Forum Replies Created
-
Posts
-
Jay,
You said, “I think that finding items that you can ell for higher takes more time trying to find. So even that has a cost.” I think that is very true for your situation. And I think that is probably true in general. But I have found that just going to the same places that I already go to (that is a lot of estate sales and some thrifts) with a different mind set to find those higher value items is working. Now, will it always work, probably not. But if I put in just a little extra effort, I can get some of the higher priced items.
One of the keys form me here is that the estate sales are so plentiful and “relatively” cheap, that I can pick and choose the very best sales to go to so that I do not waste a lot of time is key. I think that is much of the reason that I have been avoiding the auctions, because they really can take the whole day and I don’t have that much time. I like flying into an estate sale that is close by or already near the route I am already taking.
So, I think in your situation you are right in just keeping to what you have been doing. It works, you make the money you need, and that frees you up to do other things that you want to do. And every once in a while you can take that trip to a bigger town and have some fun at their estate sales or auction. That is a great way to live!
Mark
Rob,
I posted above that I am having good success finding the higher priced items. For me, it was just a change of thinking. Instead of thinking “What can I find cheap” I am now thinking “What is the item here that I can sell for the most money”. I will worry about price later and maybe try to talk the seller down in price if needed.
The strategy worked at a rummage sale. I bought a sweater that was $10. I was like $10 for an old sweater, no way. Then I decided to give it a chance and look it up and it was selling for $100 or more.
So, I don’t think you have to spend $100 for a $200 item. I am finding that if I spend $10-$25 an item, I can get an item worth $100 – $150 or more. I am just changing my mind set and seeing where it goes, but so far so good.
This may only work in the type of market I am in: Plenty of sales and most of it is cheap. The sellers are getting more savy, but I just try to stay ahead by being armed with my knowledge (and ebay lookup on my iphone).
Mark
Katie,
I have had good success finding higher dollar vintage hard good items at estate sales. I pick and choose which ones I go to carefully because estate sales can suck up your time. But I hit it just right this past Saturday, the items looked like junk to most people but they were actually from the 1940’s – 1960’s and good items. They were giving some of them to me at the end of the sale just to get rid of them. These will probably longer tail items, but I do like these vintage hard good items.
I have also had good success finding vintage hard good in the “older wealth” neighborhoods. Those are the neighborhoods that were very trendy about 30 years ago, but now they are older. But, the people there still have the good stuff from 30+ years ago.
Also, do they have Value World in Florida? I went to one on Saturday and found about 4 coats that will sell for over $100. I had to pay up about $10-$15 each, but I think it was worth it.
Mark
02/25/18 – 03/03/18
Total Items In Store: 2,263
Items Sold: 21
Cost of Items Sold: $75 (around)
Total Sales: $612
Highest Price Sold: $50 (Vintage GI Joe)
Average Price Sold: $29.14
Returns: 0
Money Spent on New Inventory This Week: $ 358
Number of Items listed this week: 66Sales volume was normal, but the average price was down a lot.
Mark
The Michigan Rummage sales have kicked off and that started my crazy weekend of buying.
I have been on a quest for higher priced items. I am refining that to say I’m tring to get to a $60 average for new listings. Probably wont meet that all the tome, but a good goal. I have found that if you seek, you Will find. I have a new attitude now when i go to sales. Instead of thinking “what can i buy cheaply” i think “what are the highest selling price items here”.
These sellers here are getting more savy. Church rummage sellers who they say also sell on ebay. I went to this thrift store: they had a $60 coat, $100 shoes and a pair of boots for $200! The point is they sre getting more savy at this selling, sowe have to stay a step ahead of them by being armed with knowledge (or look it up).
I went to an estate sale and their prices wete fantastic. They also started to just give me good stuff because the sale was ending. They also gave me extra time at the end of the sale because i was buying so much. Right place at the right time.
I will post my number later.
