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Haha, your absolutely right the statements contradict each other! I think the better way to phrase it is that due to misplacing those 2 items, it’s retaught me just how important the organization is. Spending the next couple of days doing my best to get organized. Thank goodness for the custom label field, makes my life far easier.
Items: 503
Items Sold: 13
Profit: $98.90
Purchase Price: $21.46
Total Sell Price: $119.94
Avg Sale: $9.15
A lot of sales this week but really tiny sales which is a bummer. Finally, have gotten past a $1,000 day total so that feels good. Also, for 90 days at 55 items sold which for me is a new record! I’ve been asking around and figuring out my workflow more and more. I have 20 or so boxes setup o on shelves with a 3-digit number sequence. I have two shelves of stuff listed and 2 others with stuff to list. Now here’s the thing…..
I have 2 items that I can’t seem to find. It’s happened before about a month or two ago. I’ve searched up and down, tomorrow and Tuesday I’ll search some more. I did decide to take precautions and message the buyers. They’re cool with it and both wished me luck searching. In my search, I found some things that I thought were listed but as it goes. I’m in the process of going bin by bin and adding the bin number into the custom label field. Should be done by the end of the week.
My inventory spreadsheet is going really well, and it’s tweaked enough that it’s pretty effective. Without getting too much into it, concentrating on my eBay stuff has been a welcomed reprieve from the news this week. My goal this week is to list 50+ listings, I have 14 or so that I’ll take photos of and list tomorrow morning. Dabbling in trying out ListPerfectly, hoping to get moving on it this week. GoDaddy isn’t quite right as Managed Payments isn’t syncing as regularly. Wave wasn’t really working well for me but might be open to coming back to it. Finally, I got one of those wheeled grocery wagon things, going to use it for packages and grocery shopping in my large city!
Not sure my numbers this week because I played around with some things in GoDaddy Bookkeeping and I thing things got a bit messed up.
On the sales end, sold a pinback button I have less then a $1 into for $20. What’s weird is the buyer paid $0.70 for shipping like it was a letter but I don’t have that on my business policies or can’t figure out how they managed to do that, suggestions?
I sold a wall mount clock for $40 that I’d bought for $6 so I’ll take that. Switching over to Wave or at least attempting to. Doesn’t seem to sync as seamlessly as GoDaddy at the moment so we’ll see.
this month had a lot of startup costs between a big auction pickup and buying various boxes and supplies. Hoping my numbers overall are better next month with less expenses.
On a personal note, I cut my finger and had to go to urgent care. No stitches but have to wear a splint for a couple days. The worst though is I have tooth pain I’m headed to the dentist for tomorrow so once I get that figured out I can be more productive.
Later this week I’ll clean up some safety razors I’d picked up at auction, should sell for just under $100 in total and bought them for $12 so that’s cool.
Hey Simplicio, eventually a goal of mine would be to get into industrial stuff to sell. I’ve done the research on sites to find the auctions etc. I’m wondering
1) When bidding what amount of profit either %, x ____, or something else do you shoot for?
2) It seems that the sales you have to be patient and come in waves, is that true in Canada as well (I’m U.S. based)
3) Any advice for breaking into industrial once I have enough money to do so?
Total Items in Store: 381
Items Sold: 8
Total Sales: $150
Cost of Items Sold: $13
Average Price Sold: $18.75
Average Cost of Item: $1.63
The Highest Price Item Sold: $30 Tie between a lot of slot car chassis’ and a Verizon Sonim Phone each for $30
Number of items listed this week: 62A better sales week this week, up to $800+ for a 90-day total, was at only $200 about a month ago. I was at my parents house as I accidentally sent some auction winnings to theirs. In picking it up, my dad said that he had some slot cars and such from his childhood he was willing to part with, thought I could make a few bucks on them….well turns out I’ll make about $260 or so once everything sells, I’m excited! Getting stuff listed and finally have ramped up my listing and treating it like a full-time job. Honestly I’ve enjoyed it so far and I’m a lot less stressed than teaching.
As for the shipping delays, I’ve sent a message to buyers that says the following that helps and all have been understanding:
Hi,
Just wanted to let you know that I dropped off your package this afternoon. Over the last couple of weeks tracking, scanning, and mail delivery is slow given both the pandemic and USPS delays with the holidays. I’m keeping an eye on things, be patient and understanding, thanks!
