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I was on a sourcing roll with live auctions when the covid hit. I had enough backlog to get me through a couple of months. I honestly thought things would be back to normal by summer. We know how that went. As the live auctions shut down I shifted to Facebook Marketplace. I’ve checked the online auctions but for some reason I’m not finding good lots. Need to reassess my approach. Any rate, sourcing from FBM has worked. One of first time search yielded a lot of 220 remote controls for $40 (although I had to drive 3 hours to pick it up). Turned out to be great sellers. I have also been hitting yard sales, but they’ve been mostly disappointing. I really miss the community-wide yard sales. Considering the challenges, I feel like I’ve done well this year. Sales are on pace or slightly ahead of last year. As far as expanding my inventory, I’m treading water. Whatever comes in seems to go right out. Which isn’t bad, right?
That’s a heckuva windfall from the Lucky’s store! While the storage unit was a drag on your profit, it looks like a winner now since it gave you a place to store all the Lucky’s gear.
Nice score! Some gave me a Bible, but looks like it will only bring $15.
Always fun when you stumble on a jackpot!
Jay and Ryanne, nice score on the artwork! In my limited experience, I see two routes to finding higher value items: (1) you spend most of your time on the hunt. Not only will you find those kind of items but your knowledge of what kind of items will sell high will expand; (2) Find a niche and develop connections. You build a network in which contacts bring items to you. I think it would take years to build that kind of network.
RE the caller musing about Facebook Marketplace’s effect on scavenging: I scour FBM a good bit and have found good deals. But I also see what I call the ‘eBay effect’. Seller A has an espresso machine and wants to sell it. She goes to eBay to check comps and then prices her machine to match those prices. The issue becomes that FBM buyers in general want items for almost nothing. That espresso machine is going to sit forever (I think) b/c the vast majority of FBM buyers won’t pay anything close to eBay comps. Often when I post decent quality stuff on FBM for a fair price it’s either crickets or lowballs. Maybe an overstatement, but not by much. So, I don’t think FBM is going to ruin eBay.
Total Items in Store: 659
Items Sold: 16
Gross Sales: $466
Highest Price: $70 – Vintage Coleman Cooler
Average Price: $29
Cost of Goods Sold: $30
Returns: 0
Costs of Goods Purchased this Week: $78
Number of New Items Listed this Week: 24Gut reaction to the week: Solid week for mid-summer.
Scavenge of the week: Got a free faux leather big white Bible for free! It will be my first time listing for a Good Book.
Herman Miller Aeron chair. Oh man. Found a huge double thickness furniture box. Then I had to partially disassemble the chair. Had it for local pickup but a guy in NYC was willing to pay a hefty premium for me to ship. All told the chair was $700 (including shipping). I paid $200 for the chair so I made out ok. Still, packing it was a PITA.
@lukastreasuretrove What an awesome sale on your tin robot! Green with envy. I recently saw a Japanese robot toy on an auction site recently but it was a single item and bids were high. To find it in a pile of stuff is incredible.
@doublythumbs Thanks for the tip on Roombas! Mine is one of the originals (500 Series). Got it with a bag of other stuff for $30. Actually worked. My wife and I tested it on our floors. Did a pretty decent job, but comps only showed $40-60. Now I have 18 parts listed for more than $300 total. Eager to see how they sell!
Thanks for another informative podcast, Jay and Ryanne. I had wondered how you handled health care insurance. I tip my cap to you for having the guts to go without it. ACA is a step in the right direction. I was always baffled for a country that tells itself how great it is for entrepreneurs, why affordable health care insurance was so expensive or even unattainable for the ‘little guys’. Glad those days are behind us.
Total Items in Store: 651
Items Sold: 14
Gross Sales: $284
Highest Price: $36 – ONKYO RC-253M REMOTE CONTROL
Average Price: $20
Cost of Goods Sold: $25
Returns: 0
Costs of Goods Purchased this Week: 0
Number of New Items Listed this Week: 17Gut reaction to the Week: Super slow. Roller coaster ride this month. The week before was probably my best week ($639), this past was likely my worst. Used the slow down to clean and reorganize my work area and order shipping supplies.
Scavenge of the week: Parted out an old Roomba. One of those experiments I’m not sure will pay off in terms of time invested vs ROI. Kinda fun though. Since I was a kid I’ve enjoyed taking things apart. Went to a few yard sales. Am re-learning you need to get these things early to have a shot at decent stuff.Jay and Ryanne, nice score on the enamel sinktop/cabinets! My grandmother had a setup very similiar. Whole unit was steel and enamel. Thanks for another awesome podcast. One of the highlights of my Sundays. I find myself checking the site during the afternoon. My biggest flip and most satisfying flip were both Jura espresso machines. One I won in an auction for around $70 as New Open Box. I assumed it was broken (likely an Amazone return) but I didn’t care since I’d just sell the parts. Lo and behold it worked, and I flipped it a week later for $700. Most satisfying: found a Jura machine in an alley near my house, set out with the trash. Turned on but something was broken. Flipped it as Parts Only the next day for $225.
@Old Man Marty: Hang in there, sounds you have a lot on your plate right now. I don’t mean to come across the Wise Old Man eBay Seller but I was in your shoes about a year ago — month to month I’d have about 60 or 70 listings. This fall I put in a big push to raise my listings from 300 to 500. It was a lot of work and eBay is my only gig now that I’m retired. Guessing I spend 30 hrs/week. Any rate, at 300 listings I was selling about 30 things a month; at 500 I started seeing 60-70 items sold per month. So volume makes a huge difference. The key for me to up my listings was buying auction box lots. I learned that from Jay and Ryanne. I was surprised at the number of items in the $30-50 ranges you can find in a box of junk no one else wants. A plus is that items tend to be smallish, helping with storage and shipping. So don’t get down on yourself. It’s a long haul but you’ll get there!
