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@Antique Frog – I almost drove over 2 hours to Toronto once to “gongoozle” David Dickinson. Part of me just wants to see what his hair looks like in person…I’d probably do the drive for Anita Manning if she was in the area – she is my favourite UK antique expert. I can’t imagine how bad the auctions get in the UK when a TV programme rolls in.
I’ve shifted what clothes I buy to high end brands only, or unique vintage items. Clothing is a race to the bottom in every aspect – look how much a new shirt or pair of pants is today compared to 10, 20, or 30 years ago. You can get lots of different shirts at any low to medium end retailer these days, brand new, for less than shipping would cost us.
There are certain things, like T-Shirts that I could sell no problem in the past. Now, I can only sell unique, vintage, and usually new condition t-shirts that have some age – anything else is impossible.
Some brands have really gone down in quality or out of style also. Lululemon yoga stuff was a quick sale a few years ago, now it is lower quality, cheap to buy new, and nobody wants used stuff like they used to.
I have found some clothing niches thought that are consistently performing – they are out there. Just don’t overlook what you may have overlooked in the past. You’ll be surprised what is easy to sell once you find it.
01/29/2019 at 9:46 am in reply to: Scavenger Life Episode 396: Guaranteed Delivery? How is that working? #56064Personally, I rather just trust people. If someone local is willing to steal from you, just get the local police involved.
You are going to see what they look like, probably what car they are in, and even a quick glance at a license plate.
One thing I offer if it is truly local (in the town) is to go to there house – then I don’t have to sit around waiting for someone to show up. I’ve even had sales where someone paid for shipping in the area and I’ve offered to give them there shipping back and drop it off if it was convenient for me.
Other then annoying INADs, I’ve never felt ripped off selling online. If someone is truly a criminal, they probably would be smart enough not to have IP addresses, credit cards, addresses, their face, their car, etc. shown to you or eBay (or any other platform) to scam you.
Jackfruit has the mouthfeal of shredded meat – you can put BBQ sauce on it and it tastes like pulled pork. The only problem is that it doesn’t come close to being a nutrition alternative – it tastes, feels, and looks like meat when prepared correctly, but the nutritional content is completely different from meat.
I saw full Jackfruit for the first time at a local grocery store – it is about the size of a watermelon/pumpkin – huge!
I just looked it up because I vaguely remember a store/outlet in the tourist area of Niagara Falls and thought they made them there. It turns out they did, from 1948 up until 2002. It was the only place other than Bradford, PA where Zippo’s were manufactured.
If you go to the FAQ on their website, it’s actually pretty neat. It shows what a Canadian vs. American Zippo markings look like, and what all the symbols mean. I had no clue they had a system like British Silver Hallmarks for dating a lighter.
I like the whole ambiance of it as well…the arcade scene in the mall in “Fast Times at Ridgemont High” captures the scene I would like to be in.
I’ve been to a few retro-arcades, but they just can’t capture the moment again for me. The sounds, lighting (I like walking into an arcade with just the games for light), and games are there, just not the same with the people being 40 and 50 years old in modern clothes instead of 80’s teenagers. Plus, a few I’ve been to have too many generations of games all mixed in. A Street Fighter II, Big Buck Hunter, or Golden Tee can’t be beside a Dig-Dug, Asteroids, or Berzerk.
One of the reasons why I want to build my own machine with modern parts is the maintenance – I’ve had friends who had a few machines and they are painful to fix if an oddball part is needed. I’ve been planning my machine since the 90’s – and each year it is easier and cheaper to build one. The latest setup I like is just a tiny Raspberry Pi running an emulator connected by HDMI to a small flat screen – the most expensive part is probably the wiring, buttons, and joystick these days. It won’t be the same, but will be enough when I’m ready to build one.
I hope the new owner of the Paperboy machine enjoys it – I know if I spotted one in the wild I would be pumping quarters in it like crazy, and probably not last more then a few minutes these days…
I’ve only had this happen when eBay/Paypal flagged the transaction as possibly fraudulent. They will send an email a few hours later explaining why the sale was cancelled.
