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Steve – I totally get not wanting to fix an item and just deciding to sell as is. I’ve been interested in learning how to fix things, but I’ve only gotten as far as rewiring a lamp.
I feel like I’m again the only one posting. People, wake up!!! I know my crap isn’t as interesting as many of you out there. Please, help out!
Here’s a set of five US Airways forks that sold for $15 from the end of a big collection of similar flatware given to me by a friend of my parents. Nothing interesting here except that I recognized the name of the buyer. It’s been a few years, but he basically have bought most of the collection over time.
https://www.ebay.com/itm/184813926405
This Bell & Howell projector was given to me by a different friend of my parents. It was sitting in my basement for a couple years while I waited to get a 16mm film to test it with. I finally decided to just show the operation without film and embedded a video in the listing. Sold for $63.70.
https://www.ebay.com/itm/185274928586
A few years ago, I bought this child’s size organ in an online auction for under $20. When I brought it home, my kids started playing around with it, so I didn’t get around to listing it until November. I had a few requests to ship it. I explained that the cost would probably be more than the item itself, but they were free to arrange it with Uship or another company. Finally, someone near Pittsburgh offered $165 for it, and I couldn’t click fast enough. The buyer was very interesting. He plays an organ for his church, and he started a collection. He first drove to Philadelphia to pickup an organ from the 1800s, and then to me. He knows how to fix them, so he will repair the one key that doesn’t work.
From what I’ve read, any buyer who puts an item in their watchlist or clicks a few times on an item will be available for Send Offer AS LONG AS they give permission. So, if someone opts out of that function, then you can have an item with a watcher but not be able to send an offer.
My #3 is Challenger’s Choice. My husband agreed to help me get through the electronics that I didn’t manage in January. So, listing electronics will be my challenge.
@Amatino: Hopefully this photos shows the color of the gray felt I purchased. The photo shows the gray felt right next to the white. I think that you are the one who posted a video link where a guy built a setup for clothing. He talked about how gray was a better color for photos. It wasn’t the first time I’ve heard that.I forgot to mention: I bought felt fabric and set up a photography background for clothing as suggested by Amatino. I am just using a flat box at this time, and I will get a board sometime later. I purchased both white and light gray felt, and the gray is definitely better. It mostly comes out white in the photos but shows true colors better. The setup is not perfect, but it works well enough for now.
In other news, though, I decided to bite the bullet and just send the large lot of clothes from my new commission into Swap.com. I’m annoyed with the company. They seemed to have “lost” clothing I sent in earlier, but they are making things right by paying me for them. I told my commissionee (is that a word?) all the issues with the website and gave him the choice to not to do it, but he is very easy going. He wants me to make money, his wife’s stuff to be appreciated and used by someone, and he will give any of his profit to charity. I’ve got two large boxes, each with over 50 pieces, to send in.
Week of Feb 20 – 26
Total Items in Store: 1415 eBay, 28 Etsy
Items Sold: 18 eBay, 1 Etsy
Cost of Items Sold: $20.90 + $90 Commission
Total Sales: $624.63 eBay, $39.61 Etsy; Includes fees but no shipping
Highest Price Sold: eBay $165 for 1940s Estey child’s pump organ
Average price: $36.43
Returns: 0 (one return to sender package)
Money Spent on New Inventory This Week: $56.60
Number of items listed this week: 30I have a package that was returned from an Etsy sale. I sent it once using PirateShip, but it was sent back for wrong address. I noticed that PirateShip removed a “south” from the address, so I went ahead and resent it using Etsy to buy the label. The buyer did thank me, so I thought that was the problem. It’s come back again. Unless the buyer wants to pay for shipping one more time, I’m going to have to contact Etsy and see what I can do to recover at least one shipping cost and just refund her.
I bid in my first online auction on Saturday since June of last year. Prices have been too high, but I was finally found one that was reasonable. Pickup was earlier today.
I also had the pickup for the Estey organ today. That was fun. The buyer is an organ player for his church, and he is starting up a collection and learning how to repair them. Organs were a big thing at one time. Estey has a museum in Vermont that is located in the building where the company used to operate. Maybe I’ll go someday.
I listed 30 items this week. I was helped by the fact I had a few groups of similar items and a slightly less crazy job week.
I wanted to go to local thrifts this week. There were two in my area that are located in churches. I was able to get decent items for good prices, not a lot, but enough to be happy. Much better than the large thrifts I tried in the past few weeks. I still did not make it to my town’s local Goodwill, but I’ve met the challenge of trying out a few thrifts this month.
I forgot to mention, I found an empty DVD box in the place I was testing the player. Guess that the buyer ended up getting a Harry Potter DVD (minus the box) for free!
Steve – Can’t believe that I missed this video. I’ve been super busy outside of eBay.
Again, my parents’ friend Ed strikes again! He gave me this VCR, still new in the box, during the summer. I put it aside because I heard something rattling in the box, and I didn’t want to ship anything broken. Finally, I opened it up and found it was just the accessory bag. It sold for $164!
https://www.ebay.com/itm/185292196337
This was also given to me by Ed, but not as big of a sale. A DVD player at $32.
https://www.ebay.com/itm/185274829230
This twin bed set I bought at an online auction maybe two years ago. It sold for $43.
https://www.ebay.com/itm/184672466590
I sold this tuxedo suit for a friend of mine for $48. It was her father’s, who passed away years ago. I received positive feedback, so it must fit him well.
https://www.ebay.com/itm/185036356911
I’ve been selling stuff for my neighbor, whose wife passed away in Jan. It’s incredible the amount of clothing and shoes she bought and never wore. This pair was a bit more pricy than the others, in fact, I think I sold it for about as much as she bought it for, $49.
https://www.ebay.com/itm/185290834013
I thought that this owl looked so cool that I listed very high. It’s been listed a few years, so, when someone offered me a $15, I took it.
gar·ru·lous
/ˈɡer(y)ələs/
adjective
excessively talkative, especially on trivial matters.I listed 20 items this week.
