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@annaesthetic23 – Congratulations on getting the grant. What a feat! Is this a no strings attached grant? It seems the most obvious expenditure is to plow it right back into inventory as that seems to be the surest way to turn it into profit. Other ideas might be infrastructure: improve storage, computers, etc…. That is unlikely to increase the bottom line, but could help on the sanity front. Another is software tools that may make you more efficient. Others here use sixbit and it is costly, at around $120/month, but it could help cross-post applicable listings to Etsy or Shopify to expand your visibility.
As a coincidence, I applied for and won a local small business grant from my county in Maryland just this past week. Only $1300 but I’ve been thinking of the same type of things as you; where is the best place to put this money. I’m looking at Sixbit as an option, but it is more complicated to use and has a steeper learning curve than I expected.
I’m sure you’ll put it to good use. Good luck!
Sales Report for: 12/4/21
Total Items in Store: 1189
Items Sold: 26
Gross Sales (Not including shipping and tax): 685.44
Net Sales (After fees): $547.31
Cost of Items Sold: $38.50
COGS Percent 7.03%
Net Profit Margin: 74.23%
Highest Price Sold: $99.95 Antique Mettlach Beer Stein
Average Price Sold: $26.36
Returns: 0
Money Spent on New Inventory: $43.70
Sold via promoted listings: 20
Promoted Percentage: 76.92%
Average Days Listed: 365
Longest Listed: 1825
New items listed: 16Had a busy week with a lot of sales, one of the highest for the year, but unfortunately they were mostly lower value items. Total sales came in just this year’s weekly average of $700. On the bright side, I had very little invested in the items, so my profit margin was higher than average.
Best sale was an antique Mettlach beer stein from 1899 at $99.95. This would have sold for much more but was damaged. I had picked this one up for about $11 in an auction lot.
Scavenge of the week was a vintage “The Endless Summer” surf movie poster from a Maxsold auction. It was sold in a lot of posters, most of which were junk and damaged. I initially didn’t think much of the lot, but it was nagging at me so I went back and took another look. Looked it up and saw that originals can sell for a lot of money. Pictures were bad so couldn’t tell if it was original but I put in a bid of $50 and took a chance. Ended up getting the lot for $4 and it turns out the poster is one of the originals. It is not in pristine condition, but should still sell for upwards of $300.
Had one of my longest tail sales this week also. A new baseball cap for the Michigan Spartans that I’d had up for almost exactly 5 years. Interestingly, the cap sold to Israel.
- @cdils – Regarding the Christmas, don’t put them away, Christmas sells well year round. Real Christmas addicts are always buying. Strike while you recent research is still in your mind.
Good luck!
@Jay – It is interesting to see that home values there are rising so rapidly. I recall checking home values in Luray a few years ago during a visit and coming across data reporting that home values had been stagnant and there for decades. This pandemic is really shaking things up.
Sales Report for: 11/20/21
Total Items in Store: 1195
Items Sold: 33
Gross Sales (Not including shipping and tax): $2,001.86
Net Sales (After fees): $1,663.93
Cost of Items Sold: $178.41
COGS Percent 10.72%
Net Profit Margin: 74.21%
Highest Price Sold: $500.00 Model Goddard Rocket
Average Price Sold: $60.66
Returns: 0
Money Spent on New Inventory: $34.45
Sold via promoted listings: 18
Promoted Percentage: 54.55%
Average Days Listed: 330
Longest Listed: 1491
New items listed: 9What a difference a week can make. Had the best week since last December. First time breaking $2000 in a week this year.
Had two $500 sales of items I’d recently listed which really helped. One sale was for a small desk model of Goddard’s original liquid fuel rocket. This was a commemorative given out by the Goddard Space Flight Center to retirees and visiting dignitaries. I picked it up a few weeks ago at an estate sale. It was unmarked and I gathered it with a bunch of other unmarked items. I figure it cost me about $10. I had no idea how much it would be worth.
My other $500 item was an antique roll-top lap desk that I won at an auction for $67. I grab these writing desks whenever I can get them. They always sell well. This was the coolest I’ve gotten so far and sold for the most.
Did a small bit of thrifting on Black Friday. No great deals and ended up spending more than I should have on a few items I didn’t look up for value because I though I knew better. The thrift stores in my area are rarely great buying opportunities. They all seem to research eBay for prices. Cecile likes watching some of the YouTubers that thrift and it is amazing to see what they find on a regular basis. I assume the DC area and perhaps other large metropolitan areas are just too savvy and over-shopped.
