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Getting items to come to you, and at no cost is the holy grail of scavenging in my opinion.
My best two sources for free items are friends/family, and random roadside finds.
I’ve looked into how others get stuff brought to them – things like electronics recycling bins, clothing donation bins, consignment/thrift/pawn shop storefronts, and they all have positives, but the negatives outweigh the positives. My calculations showed that you would be spending a lot of time, and money disposing items, instead of using the same time/money to cherry pick the best items from others who have done all the work.
I’ve asked questions to various business that get free stuff – electronics recycling is a headache as most e-waste is worthless and recovery of the good stuff is expensive (resaleable items, vintage items, or gold in circuit boards take too much time and barely cover expenses if you don’t have government funding). We were interested in the consignment store idea, with all items listed online as well – we had a local woman we were getting information from, that expanded to 5 stores. Then one day she closed them all and disappeared owing back rent on two of the locations we read the notices for, so we assumed her numbers were false. The last option is an independent thrift shop – however, from information I’ve read from Salvation Army and Goodwill, a good portion of donations are garbage, than anywhere up to 80% of items on the floor don’t sell. They also have the “charity” angle that I think would be difficult for a private thrift to compete against for donations.
In the end, we figured that getting good stuff from friends/family is the best, finding free stuff on the curb is great, and having to spend money on other items to flip is not bad in comparison to the other options.
Good idea in keeping track of the time for each location – I already put myself and my wife on the clock when we are out scavenging, so I have those numbers and can split them up against clustered places I scavenge.
Part of my exercise is also to determine the most fertile scavenging areas – we are planning to move once I become unemployed, and the location we are moving to is about 4 hours away from where we are. Most of our scavenging is in a major urban area directly in the middle (2 hours from my current location, 2 hours from our new location) but wanted to determine if coming back 4 hours every once and awhile to my current area is worthwhile every now and then when I move. Also, it is interesting to know what areas produce better results – therefore, it may be worthwhile getting hotels, travelling further, etc. if the history of success is there.
I’ll play with my numbers to add in the time factor, and see how it works out and compares to my current results.
I’m constantly looking at my numbers in different ways to become more efficient – one number I’ve been playing with lately is how much profit I make from each location I find items at.
What I’m trying to figure out is what places are the most profitable per visit to shop at. The challenge I am having is that I’ve only cross referenced my numbers since January to where the items were purchased – and I have items that have not sold.
Essentially, I’ve added up my total sales on items from each store, subtract what I’ve paid at each store for items (including those that haven’t sold yet), and divided that number by the trips I’ve made this year to each location.
So far the numbers are interesting – some stores that I thought were average are where I really make money, and others where I have had good finds (but only a few items per trip) aren’t looking too great.
Does anyone have any further formula suggestions to get a better, or truer number?
AirBnB is under attack where I live – my town has a huge cottage rental industry and the government is cracking down by adding licensing requirements, “hotel” style taxes, safety inspections, insurance minimums, and required minimum standards for the residences that are on AirBnB or other sites. AirBnB is co-operating with the local government to get renters in line.
The interesting effect it is having is that those who do comply, can charge significantly more and have less competition. It also weeds out the sketchy people around here who rent out “Amish Garden Sheds” as a rental in their yards.
I bought a big box of of photo mailer envelopes that work great as well – they are the very stiff paperboard envelopes.
I put the paper/flimsy item in one of the plastic labelope pouches that is used for mailing labels I print out (since they are free from the post office) for additional protection in the envelope.
Even though cardboard is not that large or heavy, when sending small things it can push you from one postal rate to another, and can add up on international items quickly – that’s the only reason why I made the switch.
I just was looking at my policies today to add some options for the potential mail strike in Canada. The option for paying for returns should be under each shipping policy. Mine is directly under the “Returns Accepted” section for each policy.
For my policies, I have everything split into at least two (domestic and international) options to allow the choice for each one.
09/19/2018 at 2:02 pm in reply to: Multiple (Nearly) Identical Items – list all at once, or one at a time? #48933It blew my mind out of the box as well, but it works great. It is a market I never thought of, but it is actually very consistent.
I use to list all my same/similar items with slightly different titles, pricing, and shipping (free at a higher item cost, calculated shipping, flat shipping) just to get them out on the platform. However, I would get buyers asking how to buy them all – which turned into work trying to align all the listings to one shipping policy and price.
