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So I thought that the “January” challenge allowed us to finish by the end of February? I’ve started on it, but haven’t finished yet.
I did test a large cabinet style dartboard and figured out that it didn’t work. Too bad. So, it’s in the garage waiting for garbage day next Monday.
I did get out my Indian food grinder and found out that the plug is for India. It must have been something that the couple brought from India to the US and then couldn’t use it. My husband got out his Swiss army knife of plug adapters, but he didn’t have anything for India. So, now my conundrum is to either buy an adapter plus a voltage converter (the machine doesn’t have one of those 120/240 switches) or dump it? Since new ones cost $250, I might get around $100 for this used, older model. On the other hand, it might not work, someone might not want to pay the shipping (it’s about 25 pounds!), and who would want to deal with all the adapters or the pain of bringing it back to India? I could sell the attachments, but I’m not sure there are many of these older models for US use. Anyway, I’m having issues making a decision here. I need the rest of February to figure this thing out!
I don’t know anything about the Zebra. I have a Dymo LabelWriter 4XL, and I can print FedEx labels on it. Half a line on the top gets cut off, but it doesn’t cut anything important that messes up delivery.
The only time I’ve had to print to a PDF and then print with Acrobat is a direct international label with the customs form. Enough information gets cut off that I have to print it outside of eBay. I don’t know why there isn’t a method to just center the whole thing.
In PayPal, I went to the report tab. Selected “Completed Payments”, chose a date range for last year, and then CSV format. Then pressed “Create Report”.
The report took about a minute to create. Looking at the file in Excel, I found rows that are marked “Shipping label printed on eBay for shipping carrier USPS with tracking Number ###”, and I’m sure there are some marked for FedEx (or UPS if you use them). You will have to pull out each row for shipping and add the column “Gross”. You will want to subtract out all the fees as well.
I use GoDaddy, so I will get all the fees and expenses subtracted out automatically. With PayPal, you will just need to do some spreadsheet manipulation.
I sold six items over the weekend, and half of them were during the Super Bowl. I also received two messages during that time.
The Super Bowl is the one sports game I watch all year. I grew up in Pittsburgh during the 70s when the Steelers won four Super Bowls in in five years. Pittsburgh is a very sports oriented city, and I’ve never grown completely out of that.
I had another decent week with two big sales from my radio auction purchase in September. I’m testing and listing those radios little by little.
Week of Jan 26 – Feb 1
* Total Items in Store: 1475 eBay, 34 Etsy
* Items Sold: 18 eBay
* Cost of Items Sold: $30.50 + $5.10 Commission
* Total Sales: $476.04 eBay
* Highest Price Sold: $100 for 1959 Zenith Trans-Oceanic Royal 1000 Radio; $90 for 1960s Zenith Royal 2000 Radio
* Average Price Sold: $26.45
* Returns: 0
* Money Spent on New Inventory This Week: $0
* Number of items listed this week: 7That makes more sense. I’ve heard of people who bought gold cheap because the family wasn’t aware or the thrift store didn’t check. What a great purchase!
I’m not sure I can help you with selling gold on eBay. People do it all the time, but, yes, I’d be concerned myself. However, I can’t help but ask how you managed to buy that much gold for $4? Did the estate sales people not know that it was real gold?
I’ve found that I can get better value and faster listing when I buy in larger lots. It isn’t perfect, though, because I bought a large lot of radios that I have to test one at a time. It has been slow going, but quite profitable.
I read an article recently that older John Deere farm tractors are in high demand because they are DIY repairable while the newer ones are software driven and can only be repaired with a computer and a specialist. This takes the tractor out of service for a week or so while an older one can be repaired and put back to use quickly. If these manuals are for farm tractors, you may have quite a haul there, and they may sell faster than you think.
I wasn’t able to find that article right away, but I’ll look again later.
I remember seeing a video you posted with you in your belly dance group, maybe part of a parade. I thought you had long hair, but maybe that was a wig or something as part of what you were wearing?
Definitely a ship artifact in a museum with the park ranger showing it all off!!!
I’ve learned well enough how to package glass, but I don’t enjoy the packing because of the time it takes for stuff thats usually not all that profitable. I think with turntables, the higher profit margins would make for a more enjoyable experience with the shipping. Maybe I’ll try it some day.
My week was also bread and butter, but I can always come up with some interesting stories.
I had a few interesting commission sales. I learned about chintz, which is still pretty popular. This plate sold for $21.50.
https://www.ebay.com/itm/184048067313I was given some reams of fabric to sell. I had to estimate how much material was on each ream, and then break them down into reasonable lengths. I sold this vintage purple cotton patterned fabric in 3 yard pieces, and, for some reason, they all sold last week. After last sale, I realized I still had a bit over 3 yards left, so I copied the listing and sold the last one very quickly. Each 3-yard length cost about $11-12 (depending on if the buyer accepted an offer).
https://www.ebay.com/itm/184087346666From my radio auction purchase last year, I sold an RCA Victor tube radio for parts or repair. I paid less than $3 each, and this one sold for $27.
https://www.ebay.com/itm/184038924599Out of that radio lot, I had listed a Zenith Trans-Oceanic radio with an instruction manual and a small advertising brochure. A buyer just wanted the brochure. I asked him what he wanted to pay, and he said $15. I thought that was reasonable, so I created a separate listing for him. (Spoiler alert: I sold the radio this week for $100).
https://www.ebay.com/itm/184140683261Right before the holidays last year, I sold 3 listings of USAir tablespoons to one guy. He would pay for a listing, wait until I had printed a label, and then buy another. This time he bought two listings of 10 teaspoons at one time. These were all give to me by one of my parents’ downsizing friends.
https://www.ebay.com/itm/183970418873Well, then, you might want to call UPS or FedEx (whichever is closer), give them the dimensions and weight, and ask how much it would be for them to package it. Then, add that cost to the cost of the item. Either as a handling fee or roll it into the overall price. Include in the description that it will be professionally packaged and shipped.
I saw recently something about bulk shipping options on eBay, but you would have to look that up. I think that it was for items over 100 pounds, and I have no idea if your binnacle is within that limit.
By the way, it is very cool. What a great thing for someone’s nautical themed beach house! Or a museum even!
I was thinking that as well. Towards the end of last year, I sold an old tube radio to Canada, and they flagged it at the GSP warehouse because the tubes have hazardous material in them. Canada has an import regulation against hazardous materials. I wonder if there is an issue with uranium glass.
@Amatino – You should consider local pickup on eBay, or try Craigslist, Facebook Marketplace, or similar.
I do have an Indian food grinder that was something on my deathpile list LAST year. It weighs about 30 pounds, maybe more, and takes up some serious counter space. The box will need to be double-walled and pretty big, but first I need to test it.
So, I’m in. It has been sitting around WAY too long.
