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My challenge for last month was putting together a BOLO list. I didn’t come up with much. When I’m at auctions or sales, I think about that more often. Right now, I’m really trying to help out my neighbor and get his stuff listed, so my sourcing has been limited.
I did put together a note on the computer specifically for keeping a BOLO list, and it has the few things I thought about. So, I consider that a successful completion of the challenge. From now on, I can add to the list as I think of them.
At the end of last year when we were thinking these through, I was trying to set myself up better for a less time consuming eBay business as my job became a bigger deal. Now my commission with the neighbor has superseded all that, but this work will eventually be worthwhile.
In the meantime, my #8 challenge is to go to a few yard or estate sales. Funny, maybe I’ll add to my BOLO list.
I still copy and paste the listing title in the description field. I got used to doing that, and it doesn’t look right to me if it isn’t there. Then I might add some measurements or explanation if needed.
Lastly, I still have some very basic store standards such as I take returns, we have cats, etc.
I usually leave the defects for the condition description.
At one time, I knew someone who did mosaics. I gave her all my chipped ceramics and china; however, she started working with other art and didn’t want it anymore.
A friend knew someone who ran a mosaic class, but she didn’t want my castoffs either.
I did hear of a guy that was collecting empty bottles and whatnot for a business based on breaking things, but I haven’t heard from him for a while. Maybe there are plenty of bottles out there as well as chipped ceramics that he is set for now.
Hard to get rid of this stuff for reuse.
I have a question. We decided that multiple items in one listing was counted as one. So, if you have 10 identical widgets that put up in one listing, it only counts as one.
What happens if you list several things in one listing, but they are different and photos have to be taken of each one? For instance, I have six cashmere scarves from Scotland all in one listing, but they are different colors:
https://www.ebay.com/itm/185556223532
I only counted it as one, but shouldn’t I count it as six? I would then add five to my count, which would bring it up to 34. Yes? No?
@Amatino –
Almost forgot. I watched your dance video that you posted last week. It is awesome! What a nice thing that you teach and organize! I’m pretty sure I could pick you out from the group.
Older photos that you have posted usually have more women. Was your class smaller this time, or do not all of the students want to participate?
Week of Aug 21 – 27
Total Items in Store: 1660 eBay, 33 Etsy
Items Sold: 8 eBay, 0 Etsy
Cost of Items Sold: $4.50 + $7 Commission
Total Sales: $123.74 eBay; includes fees but no shipping
Highest Price Sold: eBay $22 for 1938 Book on Leonardo Da Vinci
Average price: $15.47
Returns: 1
Money Spent on New Inventory This Week: $0
Number of items listed this week: 2It was a much slower week than I had realized. I just came back from vacation, and I was trying to get stuff listed for my neighbor. He is getting more serious about buying a home in an active adult community, so he needs a faster pace for cleaning up. His wife really was quite the hoarder. I am preventing myself from buying any new inventory so that I can make better progress.
I listed 29 items last week. They were ALL clothing on commission for my neighbor. I am desperately trying to get through what I have so that I can get more.
He asked me to help sort out more clothing so that he can get to stuff underneath. Yes, it is that bad. I spent about 3 hours during the weekend sorting, and I have about 8 or so more boxes for whenever I can get through the stuff already at my house. There is still more clothing in the room including a walk-in closet full of vintage stuff. This is closer to what I am interested in, but it is packed!
He is currently looking for a house in an active adult community, and he assures me that he would buy before he sells. However, I have to get the stuff out of there before he can put it on the market. Ugh! It will all depend on the timing. I may do a MaxSold auction if I can’t get to it all in time.
Hi there CT! I grew up in a suburb south of Pittsburgh (Upper St. Clair), and my sister still lives there. I have family in the city/Squirrel Hill. I visit once or twice a year. Love the area, although, I appreciate the slightly warmer weather in NJ.
A friend of mine has told me that Pittsburgh has some good thrifts, but that is from someone looking to buy for themselves, not resell. What is your opinion?
With the trading cards, do you just play games or do you buy and sell in the category?
Steve – Figured you were on vacation. I was as well, so I didn’t have to catch up when I got home 🙂 Sales have been slow, but I’m not sweating it. Going back a few weeks, here are my better or more interesting sales.