Total Items in Store: 648
Items Sold: 18
Gross Sales: $639
Highest Price: $85 – DYSON DC14 VACUUM DUCT BODY ASSEMBLY
Average Price: $36
Cost of Goods Sold: $90
Returns: 0
Costs of Goods Purchased this Week: $9
Number of New Items Listed this Week: 18Gut reaction to the Week: BOOM! Probably my best week of the year. Mostly mundane stuff like remote controls and vacuum cleaner parts. Nice part is there’s not really any seasonality to them; bad part is it’s rare any one item sells for more than $50.
Scavenge of the Week: Did my usual Thursday-Friday-Saturday trawling of yard sales. About ready to call it quits on sales in newish subdivisions. The typical homeowners are in their mid-30s either (a) have 25 boxes of baby and toddler clothes and piles of plastic toys, or (b) have nice high-end appliances, electronics, strollers but price them super high. I finally hit an estate sale with a good collection of household electronics like Cuisinart ice-cream makers, vintage cassette/CD units, etc. Filled an Ikea bag with for $30. Very happy with my haul! Will keep me busy this week.
Thanks, Jay and Ryanne, for the reference to my advice to newbie sellers. At the beginning of my eBay experience I found retuns and INADs really stressful. I recall feeling crushed on my first INAD. In hindsight I had a good case for fighting it, but eBay’s guidance on sellers’ option for INADs isn’t clear IMHO. Mostly I didn’t think I had any options for fighting it. Newbies, try to tamp down on the emotions that returns and INADs cause. Take a few deep breaths and research what has occurred and what your options are. Better to get this experience with low-dollar items. Today I’m better at taking the hiccups in stride.
Total Items in Store: 650
Items Sold: 18
Gross Sales: $429
Highest Price: $65 – Bike trailer frame, canopy, seat
Average Price: $24
Cost of Goods Sold: $40
Returns: 0
Costs of Goods Purchased this Week: $32
Number of New Items Listed this Week: 26Scavenge of the Week: Box of vintage board games from the 60s, 70s and 80s. Battleship, Spirograph, etc, all in decent shape, for $30. Should bring around $300.
@Meg: Talk about a cheeky listing!
Total Items in Store: 642
Items Sold: 12
Gross Sales: $299
Highest Price: $48 – Jogger stroller wheel
Average Price: $25
Cost of Goods Sold: $25
Returns: 0
Costs of Goods Purchased this Week: $25
Number of New Items Listed this Week: 47Jay and Ryanne, thanks for another excellent and entertaining podcast. Congrats on your $2K in sales. Really impressive.
I’ve been selling online three years. My advice to someone starting now is to keep it simple for the first six months to a year. Focus on selling small items that can ship USPS First Class, which is up to one pound. In the beginning stages you’re getting the hang of EBay processes, such as handling returns etc. If you ramp up too fast the stress level can go off the charts. When I started I sold on eBay and Amazon. Way too complicated. Several times I’d sell an item on Amazon and forget to take it off eBay. So I quickly dropped Amazon and haven’t regretted it.
My sales this week were meh. I’m glad to see others had great weeks. Went to two garage sales and picked up a couple of things — basket of remote controls for $10 and a diver first-aid kit for $15. I wore a mask but 70% of people weren’t. I was content with the two yard sales. Didn’t feel like spending hours driving around the Cincy metro area to dispersed sales.
Total Items in Store: 607
Items Sold: 13
Gross Sales: $371
Highest Price: $54 – Jogger stroller wheel
Average Price: $29
Cost of Goods Sold: $40
Returns: 0
Costs of Goods Purchased this Week: $70
Number of New Items Listed this Week: 20“Nothing here.” First reaction of an Alone contestant when he was dropped off in a fire-scorched section of the Artic lake in Season 6. After a few weeks he completely changed his view. The area had lots of game and fish. Good lesson to apply to sourcing. Many times I’ve found a second look does reveal value. Not always, but often enough.
Gut reaction to the week: Very slow. Same number of items sold as last week, but only half the revenue. The difference was every item was under $60. The lack of community yard sales is a problem. Call it the shotgun approach — hit dozens of sales in a couple of hours and take in armloads of stuff. Now I’m down to the rifle approach, scanning Facebook Markeplace and Craigslist and picking off select items. It’s working, but I’m not seeing high-ticket stuff. Case of “nothing here” thinking? Gotta look harder.
In January I made a big effort to boost my listings from 300 to a little over 600 by March. For April and May I sold 76 items each month — 12.6% inventory sold for each of those months. Those months also coincide with with the tsunami of sales all online sellers enjoyed. June will be done significantly, to likely 40 items sold. As Jay has pointed out, there are some many variables that affect rates of inventory turnover. When I first started selling almost 3 years ago, I was able to get high-dollar Amazon returns for relatively low prices. Think Mr Coffee Cafe Baristas bought for $15 and selling for $140. Then I was carrying low amounts of inventory but selling probably half of it each month. That source dried up and I shifted to auctions and was doing well until the pandemic hit. Much much tougher to source so I’m stalled at 600. Not sure what conclusions to reach from inventory turnover rates.
