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Yeah, we never jumped on that ship because the database was local. Too much work to get it all set up and maintain. Good to hear it at least is up and running for you.
I forgot if you were one of the scavengers trying to automate re-listing from eBay to Etsy. Or are you just manually inputting the listing again into Etsy?
It was built in 1940 as a shoe and men’s store. It was a beloved cafe and gay bar the past twenty years before it shut down.
It’s being full renovated and will have modern HVAC 🙂
You hit the nail on the head. I feel that that’s all we ever talked about on the podcast. No tips or tricks on how to get rich. It’s all about “are you having fun doing this?”
Because ultimately if I hate doing something, I’ll stop doing it…even if it may makes me money. Or I’ll be miserable. Ryanne and I decides years ago that we’d take chances on doing things we that were challenging but fun.
Some people have been posting about Etsy lately in a negative way. You sold more on Etsy this week than eBay. Are you still positive about the site?
It’s the stress of pouring money into a new cafe and stick our necks out financially. On the other hand, it’s difficult to just turtle up and hide. We like taking chances and doing what feels fun. Here’s a photo of one of our partners in front of the mural we just had painted on our new building: https://imgur.com/a/HdYL0dj
Whats the worst that could happen. We’d just go broke and start scavenging again 🙂
Glad to to see sales back for you.
It’s so interesting to see every online platform really go hard on outside adverting. Doing everything they can to figure out how to boost sales.
I’d love to see a breakdown of sale expenses if you were to turn on all the promotional methods that they suggest: promoted ads, google ads, coupons, discounts. What percentage total is this?
Etsy definitely seemed to have left behind its “homemade goods” reputation a long time ago. Once they went public, the corporation is just finding every way to squeeze out profit like everyone else. Its too bad because it was a cool, special place for gifts.
But for us, it was never a place that did well for scavenged items.
Thanks for starting this thread Craig. It’s refreshing? to see that even you can have a slow week! I know it’s pat of life in our store. Question: what percentage of your eBay inventory is trading cards vs other stuff. I wonder if you’ve been offloading your cards to that consignment company so your eBay store is becoming like most of ours: old weird stuff that’s long tail?
Otherwise, we had one of the best weeks we’ve had in a long time. Sold a lot of items for good prices. You just never know.
Total Items in Store: 9622
Items Sold: 40
Gross Sales: $2,014.71 (including eBay fees, shipping, and taxes)
Net Sales: $1,424.02 (minus eBay fees, shipping, and taxes)
Cost of Items Sold: $112
Cost of helpers: $80
Highest Price Sold: $135 (vintage light switches)
Average Price Sold: $35.60
Returns: 1
Money Spent on New Inventory This Week: $0
Number of items listed this week: 10I love this adventure. It’s makes me happy that we’ve found out people in our scavenger life.
I don’t see it as much anymore (maybe because I don’t follow the community as closely) , but there was a time when online sellers were split in two groups. There was people like us who sold weird, often old, stuff we found for cheap. Our costs were low but it took work to scavenge and list one them at a time.
And then there were the exciting sellers who would do deep research and buy thousands of the same widget from China and resell on Amazon. Their upfront cost was huge, but they would list once and watch the money roll in. Or at least this was the pitch you’d see online.
As enticing as making lots of easy money sounds, we’ve always been attracted to the treasure hunt. We love when scavenging is part of our lifestyle. We are always scavenging in our day to day life. We can (and do) sell anything we may find on the street or being given away or in some pile in the back of a thrift shop. Life Craig here, we’ve done trips where scavenging is the main activity, but the background is being together and learning about a new city. The money we make is the way to keep score, but the adventure just as valuable.
I wonder if they are just delisted and put into your “unsold” category? Or are the photos and listing completely deleted?
We appreciate you sharing your current experience. I remember when some sellers were working hard cross-post all their eBay listings to Etsy (remember Mark?). I often wonder how that experiment has worked out.
That’s smart and also pretty amazing. Always fun to hear people who have been successful in life still enjoy the thrill of treasure hunting and reselling. I bet peole who see you pick trash off the street would never imagine you had a long career as a lawyer in the US Marine Corps!
Welcome back! If I remember correctly you’re a military family that was living in Virginia Beach? Assume you’re back from deployment or the overseas assignment.
We also prefer scavenging for free. Definitely have less control over what we find, but its fun and makes our eBay store completely risk free since we pay so little for things.