Once I put them all into one listing, my sales were quicker, and buyers and I didn’t have the hassle of trying to get the listings all to align to make the sale.
It also makes listing very easy for items you can find regularly – just adjust the available quantity, and you have another “item” up for sale.
09/19/2018 at 12:07 pm in reply to: Multiple (Nearly) Identical Items – list all at once, or one at a time? #48923I tend to get a lot of bundle buyers when I have multiple of the same item. I’ve sold coffee makers, toasters, and other small appliances frequently this way.
I list them all under one listing – with the quantity available if they are all similar condition with commentary that the item pictured is similar to what you will get.
There are buyers who are looking for a deal (shipping) on multiple items for house rentals, Bed and Breakfasts, camps, small hotels, etc. where they can have identical items in every rental room/building.
It always surprises me that there are people looking for lots of the same coffee maker or other appliance that the typical home only needs one.
09/18/2018 at 10:28 am in reply to: Scavenger Life Episode 377: Talking Numbers with TSatt (Troy) #48881I think it all depends on the $10+ net profit item – I’m all in on an item I know will sell very quickly (anywhere up to 2 months) – I sell these items daily, they are easy to find, and pay for my time out scavenging. They are usually repetitive, so listing is very easy – just a new photo, copy a sold/existing listing, and done. It is also easy to buy – you know what you have got soon as you see one. Most of them have an endless supply (I tend to find them at every store, at least one), and there is endless customers buying them.
These $10+ net profit items are great for chewing up overhead costs across multiple items, making higher profit items more profitable on a per item basis.
The U.S. and Canada are renegotiating NAFTA at the moment, and one of the items the U.S. is pushing for is that Canadians have a higher duty free limit on items shipped from the U.S. for personal use. Right now, Americans can buy from Canada (I think it is $800) where Canadians can’t really buy anything duty free.
Just something to watch out for as it may open up options for Canadian customers. I believe that Mexico has agreed to different limits under the re-negotiated NAFTA if you ship that way as well.
09/18/2018 at 9:35 am in reply to: Scavenger Life Episode 377: Talking Numbers with TSatt (Troy) #48874For those that ship directly to Canada using USPS, or use the GSP to ship to Canada, just an FYI that there may be a postal strike in the next couple weeks.
This will not affect couriers like UPS, FedEx, DHL, etc.
I think this is an oversimplification of things – if you are selling random items, your net profit will remain random.
I know that my net income from eBay fluctuates based on the quality, and quantity of items I find. It is not a straight and easy per item $ profit model.
Does USPS not have an app that will allow you to purchase postage on your phone, it generates a 3D barcode that they scan at the post office and it prints a label there when you bring the package in?
Canada Post has this, and I thought that the system they use was designed by Pitney-Bowes and is the same system that USPS uses as it is fully integrated.
Just another emergency option if it exists…
We’re preparing for a move ourselves. I’m just waiting for my package from my current employer – every week they are cutting jobs, so I’m expecting mine any second now.
We’ve planned every detail out – just don’t know the date! We know where we want to move, know our temporary plan (family) while we look for a new place, what we are going to sell/keep around our current home, and have begun financially planning for our next place. It’s fun now, but I’m sure when the day hits my mind will be scrambling to put our plan into action.
Fortunately, I’ll have time to move – I’ll be getting a decent severance (so far everyone is that is being let go – minimum 3 months, and my tenure has been longer), and government unemployment will pay me about $600 a week for 48 weeks after that, which makes things easy.
I’ve already registered businesses for where I’m moving to (side gigs to go along side eBay sales) and just waiting for my current employer to give me the final push and $$$.
I too struggle with why people would sell/donate this kind of item.
I always enjoy buying old phone answering machines – sometimes the messages are hilarious and give you insight into someone else’s life. I had a machine with a tape in it once for a guy that constantly missed work to go drinking with his buddies (his buddy would call and leave a message about going to a bar/club, then his boss would call house later looking for him). The same tape had an irate ex (baby mama) looking for the guy to pick-up the kids. There was the odd “sexy voiced” female leaving messages as well. Nothing graphic, but still funny.
I’m also very scared to look at computers and other electronic devices I buy…usually I find a lot of personal documents and family/appropriate photos, but have heard stories of people finding adult material and illegal/disgusting photos and videos on items they bought at thrift stores and had to contact the police.
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