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Good background
good camera
good lighting.
no cropping or editing necessary.
if you are editing your photos for common ebay items in my opinion you are wasting time that could be used to list more items.
I just use my iPhone and I only ever have to edit the color balance if I have an odd blue item that throws off the white balance of my phone camera.
I use white marine vinyl from hobby lobby. My piece is pretty beat up and I need to replace it.
I have about a 10’ piece that I hang from a rod on the wall so I can do tall pieces such as overalls. I keep 1-2’ folded under the front lip of my 3’x5’ table. If I have something deeper I unfold the extra and put a box under it to make my table deeper for that item.I was at $100 for years on that Cadillac jersey. $69.99 was what I repriced it at when I relisted as is seemed about right.
On the vest, you probably know more about it than I do. I knew it was special just on gut. Research showed a high STR. The size also seemed to be a good indicator of higher price.
My approach is to look at what key words the highest priced solds have in common and model after those. Shark Tank was definitely something that stood out, and couldn’t hurt including it.
I didn’t even realize it had so many pockets until I went to photograph it. This thing is absurd!
My general rule is if I come across something truly amazing and valuable, I DO NOT make any attempt to clean, restore, or fix it. I price accordingly and make it clear in the listing I did nothing to the item.
if it is truly special it is going to someone:
A: more skilled than me
B: Someone who half the fun will be the restoration how they want it.
Wait what?!? A yard sale was charging a $20 early bird fee???
Can you elaborate a bit more on this? Maybe it was a big flea market style sale or something?
Big sales with entry wait lines or entrance fees just isn’t a thing where I live.
Items in Store: 3040
Items Sold: 34
Total Sales: $1,836.00
COGS: $165.00
Total Profit: $1,671.00
Average profit: $49.15
Average sales price: $54.00
New Listings: 61
Items scavenged: 42
2024 weekly new listings Avg: 44
2024 avg gross weekly sales $1,496.50
2024 Avg weekly Items Sold 33
2024 ASP $45.35
2024 projected total sales $77,818.00We celebrated our oldest child’s 17th birthday this weekend. I front loaded the week with some listing and draft banking then yesterday my oldest 2 did shoe cleaning and photos. We don’t do the Superbowl since no one in my house except me has even the slightest interest in football, and there are no Swift fans here either.
As usual, something had to slip so inventory organization lost out this week. I have a huge pile of listed inventory to deal with and get into storage. No major goals this week. Hopefully I can get my 40 listings in. It would be nice to sell 40 items. I’ll try to be more aggressive on sending and accepting offers. I need to keep in mind I want to sell 6 items a day, so I can use that small goal to remind myself to get those sales and sacrifice a bit of profit. Have I sold 6 items yet? No? Make increasingly better offers or accept lower offers until I go to sleep or hit 6 sales for the day.
I’m maintaining that $45 ASP. Just gotta get my # of sales up any way possible.
Otherwise I’m gonna keep end/sell similar and keep listing. I’m doing 20-30 old items a day on weekdays in my downtime at work. I’ve worked my way up to June 2021. Still a ways to go.
Premium Hoarder update:
Sold 7 items for $1106. Two big shoe sales at the beginning of the week really got the week off to a great start. Now at over $15k in profit.
https://www.ebay.com/itm/266435215718
My Stop Smoking Coach with Allen Carr – Nintendo DS DSL DSI 3DS 2DS Complete CIB
I may have mentioned this one last week, but I’ll mention it again. I sold all 5 of these pretty quickly. Not bad for a bargain bin pickup from a pawn shop. I love it when I can walk into a place that knows their stuff and find a profitable item they missed that they disregarded. It’s a personal scavenging victory.
https://www.ebay.com/itm/266462980796
Build-A-Bear Workshop STAR WARS DARTH VADER Plush with Attached Cape
Sold for full price. There is money in some Build a bears for collectors.
https://www.ebay.com/itm/266659263667
Cadillac Escaladefootball jersey Size XXXL LXR blue #22 Street Luxury
This one was a end/sell similar victory for me. This sat for years. I end/sell similar with a reduced price (and a new typo in the title) and got an offer quick for $50. Yes I will sell this item I’ve had sit for almost 5 years for $50. Thank you!
https://www.ebay.com/itm/266535421726
Ralph Lauren POLO Jeans Company Military Surplus Jacket Corduroy Mens XXL Black
A hoarder item. Sold for $120.
https://www.ebay.com/itm/266428520627
Play Piano In A Flash Scot Houston Learn To Play 12 DVDs Box Set Lessons
Another hoarder sale item. Pick it up for a dollar. Sold for $50.
https://www.ebay.com/itm/266462719567
LALALOOPSY Doll Charlotte Charades Mime Large Full Size Doll Toy COMPLETE
My daughter has a big collection of Lalaloopsy so I’ve always had my eye out for them for her. She ruined a HUGE collection of mini dolls complete with all accessories over the years so I don’t give her the nice ones anymore – I sell them! I wish I would have sold all those minis instead of gifting them to her about 8 years ago. Lesson learned. She’s 17 now and still doesn’t take care of her stuff.
