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The best part of operating online vs. brick and mortar stores for me is that I don’t have to deal with people in person.
90% of the people you deal with in person are fine – it’s the 10% of weirdos that would drive me crazy!
I’ve also come to accept I’m not a team player – I’m much better off operating alone or with a small group of people at arms length that I can respect and count on.
Retro – I agree – owning a retail store would be a trap and a VERY slow death to me as well.
It use to be a nightmare when I would go to the U.S. – I remember up to a few years ago, I would have to either use cash or a major credit card (Visa/MC/Amex) to make a purchase. If I wanted to use debit in New York, I had to sign up at my bank for a NYCE card that was only good in parts of the Northeast – if I travelled elsewhere, they had weird local networks that only were accepted at some stores. Visa Debit has been working for me occasionally, but it’s strange how fragmented the system is in the U.S. I guess every bank wants there piece of the pie and they want you to use credit. I also find it weird that checks are still accepted as payment in the U.S. – it fascinates me that in today’s age you can still buy groceries with a check.
It’s also scary how many foreign banks have been buying up U.S. banks since 2008. The big Canadian banks are everywhere now in the U.S. TD Bank/Ameritrade (Toronto-Dominion); CIBC Mellon (Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce), BMO Harris (Bank of Montreal), RBC Bank (Royal Bank of Canada) are buying up U.S. banks like crazy. The foreign ownership of U.S. banks is something Americans should be worried about.
Interesting theory – when I’ve had my credit card numbers stolen in the past, they ramp up their purchases – usually starts with a parking meter for a couple dollars, then moves up to a fast food place, then a mass retailer (Walmart/Target), then they go nuts with gift cards and other large value items.
However, I’m not sure that they would ask for a refund when they could use it in a vending machine or something else to prove it is active at first.
Thought it was interesting that there is no instant transfer/payment system in the U.S. for paying individuals or buyers. In Canada, we have a system called Interac that all the major banks founded/own that I’ve been using almost weekly for payments or receiving payments – it’s great!
Interac is the debit system that every store uses in Canada, but they now have a email system where I can log into my bank’s website, send money from a selected account to someone else’s email address, and they can either have it instantly deposited in their account or select where it goes. This system is completely free for individuals. I’ve had Canadians on eBay pay this way recently – they ask for it. The only issue is I’m not sure how protected it is if you get ripped off as a buyer with a bad seller, as the payment is instant and not tied through eBay and is instantly moved.
It would be interesting if a similar system (free for both sides) would be possible on eBay – however, I’m not sure how Interac or a similar free system would make money beyond a service you pay for with bank fees elsewhere.
My post office won’t accept any packages with other barcodes, weights, dangerous goods, or alcohol markings on them. I’ve had shipments in the past (several years ago) sent back if it has another barcode that interferes with automated scanning. I’ve also been dinged for the weight on the label not matching the box weight (of course they don’t bother weighing the box, they just compare the label to what is printed on the box…ugh…). Alcohol boxes I guess cause issues in customs if you ship internationally.
Learned my lessons the hard way – now I either use plain boxes, or cover up all the visible information with labels or wrap the entire box in brown kraft paper. Not worth any hassle that any other printing may cause – the only visible information on my boxes/envelopes is the shipping label.
Seems that everyone has a different system.
We roll up our accounts monthly and have several tables:
-expenditures on items for resale
-income from items that we sold
-shipping costs
-service costs (e.g. eBay fees for the month, PayPal transaction fees)
-expenditures for items not for resale (shipping supplies mostly)We don’t reconcile each individual item – we feel that would be a nightmare! Also, as a part-time seller, we don’t currently write off our internet, rooms in our house, etc. yet as it would be minimal. Our vehicle also gets very complicated and is a minimal return at this point. We will be writing off these expenses though when we go full-time.
At the end of the month (or year), we have a profit number for taxes, and roll over the unsold inventory to the next year.
The Canadian Taxman just really wants to see that you are reporting your income – if they want to come audit me, I have no issues – everything is accounted for.
Just listened to the podcast, and the “Canadian Postal Strike” was mentioned. Thought I would give an update as to what is actually going on in Canada.
Currently, Canada Post employees are on a rotating strike – they are walking out in various cities/regions for daily strikes in 1-3 cities/regions then going back to work the next day and another 1-3 cities/regions go on strike the next day, and go back to work the following day, etc.
Right now, I do not see any disruption issues in Canada – they seem to be keeping up. I am not sure how things will go (more daily or longer strikes in more cities or the whole country – this is an option the union has) – or if things will slow down more during the holiday parcel season.
The only upset people in Canada at the moment are cannabis users. They believe their shipments of weed are getting delayed on purpose since marijuana was legalized a few weeks ago and the only way to get it legally in most of Canada is through the mail from the government. The strike started the same week as it was legalized…
10/31/2018 at 3:14 pm in reply to: Sellers Aren't the Only Ones Getting Fed Up With Goodwill Pricing! ;) #51015Just Google (in News) “Goodwill Toronto” – dozens of locations were shutdown, the CEO was collecting millions of dollars, and lots of fraud going on. All the locations in Toronto were closed overnight.
An interesting read if you don’t like your local Goodwill and wonder what could happen…
I read recently that fraud a retailers is going up exponentially.
