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Oh no, thanks for the heads up. Have you had customer complaints about them (breaking apart or open)?
@Jay Sounds like now that you have the coffee venture that would be an ideal thing to try out on Etsy! 😀
@retro-treasures-wv Sorry to hear of your job jerking you around. A near identical thing happened to my sister not too long ago. Fortunately she was able to jump ship within the industry through other contacts, and landed a more appreciative job. My husband has experienced similar, which is why I tell him not to put the extra work in unless he personally gets satisfaction from it regardless of pay increase/recognition. We have learned that the hard way with him sacrificing family time because he felt sure it was going to lead to some kind of promotion. He’s active duty so another thing we do is pick duty stations based off where WE want to go, not what we think looks good for career–at the end of the day the institution shakes their Magic 8 ball and lots of people who thought they had all the right checks in the box and all the justifiable overtime in get passed over. No thanks! The longer he stays in the more he likes the idea of becoming a Scavenger when he gets out, haha!January was surprisingly solid for me. Last week or so has been tough for listing as I’ve been focused on getting designs and materials finalized for a bathroom remodel we’d like to start in a couple months. Lots of rain and a sprinkling of snow have also made it difficult for me to properly check new inventory for flaws due to low lighting. Hopefully I can get some power listing done before this baby is due in a couple weeks haha.
@retro-treasures-wv Thank you for starting this thread! I love hearing people analyze their processes and plans for the future. Congratulations on your growth this year! I have a question about your sourcing formula; what does the “/4” stand for (weeks in a month)?
@atomicstar Congratulations on trying out AirBnb with your rental! We are also interested in learning how to do that remotely, so if you have any tips later in the year I’m all ears.For me this year was a big learning year. I only started dabbling in Ebay and The RealReal about 18 months ago, so my starting listings for 2020 was about 30, and ending listings about 180 (with about another 20 on The RealReal). I grossed and netted about the same as the year I experimented with Amazon FBA (which I have since quit) which was a bit surprising to me (I was expecting Ebay to be less). By the way, those numbers are very small; grossing about 6k, netting about 2.5k.
I have no business finance background but taught myself some basics of double-entry accounting this year. I am continuing to refine my book keeping process as a lot of my scavenging involves a mix of real and theoretical money (kind of like buying things with credit card or airline awards) so it has been difficult to accurately assess the actual money cost/profit of things, but I think 2021 will have a more accurate financial picture.
2021 will have me continuing to reevaluate my sourcing standards as my two main suppliers have increased costs and I’m looking at pivoting more strongly into a third option. I would like to get to the level of expertise where I can pick up more profitable items and not waste my time on the low dollar, but I also feel like I’m in that money-crunch stage where I have to list/sell low dollar or risk not making a sale at all (because my inventory is so small).
@jaepete The market is primarily directed at women (I’d say mostly Millennials but I’ve seen a lot of Boomers getting on there in the last few years) who are unfamiliar with and unlikely to navigate Ebay as a seller but who want a simple way to sell their used clothing. They have expanded into allowing “boutique” wholesalers and other categories including menswear, household, and beauty. Certain trendy brand name items tend to sell faster there than on Ebay.
One strategy I’m considering trying is moving my heavier (between 1-5 lbs) items onto the platform. Shipping under 5 lbs is similar in price to a USPS flat rate padded mailer, but you aren’t as size restricted (I could put it in a larger box instead of being forced to fit padded mailer dimensions).
This is super interesting. I would consider it but I actually never reached Ambassador status (sharing is sooo boring) even though I’ve been active on and off for about 6 years.
I suppose I should clarify and say maybe “Private Label” is the wrong phrase. I don’t want to just slap a random brand name on an existing product and churn out junk. I would like to eventually be involved in the creation of a product that doesn’t yet exist that is serving a niche. But from what I understand taking the first steps can look a lot like the starting steps of private label (building up capital, approaching a factory that does similar kinds of manufacturing, etc).
@Jay I made a chili cheese dogs tonight because of all this chili dog talk! P.S. I modified the chili dog recipe from Serious Eats; excellent even with the changes.
@retro-treasures-wv Thank you for sharing about your family, and congrats on #6! I am pregnant with #3 and we are also more crunchy about birth control (NFP). I hear you when you say Ebay is your mental heath/self care time; I feel the same way!
@ebaymom Congrats to you too and I hope you feel better soon! We also just bought a new-to us minivan this year. Maybe a Toyota 2016 (I don’t keep track)? My husband loves it, but he was always an old man even as a young guy hahaa.Regarding the podcast: I’d probably fit into the “part-timer” description, with hopes of building enough capital to go into some kind of private label eventually. That being said, my thoughts on all this have evolved in the last few years. I don’t want to produce something just to put more junk on the market and compete with a million other people just trying to flood the market. Producing something with meaning (useful, beautiful, or sustainable) would be ideal.
One thing I like about the eBay method though, is how it’s very “teach a man to fish”. I’ve been able to get my husband on board with what I’m doing by explaining to him that we will be able to pass on some kind of real life skill to our kids through this method. That’s important to me.
I shy away from anything with “specialist” or “business owner” in the title because when women my age are using them 90% they are referring to themselves in an MLM position (sadly!).
I feel you, I’m going through the same issue right now. I had a buyer get upset because she thought I hadn’t shipped the item (10 days ago). I put in a request with USPS that they look into it but so far they haven’t found the item.
I feel the same way about MLMs but I do occasionally sell select LuLaRoe clothing pieces when I come across them for the right price. For whatever reason, the Lula Zombies have created a cult following among certain kinds of prints, and some sizes are in higher demand than others. I always double-check the specific model and size on Terrapeak before buying though.
While I agree that an indoor chili dog/coffee cafe sounds potentially queasy, I think a seasonal chili dog cart is a good idea as an outside feature. I think there’s a country approachability to it for the locals (I remember a hot dog food truck being a very popular spot in the small Vermont town I went to school at). You could pair it with some kind of apple cider for a warm drink option in your branded cafe cups, and people would have an outdoor grab-and-go meal (which may be a good idea anyway depending on how long the COVID restrictions remain).
@toniwill Did you find a solution to this? I’m having a similar issue editing purchased shipping labels.
@Sharyn Yes, they are telling me they won’t void for the reasons you outlined. However, it also won’t let me edit the shipping address. So if I can’t edit the address, how can I print another label?
If you have a cool Gen Z-er friend or relative, see if they can model the clothing. Depop seems to move some of this quirky vintage stuff to a young audience but it’s worth a try on eBay/Etsy too. The brown marbleized dress would likely sell. I’d put the paisley tank on a young guy with current pants/sneakers. Etsy/Ebay may be more suited to the handmade apron but if you’re willing to wait long enough I bet there’s a buyer.