@martyholthaus – Hang in there Marty! Best wishes with your circumstances. eBay will be there for you when you return.
Sales Report for: 11/20/21
Total Items in Store: 1222
Items Sold: 21
Gross Sales (Not including shipping and tax): $709.35
Net Sales (After fees): $578.50
Cost of Items Sold: $67.41
COGS Percent 11.65%
Net Profit Margin: 72.05%
Highest Price Sold: $95.00 Vintage Toy Pistols with Holster
Average Price Sold: $33.78
Returns: 0
Money Spent on New Inventory: $218.21
Sold via promoted listings: 13
Promoted Percentage: 61.90%
Average Days Listed: 226
Longest Listed: 1381
New items listed: 10Not a horrible week of sales, but was a little disappointed that they dropped from the previous two weeks. Just a bit above my average weekly for this year. Only about a 1/3 the sales I did this week last year. Onwards and upwards.
My best sale of the week was $95 for a set of cool toy pistols with holster from the 1950’s. Got these out of an online auction lot that included a bunch of vintage toys. The rest were average bread and butter sales mostly, about half Christmas items.
Spent almost a full day pricing out bids for an online auction that had some great items. I placed a lot of bids and ended up with 5 lots of great items including art deco light fixtures, mid century toys and a very cool B-1 Lemon Lime Soda tin advertising thermometer. I picked them up on Saturday and already listed 4 out of the 5 this week.
@Christiner – Good luck working with your daughter. Hope you have more luck than I did with my son. Her being interested in picking and dressing up the pictures is a good sign.
Sales Report for: 11/13/21
Total Items in Store: 1223
Items Sold: 22
Gross Sales (Not including shipping and tax): $1,041.07
Net Sales (After fees): $881.09
Cost of Items Sold: $91.86
COGS Percent 10.43%
Net Profit Margin: 75.81%
Highest Price Sold: $170.00 Lot of Stained Glass
Average Price Sold: $47.32
Returns: 0
Money Spent on New Inventory: $0.00
Sold via promoted listings: 11
Promoted Percentage: 50.00%
Average Days Listed: 336
Longest Listed: 1478
New items listed: 19Another nice week of sales. My biggest sale of the week was cool for me due to a connection to you, Jay and Ryanne. I sold some stained glass on Facebook Marketplace out of concern for breakage and the buyer drove all the way from Luray to pick it up. I asked if she was familiar with the cafe and she said she knows you guys and her daughter works at your cafe. I told her to say hi for me. She had nice things to say about the both of you and the cafe. I think the term “Movers and Shakers” was used. 🙂
Just under half of the sales were Christmas related items. Sold several more of the vintage ceramic display items, many of which are selling within a few days of posting. Two sales for for listings that had been up for over 1400 days. Had a few other cool sales including a set of 3 letters from 1888 on letterhead from an old NY brewery ($42), an old French cook book ($95), and a pair of my old Keen shoes ($45).
Coolest item was an antique chromolithograph print that I found behind another antique print. I was taking the picture apart to confirm the first was really an antique and the other print was there for backing. It was a landscape by a William Chandler and actually more attractive than the one on display. It was stained at the edges, but I found some good comps so posted it for $99 just to see. I took an offer of $56 as it had been up for over 2 years.
I’ve only had this happen a few times, but since when I list I’m never the cheapest option on any item I sell, I figure the drop shipper is either losing money or making way less than I am in profit. As long as the item sells and I’m happy with the price, I don’t fret about the details.
Sales Report for: 11/6/21
Total Items in Store: 1222
Items Sold: 17
Gross Sales (Not including shipping and tax): $1,669.00
Net Sales (After fees): $1,438.00
Cost of Items Sold: $140.00
COGS Percent 9.74%
Net Profit Margin: 77.77%
Highest Price Sold: $472.00 Antique Miner’s Lamp
Average Price Sold: $98.18
Returns: 1
Money Spent on New Inventory: $0.00
Sold via promoted listings: 9
Promoted Percentage: 52.94%
Average Days Listed: 284
Longest Listed: 880
New items listed: 19Blown away by the markers sale. Wow! I bet you danced a little jig when you packed those up to go.
So nice to have a strong week again. Best week of sales since January. Several >$100 sales pushed the average to almost $100. Quite a variety of sales from artwork to antique books.
