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Items in Store 2049
Items Sold 30
Total Sales $1,030.00
COGS $144.00
Total Profit $886.00
Average profit $29.53
Average sales price $34.33
New Listings 43
Items scavenged 15
Listing 2022 weekly Avg 49
Sourcing Allotment 17Ahhh, now that was a good sales week! Sold lots of items, listed lots of items. I actually have 70 more completed drafts that I didn’t get photos for, so this week should be a good listing week too.
This past Saturday I didn’t really want to go to any yard sales. I already have too much stuff and I was more interested in listing. So I come back in the house around 11:30am and my wife and kids are all dressed and ready to go hit a few yard sales and then on to other things to do for the day.
You all know how this goes – every time you try to back off scavenging something big comes along to drag you back in. One of the yard sales has a few neat older items. I pick out a few while pondering a box of old die cast cars. As I’m getting ready to check out I see a really old toy box for something called Major Matt Mason. I knew what this was because it was my father-in-laws favorite toys as a child and he’s told me all about them. The box was behind the people in the garage, but I asked if it was for sale.
The husband lights up, grabs another big box and starts showing me all his Matt Mason toys. He occasionally throws in the line that he “has sold some of it on ebay” so I figure this is a lost cause scavenging wise, but still fun to look at. In the end he says “I’ll sell it all for $100.” Sure thing!
After sorting, inspecting, and comping I decided to just throw it all up as an auction for a bit less than what I would get fully parting it all out:
https://www.ebay.com/itm/265795131135
I’ll part it all out if I don’t get any bites at auction.
I asked him as I was paying what other toys he had sold off. He had a huge collection of Hot Wheels Red Lines he sold to a guy the previous week. I mentioned I had never actually seen an original red line in person. He said “hold on a second”, went in, and came back with a red line hot wheel that was missing a wheel. He let me have it. What a cool dude.
Already listed and sold too!
https://www.ebay.com/itm/265794812304
I would have missed these awesome finds if I had scrapped yard sales for the day.
I have avoided buying record mailer boxes so I have a built-in excuse to avoid learning about another niche with collectors who are very picky about condition, lol. But now that I am starting with plans to expand my store beyond trading cards, it is probably almost time to order some LP boxes. I like to sell CDs and DVDs so records are a logical next step.
underpromise, over deliver.
Even if I have a record I know officially qualifies as better, I still max my ratings out at VG+.
That keeps me out of the Uber collectors realm.
I also have a disclaimer on all my record listings that basically states “I don’t know what I’m doing. Don’t buy my stuff if you want collector quality”.
If you don’t see that option there, then click the “customize table” link at the top right of the table and add it.
Yep, this here was one of the big benefits of ditching PayPal.
cost savings- yeah that was bs.
but at least we don’t have to worry about bs credit card chargebacks.
I have a few methods.
Sometimes in a pinch I’ll break federal law and use a flat rate cardboard mailer and then a poly mailer.
I keep a stack of cArdboard trimmings and will fold that in half and tape seams as a sleeve for other thin books/magazines/comics. Then put in polymailer.
For larger format thin books I’ll use my 12×12 adjustable record mailer boxes.
Do the dealers mind if you comp while going through their bargain bins?
A couple months ago I was at an industry expo in Columbus and there was a comic shop in the comic shop in the convention center. They had large bargain bins of graphic novels and I so badly wanted to scan a bunch of stuff. I scanned a couple things indiscreetly but I was afraid of ticking off the ship owner.
It is confusing until you get the drop down. There is also no description section on the eBay mobile site to explain the listing.
I avoid this style of listing for this specific reason. I did do a huge variable listing for markers and I decided to avoid any photo showing the assortment of colors or multiple markers.
if you are selling items from the listing don’t sweat it. Tell this person “if you are unhappy you can return for a refund” then go silent. If you get a negative, try to have eBay for business remove it. If they don’t respond to the feedback and move on with life.
Items in Store 2036
Items Sold 21
Total Sales $527.00
COGS $55.00
Total Profit $472.00
Average profit $22.48
Average sales price $25.10
New Listings 47
Items scavenged 22
Listing 2022 weekly Avg 49
Sourcing Allotment 14Whew, real life(tm) is getting the best of me this month. Still plugging away where I can. Like Dory says, I just gotta keep swimming. My day job is more demanding of my limited energy reserves, and I’m also building a fence. I can only do a few fence panels a week because I still don’t have alot of energy even at almost a year since I got severe Covid.
