Forum Replies Created
-
Posts
-
It has happened. A friend found outrageous prices on eBay for a baseball card that her husband owns. I quickly brought her back to earth showing her sold prices from $25 to $1250. Can you give me a quick rundown on what would make these more valuable or not worth anything?
It is this card:
https://www.ebay.com/itm/294405006642
This is what has her so excited:
https://www.ebay.com/itm/265526362751
Obviously, this one is graded 10, but I don’t think it is worth $21k. I need to peel my friend off the ceiling, or, at least, her husband.
Thanks!
I had been thinking of a similar setup. I could probably set something like that up against the dining room table and put something heavy at the bottom to keep it from moving, like you said. I was thinking of just using a large cardboard box, although, it might not be strong enough. I’ll look into the apparel felt and insulation board. Great ideas, and something I need to think about. Thanks so much!!
This week, I was able to list about eight pair of shoes by pulling down stock photos from sites like Walmart. I know that isn’t completely Kosher, but these are all discontinued styles. I figure I’m not completing against them. I could possibly find similar photos for the NWT clothes, but, if I get a good setup going, it might be faster.
Beautiful photos and a really neat mug!
I have some ideas on the clothes setup. I’ll post when I try it out. I can only put up a hook in my basement, and I’d hate to be stuck there when I’m doing photos.
We all need a separate warehouse or cabin to hold our eBay business so we can set it up anyway we chose!!!
VT –
Thanks for the suggestions. I’m not sure I have a white sheet, but I’ll have to look around.
I don’t have a place to hang anything from a ceiling. I’d have to put in hooks, but it is something to think about. I like the way clothing looks when it is lying down on a flat surface. In the vid, the surface was at an angle, so you got the flat look but could still hold it down with a hanger.
In the video, he used a gray background. I’ve heard that colors show truer that way, but I’ve never tried it.
Also, I watched the video that Amatino linked to on listing clothing quickly. I recall watching something from the same guy on how he created his setup. I don’t have the inclination or desire to do something like that, but I definitely have to get out of laying the clothes on the floor. Kills my knees. I also need to buy fabric rather than use poster board. I may put off listing clothes until I figure something out. Got to be creative.
I had 4 listings.
I actually was ready with eight more, but the hot topic on the forums was that you should be spreading your listing over the full week. Hopefully, I will list more than what I have in drafts, but my part time job is staying consistently busy.
As part of my Feb challenge, I did go to a thrift store this weekend. I had found out about this store a few years ago and followed its page on Facebook. However, it’s a 45 min drive, so I never went. During the pandemic, they closed, opened, and closed again, and now they are liquidating their inventory.
I was able to buy five NWT dresses for $2 each. This is the first inventory purchase I’ve made in 4-5 months, so that was fun. I’ll keep an eye out to see if they have any other liquidation opportunities after this event ends next weekend.
I brought a large load over from my neighbor as well. Lots of NWT clothing. Other stuff, too, but tons of clothing. Looks like I will be in the NWT business for a while.
Week of Jan 30 – Feb 5
Total Items in Store: 1401 eBay, 30 Etsy
Items Sold: 21 eBay, 0 Etsy
Cost of Items Sold: $38.68 + $19 Commission
Total Sales: $635.92 eBay, Includes fees but no shipping
Highest Price Sold: $150 for Vintage lamp/clock/sculpture piece
Average price: $30.28
Returns: 0
Money Spent on New Inventory This Week: $15.55
Number of items listed this week: 4I had quite a good week especially considering the past few awful weeks. My big sale was an item that sat in my basement maybe three years before I bothered to clean it up and test it.
I picked up my second load of stuff from my neighbor’s home. His wife was really quite the shopper. I counted six boxes of brand new shoes, plus a new in box Bose speaker system, several boxes of new clothing, and a few fireplace antiques (even though they have a gas fireplace). His wife just liked to shop.
I’m enjoying going over and talking through all the stuff. Two of his items sold during the past week.
Last week was quite slow. Not much to talk about.
I had one bigger sale of some JC Penney shear curtains. A couple of years ago, I purchased a closet full of linens for the minimum bid of $1. I’ve already made a few hundred. Totally overlooked online auction lot! The curtains sold for $69.