https://www.ebay.com/itm/266294965534
Mecca Jeans Mens 34×30 Light Vintage Wide Leg Baggy Hip Hop Y2K Pants NWT
At first I thought these were a Premium Hoarder item, but Nope – just a Goodwill find. I always keep my eyes peeled for NWT clothes at Goodwill. Surprisingly, I find quite a bit. Sold for $85. Jeans are typically $8 now at the local Goodwills.
https://www.ebay.com/itm/266618186750
ScotteVest Womens QUEST Black Vest full zip Pockets Shark Tank Size M2 XXL
This one here is a prime example of why it is important to source even if you don’t need much. This vest caught my eye as I did a quick scan through the women’s section of a Goodwill I only go to about once a month. This here is what you call a No-brainer BOLO. Very high STR and amazing sales price. Sold for full price.
I scavenged some Taylor Swift stuff this week!
https://www.ebay.com/itm/266662867575
Journey to Fearless (Blu-ray) Taylor Swift
Not big dollars but I picked up 5 of these for $1 each at a local pawn shop. I haven’t sold any yet unfortunately. The STR was good so hopefully they start selling this week.
I mainly am picking up shoes and clothes at thrift stores right now. Just bread n butter stuff that hits my criteria. Here’s a couple good ones I’ve already listed from my pickups this week.
https://www.ebay.com/itm/266669773654
LL Bean Chukka Allagash Bison Brown Leather Moc Toe Boots Men’s Size 9 EE Wide
I knew these were special when I laid eyes on them. Bison leather is interesting – it definitely looks/feels more durable and interesting that normal grain leather. Kinda dark & wrinkly.
https://www.ebay.com/itm/266669765960
VANS SK8-Hi MTE Sneakers Mens Size 12 Fur Lined Black Leather Hi Top Skate Shoes
Vans are a great $20 sale in shoes. Pretty much any pair of Vans in good shape is worth $20. I don’t do $20 pickups right now, so they have to be special. These shoes fit that bill. High quality leather, enhanced sole, Scotchgard lining, and great condition. They were only $4 too, which is essential. They had another pair of leather Vans with Rose embroidery, but their price was $20. With a sales price of $25-30 those were a no-bueno.
https://www.ebay.com/itm/266669708450
Nike Boys KYBRID GS Black/Atomic Pink Kyrie Hybrid What The DA2322-001 Size 1 Y
Kyrie Irving is a garbage human being, but these shoes rock out. They are in mint condition. Again, $4. I love that my local Goodwill is heavily stocked in shoes and have their prices almost all back down to $4.
One other item I scavenged that I haven’t listed yet is a Calico Critters house complete with a bunch of figures/furniture. $10 at Goodwill and as a lot it will sell for $100.
There’s also a Lebron James Nike T shirt I got that possibly is a $100+ shirt. I’ll be listing it for $100+ either way, but need to do a bit more research. It is a large photo print t shirt of him from High School and is from the 2000’s.
My anecdotal history over time shows that my items sold per week averages out to about 60-70% of what my recent new listing average has been. And if I hardly list at all my sales will keep dropping off eventually to very little no matter how many items are in my store.
So if I consistently want 20 sales per week, I need to list 30-35 items per week consistently.
If I want 40 sales, I need to list 60-70 items.
It sucks but that is the reality for most buyers unless you’re a youtube reseller star.
I have a couple bins of clothes and about 30-40 pair of shoes left.
There is a ton of stuff left. There is about 30 bins of mostly NWT clothes & loose shoes they pulled from the apartment in a hurry to get it ready to close out.
Then there is a ton more stuff that they already had in the garage that is in my neighborhood. In short – a ton of stuff.
I’ve been doing 15-20% send offers but the sales conversion is pretty low on offers.
In your area yard sales may be better for shoes and clothes. I figure you have year round yard sales with your weather (JEALOUS!!)
We get a bit of overpricing locally and I see it WAY worse in Columbus when I go there. There are entire thrift chains up there that I don’t even waste my time going to because of their pricing. I stick to Goodwills as they are the most reasonable in that big city. There is a Goodwill outlet there but I’ve never went. Maybe someday just for fun. Hairy Tornado does the Goodwill outlet near him and finds pretty good stuff. He also has his Whatnot channel to sell everything to his viewers really quickly so it’s not a model I can adopt.
Thankfully the goodwill closest to me swung back the other way and went all in on just turning over product as fast as possible. Their shoes are mostly back to $3.99, with only a few pair priced up.
Always be willing to try out new things to sell and pivot to what is available and profitable.
