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2018-11-25 – 2018-12-01
Total Items In Store: 2572
Items Sold: 19
Cost of Items Sold: $60
Total Sales: $669.12
Highest Price Sold: $80
Average Price Sold: $35.22
# Items Listed: 34
Money Spent on
New Inventory: $68Gut Sales Report for the week: Just average sales this week, it doesn’t feel like the busy season.
Challenge of the week: Trying to crank out the listings. I only did 34, but I have 38 more that were very close to getting listed.
Scavenge of the week: Some nice mens suits.
ebay tape burn rate: Here is a fact (my experience) that may be useless to most, but might be helpful to some. I bought 72 rolls of ebay tape back on 4/1/17. I still have 15 rolls left. So, I got a report from Wonderlister on how many items I have sold since I bought the tape and how many rolls I have used. 1544 items sold, 57 rolls used. The equates to right around 27 packages per roll. Now, I also use clear tape for taping things inside the package such as tissue paper. I also use clear tape on the outside for large packages so that the ebay clown tape doesn’t look ridiculous. So here is how this helps me: I plan to sell about 1400 items next year (using my forecasting
spreadsheet), so that means I will need about 52 rolls of ebay tape for 2019. So, on Jan. 1st, I will use my coupon to buy the 72 rolls (cheaper per roll than 36) of ebay tape.Mark S
Jay,
I have made good profit from the #20 rule. That’s is how I got all the Googi sweaters a while back.
20 He who dives under the table today lives to profit tomorrow.
Mark
Mike in Atlanta,
Any update on how the Wonder Lister eBay to Etsy interface is going or will be released?
I think this will be a big positive impact on my business and can’t wait till it is done.
Mark
11/18/18 – 11/24/18
Items In Store: 2,553
Items Sold: 26 – eBay 25 + 1 on Bonanza
Cost of Items Sold: $150
Total Sales: $1068
HIghest Price Sold: $200 (Vintage WWII Holtster)
Average price $41.09
Returns: 0
Money spent on new inventory: $30
Items listed: 30Sales ReportGood week of selling, slow week for buying. Didn’t do much because of Thanksgiving week – had 13 people total at my house for Thanksgiving.
Challenge of the week
Still working on my basement. I was able to clear space for about 500 more items.Mark
2018-11-11 – 2018-11-17
Total Items In Store: 2545
Items Sold: 21
Cost of Items Sold: $60.00
Total Sales: $599.26
Highest Price Sold: $99.99 (Vintage Matchbox)
Average Price Sold: $28.54
$ Listed $103.97
# Items Listed: 3
ASP $ Listed $34.66
Money Spent on New Inventory: $50Didn’t have much time to list. My mom is having health issues and that took up a lot of time this week. Also, went hunting this past weekend. I did manage to pick up 1 nice item while hunting up North Michigan.
Gut Sales Report for the week: Started out slow, but ended strong. Feels like the busy season is starting.
Challenge of the week: Still trying to get my basement cleaned up and organized the way I want it to be.
Scavenge of the week: Union Made in USA Burberrys’ Mens Suit
Game of the week\season: Michigan – Go Blue! Expecting a victory down in Columbus this coming weekend.
Mark S
bcfol440,
My experience with make up is that the right kind at the right price sells fast and consistently. The quantity set didn’t seem to matter. If it is what people want, it will sell. Summer seemed to be better for Make up sales.
Mark
2018-11-04 – 2018-11-10
Total Items
In Store: 2559
Items Sold: 16
COGS : $60
Total Sales: $627.18
Highest Price
Sold: $159.99 (Ski Boots)
# Items Listed 21
$ Listed $699.79
ASP $ Listed $33.32
Money Spent on
New Inventory: $103Gut Sales Report for the week: October was about average. November is slower than normal, but still going ok.
Challenge of the week: I am trying to get my basement cleaned up and organized the way I want it to be.
What I learned: You have to get there early to those estate sales that have the stuff you want. I wanted to go to a sale on Saturday that started at 9AM. I didn’t want to get up early, so I didn’t set the alarm. I woke up early and decided to go get a number for the sale. I got there around 8AM and got #10. I went to eat and came back a little before 9AM and was part of the first group in. I got some cool stuff that included a nice pennant. On my way out, this lady said she wanted the pennant and asked if I really needed it. I really liked it and will probably keep it for myself, so I said yes. The morale of the story was that she should have got there when I did and she would have got the pennant.
For Troy: Sending up some prayers for Veronica.
Mark S
cmtella,
How did you spend the $50,000? Did you just go to a few high end auctions and load up? I think how you spent the $50,000 also makes a difference. What if you spent $50K and it was worth $125k and that sold in 2 years? I think the quality of the items you bought is a big factor here and how much time it takes to find them.
The Rub The time it takes to find the $300+ items and how much you have to pay Versus the Return and how long you have to wait for that return – that is the rub.
My experience In my experience at most auctions, you are paying 25% – 50% or more for items in the $200 – $500 range. Most small auctions only have a few items worth over $300 that you can get for 50% or less. So small auctions can become a time sucker in this endeavor. If you go to a higher end auction, you see many more items in the $300+ range, but you are also usually paying 50% +.
The Unicorn we want – So, we are all looking for that one place you can go all the time and get many $300+ items for 25% or less with not a great amount of time invested and then the item sells in 1 year or less. Now the question is: Where is that place? When I find it, I won’t tell you because then it will be gone! And so we all keep looking for our Unicorn!
The Unicorns I have found I have been able to find the Unicorn in a few instances, but these Unicorns were just a one off sale or event and then they are gone. Sometimes I try to see if I can replicate the circumstances of the sale, and that does help, but it is no guarantee that I will find it again.
