in my first post: The code for the $2 discount is RESELLER20 Type this in to the coupon area and don’t forget to click the button “Apply” then the amount you owe will drop by $2 down to $10.99
mike at MDCG in Atlanta
DT: That is correct. If you click on a number of items and look at the shipping tab you can see that the countries that are included vs. excluded will vary by category and type of item. Some even will vary on the terminology used in the title or description. We had a case where we could not list a crystal handled letter opener to Greenland because it fell into the “knife-weapons” area but yet it would go to many others. We then tried an experiment and added “nice shiny knife blade opener” to the title and checked and then almost all countries were excluded. Then when we removed the word knife blade back out of it, viola’ many countires allowed a letter opener except Greenland, of all places.
this is also applied to art. We list certain paintings using certain key words and no go to certain countries, but use the words acrlic wall decor and then a bunch of countries open up again.So I think you hit the nail right on the head. try this out on some of your listings and see what happens and if you see the countries expand or contract.
Mike at MDC Galleries in Atlanta
Hey Linda, I will share with you some details about this issue that came from the tech team members over at WonderLister which we use to list, but this issue with Ebay and their Selling Manager is an old one.
I think you know we use WonderLister as a third party app that does all our listing and managing our cross platform selling functions. I have spoken with their Tech team about two years ago as well as the tech team at SixBit which T-Satt uses. They are both very familiar with this issue with Ebay and Ebay knows about it also.
The bottom line is that these app receive the information about Sales, discounts, which items and start and stop times directly from Ebay and updates the software accordingly. The WL tech team told me that they have tried to work with Ebay for years to straighten out the issue about Ebay’s handling of items and categories going on and off sale.
What happens they said, is that when a Sale starts, Ebay makes the changes, reports it back to third party apps, then if some items are on GTC or ends in 30 days, the code Ebay sends back starts to get scrambled. In our case we did a 20% off Sale on about half our store. The sale ran fo a week. When the Sale started, everything was fine and those items were marked down in WonderLister. WL has 2 columns that show side by side. One is the original price, the second is the newest [current price] which is the sale price. Then at the end of the week when the sale had ended, we noticed that those items that were on Sale got relisted without a sale price being active at the Lowered [old sale price]. So, a $10 item that was on Sale for 20% off for $8.00 now was showing as an $8.00 original price [which it was no longer on Sale]. Then about a week later we ran another Sale at 20% off but now Ebay. showed the $8.00 item as the original price, had a red mark down line through it and it was showing at $6.40.
We caught this by observing the two columns side by side. We then stayed in contact with our friends over at WonderLister. They stated that Ebay has known about this for years and they had told WL that the situation was so out of control and scrambled that the only way to fix all of it was to re-write all the code and completely re-do the Sales and Promoted Listing section. Thus we all now see that recently we got the New Sections about sales and Promotions offered to us in the updates.
well guess what, I think from your explanantion, they still have some of those old hidden issues.
we never could find all of our affected listings and still to this day, make sales on items and then upon closer examination see where they sold for 20%, 40%, 35% less than we had listed them for a long time ago. We have lost a bunch of money on this at times.
This whole situation has happened to us three times over the past two years and in some cases some items that got put on Sale for all 3 of those Sales got actually relisted at 3 times the previous discounted showing as the original non-sale price.
we went through all of our listing numerous times trying to find and edit those that were showing at a much lower price than when we first listed them and have had to manually edit those.
The WonderLister tech team assured us it is definetly an Ebay thing, has been for years, WL techs have called and talked with Ebay numerous times and the WL group says that Ebay is just “lost in their coding” with regards to this issue and just redoing the whole thing is their answer.
As a future safe guard I suggested that the WL tech team add a new column to their software called “Historical High Price”. When we list a new item in WL the original starting dollar amount shows in this column. Then when any item gets reported back from WL at a lower price it shows up in a report. Then those items can be easily found and manually edited back to the same price. If we re-list an item and use a higher than start price, the amount goes up in that column. It will only go up, never down. This way we always know at a quick glance when Ebay screws up and re-lists an item at a lower than starting price.
So, I am sorry to report that you may have been hit by that bug and that this may point to the situation that this issue is present and hidden in the newest Ebay update to the New Sales and Promotion Managers.
I am going to report some of your comments to the WL team and see what they say. I also suggest that maybe T-Satt report in to SixBit about this and maybe for them to add the Max. High List price column into their software. I did report it to SixBit myself way back but their answer was that Ebay was coming out with a new version of Sales Manager and they were going to wait to see if this issue gets fixed. Well, I think it hasn’t and maybe SixbIt needs to know that also.
Sorry for all the details and hope it doesn’t add stress on top of what you already have experienced.
Mike at MDC Concepts, Inc.
MDC Galleries and Fine Art in AtlantaHere ‘ya go:
Quick summary:
* Double bag into a zip lock plastic bags
* Super pad around it
* Double box it
* Mark on the label side with a black marker as per the instruction below.P.S. As an artist I buy tube paints, solvents and spray paints from art supply houses and they follow the above directions.
