Forum Replies Created
-
Posts
-
Finally listened to the podcast (and haven’t checked the forums yet to see if anyone else has shared info), and wanted to share what eBay send on the 5th regarding eBay Send. They were soliciting early adopters – guess what? I declined.
Sent from my iPhone
Begin forwarded message:
From: eBayExpression <support@ebayexpression.com>
Date: November 5, 2019 at 1:03:20 PM EST
To: “eecari27@gmail.com” <eecari27@gmail.com>
Subject: eBay Send – eBay’s New International Shipping Option
Hello Erin,
In January 2020, eBay is launching eBay Send International Standard (eBay Send), our new international shipping service. Prior to January, we are offering this service to a select group of sellers.
As a valued partner, we invite you to preview and use eBay Send as a label option through eBay labels – starting today!
What is eBay Send?
eBay Send is a Delivered Duties Unpaid (DDU) international shipping service that ships to over 220 countries. DDU means buyers won’t pay duties and tax at checkout on eBay, but may have to pay the carrier for duties and tax on delivery.eBay Send is an economical alternative to USPS First Class Package and Priority Mail International. If you’ve been looking for a simplified way to ship internationally, this is it! Please purchase your first eBay Send label with eBay labels as a pilot participant and let us know your feedback.
For more information click here: https://www.ebay.com/help/selling/shipping-items/setting-shipping-options/eBay-Send-International-Standard?id=5011&MemberId=1be97ee1-4f88-4ca1-b9e1-a8b301085e28&CommunicationId=65cc512c-bb28-459b-9a31-aafc00dc0b10
NPR’s Marketplace did a blurb on eBay’s sale of StubHub, and their pressure to sell off extraneous things they own in order to focus on whatever their core is, heh heh. A good listen and just a few minutes long, starting at around minute 19:30: https://www.npr.org/podcasts/381444600/marketplace
Haven’t listened to the podcast yet, but wanted to share my numbers after finishing them. Doubled my earnings from the prior week, due to 2 larger sales – a vintage tinsel tree listed right after Christmas 2017 sold for $300, and a vintage Madame Alexander doll of my mother’s went for just over $100 in a 7 day auction. Sold more total items than the prior week as well. Trying to remember to send a few offers every few days, esp when I’m not listing as much.
11/17/19 – 11/23/19
Total Items In Store: 841
Items Sold: 16
Net Sales (Total Sales – Selling Costs): $775.76
Highest Sold Price: $300 – vintage 6 ft tinsel tree
Average Sold Price: $48.49
Cost of Items Sold: $12.10 (a few items were mine (eg, shoes that didn’t fit well), and I didn’t include their cost here)
Returns/Refunds: $0
Money Spent on New Inventory Last Week: $0
Number of Items listed last week: 20 or so11/10/19 – 11/16/19
Total Items In Store: 832
Items Sold: 10
Net Sales (Total Sales – Selling Costs): $319.56
Highest Sold Price: $60 – King Sized Liz Claiborne Quilted Blanket (paid $7 thrift)
Average Sold Price: $31.96
Cost of Items Sold: $9.50
Returns/Refunds: $0
Money Spent on New Inventory Last Week: $10
Number of Items listed last week: 20 or soHate seeing numbers this low, but it’s sadly been the norm since March or so. Trying to get my numbers back up, but also trying to balance item prices. After having a mental plan to not sell anything under $30, I’ve listed lots of stuff under $30 this year, some on easy to list multiples, some on things that I’d rather not donate or toss. Many of these items came to me free, so there’s been an impetus to earn whatever on them since it’s all profit – somewhat faulty thinking. I still have to store all these items tho, and that’s where my limitations are. So, after I list my current death pile, I’ll get back to more mindful and active sourcing.
Just added a sleeper couch to the burgeoning office/guest room. As long as I sit on it while working on my computer, it’s deductible, right? 😀 Might have to take a nap on it from the exhaustion of not having many sales….
Have a great week all.
@SEAM & Retro – thanks for the reminders about the office/storage space deductions. I’ve used those in the past, and will continue to do so. Prob won’t do any guest conversion until the New Year (and getting a used couch or bed from someone else!), but the plan is mostly to move what’s being stored in the office to the basement, so essentially shifting the deduction space to the basement moreso than the office/guest room. We shall see.
@ChristineR – not sure I see a huge difference in listing. I too make a Draft on my desktop, then finish with photos on my phone, but occasionally (then and now) will hit a snag that I’m not sure if is my mistake or a glitch – usually missing some field, or a shipping option. I find more often than not that I need to edit the snag on my desktop, so Save the Draft. Sometimes, when I go back in to complete that draft on the desktop, Best Offer will have been enabled, when it wasn’t before, etc, etc. I just generally take eBay with a glitchy grain of salt at this point.Been listing a bunch in the past few days – frequency moreso than volume, tbh, but this can often spur sales. Not so this time. Had 1 sale this AM after 3 days of nothing. Anyone else still struggling with sales after the big black hole of Item Specifics?
