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@Jay – I still don’t have Etsy figured out. No doubt that it contributes a significant portion to my sales, but it just isn’t as consistent as eBay. Perhaps if I went all in with the cutesy backgrounds and fancy packaging I would do more. Maybe that is what Etsy buyers are looking for. I have gone weeks with hardly any sales, only to follow with a big week. They have a much smaller customer base, so it makes some sense. Still, it accounts for about 20% of my sales this year for a marginal increase in weekly effort. And their fees are less than eBay.
Week Ending 11/11/23
Gross Sales(w/o shipping $ tax): $837.55 (eBay $538 / Etsy $300)
Net Sales: $696.64
Total Items Sold: 14 (eBay 6 / Etsy 8)
Total Items in eBay Store: 1196 / Etsy: 564
Cost of Items Sold: $94.77
COGS Percent: 13.60%
Highest Price Sold: $299.95 LOTR 1962
Average Price Sold: $59.83
Returns: 0
Money Spent on New Inventory: $0.00
Sold via promoted listings: 4Average Days Listed: 608
Longest Listed: 1911
New items listed: 16
New Listings Value $732.20Not a bad week overall but still not quite what I was used to for this time of year. Etsy had been slow lately but picked up this week with a lot of Christmas decorations selling.
I’ve been going through and relisting a lot of stale inventory over the last 3 weeks and it does seem to be making a difference. Five of my sales from this week were relists. I’ve also been re-examining my pricing on older items as I relist and 3 of my sales were of these repriced items. I’ve done relists in the past several times, but this is the first time I’ve actually noticed a consequential boost from it. I’ve also been adding more items to Etsy as I’ve been relisting.
My big sale was a 1962 Fellowship of the Ring from the Lord of the Rings series for $299.95. I wrote more about that in the sale of the week thread.
@Retro – Those have got to be the best “time away” numbers ever. Incredible. Congrats.
I had a few interesting sales last week. The best sale of the week was another of the Lord of the Rings volumes that I purchased at auction back in August: 1st edition, 12th printing of The Fellowship of the Ring for $299.95. I paid $235 for a lot of about 100 books because it had 4 LOTR early editions, however, I only saw the spines and had no idea how early. I took a gamble and got lucky. So far I’ve sold 8 books for a total $865.
I also got a lesson in pricing as I had 3 long tail items sell after reducing their price significantly and finally accepting best offers. All three items were antiques that I originally shot high on price. A pewter tankard from 1820, original price $249 – final price $100, 3 almanacks from the early 1800s, original price $200 – final price $80, and an early reproduction of a Currier & Ives print (probably from about 1910), original price $150 – final price $74.95. These items had been in my store for 2 – 4 years and I had sent offers to watchers for as much as 40% off with no bites. Earlier this month I lowered the prices on all 3 significantly to see if that was what was holding the watchers from buying. Sometimes I have to accept that my original prices may have been overexuberant.
In the past I would have just left their price alone and moved on, but it feels like some fundamental change is taking place on eBay, at least temporarily, and I need to modify my strategies.
these are the hidden things that I love about MaxSold.
@Sharyn – Exactly! I always get a big kick out of finding something in the lot that wasn’t highlighted. I ended up with a gold watch one time and another time a box full of vintage fountain pens.Week Ending 11/4/23
Gross Sales(w/o shipping $ tax): $519.75 (eBay $220 / Etsy $300)
Net Sales: $468.89
Total Items Sold: 9 (eBay 8 \ Etsy 1)
Total Items in eBay Store: 1198 \ Etsy: 565
Cost of Items Sold: $67.83
COGS Percent: 14.47%Highest Price Sold: $299.95 Train Set
Average Price Sold: $57.75
Returns: 0
Money Spent on New Inventory: $125.08
Sold via promoted listings: 4Average Days Listed: 326
Longest Listed: 962
New items listed: 9
New Listings Value $414.55Etsy sale for $300 really saved what was otherwise a bad week. The sale was for a 1939 O-scale American Flyer train set. I only had this up a few weeks. Bought from an online auction for $45. I was surprised to have gotten this one as these usually go to the collectors.
I mentioned last week that I ended and relisted a good portion of my old inventory to see if that generates any sales. 2 of the sales from last week were from the relisted items. Both low-dollar sales. It does seem to have increased the traffic to my store according to eBay metrics, but it isn’t resulting in a lot of additional sales.
@craig-rex – Thanks for sharing your adventure. Always good to get out of your comfort zone. Buying in person can be exhilarating. I love estate sales, even though they aren’t the ideal place to find deals. I get a kick out of finding something in the jumble that they estate company overlooked. My biggest profit ever, and one that is still selling years later, was a box of ephemera that I picked up at one (latest sale this week was 3 worm-eaten 200 year old almanacks for $80). There’s almost always something. I don’t go as often as I used to, but still like getting out there.