@Amatino – I’m going to have to check out this guy. I will be listing lots of clothing for my new consignment with my neighbor. Right now, I have a small box of unworn Lands’ End swimming tankini type tops, no bottoms. Looks like she liked to wear these under a button down type shirt and not for swimming. Just something I’m not all that interested in, but worth listing as they are new without tags.
BTW – your cabin looks incredible. I was thinking of showing photos of my deathpiles, but they are so disorganized that you can’t tell how they are thinning out. Plus, I’m now using that area for this new consignment and to store some of my own stuff I want to get rid of.
Today was my day in the office, so it’s been tough to get online. I’ve had a rough week as well from a busted furnace (will be fixed tomorrow), check engine light coming on the car (husband wants to look at the code before I bring it in), and a daughter we drove to college and forgot she had both keys to one of our cars (last minute drive there and back last night). So, yeh, I’ve been a bit busy to say the least.
OK, that off my shoulders, my #7 challenge is to go to a few thrift stores. Between the pandemic, my starting a job, prices going higher, etc., I’ve really not been to one to source in two years or so. Many of my goals are focused on switching my sourcing to slower going, higher priced sales. Let’s see if I can find an interesting place within an hour or less from me.
Should be easy. I need easy this month.
I listed 15 items this week.
For my January challenge, I listed 27 electronic items from my death piles, and three of them sold. I was very happy with the progress I made, but I didn’t get everything completed. I wasn’t actually expecting to list it all, but I guess I can’t report that the challenge was completed. Perhaps I can finish up in one of the challenger choice months.
Here is what I have left:
1. I have two large components that need to be tested before listing. I did hook up a DVD recorder, but only to check that it could play a DVD. I haven’t figured out how I’m going to test the recording part. The other is a stereo receiver.
2. Various cell phones, cameras, and cables/cords. I think I will group up the cell phones into types and sell as untested. Many of the cables/cords just need to be thrown out or given away.
3. Lamps that need to be rewired. Part of the issue here is that I have one lamp made in India that needs a thread conversion from metric to English. I did figure it out at one time, but never bought what I needed. Then I want to buy sockets and cords in bulk so that I have them available any time I get a nonworking lamp.
Week of Jan 23 – 29
Total Items in Store: 1412 eBay, 30 Etsy
Items Sold: 6 eBay, 0 Etsy
Cost of Items Sold: $0 + $15.90 Commission
Total Sales: $141.62 eBay, Includes fees but no shipping
Highest Price Sold: $69 for 6 JCPenney Sheer Panel Curtain Set
Average price: $23.60
Returns: 0
Money Spent on New Inventory This Week: $0
Number of items listed this week: 15Pretty quiet week with no sales Friday and Saturday. But then, I started listing on the weekend, and I had six sales on Sunday.
I’m starting to list my new commission from our neighbor across the street. Just to recap, he is a widow and wants me to sell the stuff that his wife had accumulated over the years. She had a shopping habit, any many of the items are new or in very good condition. I think they will do well. One item sold on Sunday for $50.
You can set up your account to offer the discounted rates by going to Account Settings, Manage shipping settings, and then edit Offer carrier-specific discounts for buyers.
I also extend the shipping discounts for the same reason. A buyer might not question the price of the item (or you can price it higher and then offer a discount), but some get sticker shock over the shipping costs. Large retailers can offer free shipping due to volume and better discounts, or, like Amazon, have their own delivery service. Buyers don’t understand the cost to us smaller sellers.
While you are at it, take a look at business policies. If you have those set up, it is easier to make changes such as item location. In fact, if you do have business policies and try to make a change to something like item location, it might not let you.
Happens to me too often that when I go to write something, I’ll forget to subscribe. He he. Thanks for the messages and for posting!
So sorry about your poor kitty. I’m sure she had a wonderful life especially given her rough start. Our kitties are rescues as well, but we went through a group.
We got about 8″. Not a big deal, but it has been cold. The residential streets are taking longer to clear up, but I’m good once I get out off our street.