I’ve done well with belts, but I rarely shop for them. I have a bag of them from the hoarder collection I’ll eventually get around to listing. I’ve sold every belt I’ve ever listed.
High quality leather or unique design combined with a good brand name = good sale.
You can make money with mens surf trunks but you have to get them dirt cheap and sell dirt cheap. Not worth it if COGS are over $5 an item unless they are REALLY special. $10-20 sales price. The cheaper you go the quicker they sell.
I do sell kids shoes occasionally. Kids Air Jordans, and kids Adidas Samba are great pickups that are usually cheap. I also buy/sell cheap baseball cleats. They’re usually $3 at the thrifts. Then I have cleats on hand for my kids when baseball season rolls around. If they don’t fit them they will sell and I make money. Win/win!
Soccer cleats can be BIG money if you find the right pair. The best cleats are made with Kangaroo leather (once you feel it you know it). I’ve sold soccer cleats for $100+. Nike Tiempo and Adidas Copa Mundial are the words you want to look for on the cleats for the big bucks. I regularly buy soccer cleats even if not kangaroo leather as they can sell for $100+ and are usually in great condition.
Avoid the sun hats. Hats in general don’t have a great STR unless you have something very special. The market is super flooded.
If I could make one hat recommendation for you, it would be Ping brand golf hats. They always sell.
Yes, Men’s clothes do much better than women’s.
As for shoes, I’ll take ’em! I sold 7 pair of non-hoarder shoes last week for $220 on $40 COGS. $22 Profit after fees per pair for about 5 minutes of work per pair*. That’s one heck of an hourly rate.
*my profit margins are actually higher now that I make a significant amount on shipping. Much of my fees are covered by the difference in shipping so it’s more like $25 a pair.
I also sold 7 non-hoarder clothing items last week for $141 on $35 COGS, $12.75 profit per item after fees. Listing is maybe a minute longer due to measurements. I lose some time on listing due to measurements, but make up some time on photography on most clothing since it is typically just 3-4 photos.
Bread n butter shoes blows bread n butter clothes out of the water…as long as you have the storage space. It will take up to 3x the space depending on how efficient you are with storing clothes.
I challenge you next time you are in a thrift to find one pair of shoes with a 50% or higher STR and a sales price of $30 or more that are in above average condition. Then list them and see what happens. Just one pair. You can even wear gloves if you can’t get past he ‘ewww’ factor. LOL!
Items in Store: 3013
Items Sold: 32
Total Sales: $1,556.00
COGS: $242.00
Total Profit: $1,314.00
Average profit: $41.06
Average sales price: $48.63
New Listings: 24
Items scavenged: 7
2024 weekly new listings Avg: 40
2024 avg gross weekly sales $1,428.60
2024 Avg weekly Items Sold 33
2024 ASP $43.55
2024 projected total sales $74,287.20After some thinking this week I added a few new metrics to the bottom of my weekly numbers. Now each week I can see a snapshot of if my trending ASP and projected sales for 2024. It is nice see these numbers automatically populate each week. I’m not exactly lighting the world on fire yet, but I’m still doing VERY well compared to past performance this time of year.
I need to get my weekly listings over 50 to get my items sold back over 40. If I can keep my ASP over $40 where it is now I need to get up to 46 sales a week. That’s a TALL order. The further I get into the year the harder it will get. That $100k gross sales goal is definitely a stretch. Still, having $75k in sales be the new normal is a TREMENDOUS change in my business!
I was quite light on listing this week. Actually I didn’t create any new drafts – just had my daughter photograph most of my draft bank from last week yesterday. I ended up busier than I originally planned. Saturday morning I spent some time on inventory management which is SUPER important for my long term success. Then Saturday evening and all day Sunday I was down with migraine and bad neck pain. It’s still there today but much more manageable. I’m still not where I need to be, but the fact I’m getting alot of the organization knocked out now means I’ll be spending my time listing in March/April instead of doing all the inventory management then.
It’ll probably be another light week this week as I have some family commitments this coming weekend.
Premium Hoarder update:
Sold 9 items for $896. It seems like I’m gonna live & die this year based on my hoarder sales each week. I haven’t listed any new hoarder items in a bit. I will try to list a couple pair of shoes this week since I sold a few pair.
Not many unique items to talk about this week.
https://www.ebay.com/itm/266535009443
Nikon D40x 10.2MP Digital SLR Camera Black 2 Lens 18-55mm 55-200mm Bag
Last week I sold a lens from this lot. This week I sold the camera. Noice!
https://www.ebay.com/itm/266388875986
Lacoste Purple Sweater Size 9 V Neck Men’s Cotton Pullover
Sold for best offer $67 – from the hoarder collection
https://www.ebay.com/itm/266146123655
Nike Air Jordan 1 Mid Retro Youth Size 3.5Y Leopard Print Shoes BQ6931-021
Shoes aren’t even in great shape and still sold for $50 full price. I love selling shoes!
