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Good podcast this week. Happy New Year to all! Glad my post about the job title generated some interest. BTW, the job title isn’t on the actual passport, just part of the application. They must be keeping statistics.
Had a very slow week of sales and a very unproductive time with eBay. Lots of computer issues really slowed me down. Upgraded my Internet connectivity and purchases a MESH Wi-Fi system. We have Verizon FIOS and the performance has really gone down over the past year. I assume because of everyone in the neighborhood working from home, and staying in for entertainment. Anyway, called VZ and they suggested a speed boost and new router would do the trick. Upgraded to their 200 Mbps tier and their latest router. The router still didn’t help so bought a TP-Link M5 MESH system. Wow, what a difference. Instead of getting 10 – 20 Mbps at my desk, I’m now getting over 100 Mbps consistently.
Then, my old monitor blew out and in the process of looking for a new one decided to upgrade my computer, too. Got a good deal on an end of year special at Costco. Finally finished setting everything up today, so looking to get back to work.
As I mentioned, very slow sales week and the year ended with a whisper, but the overall year was great. Overall, sales were up about 30% over 2019. Of all my delayed packages I’ve only had to give two refunds so far. Most have finally arrived and one of the refunds repaid after his package arrived. Got one negative feedback on a package that still hasn’t shown any tracking data. From what I read, if there is origin scan I’m out of luck on getting the feedback removed, but the glowing feedback from others has already pushed it down the page and hopefully overshadows the negative.
Week Ending 1/2/21
Total Items in Store: 1136
Items Sold: 22
Gross Sales: $541.89
Net Sales (after fees, shipping, etc.) $434.10
Cost of Items Sold: $27.47
COGS Percent 6.33%
Highest Price Sold: $65.50 Antique Photo
Average Price Sold: $19.73
Returns: 1
Money Spent on New Inventory: $0.00
Sold via promoted listings: 16
Promoted Percentage: 72.73%
Average Days Listed: 575
Longest Listed: 1351
New items listed: 0I keep away from anything that looks like private label on Amazon. Those products all remind me of the days when “Made in Japan” meant cheap, throw-away junk. For those type of items I now find myself going back to stores I abandoned years ago due to Amazon: Bed, Bath & Beyond, Target, etc. because they at least curate their products.
Definitely has been a more stressful week than I’ve been used to since going full time on eBay. I’ve been obsessing about the delayed packages. Still have quite a few that are missing entirely, but most of the others are at least moving now, though slowly. So far, I’ve only had 2 refunds that I’ve had to process, but expecting at least a few more before this is done. The worst is the items that never even got an origin scan. Insurance won’t cover those if the never show up in the system.
Had a decent week on eBay with one large $500 sale and another $150, both antique ornaments. That really pulled us up from what would have been a mediocre week. Over half of the sales for the week were Christmas decor or ornaments.
Really need to get back on the horse for listing.
Week Ending 12/26/20
Total Items in Store: 1158
Items Sold: 26
Gross Sales: $1,593.63
Net Sales (after fees, shipping, etc.) $1,114.64
Cost of Items Sold: $85.00
COGS Percent 7.63%
Highest Price Sold: $500.00 Antique Ornament
Average Price Sold: $42.87
Returns: 0
Money Spent on New Inventory: $0.00
Sold via promoted listings: 15
Promoted Percentage: 57.69%
Average Days Listed: 312
Longest Listed: 1154
New items listed: 8I also was thinking about a dog cart. One of my favorite lunches when I worked in downtown DC was to run out to Kay’s dog cart at the curb for a chili dog. I agree though that the smell could turn some people off.
@Almasty – I feel your pain. The INRs are starting to come in quickly now. Hoping I can persuade them to hold on a little longer. I’ve seen a lot of packages break lose since Monday, though too many are still AWL. Good luck!
The whole of our basement is dedicated to eBay, so probably about 1000 square feet, but very little is allocated for the art. We have 33 pieces for sale currently. Have some wider shelves we store the framed items on. Most of it, fortunately, is unframed and we have it stacked all on one shelf.
@Jay – Yes! We have a lot of it on our store now, in part due to hearing you guys talk about your sales. Long tail items, but when they sell, woo hoo!