Random side note: I’m listing a vintage LL Bean scarf right now, and see that “Unisex” is no longer an option as a category within clothing….bleh. I guess it wasn’t useful or streamlined enough as a category for eBay (?), but that doesn’t seem terribly progressive or helpful to Sellers or Buyers who use those channels. And how do I re-sell all this gender-neutral clothing that’s coming about? 🙂
Been off the forum for a long summer, poking my working self into some other corners to try and raise my summer income, and because I was feeling a bit stale on eBay. I wasn’t loving sourcing or listing, so took a break. Sales were lower with each month this year (an unwanted surprise in April, which is usually a high earning month for me), with weekly sales running between $250-450 or so, with a few weeks earning ~$650. Took two weeks off for a vacation in Berlin and closed the store – such a nice break!
I’ve been listing sporadically here and there, and am trying to just recover floor and table space in my little office. Still no new sourcing for the most part, just working through the death piles, and getting items for free here and there. Hoping to turn the office into an office/guest room in the coming months, as the basement gains inventory room from items stored there going into the cottage we’re renovating. Follow all that?
Recent listing didn’t really affect last week’s sales, unfortunately…. At least my COGS are always super low. I think I’m receiving my inheritance through items my Mom gives me whenever I visit. 🙂
10/06/19 – 10/12/19
Total Items In Store: 821
Items Sold: 6
Net Sales (Total Sales – Selling Costs): $177.77
Highest Sold Price: $77 Antique Fluting Iron Garment Pleater
Average Sold Price: $29.63
Cost of Items Sold: $12.00
Returns/Refunds: $0
Money Spent on New Inventory Last Week: $23.50
Number of Items listed last week: unsure. I’ve done a lot of purging in recent weeks, and it’s changing my #s. I don’t separately track # of listings done.Monthly totals have been nosediving since January, but then again, so has the regularity of my listing. Sales were up the week before last, but then came down down down again, as you can see here. Lots of lower dollar items moved. I’ve put a lot of long-term inventory on 25% off sale in hopes of moving it out.
My desire to source has been low, despite all the yard sales and auctions I’ve been seeing every weekend. Not wanting to spend $ right now, and esp not while I still have a goodly amount to list at home.
So glad that I’ve had a lot of freebies sell (and freebies incoming in general), hence the low COGS.
05/26/19 – 06/01/19
Total Items In Store: 1023
Items Sold: 11
Net Sales (Total Sales – Selling Costs): $233.17
Highest Sold Price: $60 – Vtg Small Anvil & Bench Vise Set
Average Sold Price: $21.20
Cost of Items Sold: $12
Returns/Refunds: 0
Money Spent on New Inventory Last Week: $0
Number of Items listed last week: 10ishSoooooooo soffffffffft this week. Even for now considering eBay more of a PT, flex job. My listing went way down last week, while I worked and tired myself out at my other flex job, riding that wave of busy-ness while it lasts. Both jobs involve lots of STUFF, and I’m getting a bit burned out on it all. Perhaps need to go sit in an empty white room, or hike in the middle of the woods or something to get a break!
04/21/19 – 04/27/19
Total Items In Store: 1059
Items Sold: 12
Net Sales (Total Sales – Selling Costs): $263.60
Highest Sold Price: $99 antique knife
Average Sold Price: $21.97
Cost of Items Sold: $17.25
Returns/Refunds: $0
Money Spent on New Inventory Last Week: $27.00
Number of Items listed this week: 0?Posting numbers now, listening to the podcast tomorrow morning while I take a long commute for a side gig. Working all week, so eBay/listing will take a backseat until Friday at least.
Numbers dipped just slightly from last week. Some days with zero sales, then a winner day with several. Started a few sales this past week, and lowered some prices outside of that, on items that have been around a long while. Sent a few offers to Watchers, resulting in two smaller sales so far. Might try some auctions to move some stuff, but will have to take a closer look at my inventory and watchers to see what items those might be.
I’m running an estate sale for my grandmother next month, and I plan to take some of my larger, heavier inventory items (crocks, lamps, etc) and see if I can sell them in person for cash. Fingers crossed!
04/14/19 – 04/20/19
Total Items In Store: 1071
Items Sold: 19
Net Sales (Total Sales – Selling Costs): $559.40
Highest Sold Price: $120 Antique woven coverlet
Average Sold Price: $29.44
Cost of Items Sold: $32.50
Returns/Refunds: $0
Money Spent on New Inventory Last Week: $27.00
Number of Items listed this week: ~12; also removed some listingsNice to have the numbers inch back up to more of a normal week. Would like to be moving more items per week…or perhaps just the more bulky inventory I see all the time that could give me some fresh space to fill! 🙂
I wish I had been schooled on the mistaken thinking behind “disposable” income when I was younger. I had a very well-paying job right out of undergrad, and really should have socked away so much $$ then. Doing so now, percentage wise, but in a smaller fund.
