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I have a Nikon 1 J4. It came with a “close up” and more of a “general” lens that I can switch between. The feature I like best about it is that it seems to be able to lighten up dark photos without using flash. A lot of items I have are very reflective/glossy and the flash “burst” on the photos is annoying – this camera gets rid of that.
The autofocus is very good – on the screen it shows where it is trying to focus on, so you can adjust the focus to the item instead of something in the background or table.
Since Windows 10 came out (or was forced upon me…) I have been using the photo editor that is included. I find it quicker to use, and it allows me to see the photos in a larger format.
A good quality camera also helps immensely as it can compensate on it’s own for any image quality or lighting issues. I upgraded my camera a year ago and it makes a huge difference for the number of pictures that need to be re-taken, and the editing work after.
So much easier then what I did in the 1990’s – it’s laughable today – but most items then didn’t even have photos. I use to buy bulk 35mm film because I couldn’t afford a $1000+ digital camera at the time. I would take photos, drop them off in the morning at the local 1 hour photo shop to get developed, come back at lunch to pick them up, and then after work use the scanner at the office to scan in the photos to load up on a page I had on Geocities for eBay photo hosting. Then you had to do all the HTML coding just to get the photo up. A good portion of the photos weren’t that great when I look back at the stacks of developed pictures I accumulated back then!
Hi Brad,
Totally agree with the analogy – as an eBay seller for 20 years now, it makes life easier, and you will have less aggravation if you pause for a minute, try and determine what went wrong, learn from it, and move on knowing you “learned from a mistake”. Hopefully every mis-step leads to prevention of it again.
Also, a certain amount of transactions will have miscommunication or something out of control go wrong. You just have to learn to accept that these things happen, take a loss, and move on.
I’ve been checking Shippo prices a few times a week – however, I ship directly through PayPal all the time now.
I ship about 30-50 items consistently every week with Canada Post – with my sales split between Canada/U.S. 45% each, and about 10% to Europe/Japan/Australia. Everytime I check, Paypal has been the cheapest, and the rates are the same as I would get using SnapShip as both tie into your shipping account with Canada Post.
At this time, I will continue to use the PayPal “app” to ship as it integrates well and doesn’t require any importation of information. However, Canada Post has deals like the “Free Shipping Tuesday” that I previously mentioned that may require Snap Ship or even EST to ship at a lower or free rate.
I will keep everyone up to date though if I find anything cheaper than Canada Post via PayPal.
If you want to buy 500 or more boxes at a time, your local small corrugated box company would run them for you with any custom size.
I buy boxes that are 10″ x 8″ x 4″ and 10″ x 4″ x 4″ from a local manufacturer and they are around 50 cents each when I buy 500. You also can choose the strength (ECT) and thickness (Flute) of the board going this route to meet your requirements.
I use to go through places like Uline, but found this way cheaper if I am willing to pick them up.
For bubble wrap, I’m lucky to work at a place that fills up a bin for me every week of use bubble wrap for me. It costs companies money to dispose of this, so if you have a friend or family member that works in logistics or a warehouse, you may be able to get some for free if you ask.
I don’t have any specific tips for Fort Myers, but find it best to let the staff at the hotel / campground I am staying at know that I am into thrift stores, church sales, garage sales, etc. and usually get some good leads.
I’ve had some crazy luck over the years with this approach. Everyone seems to know a good place to pick, or someone trying to get rid of “junk” that fits into your categories of items you sell.
I’ve had occasions where I needed to pick up extra luggage/bags at thrift stores to haul my finds home.
It always interests me what is available in different parts of the world – items I struggle to find at home are plentiful elsewhere, or better priced.
Agree with @Zach – hats really need to be unique to sell well – especially if used. Not many sell for over $20 – even in great condition.
The only hats I have real success with are new old stock (from the 80’s or earlier) or those that are hard to find (like minor league sports teams, defunct sports teams, oddball corporate logos).
NFL hats – even made in the last 20 years – are a difficult sell.
I would sell them in lots of 8 – even for the glasses you have 24 of. I would break up the 24 into a lot of 8, but have 3 available with shipping discounts if more than 1 lot is purchased. That way you give the mix ‘n match options to potential buyers.
Back in the late 90’s, I use to be one of those guys that sold tested stereos, video game systems, etc. without A/C adapters or other missing parts. They were legitimately tested, however, buyers didn’t always read the item description.
I soon learned that it was VERY cheap to buy bulk lots of AC adapters and any other video connector, memory cards, etc. to make complete systems. A lot of thrift stores in my area have video game consoles, but not the wires and little extras – but I can complete the system for a few dollars in non-OEM wires.
It helps me a lot in two areas – no customer complaints as the system is completed, tested, and has “new” parts; and that I can buy incomplete systems others pass up knowing I have the components to make them whole again.
It’s funny what is allowed in some countries on eBay – as a seller in Canada, I wouldn’t be able to sell any gun related items, or even the Freon. I wouldn’t be able to sell the organ keys if they were suspected of being ivory.
It gets so ridiculous that I once had a Megatron Transformer toy (it is a robot that turns into a gun) that was taken down by eBay because I had a picture of it transformed into the gun format – I had to relist the item with it just showing robot pictures not transformed.
It infuriates me when someone takes the time to list an item on eBay, and doesn’t bother to check if it is complete, or won’t answer the question.
I hate descriptions such as “everything looks complete” or other vagueness.
In the end it is just going to cost the vague/lazy seller. There are a lot of buyers who will buy incomplete board games, and other incomplete items, as long as they know what they are getting – and you won’t have the hassle of a return!
Everything looks good to me except the item description.
I would correct the spelling of Schumacher – and change that whole sentence to a more correct:
“From 1995, the year of Benetton Renault’s Constructors Championship and Michael Schumacher’s Drivers Championship”.
Other then that, good luck! It is a great find. Shipping looks correct as it is calculating to ON what I would expect it to be to AB.
Schumacher’s stuff usually sells well to Japan and Germany in my experience – however, you may get a buyer from anywhere since he is very popular as he is still the greatest driver in many areas of F1’s record books.
Just a tip for anyone else who finds Formula 1 items – almost anything from the “tobacco” sponsorship era (until the early 2000’s) is usually a good find. Between 2000 and now, it is a little hit and miss and I would do some research – teams like Ferrari have lots of merchandise – where smaller teams (and defunct teams) keep going up in value. Hats are the easiest items to find, but shirts, jackets, and other items are very easy to sell.
I sell a lot of Formula 1 items – my tip is you will double your sales price if you ship outside of North America.
All my F1 buyers are in Europe (mostly UK), Japan, and Australia. They are also willing to pay the extra shipping for a unique vintage item like this jacket.
Great find! You might be able to narrow down the exact year based on the advertisers – Benetton only had that colour scheme for several years in the 1990’s.
