Forum Replies Created
-
AuthorPosts
-
07/06/2020 at 8:13 am in reply to: Scavenger Life Episode 470: How Would You Start Your Business Today? #79112
Items in Store 1368
Items Sold 42
Total Sales $1,671.00
COGS $252.00
Total Profit $1,419.00
Average profit $33.79
Average sales price $39.79
New Listings 3Due to lack of listing I’ve dropped below 1400 listings yet I had a huge week. This must be the “2nd wave” Corona boost. Nothing major went on this week ebay wise. I’m still having trouble fitting listing into my busy schedule.
I hope everyone has a great week and stays safe.I have to say, I’ve read all the guides and this is still confusing as all getout. It is NOT clear at all where the grant ends and the loan begins! I had to apply for the loan – they gave me a range of $1000-$16000, so I chose the $1000 assuming that is the grant portion.
I filled out all my info and they kicked it back due to unconfirmable information. After reading all of their possible reasons why (they don’t tell you exactly what was kicked back), it seems it is my bank account. The bank account used MUST BE directly associated with your federal EIN number that you have for your business. I use an old personal account for my business, so it looks like I finally have to create a dedicated business checking account. It needs to be done anyways for ebay managed payments, so whatever… Grrrr.
If the item I am selling is non-functional in some way and meant for display only, I may use the word “prop”.
I sold a vintage fax machine a while back and my target buyer was either a museum or a prop company as it didn’t work. It ended up going to a museum as expected for $250.
I have a pair of old unused work boots that are dry rotted, but look amazing if they just sit on a shelf for display. I believe I have the word prop on that one.
I went ahead and applied just now. Might as well!
If she was on a work computer with a VPN, then the shipping would have been lower if the location of the VPN is different than her real zip code. Once she logged in and put in her real info, the price would most definitely change in that case.
I got the Victrola unloaded and tested out last night. What a cool piece of functional history! It sounds great, but definitely needs some TLC. Based on the condition I may only get $200-300 for it. I don’t think I have the time/energy to fix it up anymore than minor repairs.
I researched the model and it was manufactured in 1921 – the first year for the VV-100. How cool that I just listened to a record in my garage on a record player made almost 100 YEARS ago!
Yep,
I’ve had a lifetime one at my listing station now for over 2 years. It ain’t going anywhere.In other news, I started to teach my 13yo how to create drafts for shoes last night. I take for granted all of the knowledge I have acquired in what I do. To me, reselling on ebay is VERY easy and VERY fun.
Then I try to teach a person how to fill out a draft and see through their eyes just how overwhelming the listing form can be!! I think she’ll get there but I may just need to throw her in the deep end and let her figure it out. She’s very much like me, so she can get it.I’d like her to eventually be able to do alot more functions of the business, and thusly start making a TON of money for a 13yo.
In the meantime, I gave her 8 tubs of shoes to clean and photograph this week. I pay 50 cents for shoes that need cleaned and 50 cents for photos.
Items in Store 1401
Items Sold 24
Total Sales $965.00
COGS $66.00
Total Profit $899.00
Average profit $37.46
Average sales price $40.21
New Listings 7Sourcing has been very good the last few weeks…. a little TOO good! I think I’m gonna have to shut it down because I’m filling back up my space at an accelerated pace.
Friday I happened upon an estate sale on my walk during break. The house was full of AMAZING stuff – a whole room of vintage toys, tools, electronics, etc. I took my lunch early and shopped a while. Prices were reasonable…if you talked to the right person. They lady in the toy room was incompetent and if you showed interest in anything she’d say “here let me look that up on ebay to figure a price”. Ughhhh… I bought a bunch of vcr’s, and a Commodore color monitor (big bucks!). The lady running it told me about her auction business and encouraged me to try her auctions out. She is reseller friendly and we had a good chat about ebay in general. They planned on auctioning the unopened out buildings at this estate on Sunday and the remaining household stuff as well.
