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@doublythumbs, thanks for your detailed answer. A few months back I passed on a few boxes of 35mm slides since I couldn’t think how I would list them.
@DoublyThumbs, when you say ‘I’ll scan in 4 or 6 of the best ones onto my computer’, how exactly does that work? Maybe a special slide mount gadget that attaches to a USB port? Curious minds want to know! Your slides looks fantastic. I had some old glass slides I managed to prop on a light tent. Worked for a few slides but not for hundreds like you’re doing.
I tip my cap to you, Jay and Ryanne. You had an amazing week. From where I sit, you two live a life 99% of people would envy. You don’t have to answer to anyone in running your business or your lives. Do you realize how many people reach Sunday evening feeling existential dread of starting the work week? You’re using your talents as you choose, not someone else. That’s a pretty good life in my book. Also, my wife and I really like the Southern Split. Next up is the Guatemalan.
April 4 – 11
Total Items in Store: 552
Items Sold: 19
Total Gross Sales includes s/h: $698
Highest Price: $145 (Vintage Coca-Cola sign)
Lowest Price: $10.90 (vacuum cleaner tool)
Average Price: $37
Returns: 0
Cost of Goods Sold: $40
Costs of Goods Purchased this Week: $0
Number of New Items Listed this Week: 33Darn good week for me. On track to have a +$2K month, which I’ve only done a few times. Been listing my death pile like mad, but it’s nearly gone.
Congrats Jay and Ryanne on your new business! Wasn’t sure what you two were up to, so it was a pleasant surprise. Just placed my order for Guatemalan and Southern Split. I’m hoping Phil and Jill see a nice bump in their sales. Play it cool with them and see if they mention a surge.
April 5 – 11
Total Items in Store: 547
Items Sold: 16
Total Gross Sales includes s/h: $444
Highest Price: $59 (Nespresso DeLonghi LATTISSIMA PRO Milk Foamer Carafe)
Low Price: $9.99 (Gates 6G-6FJX90M – G25180-0606 Hydraulic Hose Fitting)
Average Price: $28
Returns: 1
Cost of Goods Sold: $5
Costs of Goods Purchased this Week: 0
Number of New Items Listed this Week: 25The past week was OK. My stuff is selling fine, but I’m not sourcing and the items left with in my death pile are generally low dollar. That the reason they’re in the death pile. I know if I was hitting my auctions, yard sales, etc. I’d be finding and listing more expensive stuff. I hear you, I’m in the same boat with everyone else. Haven’t found anything in the past week going through my neighborhood’s alleys. Competition is tough. The only thing saving my butt now are the auctions I hit in January. Picked up hundreds of items. Now that I’m scaping the bottom of my pile I need to get creative about online sourcing.
March 29 – April 4
Total Items in Store: 538
Items Sold: 11
Total Gross Sales includes s/h: $395
Highest Price: $135 (Miele Compact C1 canister vacuum)
Average Price: $36
Returns: 0
Cost of Goods Sold: $15
Costs of Goods Purchased this Week: $0
Number of New Items Listed this Week: about 20Jay and Ryanne, when you described how your rentals are shut down, I thought about you two have always stressed the importance of building multiple income streams. I know it’s not easy, but that advice is so solid for the reality of making it your own in America. Particularly for those chosing to take a non-traditional approach to making a living, making a life. At the same time I realize the temporary loss of the rental income is a real gut punch.
Scavenge of the Week: Since I can’t source through auctions etc., I’ve focused on regularly patrolling my neighborhood’s alleys. So far it’s working! This past week I had two excellent trash finds: a BabyTrend jogging stroller and a Shark Navigator vacuum. The tires from the jogging stroller were in great condition — I’ve listed them at about $50 each (already sold one). The vacuum was a bit dirty but worked fine. I was able to list 17 parts for a total of $300. Pro tip: always be on the lookout for old Shark or Dyson vacuums. Even if they don’t work you can still make nice money off the parts.
Jay and Ryanne, I now know you’re actually Zen masters disguised as scavengers. Who else could possibly come up with a koan “Stay inside. Make bread.” Direct action that creates good karma and creates calmness. Such a comfort to listen to you two in times like these.