At my post office if it’s prepaid they don’t even let you get a scan receipt so that sucks, I know it’s not the case with every post office though I’m in a huge city. Last week I had set up a package pickup, and they never came, not sure why but guess I’ll walk the .5 miles to the post-office. Asking for a grocery cart thing for X-Mas for packages and trudging groceries instead of having to Uber back.
Finally, I bought a lot of 100 or so foreign beer cans, I’m considering listing them individually starting at $0.99 just to see what I can get gone quick. I have 250 free auction listings to use up by the end of the month. Also going to change to Wave from Go-Daddy later this week. Switched to Managed Payments also and waiting for the payment but like it so far. Sorry for this being so long!
Items in Store 329
Items Sold 7
Total Sales $168
COGS $18
Total Profit $$150
Average profit $21.43
Average sales price (not sure what this vs avg profit is)
New Listings 60
Biggest Sale: $60 Cutting and Washington 11A Tube Radio for parts. Thought it would sell for more but it was a quick sale so that work.
I’m in between jobs right now. I’ve spent about $800 or so on inventory that will last me until at least January. I don’t have a car but was able to rent a car to grab a big haul a week ago. Once I have everything listed stuff should sell in total for $4k or more. I also bought stuff at auctions that got shipped to me. We’ll see if that stuff was worth the shipping costs. I’m in a major city (Chicago) so stuff is locked down for the foreseeable future so flipping is the perfect activity to keep me busy!
Originally I’m a teacher by training but haven’t really enjoyed being in the classroom. This is the first time in a while that I feel like I’m working my ass off but also loving it! Jay and Ryann (spelling) mention to grow to 500 listings to see consistent sales. That’s my initial goal and to grow to 1000 if possible. This month has been a bit more in costs due to needing to restock on some supplies. Also for Pirate Ship I keep it in a deprecate tab to flip back and forth between eBay to sort out what’s the best price.
Hey quick couple thoughts as I haven’t had too many big sales lately. Started up a new eBay store to deviate from the one I started when living with my parents. So far I’ve listed a lot of different stuff, a puzzle, DVD’s and Cd’s (got them really cheap), some axes and a sledgehammer, some older travel magazines, etc. So far just the DVD’s and CD’s are selling but really hoping for other stuff to sell! I’m at 130 or 140 items so it’s a good start but have another 60 items or so to list I think.
1) In terms of auctions, my local auction place for in person auctions the 2nd half of it the prices start at say $100 and go down. You hold up your number and each lot would be $100 for instance. People hold out of course waiting for stuff to reach $5-10 a lot even $20 a lot on some stuff.
2) What thoughts are there about for instance some YouTubers like Lonnie and John only wanting about 1000 items in their store at a time? Is that model just based on quick selling stuff and not long tail?So on my way to a haircut I decided to bring my suitcase like suggested after my haircut decided to go to the thrift shop nearby. I walked in and I knew it was good stuff but then I looked at the prices and the stuff was eBay prices or even higher. Curious about their business model but whatever. I ended up picking up some DVD’s and Arizona magazines. 25 items, $27 buy cost and should be able to flip for about $100. It definitely wasn’t a home run but at least got me started buying to flip again.
As for auctions near me I found several. There was one that was like 70 miles from me in the state next to me which is a huge 2 today auction with over 3000 items. Although I really would love to get items from that auction I kind of feel like I need to start with a smaller auction to get my feet wet again and manage my money management a little better than just blowing $$700 or so on auction stuff.
I’d have to spend at least $500 at the auction to make it worth it. That said I did find an auction closer to me that’s online so then I just pick stuff up and it has a couple hundred items maybe 400 which is a good size and I’ll double check my numbers and how it might work out with the U-Haul stuff but it shouldn’t be too expensive to go out and grab the stuff since I’d be picking it up on a weekday should be $.69 per mile instead of a dollar per mile. I’ll keep you guys posted. Finally I’ve sold some things on OfferUp and FB Marketplace which feels good.