Mark
Retro,
PVC piping is actually very strong. Tensile Strength will tell you how much it will hold. As you can see below, if I use Schedule 50 .75″ pipe, it will hold 362 pounds before it starts to bend. It is not the addition of the weight of each bin, it is just each bin because each Bin will have its own shelf. See the chart below:
Also, I have over 200 containers. If I build that many wood structures and then decide to move to an off-site location (very probable), the moving of the wood shelfs wood (pun) be very difficult. PVC pipe just comes apart to a manageable size and you just move it easily.
Mark
2018-10-28 – 2018-11-03
Total Items In Store: 2559
Items Sold: 16
Cost of Items Sold: $60
Total Sales: $658.15
Highest Price Sold: $106.25 – Vintage Hat
Average Price Sold: $41.13
Buyer Shipping $ $158.48
Avg. Daily $ $94.02— Items Listed
# Items Listed 36
$ Listed $1616.66
ASP $ Listed $44.91
Money Spent on New Inventory: $126Gut Sales Report for the week: Sales were about the same as the last 2 weeks. I am starting to list more. Looking to hit 3000 items by year end.
What I learned:
I went to a Kansas concert that was awesome. The show was done very well. I started thinking that there are many things that go into making a great concert. Much like there are many things that go into making a great ebay business. When you can get each piece of the business working at a high level, then you can put on a “great show”. For me, all areas of my business having been evolving to the next level. The one area that I need to concentrate on is better storage for my containers. My system works well, but all of my containers are stacked on top of each other. That means that if something sells from the bottom container, I have to move the top 4 or so containers to get to it. It works, but it is inefficient and takes some work. I would like to build custom shelving with PVC pipes to stream line this. That will be a lot of work and cost but I think the payoff will make it worth it.Most difficult Estate Sale I went to an estate sale early in the morning that started at 8AM. Most painful estate sale because it was raining and very hard to see in the dark. I got there at 7:35AM and I got #70! I went to eat and came back around 8:15AM. The house was built in the 1920’s with very narrow streets and cars could only park on one side of the street. With all the people there, I had to park on the next block over and walk back. I had to stand waiting in the rain till about 9:15AM. As I was standing in the rain, I wondered if it was worth it. The people in line said that one guy got there at 4AM and got #23. They said that the guy giving out the numbers got there at 4PM the day before the sale and spent the night in his car. There were some neat things there from the 1960’s, but it really wasn’t worth the wait. But, it was fun waiting in line with other people. I got to know a couple that went to a lot of estate sales in the area. We shared stories of previous estate sales that we both went to. The lady was mocking the people coming out of the house with few and wierd things. She would say softly, “Was that worth the wait?”. And the guy handing out the numbers just came out with a small box. It was also amusing listening to the estate sale regulars talking about the on-line sellers. The one guy said he should try selling some of the things he has bought. The other guy said, “Is all that packing and shipping worth it?” I did get some good stuff, but nothing too much out of the ordinary. I did get the scavange of the week there: 14 Beatles 8-Track Tapes that were in excellent condition. I went back on Saturday for the half off day and got some more good items.
Mark S
10/21/18 – 10/27/18
Items In Store: 2,538
Items Sold: 20
Cost of Items Sold: $60 (around)
Total Sales: $652
HIghest Price Sold: $100 (Vintage Mr Peanut)
Returns: 1
Money spent on new inventory: $120
Items listed: 59Good week, total dollars were same as last week. Hoping that sales start to ramp up more. Will try to get 75 items listed this week.
Mark S
Nancy,
Here is a little more information:
There is a bar across the top. You can set the vinyl\paper to any length you want (if you need more or less in the front). Just set it to where you want it and then put the clips on.
When it is not in use, I just take the vinyl and throw it back over the bar to get it out of the way.
That has really helped in photographing the larger items with a white background. I have done Large Goalie Hockey Pads, 3 Baseball Bases, 1970’s Mercury Cougar Hubcaps. All worked just fine.
I find with this, my pictures have a white background for even the large items and look very professional. I have found that most photos on ebay of larger items do not have a white background, so I think this sets my photos\item apart from the rest. That may be my own illusion, but I like to believe it.
Mark S
Nancy,
I bought “LimoStudio Photo Video Studio 10Ft Adjustable Muslin Background Backdrop Support System Stand, AGG1112” on Amazon at
The key for me was that it is adjustable from 5 Feet to 10 Feet. 5 Feet is more than enough.
I bought the clips that they feature below their listing (LimoStudio 6 PCS Black Nylon Muslin/Paper Photo Backdrop Background Clamps, 3.75 inch, AGG1242) for $6.99. You need those to hold your paper on.
I made the mistake of ordering “MUZI White Chromakey Photo Studio Video Background Muslin Collapsible Backdrop for Photography 4x6ft” It was useless. It was so thin, wrinkled, and got dirty very quickly with no easy way to clean it. I went to JoAnn Fabrics and got a 4′ X 7′ of white vinyl. It was about $25 but it is working great. I actually got it for 60% off. All you have to do is download the JoAnn Fabrics app and then register yourself. Then click on the coupon at the bottom left for 60% off any 1 item. So of course, I used the coupon for the Vinyl. 4′ X 7′ is a little big, but I know I can handle just about anything now. 4′ X 5′ or 4′ X 6′ would probably work. Here is a picture of what it looks like on my stairs landing:
You can see the useless Muslin paper on the right. I accidently got an off-white vinyl from JoAnn Fabrics, but that doesn’t seem to make a difference.
Mark S
Mike,
When Wonderlister gets the ETsy interface going, I am not expecting to sell any where near as much on Etsy as I do on ebay. I would be good with just a petcentage like 25% or so as to what sells on ebay – apples to apples. I hope it does, but not putting my expectations that high. I look at it as a free add on since my extra work will be minimal.
Mark S
