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[Mark S]

Retro,

Good to see you back open. That has to feel good. I know how I would feel if I were in your place. Your daughter is a real trooper in all this.

When you get back to full speed, I am sure you will kill it again.

Mark

[Mark S]

Jay,

Yes, manpower and storage are key. However, for a part time person, the manpower issue is a difficult one. You can hire out, but you have to make sure they do it correctly.  Hiring out for buying in my opinion is not a good idea. I am comfortable hiring out for photography, listing, and shipping. So, I am left doing the rest for now.  That tends to make me the bottleneck.  Also, you have to be ready to scale. If your processes are not good, you could scale a mess.

Mark

[Mark S]

09/26/21 – 10/02/21

Total Items In Store: 4015
Items Sold: 21
Total Sales: $ 824.85
Highest Price Sold: $ 165 (Vintage Jacket)
Average Price Sold: $ 39.28
Money Spent on New Inventory: $ 224.56
Number of items listed: 124

Gut Sales Report for the week: This week was opposite of last week. It started out with a bang, but then slowed down as the week went on.

Focus for the week (and this past summer): Trying to get all of my photographed items listed. Even after listing 124 items this week, I still have a backlog of 141 items that are ready to be listed. This backlog came from my push from the summer of 100 items photographed per week and I couldn’t keep up with the listing.

Scavenge of the week: I found a nice Vintage Jantzen Wool Heavy Sweater tucked away in the back of a closet for $3.50. Picked up some old golf clubs for cheap that will sell for a high price (unusual, because most old golf clubs don’t sell for much).

But my best find was some old tobacco advertizing and tobacco cardboard boxes for $20. These are from around the 1920’s, all unused. There are 3 different items with quantities adding up to about 100 total items. The potential on these is over $1600. Probably a slow seller, but I love getting items like this that will just keep selling over the years and eventually reach the potential sales amount. Just another good item in the pipeline as Jay says.

Thoughts for the week: I really feel like I am now better understanding how to scale my business. I think this is what a lot of us struggle with – we can do a few items well, but how do you scale that? Scaling the business is more difficult than it looks. This would be a good topic for discussion – How do you go about scaling your business? I have good help from a contractor and I am finding ways to do things much faster and more efficient than I have in the past. I am trying to scale my store to over 8000 items in the next 3 years. I will probably fall a little short, but I have a good plan in place and I am targeting that goal.

Mark S

 

[Mark S]

 

I also have all my listings on Bonanza.

[Mark S]

I use Wonderlister. Probably not as good as Sixbit, but it is much cheaper. I pay $10 a month and could not do without it. It has all of my ebay data since March 2017.  I use it for my weekly, monthly and annual numbers. I also use it for my taxes. I have also written custom SQL server code for the database that helps.

Mark

[Mark S]

Here are the comments I just got from someone who bought a nice typewriter from me just a little while ago for a good price:

“Despite the size and weight of this typewriter, it arrived super fast, wrapped in bubble wrap, and in excellent condition. It was so beautiful I cried. I know, completely silly, but I’d been shopping for a typewriter for months and this was exactly what I wanted. And my kids are Fascinated by this machine that uses no electricity!”

Mark

[Mark S]

Lukastreasuretrove,

Yes, that is what I am trying to avoid with the typewriters.

Not sure if you found this site or not but it is great to find out the year of your typewriter and more information. You just need the brand, model, and seriel number. The site is  https://typewriterdatabase.com

It has a lot of great information.

Mark

[Mark S]

Steve,

As you were showing the train case that sold, I could hear a train in the background. If that wasn’t planned, it was sure good timing!

Mark

[Mark S]

Craig rex,

Sounds like our stores are going in the same direction. Your store appears to create more revenue per item than mine.

I would say vintage is my favorite category. When I found out VCR’s were no longer being made, I started buying them all up. That has served me well  because the VCR’s do sell with a good STR and ASP. Like J & R, I try to avoid the typewriters because of the work, size and potential issues. But this one was in such good condtion and the going price is very high, so I picked it up.

Mark

 

[Mark S]

09/19/21 – 09/25/21

Total Items In Store: 3912
Items Sold: 26
Total Sales: $ 857.88
Highest Price Sold: $ 95 (Vintage Helmet)
Average Price Sold: $ 33.00
Money Spent on New Inventory: $ 277.28
Number of items listed: 40

Gut Sales Report for the week: It started out slow, but on Wednesday things blew up in a good way and it started feeling like the busy season.

Focus for the week (and this past summer): Trying to get the house ready for an appraisal, so working on cleaning up everything.

Scavenge of the week: I found a 1952 typewriter for $25 that is immaculate. I will list it high because of the condition. I also picked up a DVD\VCR combo barely used in the original box. These in the original box new go for very high prices since they are not made anymore. Mine is the next best thing so I will list it high.

Thoughts for the week: Sales continue to come in as I list and even when I don’t list. The total dollar amount of items in my store has grown about 25% since June. The number of items in my store has grown about 20% since June. That feels great to know that I am making a significant difference in my store. Also, that would indicate my ASP is rising also. My projections for 4th quarter and next year are amazing. This is a real exciting time for my store.

Mark S

 

[Mark S]

Retro,

Glad you are doing better and feeling better.

That is good financial planning that you had in place. I have a similar setup at my work to that pays 65% of my salary for up to 6 months. I don’t like to pay the premiums, but I know it is the right thing to do so that if something comes along, it doesn’t wipe you out.

My prayers are with you. Take care and get well soon.

Mark

[Mark S]

08/29/21 – 09/04/21

Total Items In Store: 3882
Items Sold: 13
Total Sales: $ 570.93
Highest Price Sold: $ 100 (Vintage Electronics)
Average Price Sold: $ 43.92
Money Spent on New Inventory: $ 125.58
Number of items listed: 66

Gut Sales Report for the week: Seemed a bit slow to me, but I had so higher ASP items sell, so the total sales were higher than I thought they would be.

Focus for the week (and this past summer): This was the last week of the summer trying to get 100 items a week listed because my summer help goes back to school this week.

Scavenge of the week: I found an older digital camera for cheap that looks like it may sell for decent money.

Thoughts for the week: Going through podcast withdrawal. Can anyone relate? However, still having the forum here helps. I am very happy with the photos and listing my help and I have been able to do this summer.
I have nearly 500 more listings now than I did in May.

Mark S

[Mark S]

Jay and Ryanne,

I have listened to all 527 podcasts and have enjoyed them all.

But, most importantly, you gave me the confidence to start my ebay business 8 years ago and I have never looked back. I would not be where I am now without you guys.

Thanks for all your help all these years.

Mark

[Mark S]

So Cal Joe,

This was my thought, why would I stop selling on ebay? I already did all the work. If you don’t want to be that active, then just quit listing like you did. You will still make money, just not as much.

I think it will be a long time before I get to the place of not listing. But, it is good to know that option is out there if I am forced to do it in the future.

Mark

[Mark S]

Retro,

I would love to see you make a video of you doing this. It is hard for me to picture this in my mind.

Mark

[Author]

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