3/22/20 – 3/28/20
Total Items In Store: 516
Items Sold: 11
Total Sales: $275
Cost of Items Sold: $20
Highest Price Sold: $50 – Infant Optics DXR-5 Portable Video Baby Monitor & Camera w/ Charger
Average Price Sold: $25
Money Spent on New Inventory: $ 0
Number of items listed: 15Gut Sales Report for the week: Just a slow week for sales. I’m fine with it. I thought my sales would implode, and that hasn’t happened.
Scavenge of the week: Found several garbage bags full of clothes while trolling alleys. I’m not really a clothes seller but since they looked clean and folded etc, I took a chance and tossed them in the car. Nearly all of it turned out to be pretty worn. Only listed a pair of shoes and a few t-shirts. I’m hopeful about finding decent stuff in the alleys. People have more time to go through their stuff for spring cleaning, and they know GW isn’t open. That’s my theory, anwyay.
March 15 – 21
Total Items in Store: 501
Items Sold: 9
Total Sales : $550
Highest Price: $220 (KimTech A5 Cleanroom Sterile Integrated Hood & Mask – 2x 75-pack)
Average Price: $61
Returns: 1
Cost of Goods Sold: $80
Costs of Goods Purchased this Week: $0
Number of New Items Listed this Week: 10A strange week sales-wise. Monday through Thursday I didn’t have a single sale. Can’t recall last time that happened. Then Friday and Saturday were great and saved the week. So the week was one of best of this still-young year. I’m glad I put a lot of effort in sourcing auctions in January and February. Listed hundreds of items. Just hoping that’s enough to get me through to other side of this crisis. Like many others here I haven’t done any sourcing for the past two weeks. I’m chipping away at my death pile but there’s nothing to get excited about in it. Just smalls.
I’m in Cincinnati and the shopping experience is getting stranger instead of more normal. Kroger is the main supermarket chain – I have two within a mile of me. Paper goods aisles (towels, TP) are continually empty. Same with pasta. This morning in Kroger there were notices throughout the store of items Kroger is limiting purchases of. I was surprised how long the list is. Soaps, cleaning supplies, vitamins, potatoes, TP, towels, etc. I also noticed extra security. I expected by now people would stop with the hoarding.
Thanks J&R for another excellent podcast.
Week of March 8 – 14
Total items in store: 507
Items sold: 12
Total gross sales: $362
COGS: $10
Highest Price Sold: $85 (lot of 6 oil filters for trucks)
Average price sold: $30
Money spend on new inventory: 0
Number of items listed: 10Gut Sales Report for the Week: March sales are definitely up from February, which were dreadful. My wife and I were on a 2-week road trip to New Mexico and Arizona, just got back this Monday. We were of course aware of the COVID-19 news, but it definitely wasn’t a worry to us. We’re both retired in our early 60s. Everywhere we went, everything was totally normal. After we got home (Newport KY) all that changed beginning Wednesday. By Friday we were in full freakout mode and have stayed there since. We’re not worried so much for ourselves, but my parents are in their 80s and my dad is in a ‘respite home’ recovering from surgery a week ago. I can hardly think about the risk. My wife keeps trying to minimize the seriousness of the situation, and I keep telling her, no, this is incredibly dangerous. Look at Italy, etc. So, except for trips to the supermarket we’re sheltering in place. We take long walks, but I’m not going to source until things settle down. As Ryanne and Jay say, it’s just junk. Not worth risking your health or anyone’s else over. On the bright side, I’m slowly working through my death pile. And if I get through that I can always work on cleaning up my storage area. Be smart. Stay safe everyone!
How long-tail are you willing to go? Having only been at this (eBaying) for 2-1/2 years, I think I have one item (German brewery table and chair set) left from my initial foray into online selling. I use the table and a chair as my desk, so I’m not too unhappy it hasn’t sold yet. As Jay has stated often, it all comes down to storage. I have a largish basement, and it’s barely adequate for my 500-item store. Lately I’ve been focusing on sourcing small items like car/truck parts such as filters and hyraulic fittings. (I have about $800 worth of that kind of stuff in one bin!) Also ephemera such as posters and magazines. Still, I feel like I’m nearing capacity. Not sure I have enough space to accomodate 250 more items. I’m not stressed, just wondering what my next move will be.