August Numbers So Far:
Total Income: $112.55
Returns: $-3.82
Sales: $71.42
Sales Tax Collected: $1.10
Shipping Income: $43.85
Total Expenses: $84.95
Profit: $27.60
It’s been rough so far in August compared to others. Finally, in the South West at my relatives to list her stuff. I did have a return today as my Media Mail shipment (magazine) still hadn’t arrived to a buyer and was shipped out Aug 3rd. It’s frustrating on my end as my city (Chicago) has had a huge bad thunderstorm and protests that have had the post office near me shut down for multiple days.
Finally, listing some things that are a bit higher profit. Hoping to make a couple of hundred dollars per my 30 day in the coming weeks. Also, really hope this USPS mess gets fixed as it’s causing delays and issues for those of us who sell online. Wish I could source more but I don’t have a car. Plus my dad holds very traditional views on work of working a 9-5. I don’t live with my folks, but they still want to influence my choices of career. Hoping to get my real estate brokers license and would love to invest and work in real estate for a broker. If you have any suggestions to learning more about real estate holler.
Finally listened to the podcast. Man the guy who called in about using the church for storage is something else! I think it goes to show also that one changes what one sells over time. Also maybe an incentive to get help with photos or listings to plow through that large of a “death pile” aka storage units. It also I think points out just how many people who have estates think they have more valuable stuff then then actually do. I do think it’s natural especially for people who don’t do eBay to over estimate what stuff is worth.
I don’t disagree with you about the estate sale. I think there might be concern over another relative getting jelous (family drama). My goal is to sell as much as I can and then decide on what else to do with it.
Not going to give numbers this week, will do so next week.
I do have a question, to preface a relative has broken their hip and is living in an assisted living facility. She’s doing fine but won’t be moving back into her home and it will become a rental property due to legal stuff (power of attorney stuff). My role is to list stuff as things can’t be donated (would violate the trust). I’m going to list the larger stuff on local apps (LetGo, OfferUp, and FB Marketplace). I live in the Midwest and my relative lives in the Southwest. Should I sell what I can when I go down starting Weds until early September and then ship back what doesn’t sell? Then I could ship from my apartment from the eBay account I made for this project. Thoughts?
I have a similar situation to @amandaw though slightly different. Though in weighing in on her situation I’d say pick out items you want to sell and have space for and then find a consignment company or the like to sell the rest.
As for me, my grandma on my dad’s side broke her hip. She’s now confined to a wheelchair and in an assisted living facility. She’s in good hands and is doing fine thankfully. As per legal stuff her house is to become a rental property. Perfectly reasonable. My job is to list stuff and get it sold. I have listings on eBay, Offer Up, and LetGo. I’m avoiding FB Marketplace as I have a crazy relative that would get bent out of shape. Problem is that I live in the Midwest and my grandma lives in Arizona. I’m going down next week for 3 weeks, a month or so ago I had just wrapped up a 3-4 week visit helping list stuff initially. Since then my dad was down there with another sister of his sorting through stuff and a whole room full of inventory to list. Aside from the listing process itself, I’m wondering to what extent it makes sense to list and sell what I can and then keep my eBay account (set-up one just for this thing) on vacation mode or extended handling time until my dad or I are back. I’d imagine it would get to a point where I should ship stuff cheaply back to the Midwest to sell or just donate. I definitely want to sell the big stuff local first. Good news is I’m getting all the profits which is nice due to being on Unemployment currently. Thoughts?
Lonnie at GarageFlips has a shed and a podcast! I don’t watch every video he puts out but I listen to his podcast, and he’s a stand-up guy.
I’m similar in wanting to switch decor around and change things up. I always seem to want to improve on my living space and make it look more presentable. Would love someday to have similar to Jay and Ryanne’s setup.
Interesting about refusing friends who are clearing stuff out. I understand your reasoning though I also think if one builds up a team it could be quite lucrative. That said sometimes not worth the time, effort, or risk of friendship.
Solid finds at the auction, congrats! Are you going to in person auctions now that things are opening up (depending on the state) or online? Sometimes I find the starting prices on some online auctions can be a bit overpriced but often times there are deals to be had too. The positive like you and Jay have said is getting a large quantity of items at once to be able to list.