I’ve also had this happen after I shipped an item – I just had to have proof I shipped the item (the shipping label transaction) and they let me keep the money.
One of my projects when I retire is to build a “multi-cade”. I’ve been collecting ROMs and marquees for years, and to build my own machine these days is really simple. It will be easy to make a cabinet (or buy a original cabinet and put modern electronics in it) that runs some of my favorites like Zaxxon, Ms. Pac-Man, and Paperboy – however, my #1 quarter eater as a kid was Spy Hunter and that is more complex of a build.
My wife can’t figure out the allure of an arcade game in it’s intended format vs. playing it on an emulator with a joystick.
I had no clue that Zippo’s were worth anything…they usually “smell” like butane when I find them and just figured they were like ashtrays – a thing of the past.
I see a lot of them around where I scavenge – they use to be made right here in Niagara Falls – I’ll have to take a closer look at them next time I’m out scavenging as some unique ones may have been ditched by former Zippo employees in my area. They are always in the cabinets with watches, jewelry, etc. at every thrift store in the area.
Thanks for the tip.
Where I photograph my items, I have 6 various clip-on or desktop lights I’ve bought at thrift stores with 100 watt equivalent LED daylight bulbs. I can move them, turn off individual lights, and all in I probably spent $10 on all of them. They work great, and greatly improved my photos.
Previously they all turned out yellowish from older lighting I had and the flash on my camera couldn’t compensate for the yellow hue.
Trying to figure out where he is based – is it somewhere in Saskatchewan? Seems to need to put in a lot of mileage to find items, which you may have to in that part of the country.
Interesting as I struggle with my phone or iPad…I prefer using a digital camera with an SD card and going straight to my computer to list.
I find the iPhone/iPad very difficult to take photos with quickly compared to my camera.
I also find editing photos in the eBay app or website time consuming – I do it outside with separate software that quickly cleans up the background, straightens the photo out, and I can crop easier.
I also find setting up an item in the app to take longer – I hate typing on the phone and can type extremely fast on my computer – I think that is a big difference for me. I’ve also memorized how many times to hit “tab” to move from field to field using my computer. I could probably list items (the text portions) doing the Bird Box challenge…
Just interesting to hear other’s techniques.
If not a valuable vehicle (under $2000) I would go for cash, and do the transaction at a safe-trading zone if your area has one.
I sold a junker car a few years ago for $500 cash – they buyer wanted to do the transaction at a safe-trading zone that is setup at our local police department – had no issues doing that since another local man was murdered by a serial killer for his used truck around the same time.
For all the paperwork, check with your local DMV – it may be as simple as signing the back of the ownership cards/papers to the new owner and letting them know the plates/tags aren’t yours anymore.
Kijiji is HUGE in Canada – it is basically a clean and nicer version of Craigslist and completely free to list on. I use it to sell large items locally, and use it daily to look at stuff and source items.
I can see it being sold off – it really isn’t the same as “eBay marketplace”. It’s been a real hassle for them – always in the news that someone got ripped off on Kijiji, and even people have been murdered trying to do Kijiji deals.
I see some people cross post on Kijiji and eBay, but not many.
Other platforms eBay owns like Stubhub are becoming a hassle – try and get a NFL ticket this year using Stubhub – the NFL has locked down re-sale tickets on their own platforms, and you must use their app to get in the stadium (or pick-up your paper tickets from the team ticket office). No more transferable tickets without going through a hassle. I can see this happening with other sports, concerts, etc. that will lock out Stubhub – eBay should sell it while it has value.
It’s been very interesting how our thought process has started to change this month. We’re starting “to take price” (this is a term sales guys used when they would raise prices to customers where I work) on a few staple items we sell. Our sample size is only a few weeks, but will be interesting in a few months to see how the numbers work out.
Worst case scenario, I just lower prices and sell items for a quick turnaround if our pricing increases are wrong. For us I think it is the time to experiment – still have incomes coming in, and don’t rely on eBay profits to pay the bills yet.
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