@craig-rex – This was an online auction by Maxsold. I like those because I can research in advance and have a general idea of what I can sell something for and consequently have a target max bid in advance. I generally wait until there is 5 minutes or less left in the time before placing my bid so that I don’t alert other bidders that something may be more valuable. I wasted a lot of time reviewing the lots for this one, going through many of the lots book by book. That usually works well for me, but not this time. I’ve mentioned before that I usually won’t pay more than 20% of what I think I can reasonably sell an item for, many of these lots went to the 50% level with a few much higher. That’s too little margin and too much risk for my business.
I’ve only been to a live auction once. I did OK, but spent too much on many lots because I didn’t have time to properly research in advance and got caught up in the moment. Much prefer the online experience.
I tried my luck at another auction this past week. It was part 2 for an estate I bid on a few weeks ago. The guy seems to have been an amateur historian and had lots of very cool antiques, musical instruments, books and artwork. Unfortunately, the bidding for the items was crazy and most of the items I was interested in went for way more than what I was willing to pay. The guy had hundreds of books on topics from the Civil War, Woodworking, militaria and firearms. Many of the books were valued at$200+ and many of the lots went for what I estimated was eBay retail value. Only thing I can figure is that he had friends or acquaintances that had similar interests and came out in force to bid. I usually find I’m bidding against one or two people on auctions like this, but I was up against multiple deep pocket bidders for these.
I still managed a few good lots that were overlooked. My best find is a 1950’s Conn wood clarinet. Seems relatively rare will only 1 sale I could find and no actives. I paid $32 for it and hopefully it will go for $350+.
I also squeeked out on box of books, novels rather than collectibles, and got several first editions that should sell nicely, and I bought a kitchen drawer lot full of antique knives.
We should start a thread to share pictures of the mess we’re working in. My basement is starting to look every bit the hoarder house after the last few auctions I’ve won. And, I’m planning to bid on a big auction tonight. I’m just a chipmunk storing up for winter. 🙂
Week Ending 10/28/23
Gross Sales(w/o shipping $ tax): $571.60 (eBay: $472 / Etsy: 124.95)
Net Sales: $472.81
Total Items Sold: 14 (eBay: 13 / Etsy 1)
Total Items in eBay Store: 1204 / Etsy Store: 565
Cost of Items Sold: $14.75
Highest Price Sold: $124.95 (Sony Discman)
Average Price Sold: $40.83
Returns: 1
Money Spent on New Inventory: $0.00
Sold via promoted listings: 2Average Days Listed: 451
Longest Listed: 2058
New items listed: 9
New Listings Value $379.55Average week of sales made better because a lot of what sold this week was stuff I got for free originally, so my cost of goods was only about 3%. Big contrast to last week’s 31%. So far this year I’m averaging about 15%.
I feel like I’m running a race with last year and we’re neck and neck 30 yards from the finish line. Only about $2000 ahead of last year this time. The final stretch should be a nail biter.
My big sale for the week was a cool Sony Discman that I got in a box lot of electronics. Big heavy thing. Hard to imagine people walking around with one of those.
My big sale was really a lot of ornaments for $160 sold to my repeat buyer of the last several months. I lotted up 5 of my current listings for her and gave her a 40% discount. Not a problem since my COGs were only about $10. Same buyer has now spent $924 with me this year.
I decided to try two things this week that have been discussed on the board and see if it makes any difference. I ended and relisted all of my Christmas listings that were over 1 year old – approx. 100 listings total. I then upped my promoted listings fee on these items to 10% from 5% that I normally use. I will be interested to see if either of these has an affect. Of course, one old stagnant listing sold almost immediately…. for $11.95. That listing had been up for almost 3 years. I’ll let you know if it makes any difference.
Spent a fair amount this last week at auctions. Bidding was crazy fierce and I ended up losing the majority of the items I was bidding on, but still ended up with a fair amount of cool items. My favorite is a Depression-era lamp made by a company named Fairies. Couldn’t find anything like it prior to bidding and stuck my neck out with a $60 bid because I thought something so cool had to be worth a bit. Have since found 4 on sale ranging in price from $850 – $2400. I’m going to have to re-wire it but will hopefully have something special when I’m done.
My sale of the week was one of my largest sales ever. An antique bronze bust of a smiling baby. This link is for the ended listing is from eBay but actually sold via Etsy for $1600.
1894 Bronze Bust of Mathilde Smiling Child Isidore De Rudder Signed Belgium | eBay
Sent off to Canada.
@Craig-rex – Learn something new… Never heard of anyone releasing music on a USB like that. Cool sale!