Still having days with no sales, which isn’t common, esp in April, traditionally one of my best months.
04/07/19 – 04/13/19
Total Items In Store: 1086
Items Sold: 18
Net Sales (Total Sales – Selling Costs): $623.96
Highest Sold Price: $175 Head’N Home Drifter Suede Hat w/ Sterling & Turquoise Hat Band
Average Sold Price: $34.66
Cost of Items Sold: $51.75
Returns/Refunds: $0
Money Spent on New Inventory Last Week: $27.50
Number of Items listed this week: ~20Often when I take time off, it’s to do other work, too. 😀 Get it!
Listing slowly these past 2 weeks or so, with time being spent elsewhere. Trying to maintain motivation to at least get a thing or two listed each day, even if it’s after other work, or squeezed in between things when I’d really rather be reading, need to clean, etc, etc, etc.
ASP went down last week, though my # of items sold increased. Had at least one day without sales, and one day where my only sale was a sticker, bah! Last week continued the trends of downwards earnings, though Sunday started the new week off strong with 6 sales and a few of them higher dollar ones. Hope to have stronger numbers to show next week!
03/31/19 – 04/06/19
Total Items In Store: 1084
Items Sold: 18
Net Sales (Total Sales – Selling Costs): $343.28
Highest Sold Price: ~$90 multi item order of 3 CB2 carpet/rug samples (great ROI on these; they were less than $1 each at a thrift store, though they’re taking forever to sell)
Average Sold Price: $19.07
Cost of Items Sold: $16.74
Returns/Refunds: $0
Money Spent on New Inventory Last Week: $0
Number of Items listed this week: ~40Also curious about how others typically do consignment earnings… The few times I’ve done consignment with others, it’s been using the old eBay valet chart of percentages, where the consignee would earn:
25% for items sold under $25
40% for items $25-49
50% for items $50-99
60% for items 100-249
70% for items 250-499
80% for items sold over $500Most of the items I sold fell into the middle, so averaging 50% to me. For higher dollar items, I did the same amount of work as for lower dollar sales, so earning a smaller percentage (but still somewhat large dollar amount) was fine for me.
After some experience, I won’t take items that will sell for less than $30, ideally more, as it’s a waste of my time (I don’t even like selling items for myself for less than $30, unless it’s environmentally motivated to keep usable things from the waste stream). This does depend to some extent on the item – salability, storage needs, etc.
@Jay, but it’s not that EVERY listing over 1,000 gets a 10 cent charge; it’s every listing over 1,000 for that month. This was explained, but not thoroughly, during a call to eBay a while back.
When I had GTD listings turning over and restarting on their 30 day mark, that would count as a listing. When that (+ any new listings) crested 1,000 within a given month, then you get charged. I have ~1070 listings right now, and added more new listings today at no extra charge. Haven’t hit the monthly quota; this tends to happen at the end of the month.
Just curious if that 10 cent fee is a one-time fee at the time of listing, or a recurring fee every 30 days if/when it doesn’t sell.
It’s definitely negligible, which is why I keep listing. Just curious how things are changing, or staying the same – and whether I, and anyone else, was understanding what eBay was doing in the first place. 🙂
Was listening to the Snap Judgment podcast the other day and one of their break sponsors was Mercari, so they got a pitch. The spot emphasized how easy it is to list items you’re no longer using and then easily get cash for them. Just FYI.
Very soft week – second in a row for me. Anyone know how getting charged for #s over your store limit works now that everything is GTD? Perhaps they still have an internal 30 day calendar for those items? I’m well over my 1,000 limit, and get charged when I hit over 1,000 listings in a month (so usually towards the end of the month I start to see that I’m charged 10 cents per new listing). Before, wasn’t that 10 cents charged monthly if that item didn’t sell? Curious, but not overly concerned. Just looking to make more sales – look at that sad # below! If I had sold twice that many, normal in previous months, my sales figure would have been in the acceptable range. But I did look back at last year this time, and March kinda stunk. Fingers crossed for April, which is traditionally in the top 2 months of the year for sales for me.
03/24/19 – 03/30/19
Total Items In Store: 1066
Items Sold: 14
Net Sales (Total Sales – Selling Costs): $453.86
Highest Price Sold: $170 NIP West Elm Curtains
Average Price Sold: $32.42
Cost of Items Sold: $74.25
Returns/Refunds: $0
Money Spent on New Inventory Last Week: $0
Number of Items listed this week: ~10