Details .. From Ebay and USPS Publication.
Mail it USPS. Aerosol cans are allowed to be shipped in the Domestic mail but not International mail. You must mail them surface mail only which is Standard Post. . You should ship it alone and not with other items that may cause it to react. You have to put the can in a zip lock bag surrounded with absorbent material in case anything should leak out and DOUBLE BOX. On the address side of the package write (with a permanent marker)” Consumer Commodity ORM-D Surface Mail Only” and identify what you are shipping. “Aerosol.”
3.5 Aerosols
Aerosols (containers under pressure) are hazardous materials and must be constructed to prevent accidental discharge of the contents during postal handling. Mailable aerosol containers must be packaged under Publication 52, (PUB 52) part 342.
http://pe.usps.gov/cpim/ftp/pubs/PUB52/pub52.pdf
Mailable Flammable and Combustible Liquids The following are mailable: a. Paint or a related item (UN1263) classified as a flammable or combustible liquid is generally acceptable for mailing provided the material can qualify as a consumer commodity material, or ORM-D (for surface only), and is sent within the quantity limitations and packaging requirements stated in 343.21 or 343.22, as applicable. Also see 343.26. Mailpieces must be prepared following Packaging Instruction 3A or 3B in Appendix C, as applicable.
Good luck …
Mike at MDC Galleries and Fine Art in AtlantaDoesn’t all of this back and forth with the various customers just make one want to take the weight of the item plus estimated packing and then throw on the cost to ship it to a 3,000 mile zip destination, mark that up 30% then tack it on to the item price and OFFER FREE SHIPPING. That way they can never say shipping is a rip off again.
I have been reading lately that a lot of sellers are going to Free Shipping and doing exactly that. We have started going toward free shipping on most items that are less than 3 to 4 lbs. and building in the shipping to a Cal. zip and rounding it up. [We are in Atlanta]. So the Cal. customers pay about the right cost, those in the mid-USA pay somewhat more and locals pay a lot more, but we are about at the point we don’t care any more. Our item prices are probably a touch low and this makes up for it. Also unusual, vintage, hard to find or unique, ecletic items who is to say about it’s total price. Every item has a buyer sooner or later.
There is a lady “Danni Ackerman” who does YouTube videos. Look up her couple on free shipping and see if you change your mind.
With the free shipping scenario the customer doesn’t have a clue as to the weight, final packed size, as opposed to what you are charging for the item. We even throw in room for Sales and Offers.
Example. I have an item we paid $3.50 for and $6.75 will get it anywhere in the USA. We sell it for $60 free shipping. Now the customer is in the dark. If they want to return they pay to do so. Conceptually in their minds they never paid for shipping anyway.
We have been talking with a lot of people and as long as it isn’t a competitive, current commodity item, I think this may just solve the issues.
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This reply was modified 3 years, 7 months ago by
MDC Galleries & Fine Art.
01/23/2018 at 6:14 pm in reply to: Scavenger Life Episode 344: Decluttering and Auction Cravings #31188imjosh: Isn’t the sweet spot at about 1,728 cubic inches. That is what I has used for years. As long as the dim. weight threshold has not changed then one can try to stay under that sizing. We always try to be careful of the 1728 cubic inches when we buy at our sources. That is why I carry a tape measure with me.
A long skinny pkg. at 48″ long but only 6″ x 6″ square is 1,728 cu. inches. Then a 12″x12″x12″ cube box is also 1,728. So we try to only buy what fits into that approx. area-size and we know we are always safe.
We sort of figured that is why the USPS stopped making the 15x12x12 “C” size boxes and also Ebay stopped there 18″x?x?.And yes, love the fitshipper tool. Used it for a long time and have played “what if” many times. Saved our butts a few times also.
mike at MDC Galleries in Atl.
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This reply was modified 3 years, 7 months ago by
MDC Galleries & Fine Art.
Ditto on that price and agree, Super Cool, but a big piece.
Not only great for books but also great in a kids room to keep a collection on, store models or small personal stuff.
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This reply was modified 3 years, 7 months ago by
MDC Galleries & Fine Art.
01/22/2018 at 5:52 pm in reply to: Scavenger Life Episode 344: Decluttering and Auction Cravings #31089Yeah that’s right. Didn’t think that through enough.
Also I see on the Shippo page that they are only accepting “a few” applicants at this point. Wonder if this is in Beta Testing and once it is offered to everybody then this will be a subscription service. Also I didn’t get the service level difference between the ShipRush and the Shippo except that the ShipRush links with a much larger selection of accounts than the Shippo version. On the Shippo page it shows it links with only 3 or 4 and the Etsy logo is “greyed out”. Just really wonder if this will be a subscription service somewhere down the road.