I went back to the thrift store that I mentioned last week. It was still pricey on Friday, but better than Monday. I did buy something that I saw on Monday that was 50% off on Friday. I’m certainly successful at my challenge, but I’m finding that maybe thrifts aren’t worth it. My goal this week is to go to local thrifts.
Week of Feb 13 – 19
Total Items in Store: 1420 eBay, 29 Etsy
Items Sold: 15 eBay, 2 Etsy
Cost of Items Sold: $9.50 + $62 Commission
Total Sales: $567.98 eBay, $51.35 Etsy; Includes fees but no shipping
Highest Price Sold: eBay $164 VHS player, new open box
Average price: $36.43
Returns: 0
Money Spent on New Inventory This Week: $33.83
Number of items listed this week: 20Pretty good week for me. The VHS player was only open box because I opened it to take photos and see what was rattling around (it was the accessories bag).
I’ve been checking out a thrift store near where I work, and boy are prices high there even with the 50% off. I just listed my first item from there; lets see how it goes. I don’t really need to source because I’m selling my neighbor’s stuff, but I decided to buy a few things if they were unique and valuable enough.
Steve – That looks like an amazing collection of pencil sharpeners! I’ve sold a few, and I’m always surprised at how quickly they sell. You should do well with them.
A couple of years ago, I had purchased a number of auction lots with older books. I needed to get them all listed or donated. I put all the less than $10 books in a pile, and then separated them by spine color. I am selling them as décor, so I list the number of inches for the length they would take up on a bookshelf. The first group to sell is the red color for $25, and they’ve been listed over a year. They are slow sellers, but, for me, this is much better than selling them one at a time.
https://www.ebay.com/itm/184595095538
Maybe 8 or 9 years ago, well before I started reselling, I still was always the bargain hunter. At work, they were selling off giveaways from older programs. I bought two of these satellite models. I put one together for my son, but the other one sat for years. I paid maybe $3 for it, and it sold for $23 in two weeks.
https://www.ebay.com/itm/185259313615
Here is something that sat in my basement at least two years. I finally listed it as part of my January listing challenge over in the forum posts. I paid about $5 at a live auction, and it sold for full price of $150 in two weeks!
https://www.ebay.com/itm/185257241696
This is just a crazy old tool that I listed years ago. Finally sold for $20. I enjoy old tools, and it is one of the categories I look for.
https://www.ebay.com/itm/185036376616
This was given to me for free. It is a decorative statue of a cherub that I sold for a bit under $46. The crazy part is that someone paid $72.90 for me to ship it to Puerto Rico.
https://www.ebay.com/itm/185082783304
I’ve been listing lots of stuff for my new commission. This is the neighbor across the street from me who was widowed last month. His wife had ordered a bunch of wigs, but had not worn them. They all sold pretty quickly, although I have one ponytail left. This wig sold for $57.
https://www.ebay.com/itm/185274958176
I purchased these antique dishes for a few dollars during my first year of reselling (2016). I knew that something old didn’t necessarily mean something valuable, but I listed it really high. I’ve reduced the price a few times over the years and took new photos at one point. The set of two finally sold for $34.
https://www.ebay.com/itm/184688335303
This is something that I got for free. It is a Lancôme mirror that sticks into a department store display. It does not have its own stand. The buyer address listed a photography studio, so it is going to be some type of prop.
Week of Feb 6 – 12
Total Items in Store: 1412 eBay, 30 Etsy
Items Sold: 11 eBay, 0 Etsy
Cost of Items Sold: $4 + $50 Commission
Total Sales: $247.51 eBay, Includes fees but no shipping
Highest Price Sold: $56 for Toni Brattin Supreme Bob Wig
Average price: $22.50
Returns: 0
Money Spent on New Inventory This Week: $15
Number of items listed this week: 20I realized after reading the winter update that I’ve been miscalculating my fees when I figure out what to pay the original owner of the commissions I sell. I’ve been calculating it on the sales price, not the total. Oh well, I’ll do that from now on.
When eBay transitioned to managed payments, the FVF for a basic store was something like 12.45% (for most items). At some point, they decreased it to 11.7%. So, now it goes back up to 12%. I guess it is still less than the original fee.
I listed 20 items this week.
I waited until later to post because I pushed off my thrift store challenge until today. I went to a larger thrift near Trenton, NJ. Holy crap, the prices were high there! And they only took cash. They did have good stuff, but not for resellers at those prices. I think that Monday is not the best day to go because all the good or discounted stuff is sold on the weekend, but I happened to be in the area. I decided to buy one jacket/long blazer that seemed to be from a upscale brand for $15 (at 50% off!) since I had made the trip.
@Amatino – I don’t know if you break easy, or if you just put yourself in precarious situations, but your life could be a movie! Or, at least a set of informational videos on what not to do :). I am glad to hear that you are recovering well.@craig-rex – Thanks for all the information and analysis. I’ll send that to her, removing anything about “irrational beliefs” and all that 🙂
To be fair, I was communicating with her via Facebook and then email. I could tell she had some excitement about the price she saw, but also understood when I sent her eBay solds. I think she gets it, but will appreciate the analysis.
Not everyone knows that you can look at sold listings. My sister-in-law had been doing retail arbitrage for years before I showed her how to see them.