Oh, the shipping. Lots of packages that haven’t even gotten origin scans after more than a week. I have fewer now though, so some have broken through the log jam. The one package that I joked about getting frequent flyer miles due to its circuitous route finally arrived. Doesn’t make a lot of sense. I dropped a large stack of packages at the PO on the 12th an none got origin scans, but about half have now shown as delivered while others still show no origin scan. ???? I have one refund I’m expecting to hit from a package I sent to South Africa in October. Buyer has been patient mostly, but I think they’ve hit their limit. I told them to open a case if they want a refund. And I had one non-fragile item break in shipping. Must have really been slammed hard. I’ve only had about 5 packages ever damaged (knocks on wood), so a rarity for me.
At least things are selling. Keeping my fingers crossed that no one gets too upset. Had a great sale of a late 1800’s original Currier & Ives print. Pretty cool depiction of America personified as Columbia. Sold for an offer of $600 on an asking of $1000. That really saved the week. I’m tracking at about the same level for this December as last year, but without a few big dollar sales would be down. Bid on two auctions this week. Most interesting purchase is a Knucklehead ventriloquist doll from the 1950’s.
Week Ending 12/19/20
Total Items in Store: 1176
Items Sold: 30
Gross Sales: $2,142.84
Net Sales (after fees, shipping, etc.) $1,549.33
Cost of Items Sold: $103.84
COGS Percent 6.70%
Highest Price Sold: $600.00 Currier & Ives Print
Average Price Sold: $51.64
Returns: 0
Money Spent on New Inventory: $364.50
Sold via promoted listings: 15
Promoted Percentage: 50.00%
Average Days Listed: 220
Longest Listed: 851
New items listed: 4@My Cottage – Thanks for posting this. I had not seen this and it was very helpful. I’ll have to book mark this page.
I mentioned this in the weekly show thread, but worth mentioning again here. Buyer opened a case for item not received. I requested that the USPS check on the package and that is in process. Buyer checks in again a few days later and requests that I refund. I called eBay and my rep put a 10 day hold on the INR case since the package had a recent tracking update and I’d been in communication with the buyer. This basically holds the automatic refund for 10 days to allow more time for the package to arrive.
Not sure what the outcome would have been for one of my others that are just lost in the flow with no tracking updates.
Good luck!
I was feeling pretty smug at the beginning of the week as I’d had only 2 packages that had problems. I now have 14 packages with transit problems, most with little or no tracking data. All but two shipped last week. Most concerned about a handful that didn’t get their check-in scan for several days after I dropped them and had the origin scan at the place I dropped them. I guess they sat in a corner for a few days. So far only one customer has asked for a refund and she is willing to wait a few more days after I explained the situation. I also called eBay and they put a 10-day hold on the refund request since the package had a tracking update as of yesterday.
This week has been very busy and just now getting to post my numbers. Last week was a little below holiday average. Still a good number of packages, but I seem to be selling a lot of my lower dollar inventory. Only averaged $26 per package when my average is about $43. Overall sales as of the 15th were on par with last year.
Week Ending 12/12/20
Total Items in Store: 1204
Items Sold: 34
Gross Sales: $1,474.57
Net Sales (after fees, shipping, etc.) $898.64
Cost of Items Sold: $123.00
COGS Percent 13.69%
Highest Price Sold: $125.00 Antique Stanley Plane
Average Price Sold: $26.43
Returns: 1
Money Spent on New Inventory: $0.00
Sold via promoted listings: 21
Promoted Percentage: 61.76%
Average Days Listed: 270
Longest Listed: 1481
New items listed: 17My USPS carrier mentioned a few years ago that he gets “credit” for packages and he encouraged me to let him pick them up rather than deliver them to the office. That said, he is often away, and the subs frequently don’t pick up my outgoing packages (happens at least once a month). Because of that, I will regularly take large numbers to the local PO to ensure they all get picked up and scanned.
Can we get frequent flyer miles for a package? A package I sent out priority for shipment from Maryland to Road Island has taken the long route. It arrived in RI in two days, but has since detoured through CT, NJ, KS and now NE. Seven days into its 2 day journey and it keeps getting farther away. Waiting for a call back from USPS, though not a lot of expectations at this point. At least the customer is being reasonable and doesn’t blame me, yet. I had made it through the season relatively unscathed in the shipping hell and was feeling lucky.
I bet. It’s like suddenly doubling your box inventory. I have to assume that the shipping queen, Ryanne, already knew this trick.
I had a similar situation. I blocked a buyer who persisted in sending me low ball offers for the same item over several months. He had sent me one email also asking what price I would accept, to which I’d replied, then a few more low ball offers. I blocked him and then got a new message from him asking me why I’d blocked him. Was so surprised that he was still able to contact me. Now I know why. Thanks