So Sunday it was pouring the rain all morning. We always end up down near where the auction was every Sunday anyways so I decided to stop by at 2:30 (it started at 10am). They were just getting ready to do the main house stuff, and the Mid century egg chair I really wanted from the estate sale was coming up so I decided to stick around. I won the chair for $27.50. Then I won the lamps I had eyeballed for $4…then more and more. Everyone had left so there were only 3 other bidders there and they weren’t interested in anything I was interested in. I was getting stuff for $1 regularly.
I bought things I would have NEVER considered any other day: two 6 gallon vintage butter crocks, even a 1920’s working Victrola record player! I ended up with a good pile of stuff I had some knowledge of in the doll/toy room. So much of that stuff I think was junk – it is highly specialize knowledge to identify the older dolls that I don’t have. I did get a Miss Revlon doll but it is just in okay condition.
It was fun, but I think this auction was a fluke – a perfect combination of location (terrible access up on a hill), bad weather (long delays in bidding), odd auction day (Sunday vs Saturday). Either way, I have made a contact with a good auctioneer in my area.
In other news, yard sales were also fruitful Saturday – got another pile of good classic rock vinyl for 25 cents a record. Also bought a sirius radio with boombox I tested last night and it is a lifetime subscription unit. SCORE!
06/23/2020 at 7:20 am in reply to: The full 52-page FBI criminal complaint charging former eBay employees #78693That definitely wouldn’t disqualify you from being on a grand jury. It’s very different than a petit (trial) jury. No Lawyers are involved. A grand jury issues indictments, not verdicts. Here’s a good summary:
A grand jury (12 to 23 people) is a body that investigates criminal conduct. Federal, state and county prosecutors utilize grand juries to decide whether probable cause exists to support criminal charges. A regular jury (6 to 12 people) – aka a petit jury – hears only trial cases. A regular jury decides the facts.
It’s pretty rare to get on a federal grand jury. In my state there are 4 federal districts, and each district has a max of 23 people. A federal grand jury term runs 18 months, so that is less than 100 people called every year and a half for my whole state!
Items in Store 1418
Items Sold 25
Total Sales $1,026.00
COGS $56.00
Total Profit $970.00
Average profit $38.80
Average sales price $41.04
New Listings 7Scavenging has been amazing the last two weeks. People are finally bringing all their junk they ditched to the thrift stores it seems now that things have opened up. Yard sales have also been very lucrative. Yesterday’s highlight was a new in box Harley Davidson motorcycle seat. Paid $30 and it will sell for between $250-300.
Listing time has been scarce as house projects are taking preference. I took a tip from Jay, and I had my wife make a list of every single house project she wants done, no matter how big or small. Then I took the list and built a scope of work with cost and estimated timing for each item.
Making the list definitely reduced my stress level about everything. Usually when she mentions a new thing (when I’m already in progress with 2-3 others) I have a mini panic attack. Now I have a plan and can execute it.
First item on the list- I learned how to do roofing and replaced the rotten shingle roof on my smaller 10×10 barn style shed this weekend.“One time I found this item for $2 at a yard sale, so now I expect everyone to only charge $2 for this $250 item”.
Yep, I’ve had a few of these people. Block and move on with life.06/17/2020 at 2:11 pm in reply to: The full 52-page FBI criminal complaint charging former eBay employees #78523So I finished my term on a Federal Grand Jury a few months ago. No one every believed me when I told them I LOVED being on the jury and I looked forward to every session each month.
THIS is why it was so awesome (Well the actual crimes are TERRIBLE, but you get my meaning). imagine being in the room seeing all this evidence, hearing the confidential witnesses lay it all out. You get to ask the witnesses and officers any question you want. All of it is top secret and you can’t tell anyone what you heard.
They will forfeit their buyer protection in this case and ebay will back you.
On the flip side, if paypal is involved and they file through paypal you are pretty much screwed.06/16/2020 at 7:53 am in reply to: ebay execs accused of cyberstalking the Steiners (ecommercebytes owners) #78479This just shows what a terrible and toxic environment ebay was behind the scenes the last few years. I’m not surprised at all. What else was in the CEO’s communications that they alluded to when clearing him of criminal charges? Apparently it was pretty damning.
Things have been legitimately improving with Jordan at the helm. I hope this does not derail the positive momentum too much.
-
AuthorPosts