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I’m in it to win it, dammit!
Realistically, though, I’ll be coming back from a family visit on Jan 1, and I’ve got something for part of the day on the 2nd, so I’m probably not going to start off strong.
12/04/2018 at 8:07 pm in reply to: USPS – The Post Office will be closed on Wednesday, December 5th #52670Sort of off-topic, but I was told today that the 2 oz letter rate is going up from $0.50 to $0.55 towards the end of January 2019. That’s a pretty big jump. Other costs will be going up as well.
Welcome! Feel free to open up a forum topic if you have a specific question. For general advice, someone recently wrote up a post for a new seller. You can find it here:
Getting Your Part-Time eBay Business Going: You can do it! {very long}
We do have a few UK sellers that contribute to the forum, so if you have location specific questions, they might be able to help. Otherwise, read the Scavenger Life “Manifesto” (link at top), listen to the podcasts, and read through topics that interest you.
I think starting with something you know is a good idea, especially if you have equipment lying around that you no longer use. To learn about other items that sell, you can watch the “What Sold” videos that usually come out on Wednesday evening/Thursday morning and read the posts of sellers discussing what they sold in the past week.
12/04/2018 at 7:51 pm in reply to: Trash Elf Twins Challenge 2018 Thread #3 From Week 31 August #52668š
What is the Bratness?
12/03/2018 at 2:39 pm in reply to: USPS – The Post Office will be closed on Wednesday, December 5th #52594Huh, I had heard about the national day of mourning, but didn’t put two and two together wrt the post office. Interesting.
You guys should enjoy the trip on the auto train. My parents live in Florida, and they’ve been using it for maybe five years. They love it. They used to make the drive several times a year, but they are getting older and the long drive is difficult. We are going to visit them in Florida next year, and we are planning to use it as well.
They live in an active adult community, and many of their friends will bring over stuff they don’t want. My parents then give it to me to sell. We’ll bring my minivan so that I can bring back as much stuff as possible. My dad was joking that they have so much stuff that I needed to bring an 18 wheeler. I told him I’d get right on that CDL. š
My numbers:
Week of Nov 25 – Dec 1
* Total Items in Store: 1259 eBay, 11 Mercari
* Items Sold: 16 eBay
* Cost of Items Sold: $19.59 + $0 Commission
* Total Sales: $313.12
* Highest Price Sold: $62 Antique Gorham water pitcher
* Average Price Sold: $19.57
* Returns: 0
* Money Spent on New Inventory This Week: $0
* Number of items listed this week: 8Sales are definitely slow, and lower compared to last year same time, but so has been October and November. Not sure what is going on, but I’m trucking through it just the same.
12/03/2018 at 9:56 am in reply to: Trash Elf Twins Challenge 2018 Thread #3 From Week 31 August #52572I listed 8 items this week. This was expected given the crazy listing sprees I have had the past several weeks.
VintageTreasures – yes, I’m definitely seeing an uptick after a very slow October, but sales aren’t as high as last year. Enjoy your trip!
My husband actually has one of those ski jackets from the 80s except that his is a one-piece head to feet sort of thing. We went skiing maybe 5 or more years ago, and he wore it. He actually got a few positive comments.
There are two ways to look at it, from my point of view at least. I’m not a CPA or anything close to it.
1. When I donate items to a charity, there is a program (deduction pro?) that comes with the tax software I use. The program uses “thrift shop” prices to determine the value of an item. It might say that a long sleeve shirt is worth $8 if in excellent condition, $6 if in very good condition, $4 for good, and $0 for anything in fair or poor condition. So, you would take the price that the item would have sold for if it was on sale in a thrift or used goods store.
2. If you have an item you sold for $50, then its value is $50. You can use the sale price of the item minus fees to determine the cost of goods sold. The fees have to be taken out because I’m pretty sure you can’t take a loss on it. I suppose if you bought something used thinking it had a higher value, but you found damage and had to sell it at a lower price, then perhaps you can take a loss (you should have a paper trail).
I usually use method #2. I figure what you sell it for is what it is worth. Again, I’m not anywhere near to being a CPA.
If the buyer had an item that was not returnable, but she said that it was “not as described”, then she should be able to return it anyway per eBay’s policies. If your friend refused to take back an item that was not as described, that could be the problem.
Her record as a seller seems exemplary unless those late shipments and cancelled orders all came within the same period of time.
I don’t have any particular advice, but she can try going up the ladder at eBay because the first agent she talks to won’t have any authority. She would have to ask for a supervisor or the specific group that makes these decisions. Otherwise, these cases seem to be very rare, and I haven’t heard of too many sellers being banned from eBay.
11/28/2018 at 10:48 pm in reply to: What Sells On eBay: Auto compass, Hats, Books, Levitron Globe, Creepy Blow Mold Santa, Sansui Amp, Leather satchel, Teac Reel Tape Deck #52443Steve – Your videos made me aware of the Carhartt brand. I bought these coveralls for $10, and sold for best offer of $50. And … it’s going to back to your neck of the woods, Belle Fourche, SD!
http://www.ebay.com/itm/183188068936A few months ago, I bought a box of silver plate at an auction for $10. I finally got to polishing and photographing them two weeks ago. The box had partial sets of two patterns, so I broke them down into listings of 2 to 5 items each. Last week, I sold four listings to one buyer and two listings to another, all in the Gorham Stanhope pattern. The total for the six sales came to about $141. (I’ve actually sold four more this week and only have two listings left). The other pattern hasn’t sold yet. Here are two examples:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/183543248253
http://www.ebay.com/itm/183543220630I purchased this granite cooker in an auction that sells overstocks, refused merchandise, etc. I paid $2.50, and it sold for $29.50. I had lowered it by a few dollars because of a “Your items are in buyer’s carts” email from eBay, so those can be effective in generating a sale!
http://www.ebay.com/itm/182763303458This manual typewriter was part of an auction lot that was $5.75. Its cost came to about 50 cents. It sold for $42. Nice ROI, and it will be a gift to the buyer’s 10 year old daughter.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/183516610477Sure, I might as well add from Thanksgiving through the weekend:
Thanksgiving – 1
Black Friday – 4
Saturday – 4
Sunday – 2I sold 5 items on Monday and 3 items on Tuesday.
I certainly have an uptick in sales, but I’m down from the same time last year.
You can get the plastic sleeves shipped to you for free, but you have to sign up for a FedEx account online (also free). I used to pick them up from the store, but they run out occasionally.
One thought is to call eBay yourself and ask about the options and the steps you took so far.
The other thought is to re-list the item and tell the buyer to re-purchase it.
Just a thought on FedEx: You would expect them to have all the advanced technologies compared to the USPS, but I find they have a problem with scanning a label unless it is perfectly clear. Sometimes my printer just needs a head cleaning. But, sometimes it starts to leave out vertical lines of ink, and I have to do a nozzle check and a head cleaning in order for the labels to be clear enough.
I wish that FedEx labels would print out on the Dymo. It would be so much easier.
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