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Retro,
Were the 167 new listings killer items or do you think just the fact of listing them gave you the push? Usually with me it is the latter, but sometimes it is a combination.
Mark
libby,
Some of the teeth on those tape guns can be sharp. One that I have is as sharp as a razor (or so it seems). I have stopped using that one.
Now I just have to watch out for paper cuts with all that paper I am handling, lol.
Mark
Mike,
lol! Leave it to government regulations to ruin things.
I am going to pay attention to the smaller things that can trip us up too. I think I have covered the big ones. Jay – I rearranged the falling bins, so I am now good.
Mark
2019-12-29 – 2020-01-04
Total Items In Store: 3369
Items Sold: 16
Cost of Items Sold: $ 60
Total Sales: $ 594.27
Highest Price Sold: $ 75 (VCR)
Average Price Sold: $ 37.14
Money Spent on New Inventory: $ 21.19
Number of items listed: 17Gut Sales Report for the week: Slower sales, but that was expected.
Challenge of the week: I still have a lot of items I need to process and list.
Scavenge of the week: Nothing
Safety Update: After all the talk about keeping my inventory safe, I had an accident. Well, it wasn’t what was discussed: Containers falling on your foot, books falling on your head, containers falling on you. No, I went to measure a bag in a container and the metal retractable tape measure retracted and sliced my finger. Not sure what the morale of this story is, either “You can never be too safe” or “No matter what you do, accidents can happen”. I guess I prefer to say that the safer you are, the less likely it is that accidents will happen.
Mark S
2019-12-22 – 2019-12-28
Total Items In Store: 3368
Items Sold: 19
Cost of Items Sold: $ 60
Total Sales: $ 627.36
Highest Price Sold: $ 50 (CD Changer)
Average Price Sold: $ 33.02
Money Spent on New Inventory: $ 60.38
Number of items listed: 20Gut Sales Report for the week: Slower sales, but that was expected.
Challenge of the week: I still have a lot of items I need to process and list.
Scavenge of the week: Found a Sony 200 disk CD player at the Salvation Army. Yes, Salvation Army prices are getting too high, but I can still find good deals. The one I go to has different colored stickers. Each week they have a 50% off on a certain color of sticker. This helps move out the older inventory that has been sitting too long. Not sure how many different colors there are, maybe 5-6. So, inventory is moved out in about 6 weeks. This is their way of throwing high prices at the wall to see what sticks. I like the independent thrift store better – much better prices but very limited inventory.
Mark S
Jay,
These are my lighter 18 gallon containers and don’t weigh nearly as much.
But true, I do need to do something to make those safer. In the short run, just moving the heavier ones to the bottom and removing the topmost container should do it.
Mark
Jay,
Also, 40 pounds dropped from 6 feet could do some damage on your foot.
40 pounds is also probably the limit on my containers.
Mark
Jay,
My containers are not on shelves. They are just free standing.
I have thought about putting them on shelves, but the shelves would waste too much space. I was thinking of using PVC piping, but that would be a lot time and work.
Mark
Aperture & hausfrau
No, I hadn’t heard about the Shropshire cheese warehouse disaster. Wow, that is a great video, but I would hate to be that fork lift driver.
I also had a similar thing happen (very small scale) in my warehouse. I accidently knocked over a stack of 18 gallon containers and the whole row of 4 stacks, 6 high fell over. Maybe I need a hard hat too?!
Mark
2019-12-15 – 2019-12-21
Total Items In Store: 3367
Items Sold: 28
Cost of Items Sold: $ 120
Total Sales: $ 1260.1
Highest Price Sold: $ 225 (Vintage Baseball Equipment)
Average Price Sold: $ 45.00
Money Spent on New Inventory: $ 89.51
Number of items listed: 9Gut Sales Report for the week: Great week of sales that felt like the busy season for sure. I made a lot of offers that turned into sales. Shipping started to get annoying, so I knew I was doing well.
Challenge of the week: I still have a lot of items I need to process and list.
Scavenge of the week: Picked up a vintage Made in USA like new Varsity Jacket – I really like it.
Mark S
Julie,
My sales are about the same year over year.
However, I have 800 more listings. My processes and my items have been much better this year. I use promoted listings on about 90% of my items. So, my STR is way down, but sales are just a little better than last year.
It is hard to pin it on any one thing. This is what I think the main factors are (in no partciular order):
1. Competition from other sites like Poshmark, Etsy, Mercari, Amazon, etc
2. Ebay’s focus on new items (now 81% of all items). I think this may hit hardest this time of year.
3. Ebay’s technical issues that have caused a number of issues this year.
4. The popularity of thrift stores. More people are buying there instead of online.
5. Other unknown factors.
Most of these things I can’t control. The best I can do is buy great items and sell for a competitive price and hope it all works out in the end.
Mark
Sharyn,
Yes, 10 hours is long. But I was going to do hands on taking pictures of items and then showing them how to list. I wanted it to give them everything they need to get started. I would charge for it too, so that would make it worth it. I may want to consider only 4 weeks for 1.5 hours. Still, there is a lot to cover and they will have lots of questions.
Mark
2019-12-01 – 2019-12-07
Total Items In Store: 3391
Items Sold: 24
Cost of Items Sold: $ 80
Total Sales: $ 797.82
Highest Price Sold: $ 50 (Chess Set)
Average Price Sold: $ 33.24
Money Spent on New Inventory: $ 33.35
Number of items listed: 27Gut Sales Report for the week: Strange selling pattern. Sold 14 items Sunday and Monday and then only 10 for the rest of the week.
Challenge of the week: I still have a lot of items I need to process and list.
Scavenge of the week: Nothing much.
Mark S
2019-11-24 – 2019-11-30
Total Items In Store: 3388
Items Sold: 25
Cost of Items Sold: $ 70
Total Sales: $ 720.10
Highest Price Sold: $ 60 (Woolrich Jacket)
Average Price Sold: $ 28.80
Money Spent on New Inventory: $21
Number of items listed: 33Gut Sales Report for the week: Good consistent sales, but nothing great. Very low
ASP for me this week.Challenge of the week: I still have a lot of items I need to process and list.
Scavenge of the week: Nothing this week came remotely close to the Red Line Hot
wheels cars I got last week.Missing Item Detective Work: I have had to do some Missing Item Detective Work in the past. It is sometimes like solving a crime. It is worth it though, because I have been successful the majority of the time.
Mark S
Joe,
Yes, the store didn’t know what they had. They were just old cars to them. $25 is a high price in that store. I get great items for cheap there. That is my go to store and I go there about twice a week. I think that is how I caught these at just the right time. The manager knows me and knows that I resell. They don’t have a problem with that – they just see it as more money for them. I think also that that is how they should look at it. Unless they want to start researching everything.
I’m sure I will find more Red Lines, but not this many and in great condition at this price. I will count this as a great find due to my persistence in going to this store. But I also realize it will probably never happen again. But, I will always find great items there.
Mark
