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Posts
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12/9 – 12/15
Items In Store: 2,588
Items Sold: 27
Cost of Items Sold: $100
Total Sales: $1103.75
HIghest Price Sold: $220(Vintage Hardy Boys Books)
Average price $40.88
Returns: 0
Money spent on new inventory: $142
Items listed: 5Gut Sales Report
Well,finally felt like the busy season!Challenge of the week Finish entering all of the Custom Labels by the end of the year so that every item has a custom label at POS next year. Then iT is just a simple Lookup into my COGS table for the COG.
Scavenge of the week vintage Fisher Price toys stil in the original boxes from the early 1970’s! – the Action garage and 6 Millon dollar man Bionic Transport and Repair station!
I think the heart of the issue goes back to what Jay said about the artwork he had “We had a woman threaten us if we didnt return some 1950s artwork to her friend. She didnt say it was stolen…simply that her friend’s signature is on it so she owned it.”
I think this lady thought she owned it because her name was on it (a yearbook). I think if this happens to you, the thing to make clear is that the property was turned over to you at the legal sale of the item, it doesn’t matter who’s name is on it.
Mark
Zach,
Thank you for your kind words.
You got the story pretty much. Although, she didn’t insinuate I was dishonest, she said I was lying about nearly everything (says the person with no facts). She thought you don’t pay anything until an item sells, saying I was lying about the fees each month to get an item relisted.
But it wasn’t till we were setting up the details of the meet up that she started acting crazy. Up till then, she was playing the “Merry Christmas” card (like the guy who offered me $10 for a $50 item and put “Merry Christmas” in the offer – I believe in a Merry Christmas, buy don’t use it tool to play on people) , etc.
So, it was a hook and bait deal, not a straight forward bad request to start. To my analogy, it was like the person that had fallen and was asking for help. You go to help them and in the process they start kicking you.
Mark
Sonia,
I think you may be on to something there. Modern clothes are easy and straight forward. Who knows about vintage clothing – it is a lot more difficult.
I sell a combination of vintage and modern. For a while, I kept a spreadsheet of the questions that people asked me, and if it resulted in a sale. I found that not one question about measuring clothes ever turned into a sale for me. Even off the top of my head in the past, I would say only about 1 in 10 would buy after giving them measurements. It was so discouraging too. Taking all that time to find the item, measure it, answer their question, and then put the item back. Only to hear nothing back. So, unless I missed the chest measurement or some obvious thing, I just ignore measurement questions. In my opinion, they are a waste of time.
Mark
Yes, there is no more responding. Glad to get rid of crazy. I was so happy when I started dealing with normal polite people again!
I am trying to think of what the real lesson is here. My analogy is that I stopped to help someone who had fallen on the ground, but when I went to help them up, they kicked me. I don’t want to stop helping people, but I don’t want to get kicked either. They key is to know which people will likely kick you, and that is sometimes hard to tell. But even if I suspect the person will kick me, I would feel bad just letting them lay on the ground (figuratively speaking). I don’t know the answer to fixing this in the future. Hopefully this situation will not happen again. It was like a 1 in a million kind of thing where crazy met the improbable and then having to deal with that.
Mark S
I noticed that her city is one of the best cities in the Detroit area. So, I looked it up and she lives in a nearly 600K house and drives a nearly new vehicle. And she is quabbling about paying me what it cost me? Unbeliveable.
Mark
Retro Treasures,
Yes, good advice. I will ignore her and move on to the next things.
Mark
Jay,
The way I see it, you bought yourself a lifestyle? What is the value of that? Priceless! You are rich beyond compare.
But you also have to understand that you are in a different place than most people on the blog. We don’t live in cheap places and some of us have a lot of people that depend on us. We are still trying to build our businesses and some are probably just scraping by. Also, some were just brought up to think in business terms.
Don’t take it too personally, some people just think differently. All good people, they just have a different perspective.
Mark
Jay,
She is all over the board. She says that any normal person would give them back at cost. Which I did, and she already bought them and I gave them to her at a Local Pick up at McDonalds. She says I am lying about the cost. She says I am lying about the insertion fee each month. There is no talking to her. I told her to call around and see how much it is to have someone take pictures (which I said in another thread is about $20-$25 at full price) and list your item. Her response was that I probably listed them myself (which I didn’t, I paid to get them listed) . What makes the difference? Isn’t my time worth something? Apparently not. I am not going to mark this as shipped. Will that prevent them from leaving feedback?
If it were me, I would be so glad to get my yearbooks back, I would gladly pay that price.
Mark
Ok, this was by far my worst experience on ebay to date. This person thinks that I should have given them the items for free and are mad about how much they had to pay.
Mark
antarestar,
Doesn’t look like it is a scam. She was able to verify the address that I bought them at and the approximate time frame when they were sold.
This is either a case of buyers remorse from an estate sale, or her parents sold her stuff (she is young) without her consent at the estate sale.
Mark
Jay,
“That’s a good idea.” – Thanks Jay for the validation. It sounds like a good idea, but I am on the fence. But you think it is a good idea too, so maybe I am on to something. It will be an investment of some time and money, but it may well be worth it.
Mark
Inglewood,
I also have a photography area set up. I have a nice setup for small items and a setup for large – very large items. The problem is hours in a day. If I can contract this $15/hour work out, I can concentrate on the good stuff like sourcing, etc. I don’t mind taking pictures that much, but if I need up to 100 items done a week, doing that myself and listing them and managing the whole business is a bit much.
Mark
Jay,
“I personally dont think you need to hire a “photographer”. We just found a couple people who were good people. Taking photos for eBay is really simple. They use our equipment (an old iPhone) … The biggest skill is basically showing up and being able to be self-motivated.”
I agree Jay, I don’t need a “Photographer”. The problem is that when I had a person who took photos, they were not very good. They key is getting someone who can take photos and is good and self-motivated is the key. Good luck now trying to find them at a price you want to pay. I will have to spend a lot of time.
I had an idea. I am thinking of taking an introductory digital photography class at a local community college. I can learn some things, but also get to know the other students. I could then find out who would be good for my business and offer them a job. Not sure it would work out, but I am thinking about it. I think my chances of getting someone good for a little amount of invested time would be good.
Mark
T-Satt,
Are you kidding me. $2/item for a professional photographer and he steams the clothes?
I called a professional photographer I found on the web that was in my area and explained that I needed photos for items I was selling on ebay. He said that he couldn’t give me a exact price without seeing the items, but it would be in the $20-$25 per item range! I said right there, “That’s not going to work. Some of the items I sell only go for $20-$25”. He seemed unfazed and just kept on going with his speech.
How did you find this guy for $2/item?
Mark