Several years ago, I bought an auction lot slashed to $2.50. It included four wood barrels, and I finally sold the last one for $42. I priced it a bit higher because it had print on it showing that it was originally used for wire nails made in Pittsburgh.
https://www.ebay.com/itm/185509177043
I went to a library book sale earlier in the year. I purchased this vintage book fully in Russian. I was concerned that eBay would pull it down as it did for some empty Russian vodka bottles, but I had no problems. Paid about $1, sold for $24.
https://www.ebay.com/itm/185480866158
Just a nice sterling pendant sold on commission for $58.
https://www.ebay.com/itm/185164354926
I’ve been inundated with clothing lately, both free stuff from my parents’ friends and my commission from my neighbor across the street. I’ve been lotting much of the stuff up because I really hate listing clothing. Here are a few examples. The men’s polos were free, and the women’s clothing is from my neighbor. One woman purchased three lots of size 3X tops, so that was nice.
https://www.ebay.com/itm/185518125059
https://www.ebay.com/itm/185531048250
https://www.ebay.com/itm/185531138150
https://www.ebay.com/itm/185518126731
This framed print has been in my storage for some time. My mom said that she found it with my grandfather’s stuff when she cleaned up his apartment after he passed away. For some reason, this artist is popular. Sold for $67.
https://www.ebay.com/itm/185511759208
This is a teapot purchased in a large online auction purchase early in the year. Bought for a few bucks, sold for $29.71.
Hum, sounds like a hacker. How did you know that he paid 1/3 of the actual price if eBay shows the original price?
Ah, nevermind. I googled “Gilligan’s Island radio”, and you do not have that version.
I’m sure you’d find a model number if you could remove the leatherette cover without damaging the setup. It probably has some kind of glue keeping it on, so I wouldn’t recommend removing it.
It is hard to see from the photos where it says Packard Bell 8. The number 8 might be from the number of transistors that were part of the design.
I’ve used Radio Museum’s website in the past to help identify radios. Unfortunately, their page on Packard Bell only shows a few models up to about 1940.
https://www.radiomuseum.org/dsp_hersteller_detail.cfm?company_id=3020
Looks like Packard Bell was an electronics manufacturer only until about 1968 when it was bought out by Teledyne, and then later made a computer manufacturer in 1986.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Packard_Bell_Corporation
I found an interesting sentence in the Wikipedia article: A Packard Bell radio was used as a prop in the 1960s American television series Gilligan’s Island. The Japanese made, eight-transistor AR-851 was an important plot device over the course of the three-year run of the show.
If you can find out what kind of radio they used by watching one of the episodes, and it is similar to the one you have, you should consider putting that in title and upping the price!
I’ve been on vacation, so I am posting two weeks worth of sales. The week before was very slow as expected, but last week wasn’t so bad considering I still was on time away. I’ll be shipping lots today.
Week of Aug 7 – 13
Total Items in Store: 1657 eBay, 33 Etsy
Items Sold: 7 eBay, 0 Etsy
Cost of Items Sold: $0 + $31 Commission
Total Sales: $151.37 eBay; includes fees but no shipping
Highest Price Sold: eBay $58 Sterling Iridescent Purple Stone Pendant (commission)
Average price: $21.62
Returns: 0
Money Spent on New Inventory This Week: $0
Number of items listed this week: 0Week of Aug 14 – 20
Total Items in Store: 1644 eBay, 33 Etsy
Items Sold: 12 eBay, 0 Etsy
Cost of Items Sold: $11 + $32 Commission
Total Sales: $270.41 eBay; includes fees but no shipping
Highest Price Sold: eBay $67 Framed Print by Simon Tashimoto “3 Arrows”
Average price: $22.50
Returns: 0
Money Spent on New Inventory This Week: $0
Number of items listed this week: 0ABL = Always be listing!!!
Except when you are on vacation, as I have been these past two weeks. Put me down for another zero.
We did the drive down the coast in CA. Flew into San Francisco and out of Los Angeles. I had lived in LA in the late 80s / early 90s, so I had done the drive twice before, but my kids had never been and my husband had only been in CA for business trips.
My daughter got a cold and shared it with her mother. I tested myself, and I am negative for COVID. This is the first time I’ve been sick in the past 2 1/2 years because of all the masking/social distancing.
Sounds like many people here are in transition; either moving, recovering, vacationing, and so forth. Good luck with everyone’s …ing for the rest of the summer, and hopefully we can all move onto the listing part again in the new section that Ryanne created for us!!
(@Amatino – I think we are supposed to be in #3 already?)