Week of Feb 15 – 22
Total Items In Store: 509
Items Sold: 9 eBay
Total Gross Sales (includes S/H): $213
COGS: $5
Highest Price Sold: Tie between two $25 items – Architectural Digest Magazine Nov 2002, Silverplated Pastry Serving Tongs
Average Price Sold: $24
Returns: 0
Money Spent on New Inventory This Week: $25
Number of new listings: 61Gut Sales Report for the week: Totally blase. Continuation of February slump. This is as slow as I’ve seen it in many months. I can’t pin it on anything.
Scavenge of the week: Bought two boxes of Architectural Digests at auction for $5. There may be worth $800 or more. That is, if and when they all sell.
Wife and I are heading to New Mexico and Arizona for a couple of weeks. Hope to get in some sourcing.
Nice podcast. I appreciate T-Satt’s expertise on numbers but most of it is way over my head. Interesting to hear both T-Satt and Jay notice the softness in eBay clothing sales in the past 8 months. I’m mainly hard goods so I don’t have any comparison.
Week of Feb 9 – 15
Total Items In Store: 455
Items Sold: 13 eBay
Total Gross Sales (includes S/H): $416
COGS: $10
Highest Price Sold: $53 Volvo Truck Handle
Average Price Sold: $32
Returns: 1 (carpet clean tank, customer ordered wrong part)
Money Spent on New Inventory This Week: $170
Number of new listings: 39Gut Sales Report for the week: Pretty ho-hum. Just a bunch of low-dollar items. The only nice thing is it’s all stuff I paid virtually nothing for.
Scavenge of the week: A lot of 20 movie posters for $5 at an auction. I was the only bidder. They’re all foreign — France, Australia, Germany. Mainly Mel Gibson movies. Have sold two already for combined $45 to someone in the UK. Went to the 5-ring auction in Indy again, but didn’t see much this trip.
I’ve never tried selling software and now for certain I never will. I’ve pretty much sworn off vintage audio equipment and VCRs. My breaking point was shipping a vintage boombox to a buyer in Quebec. Didn’t do it via GSP, not sure why or how that went down. Now I recall…the buyer just somehow paid for shipping. It was like $90. I thought it was crazy, since the boombox only cost $100. Anyway, I get a message in French from the buyer saying the volume doesn’t work and he wants to return it. Like I’m going to pay $90 to have it shipped back. I just gave him a refund. God bless those who can make money off vintage AV gear, but I’m done.
Enjoyed the podcast, Jay and Ryanne. I hope eBay has some years left in it.
Week of Feb 2 – 8
Total Items In Store: 420
Items Sold: 5 (4 eBay, 1 FB)
Total Gross Sales (includes S/H): $283 ($83 eBay, $200 FB)
COGS: $20
Highest Price Sold: $200 Herman Miller Mirra office chair
Average Price Sold: $57
Returns: 0
Customer Issues: Closed an INAD case in my favor. Yay. It was a vacuum cleaner wand. Customer didn’t ship by deadline.
Money Spent on New Inventory This Week: $325
Number of new listings: 56Gut Sales Report for the week: January went out with a bang but February has started with a whimper. I had a solid December and a fantastic January, so no complaints. With the small store I have there’s going to be wide variation from week-to-week. I salvaged the week with a Facebook Marketplace sale on Saturday of a Herman Miller Mirra chair ($200) that I got on Wednesday for $15 at an auction. It was in with a bunch of junky office chairs. I was lucky no one else recognized it.
Scavenge of the week: Picked up a carload of items (truck parts, door knobs, action figures, ceramics) at an auction this past week. Still processing, but it appears I got about $2,000 worth of items for $325. Have to factor in hotel expense ($100).
January Numbers
Total Items In Store: 367
Items Sold: 57 eBay, 2 FB
Total Gross Sales: $4,137 ($4,047 eBay, $90 FB)
COGS: $330
Highest Price Solds:
$1,075 oil painting (sold for a friend)
$420 Maxi Cosi Adorra Travel System
$320 Fabtech FTS22159 Uniball Upper control Arm Kit
$200 Bosch VDN-5085-V321S FLEXIDOME Dome Camera
Average Price Sold: $70.11January was my best month in 2 1/2 years of eBaying. First time breaking $4K in sales in a month, first time surpassing 50 items sold in a month. I netted $270 from helping a friend sell a painting. Other big ticket items have been sitting for four months. Big challenge is to find more items I can sell for over $100. Attended a 5-ring auction in Indianapolis on Wednesday and was able to get several things that should sell for over $100.
