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Items in store: 175
Items sold: 7 (3 free shipping)
Total sales (excl. shipping): $383.45
COGS: $104.45 ($87.50 for the watch alone)
Average sales price: $54.77
Average COGS: $14.92
Shipping fees collected: $29.78
Shipping fees paid: $45.45
Total Selling Fees (incl. shipping): $94.97
Total Net Profit: $214.04
Highest Sale: $189.99 Invicta Men’s Watch with Free shipping — got email from customer today so it may be coming back or a partial refund being issued for $20. Next highest was $64.99 for an unopened 1.7 oz bottle of Allure by Chanel perfume with free shipping.
New Listings: 4
Money Spent on new inventory: $58
Returns: 0 (for now)
GSP: 0So….best week I’ve had, but not without issues that are coming up now. About a month ago I decided to spend more for potential better returns and I will say that as of now, it isn’t what I was hoping for. The watch I sold this week has been sold twice, I messed up the listing (because I don’t really know watches) and the customer just emailed asking for a partial. I offered him $20 back or a return with me paying shipping. Honestly, I think him returning it would be better, but I don’t really want to deal with it. I’m still earning a profit on it either way so I haven’t paid for any lessons…yet. I still have 2 higher priced watches listed, but I’m staying away from buying watches for a good while.
I added some shipping cost info since I do offer free shipping on some items. Since it is an ongoing topic, I figured I would share the numbers. The three items that sold with the free shipping were all common items that had multiples of the item listed. The four items I was able to list this week do not have free shipping due to limited quantity of similar items and not many other listings offering free shipping. I currently have 17 items with free shipping, mostly shirts, post cards, and hats.
Started organizing my unlisted items and realized I now have enough unlisted items to push me well into the middle store subscription. I will not be buying any more inventory for the next few months while I turn this stuff into money. I have a little more time this week to list as we are waiting for the drywall guys to wrap up. Once they are done, my time will be limited until we move in, but I’m going to focus on 1 item a night between working on the house and bed. My full time job closes down for the winter break so I’ll have a big chunk of time between Christmas Eve and the day after new years to get a lot done on the house which leads to more time for listing!
Mike – Is this just Windows based or is the download Mac friendly as well?
I’ll be picking up a lot of 1950’s military ephemera on Tuesday from the local online auction company. I set my max bid and won the item while I was at a party and without my phone/computer. I’m considering bidding on a distant one in January that has Pipes and Pipe stands, but I have to consider shipping in the process. Too many stands and I’m going to be paying freight! I might just focus on a few pipes that I can research first.
Those same mistakes can be made at an auction as well. Especially when you are bidding against someone else. I paid $35 for a lot that had two “Gucci” watches that ended up being fakes. Thankfully, there were a few sellable items with it so I will get some of my money back. The lesson I learned was that unless you have enough knowledge to authenticate on the spot or the cost is low enough to eat it if it doesn’t check out, skip it. I attended my first estate sales yesterday and I found some deals. Some items were marked up, but since it was run by a company, they were getting interested in moving the stuff out as they closed up the second day. I asked if they would take the half price on a postcard collection since they would be that the next morning anyway. They had no issue doing that.
Every time I make a mistake in what I buy, I count the cost as part of my education!
Made a stop at my favorite thrift store on the way back to work after a dentist appointment this week and found this vintage Woolrich pullover sweater. After researching the label, I narrowed it to 1947-1959 with it likely being early 1950’s. Shooting for the moon on price as there is only 1 other one even similar.
That’s awesome!!!! Also, thanks again for the great interview you did with Jay. Just sorted a stack of post cards this morning and was thinking I should go back and listen to that episode again for all the great info!
Thanks Jay and Whiskey!
I’m doing this as a scavenging add-on to some travel I have going on this weekend so my time table is a little screwy. I have three sales I’m trying to go to the north of the DC area, but south of Baltimore. My final destination is north of Baltimore and I need to be there by 4 PM. I’ll be in the area for the first one around noon so I don’t think I’ll make all three on my way down. I’m thinking I’ll hit the two that are closest to each other and then hit the other one and one of the first ones on my way back home since I can be there at 9 AM when they open on Sunday. Some interesting things are listed. One sale has a bunch of NASA stuff, but I’m guessing anything even closely related to John Glenn will be gone before I can get there. I’m always open to see what I can get for a good price that I think is cool so I’m going in with an open mind. If I’m going to make a four hour drive for a holiday party, I might as well scavenge along my way!
I’m sorry to hear that. Hopefully you can salvage enough to at least break even.
What was your walk away rate on counter offers before you started adding the shipping info? I’ve only countered a few times on low offers that weren’t too far off of my bottom line point, but I don’t usually leave a message.
When I was in the Army, we would have weekly safety briefings at the last gathering before the weekend. They often consisted of don’t drink and drive, don’t drink and boat, don’t drink and….etc. until one day someone spent their whole paycheck on eBay and then we had to add don’t drink and eBay.
I had a customer contact me after I opened an unpaid item case saying his son must have made the offer that I accepted. He was willing to pay for the item, and did, but I confirmed that he really had no interest in the item and just gave him a refund. I told him I was just doing what I hoped someone would do for me in a similar situation.
The local auction firm near me that does online auctions uses proxibid.com and do timed events. This method is nice because you can set a max bid and not have to actually participate in the auction if you can’t. I get an email if I am outbid on an item so I can see if I want to go more if I am still low. I’m looking at an auction on proxibid that will require me to ship the items. I’ll likely call the company prior to bidding to see what their process is for shipping. I would guess auctionzip.com would have similar processes, but I’ve never looked into the online auctions.
We had our son in daycare and we nick-named him Bio-hazard for the first 2-3 years. The positive to come from it was when he started school, he had fewer sick days. My nieces stayed at home and got sick a lot the first years of school. It does get better and as hard as it is now, it does get better and easier. I had to be home with my son for a morning a few days ago (he had strep) and he was content playing in his room or watching tv on his own and I was able to focus on eBay for the most part. He is now 8 years old and doesn’t need the full time supervision.
I know you asked for scavenging and selling podcasts, but I’ll put the off-topic ones I like to listen to:
Stacking Benjamins – Financial podcast where they don’t take the issue too seriously. Good information in a variety of personal finance areas. Not specifically for Financial Independence listeners or the self-employed, but for anyone who is interested in financial topics.
Afford Anything – This is done by Paula Pant and is how I found Scavenger Life podcast. She did an interview with Jay and Ryanne back in the beginning. It is another financial/life philosophy podcast, but she delves into topics like passive income through rental property, time management, financial independence, and other good topics through interviews.
Planet Money – This is an NPR podcast that I like. The topics are often more macro economics in nature and are wide ranging from the process of buying and selling oil to the fake news business to setting up an offshore company. The episodes are short 20-30 min stories that I find to be an interesting look into how things happen in the economy.
I’d say those are my three additional favorites to help fill more of the week. Plus, when iTunes did a massive past episode dump onto my podcast list, I just went with it and have been listening to the SL podcast episodes over again.
I have been looking at the liquidation/pallet online auctions and would be interested in hearing how everything goes for you! I’d love to find out what you think about the quality of the inventory, what the shipping costs were like (or did you have something close for pick-up), and what auction site you used. I don’t have the time for adding a lot of new inventory right now as I have plenty of unlisted stuff, but I think it might be an option for later.