I listed some high dollar items this weekend. Hopefully they pay off so I can get my sales amounts up. I haven’t sold a single item this month worth more than $100, and only 3 items for more than $50. Must be Cheap girl summer this year due to inflation.
Items in Store 2010
Items Sold 22
Total Sales $453.00
COGS $53.00
Total Profit $400.00
Average profit $18.18
Average sales price $20.59
New Listings 20
Items scavenged 20
Listing 2022 weekly Avg 49Very busy week at my day job. Listed what I bought this week, which is an accomplishment.
I’m just very very busy and I don’t have enough time/energy for everything.
Another example is a small charity shop I go to. Couple times a year. They now comp EVERYTHING to online. They have tags that say “online price $xx our price $yy”.
I could have just laughed and walked out. Instead I went through the store and found the things they missed. Occasionally I would also buy their items with the online comp prices. For instance, a baseball glove they priced at $25 because it allegedly goes for $75 online. Well it actually does and has a phenomenal STR. I gladly paid the $25 and listed it for $75. I’ll accept an offer down to $50 and it will sell within a month easily.All told I spent $100 at this thrift where legit 100% of the money goes to caring for shelter animals. I listed everything I bought for close to $1k. There’s money to be made even in picked through overpriced comped out thrifts. You just gotta keep expanding your knowledge base and be willing to shop any department.
Yeah the bigger chain thrifts filter out the really good stuff for their own online auction sites. Then the stuff that does hit the floor is priced up. For example, At my local thrifts if it says Nike it is at least $10 an item now.
I’ve talked to the managers at some of my thrifts. Some goodwills have a list of brand names or specialty items that must be sent into their online sales group.
I’ve definitely noticed a steep drop in the overall quality of clothing. I just look through at a very high level looking for the things that stand out. I still find the occasional clothing item, but I’m also not very focused on clothing. I still have plenty of clothing in my death piles so I’m in no rush to load up.
in the end, the numbers either make sense or they don’t. I’ll still buy their shoes at $10 a pair if they sell for $50+. Same for clothes.
i still find plenty of good stuff at the “Gucci goodwill” that all of these same trends are happening at.
I’m starting to think this may not entirely be a bad thing. Thrifting has become hugely popular. Buyers will get frustrated with the increasingly high prices and poor quality Stock at local thrifts. Now that they are well established second hand buyers They’ll start to look through our online stores full of cultivated nice items at only slightly higher prices than overpriced thrifts.
I have Men’s black socks in L & XL. The listings should be active this evening. I have to take a photo of the actual items because in the past I got a vero for using the factory image as my main image.
Items in Store 1982
Items Sold 25
Total Sales $622.00
COGS $63.00
Total Profit $559.00
Average profit $22.36
Average sales price $24.88
New Listings 59
Items scavenged 13
Listing 2022 weekly Avg 50Nothing real special about this week. One fun story from this past week. So several years ago I went all in at a sporting goods clearance sale and bought hundreds of pairs of smartwool socks. I listed pretty much everything but I was pretty sure I had a whole extra tub of the socks that I did not list. They’ve crossed my mind occasionally over the last couple years as I pondered where in my death piles they were, or if I was mistaken and they didn’t even exist. Well they turned up! Jackpot too as I have about 25 pair of each style so I only had 5 listings to do. Back then there was a bit of competition but now I’m the only seller on the ‘net of these styles. Full retail price it is! I could not tell you why I never listed these but did list everything else. I must have done a reorganization and put them away.
Ah yes, vintage pro wrestling stuff can be big bucks. The initial offers you get quickly will be from dealers. Hold out a bit and you’ll get better offers – usually from Japan.
You know thats a good idea to end and sell similar for them to renew all of them. Plenty of them are older listings for sure.
nothing I do price wise right now will make them move faster. Once the end of august rolls around I’ll end and relist with an updated price. I have a bunch that need listed anyways that I’ll focus on in august. I want to have every cost/jacket I have listed by Labor Day.