I guess last year a lot of people were returning Xmas decorations/trees/lights just after the holidays. Over the summer, people buy patio furniture, BBQs, etc for events and return them after the party or season is over.
Other fraud was the old switch-a-roo of an old/broken item, returning stolen items or items from other stores, or returning items with the valuable part missing (for example a drill in a case was replaced with objects that weigh the same and then the box is re-sealed to look factory sealed).
I’ve only had one buyer pull the swith-a-roo on me in about 20 years. Be vigilant if it is worth your time!
Big retailers limit returns, and ask for ID when you return something of value – I would hope eBay is tracking buyers for returns and has a limit.
10/30/2018 at 2:00 pm in reply to: Sellers Aren't the Only Ones Getting Fed Up With Goodwill Pricing! ;) #50964Goodwill also started an upscale store in a suburban area of a nearby city that they call “Goodies”.
It is kind of a hipster coffee shop / Barnes & Noble / hangout. They have all the books neatly organized, have plenty of board games that you can buy or play, and the place has a nice atmosphere. The only thing that is bad is the prices!
They only sell books, media (CDs, DVDs, etc), board games, and the odd statue/oddity. I like the store for personal shopping, but not a good place to scavenge.
10/30/2018 at 1:56 pm in reply to: Sellers Aren't the Only Ones Getting Fed Up With Goodwill Pricing! ;) #50963The Goodwills in my area seem to be pretty cyclical – they tend to have real good prices (and low inventory), then they must think they can charge more as the stores are half empty, they then boost prices, start bursting with inventory all over the floor and outside the store, then hold crazy sales to clear out all the extra inventory and get reasonably priced again. I find the same with Value Village as well – you never know what part of the cycle they are on – trying to sell as much as they can or trying to make as much $ as they can.
I’m in Canada and can see the border from my house – the nearest USPS outlet is only a few km from my house. I only use Canada Post. Here is why:
-you get huge discounts once you have a history with Canada Post and get a business account
-the re-shipping services are only as reputable as their last shipments, and I’m not sure how they legally operate at such low rates. Not sure what happens if something goes missing or gets seized at the border, and I doubt they are doing proper customs paperwork for each item.
-if you want to legally ship your items from the U.S. yourself, you must go through commercial lanes (with the trucks) at the border, fill out paperwork for each item as the importer, and pay all the related fees. This gets VERY expensive and is very time consuming.
-you also need to have a U.S. address to legally ship in the U.S. – you can’t use a Canadian return address.I use both ebay.ca and ebay.com to sell on – you get free listings on each platform, and certain items sell better to Canadians and some sell better internationally. About 50% of my sales are in Canada, 10% international, and about 40% U.S.
At the end of the day, if postage rates are a big concern for you, you may need to re-think your model. Postage isn’t something I put a lot of thought into, as for Canadian buyers in my zone, nobody can compete with the rates and that is where the most sales for me come from.
I’m going through the same thing as a buyer at the moment – really frustrating when it says that the post office delivered the item and I didn’t get it. The item I bought was from a very large reputable retailer and they are following up with the post office for me. Worst case as a buyer my credit card will have my back, but it’s a lot of calls to rectify and I still want my item.
Last time I had this happen my parcel turned up at a neighbors house…maybe happened again.
Here is the response the retailer I’m dealing with gave:
Thank you for contacting us regarding your recent online order.
I am sorry to learn that you haven’t received your order. I can certainly understand how this would be concerning especially as it shows delivered.I have forwarded your email to a member of our team who will be looking into your order and will respond to you as soon as possible.
We appreciate your patience, while we look into this matter.10/25/2018 at 1:59 pm in reply to: Scavenger Life Episode 382: Treasure Hunting with a Fishnet #50746I agree T-Satt – it’s one of the challenges I’m thinking of as I go from part-time to full-time seller. Some of the thoughts I’ve had that I need to sort out for myself are:
-diminishing returns – if I spend more time, do I make the same, or maybe less per hour? Do I start looking at smaller return items to boost my overall income, but diminish my free time?
-what do you eliminate? Trying to come up with an evaluation process of what items aren’t worth looking at. T-Shirts is one category where I have great sales, some ho-hum sales, and a lot of inventory that sits. My STR on shirts over a month is pitiful compared to other categories – so do I just ignore, and try to find more of the higher profit, higher STR items with my time?
-evolution – how do you find items that are on the upswing, or the “hot” items of the future? Is there items that I’ve passed on for years based on 10-year-old thinking that are now saleable? How do you develop a process for research and knowledge building? And vice-versa, learning what items you think are easy sales are in the decline.
-Scavenging techniques – one area that I spend a lot of time on is looking at oddball items at stores – there is items I buy on sight with no need to think about them, then there are others that I play around with, question, look up on my phone, etc. and require time to research. If I avoid the unsure items, I get more time, but some of my best profits have come off these types of items. I don’t think I’ll stop doing this, but it is an area where time is spent that isn’t efficient and hard to calculate the overall value.
Just a couple of the questions I’m trying to answer for myself – may never truly answer them, but I’m always looking for the most efficient way to use my time.
The problem with stretch wrapping a box is that it doesn’t adhere to the paper fibers. Proper packaging tape is designed to adhere and tear the top layer of paper fibers on a box – stretch wrap is meant not to stick to boxes. If the stretch wrap gets torn, the box will be compromised.
The cheapest solution for carton sealing is hot melt glue – however, it is messy.
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