Mark
Ijust bought the exact same Easy Bake oven! Same red color snd box. It is from 1973. Good to know I can get $100 for it. I only paid $6 for it. It appears thst the box really sdds the bulk of yhe value. Most of the ones i sae were going for about $20 without the box.
Mark
I was just in Chicago and had Gino’s East Deep Dish Pizza.
That has to be on my top 5 or 10 list.
Mark
I just had a real good experience with Brother International, the printer manufacturer.
I have a Brother model HL-L2360D Series Printer. I have been getting dark lines down the center of my printed pages. I tried changing my toner, but still got the same.
Couldn’t easily find anything thru google, so I called Brother Support at 877-276-8437.
They walked me through how to clean the roller inside the drum and prep it to put back. I was only told they might not be able to fix it because I am not using a Brother Toner Cartridge.
I am happy to say that it is working great now!
Also, for those of you who don’t want to do what Ryanne has suggested – filling up your toner yourself. Here is a great alternative on Amazon:
It is only $10.88 per cartridge. I found a deal on Amazon for 4 for about $36.99, so I am set for a while. In contrast, if I go to Staples, I am paying over $40 per Brother Cartridge and can only get it under $40 if I mention the web site price which was $38 last time I checked.
Mark
Mike,
I made a lot of money last year by listing with parsel select, but using Smartpost.
The package test above is one of the few packages that has been worth using Smartpost.
Seems had to believe that they would still be having issues well over a month after the price increases.
Either this is their new rates, or ebay and Smartpost just can’t get it right.
Mark
Ok, I think Fedex SmartPost has gone crazy here.
I had a package that was 11 X 9 X 4 going to the GSP in Kentucky. It was like 2 lbs 15oz. So for 3 pounds it was $6.05. I wondered if I didn’t want to take a chance it was over weight, how much would it be for 4 pounds? 4 pounds was $6.01! $.04 cheaper for 1 more pound!
So, I wanted to do an experiment because those dim sizes seem to increase the cost a lot. I changed the dimensions to 14 X 9 X 4 and it was still $6.01. But, if I changed the dimensions to 14 X 10 X 4, the cost goes to $9.72!
So, my take away is that if your dimensions are more than 14 X 9 X 4, then forget Fedex SmartPost. Also, try a heavier weight, it might be cheaper!
Mark
That is the thing that I also have to consider: the cost now versus the reward later.
I know the reward is going to be worth it down the road, but can I afford to take a hit for several months where my income will be down? I run the numbers in my forecast and then usually go for it if it makes sense on paper. It usually does, I just have to strike the right balance in how many items that is.
I had a few typo’s above, here are the corrections:
1. That should be 1000 items that were ready to be listed.
1. And “25-300” items a month should have been “250-300 items a month”
Mark
T-Satt,
Yes, you have a higher STR so that is probably the difference.
The higher your STR, the more it makes sense.
The reason I decided to pay a bonus is that I had about 1000 all ready to be listed, but were not listed. I was losing about $1500 a month in sales or so. So to pay a bonus was really worth it. So, another way to look at this is the opportunity loss versus the cost. In my case, the opportunity loss was way more (after just a couple months) than the cost, so it is was a no brainer. But I can’t scale that to the ridiculous. I have to weigh that with how many items I can buy, prep, ship, etc. I can deal with 25-300 \ month, on a part time basis, but I will admit that is a stretch for me.
Mark
T-Satt,
It looks like it took about 5 months. But she was only listing about 80 items per month at the start.
Mark
T-Satt,
Labor costs are about 10% of my gross sales. I guess it depends on how to calculate that. I pay $4 per item to be listed start to end (I price and title it). My average sell price is around $40. That is 10%. Until I reach terminal velocity (meaning I sell as many as I list or there about), I count that labor cost as investing in the business. Or as others have said, creating the beast.
Now that may seem like a lot, but I could not get to where I am at or where I am going without it.
My COGS are about 10% or less of my gross sales, so together that is 20%. There are some people here on the blog that spend around 20% on COGS, so I feel blessed that I can have both for around 20%.
Mark
