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I’ll be adding numbers from a second store I started in October. I wanted to see about selling only T-shirts and other casual shirts since they are easy to source and list. My sales haven’t been great, but the store is still small. I was thinking I’d be listing more, but I had to pause inventory purchases while we finish the work on the house. I had two sales this week so I think it is time to start adding the store numbers since it adds to my bottom line. All my shirts under a pound are free shipping and my goal is an average $10 net profit per shirt. I figure this will need volume to be successful.
Store numbers (main/t-shirt)
Items in Store: 175/80
Items Sold: 5/2
COGS: $43.11/$1
Total item Sales: $157.47/$31.98
Shipping paid by Buyer: $14.84/$0 (4 total items free shipping)
Net Profit: $85.45/$21.21 Total= $106.66
Returns: 0 – One outstanding partial refund and or return, but will likely be after Christmas. Currently in the customer’s court.
International sales: 0
New items listed: 2/5
Spent on new inventory: $0 – working on current unlisted inventoryInteresting to hear about your experiment! I think the free shipping debate will always be a debate because it is so difficult for sellers who have single items to determine any effect free shipping has on sales because there is no “control item” to base results on. I’m happy to add to the discussion by running the experiment on same items. I know there have been many studies done on the effect of free shipping on consumer behavior, but once again, I think it is for common and abundant items and fits more with RA, but the psychology behind buying behavior should at least be considered. Personally, I think offering free shipping isn’t an all or nothing thing and needs to be used when it makes sense. I also don’t think it is a magic sales booster, but can lower the buying threshold for some buyers who may have initially passed by the listing with shipping. I think I’m going to dive into the eBay provided metrics of listing impressions for the pencils and see if I can determine if the two listings have different impressions and search results. At the end of the day, it will come down to making an individual decision for your business and items will still sell with or without free shipping.
On other things, I opened up a third account, but not a store, to sell items that can be mailed first class without tracking. I am in no rush to get items up since I am not paying fees. I have a good number of post cards now that I’ll start on that account. I’ll move over to a store when sales justify the cost. Once the house it done, I’ll have more free time to refocus on growing my eBay sales.
Add sauerkraut spoon to the research. I can see this being used to flip over large bowls of shredded cabbage to make sauerkraut. I imagine you would put your hands into the hole and place your fingers on the back of the paddle to almost hand mix things. Then, in the case of sauerkraut they would be able to use it to pack it into the jars.
Thanks John! I’ll look for a few books to keep for my reference. And I figured out that most of the Russian cards I have were printed in Germany and I am also thinking the pre-1915 age. Thanks for the info on the perforated cards. I have a few of those so I will hold off on listing them and probably just keep the France cards for myself as I enjoy the historical significance of the time. I had to laugh when I came across some Niagara Falls cards as well.
I did dig into the NYC company and address on the Russian cards. Turn out the senior partner and namesake Francis Rose Arnold was the father of a woman who disappeared in 1910 from the streets of NYC. They never solved the case and wild theories would surface from time to time. There is even a wiki page on the story. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Disappearance_of_Dorothy_Arnold The address is now home to a school.
Thanks again to you and Jay for the great interview! I learned a lot and found a new interest!
I’m not sure, but it could be a butter spoon of sorts. I have seen wooden sets for butter bowls and paddle spoons similar to this at auctions.
Re: Pics – Upload to imgur.com, copy direct link they provide, come here and I think you can either direct post it in the text block or use the img button above and paste the link into that.
I am sure there are a ton of websites discussing how to id fake Rolex watches. I would hope that someone at the thrift store would have authenticated them if they were selling them for that price. Most of the time, if jewels or number are off that can be a sign of fake. Look to see what the movement is, Japan or Swiss or other. Swiss tends to be the movement of choice for top brands. I’m sure if you took them to a jewelry store they could probably tell.
I realized I had an item I could run an experiment on. I have a box full of #3 pencils that have Ford Motor Company on them. I listed some of them in sets of 10, but didn’t list all of them. My original listing is $9.99 + shipping (which is $2.83 First Class). Today I went ahead and made a second listing, this one for $12.99 and free shipping. I also ended and relisted the original listing as sell similar. That way they are both near each other in the start date and search returns. The paid shipping one is slightly less than the free shipping. These are identical listings in every other way. I did sell similar and changed nothing but the price and shipping. We will see what happens. It might take a while since my first set sold after about 2 months. These are not super common listings so it is a little easier to control some of the variables.
PENN STATE!
Dillard’s is one of my prime sources! In fact, the pencils, Walkman, watch case, and walkie talkies all came from their auctions! At this point I think about 30-40% of my inventory comes from them. I’ve gotten a few lots at $0.01 that I’ve turned into $30-60. I am there so often that the employees at the previews and pick-ups all know my name.
Awesome! I work at PSU and picked up my second Bachelor’s degree from them a few years ago! We live just outside of State College on the Huntingdon County side.
I got the pencils at an auction along with some other items as a box lot for $8.25 a few months ago. I think I have at least 80 (well, now 70) #3 plus a good number of the other ones. I thought they were cool and would be great for a pencil collector or Ford collector. I would have passed them by if it weren’t for talking about pencil and eraser collectors on the podcast!
Since I had a good number of sales for my small store last week, I have a few I can share!
Vintage Sony Walkman Cassette Recorder. Answered a few questions from the final buyer about the headphones and age of the walkman and came to feel this was a 1987 model. Sony Walkman
Pair of 1970’s Electra Walkie Talkies. One antenna was broken so they couldn’t talk, but did both power on so they may be fixed. Sold one of the vintage 9V batteries from these months ago after getting these at an auction. Walkie Talkies
Vintage APSCO electric pencil sharpener. Found this at the University Surplus shop over the summer for $2 or $3. Took a while to sell, but I’ll pick up another one any time. Pencil Sharpener
Last night I sold a Renato 10 slot watch display case I got at an auction. Took a best offer of $110 which was $15 less than asking price. I didn’t have Best Offer on the listing, but received an email with the request. Sent the offer back in a message and they paid quickly. Display Case
Another auction find: #3 pencils with Ford Motor Co. on them. Got a box of about 100 pencils and selling the #3 pencils in sets of 10 for $10. I have one set of a #1, #2, #2 2/4, #3, and #4 up as well. This was the first set of 10 to sell. Sold yesterday. Pencils
I’m still in growth mode so except for the few items bought from eBay using my PayPal account, most of my earnings have gone back into the business for inventory and supplies. I think I am now at the tipping point where I’ll be earning more than I spend on inventory and supplies so I’ll make a PayPal transfer at the end of the month leaving enough to cover fees and potential returns (highest item price for the month). I have a full time job so this is extra money that will be used to pay off debt and invest so I don’t need it right away or on a consistent basis.
Thanks everyone. I’ll list them as unknown maker. They are still nice shoes and I should get a good price for them.
I occasionally have this issue where the page just won’t load or the photos get stuck. I do the same as you and save the listing or sometimes have to exit out of the page completely. I don’t have a solution though. Just wanted you to know you are not alone in the blue wheel of suck 🙂
I got to go to my first estate sale this past weekend as well. The first one was well picked over, but I did hit the closets and find some hats and shoes. The second one proved more lucrative with a ton of stuff left on day two. I am happy I grabbed some stuff that day because my plans to return on the last day were thwarted by snow and a 3.5 hr drive. Keep at it! I’m sure you will start to find the ones that are the most lucrative!