Biggest sale was for an antique miner’s lamp that I put up for a rare-for-me auction and sold for $472. I’d been sitting on it for a while and watching similar sales as I wasn’t sure what to price it at since it was rare enough to have no recent comps. I decided to put it up for auction because a lot of the older lamps on auction had run up into big dollars. I purchased it at auction for $30. I think I might have been able to get more if I’d sat on it for fixed price, but feel that the $472 was a fair price for it. I had checked with a collector’s group on eBay to gauge interest and best offer I’d gotten from them was $360.
Half of the sales this week were of Christmas items. We picked up a large lot of vintage 1950’s ceramic Christmas figurines/planters/candle holders and those have been selling strong. Best sale from this lot was a Noel candle holder set that sold for $339. This one is definitely a BOLO. I wanted to call it “Sexy Noel Candle Holder” in the title but Cecile nixed that. Vintage Commodore Candy Cane Pixies Elves Noel Candle Holders W/ Box and Candles | eBay
Also had a rare Facebook Marketplace sale for $150. Sold a doll house that we originally purchased for my daughter when she was little. I had it up on eBay as well, but hadn’t gotten much attention there.
Sales Report for: 10/30/21
Total Items in Store: 1220
Items Sold: 16
Gross Sales (Not including shipping and tax): $653.07
Net Sales (After fees): $536.19
Cost of Items Sold: $49.14
COGS Percent 9.16%
Net Profit Margin: 74.58%
Highest Price Sold: $249.95 Briggs & Riley Suitcase
Average Price Sold: $40.82
Returns: 0
Money Spent on New Inventory: $170.00
Sold via promoted listings: 10
Promoted Percentage: 62.50%
Average Days Listed: 416.27
Longest Listed: 1165
New items listed: 9Late to the game this week. Mom is visiting for the week for the first time since the pandemic started so trying to enjoy the reunion.
Had one great sale last week with the Briggs & Riley suitcase selling for $249.95. This was a barely used suitcase that was part of a lot I got from the estate of a luggage store owner. I bought several Briggs & Riley and Tumi bags in a lot for an average of $18 each. This was the first I listed and it sold within 2 days. I’d never even heard of the brand before and had purchased the lot because of the Tumi.
50% of the sales this week were Christmas related, mostly ornaments but also sold a large vintage animated Santa for $50. Most of our listing focus is on Christmas inventory backlog. Cecile is the expert there and she researches and makes the listings while I take the photos and pack and ship. We get so much more done when we work as a team (duh…) She’s been off work recovering from her surgery so this has been a great time to dig into the death piles.
Went to one estate sale at the end of the week. Most things were overpriced as usual, but ened up buying quite a bit, mostly smalls that were unmarked in boxes. Scavenge of the week was either a vintage deck of marked playing cards from the 1940’s that should sell for $100 (paid $1) and a Vic Moran bubble bank that should go for $75 – $100 (paid $10). For me, the secret to estate sales is ignoring the obviously valuable items that are overpriced and finding the overlooked items. This is were the knowledge build up over time pays off. Some of those Vic Moran banks go for big bucks, as much as $1000 depending on the design. This particular one is more common Rainy Day theme so shouldn’t go for more than $100.
@cdils – There does seem to be a great advantage to developing a relationship with the estate sale organizers. I’ve frequently seen some of the long-time buyers get large discounts even on first day while I get the “we don’t discount on first day” speach.
Regarding the ornaments, I agree with Retro, having the proper size boxes and packing material is essential for those old glass ornaments. We sell a lot of Christmas and I keep several size squares – 6×6, 8×8, 10×10 and 12×12 – so that I have flexibility on shipping. I like the square boxes because they are sturdier. I ship a lot of single ornaments in the 6×6 with tissue wrapping paper as the padding. The larger ones are good for selling lots when you don’t have the original box. I always wrap glass ornaments first with a good layer of loosely wrapped tissue first as it is more forgiving, then bubble wrap or newspaper to fill out the box.
@retro-treasures-wv – Nice week of sales! Good to hear the reports of your continued progress.
I’ve had seven sales to Australia and New Zealand over the past 2 months and six are still in transit. Oldest is from mid-September. Interestingly, one that made it was shipped after one that hasn’t arrived yet. I’ve shipped them all via Pirateship/Ascendia.
Other countries are still getting through, with sporadic delays. In the same time I’ve shipped to Israel, Italy, Canada, Poland, Mexico, China, UK, Germany and Estonia (this last one seems to be lost).
As I look at this I’m realizing that I’m getting many more international sales than normal. Wonder what that’s about.