Also we have a SL member who has a web site we have mention several times here at SL and that’s “FlipperTools” and “FitShipper”. He has a very similar program whereby we are supposed to sign up and he says we would then get a discounted rate off of the USPS Commercial rates.
Here is his link: https://www.fitshipper.com/ Check this out and see how it compares. Who knows, maybe his rates are even lower by more.
Wonder why Ebay is letting this go to sub-contract / 3rd party type of services instead of keeping there fingers in it. Maybe now they make their extra money off the total shipping costs they don’t care if we can get discounts elsewhere. Wonder if Ebay Labels could have offered us even lower costs all along and they just decided to keep that extra for themselves. As big as they are I would assume they could drive the USPS down about as low as it could go. Hhhmm.
mike at MDC Galleries and Fine Art in Atlanta
01/22/2018 at 5:21 pm in reply to: Scavenger Life Episode 344: Decluttering and Auction Cravings #31083T-Satt:
I assume that Ebay still gets their share of the shipping after it is reported by Shippo BUT would not Ebay’s share now be lower since it is a percentage of shipping costs? If so then not only would we save by using Shippo to lower our actual package ship costs but also save a small amount by way of Ebay getting less.
01/22/2018 at 9:57 am in reply to: Scavenger Life Episode 344: Decluttering and Auction Cravings #30977May I ask Geoff what “Third Party” software you were using?
01/21/2018 at 10:30 am in reply to: Scavenger Life Episode 343: Our Business = Little Things Every Day #30909Hey Julie .. Interesting place. Looked at their video. Makes it easy for the prop masters to come and select because everything is organized by type-category. It is 55,000 sq. feet.
The Antique Mall we had 6 booths at is 110,000 sq. feet. Two stories of 55,000 sq. ft each, so twice as large as this place. The big difference is with over 500 dealers, while the selection and diversity was there, it was not organized by category of item because everyone is a separate dealer and arranged there own personal inventory within there own spaces. This “by category” makes it easier to select for a movie. If you want retro looking lamps, just go to lamps and make your selection while at the booths, you had to look all over the place.
But that did not stop the prop masters from coming out and “picking” the whole Antique Mall [all 500 dealers]. They had it down to a system. We had many prop master come in with a group of 6 to 10 assistants. The prop master would be out front with a clip board [a list of what they were looking for] and walking the aisles. She would hang big yellow tags on anything she wanted to buy. Her helpers were coming along behind her pushing rolling canvass laundry carts and picking up everything she tagged and taking it all up to the checkout desk area. This happened quite often. It was not unusual for them to spend $10,000 to $20,000 in a day long sprint. We came in one day and we saw a lot of yellow tags on all our bamboo furniture and we knew a prop master was in the building and the helpers had just not gotten to do the pick up yet on our isle.
This place is up I-75 toward Marietta. Funny though that there are now about 15 or more movie studios shooting out of Atlanta. I hear a lot of them are occupying the old Lakewood Fair Grounds buildings which are in South Atlanta. I would think that a prop rental company would prefer to be down south of the air port and closer to where all the new studios are congregating. I have heard that, they are calling South Atlanta, the New Hollywood East because of so many film making studios here along with record recording studios.
There were a few dealers out at the Mall that did nothing but “rent” there inventory, but it was mostly for weddings, business gatherings and the such. It was all mostly chalk painted white, distressed, shabby look items. But had a lot of flatware, linens, glasses and the such that were old looking. I guess it was sort of like a “Aaron Rents” party rental only for “old looking stuff”.
The old monthly antique show that used to be at the fairgrounds, now relocated several years ago, called Lakewood Antiques are in a permanent building in Cumming, GA. Think that is much closer to your location [I believe] They are open once a month, sort of like Scott Antiques in South Atlanta, only smaller. We go occasionally but they are all dealers and hard to get any real “Bargain Prices”. They know the drill, know their items and know the prices. So we go more for just to get out. My wife calls it “airing me out”. LOL π
Mike at MDC Galleries in Atlanta.
Good morning Amatino: No that was human error. I ran back through and see that it was an M-500 at the $49 price point. My error. I used a more generic term, Argus Projector without the model no included and a larger quantity popped up. I just quickly sorted from high to low and scanned down quickly and made an error. They looked almost the same and I was fast scanning by image and they looked so similar.
Sorry about that. Also did a Google image search and got the same ball park as you did.Learned lessons on camera and projectors years ago. They don’t go for much. The only time I buy a camera now, is if it has a special brand or type of lens. I buy the whole rig, detach the lens or lens and case and dump the camera body. Most camera bodies unless very high end like Hasselblad on Canon, etc. don’t bring more than $5 bucks or so. One has to also be careful of the “mount” on the lens. A Carl Zeis lens, high zoom factor and with a universal mount will go for much larger amounts.
Sorry again on the over site on the higher priced on the M-1000
Mike at MDC Galleries in Atlanta
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This reply was modified 3 years, 7 months ago by
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