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She used to, but gave it up. Did not care for the sourcing end of it and wasn’t crazy about listing, either. Not her idea of retirement! Just me, now (selling that is, we are still married!).
It’s really interesting how much you guys’ business philosophy is like mine. My store is smaller, of course, but your customer service, ideas for finding things to sell, listing techniques, etc., are very similar. You have very good business sense-many ebayers do not. I love it when you guys tell new people not to sweat the costs of listing-just list!
My wife and I also own rental property-single family homes. We have been landlords (12 mo. rentals, not airb&b) for about 30 years. The extra income sure takes the pressure off sales. I am always interested in hearing about your rentals.
Keep up the good work-I believe you really, really do help people.
For the non-math/science people who avoid these….I had never used calculators like this and had no idea how to test them. Then, I gave a couple to a middle school math teacher friend. In about 2 min. he was able to give me the thumbs up. I even added “tested by a math teacher” to my listing.
Good ideas.
I recycle boxes I find at Home Depot, grocery store, etc. I have a roll of the green ebay stickers (circle, about 3 in. across) available with the quarterly store “free shipping supplies” promo from ebay. Slap them over the existing manufacturer’s info on a scavenged box instead of blacking out with marker. A much more professional look.
Re: putting clothes in plastic bags. Buy lightly scented bags. Dollar TREE has cheap bags in lemon or vanilla scents. Helps with odors that may build up with used clothing while in the bag.
BTW, Dollar TREE is a great source for cheap supplies. Markers, plastic bags, scotch tape, reading glasses and alkaline batteries for testing. Their packing stuff can be pricy, but other items are cheap (all $1).
Walmart, Lowes and Home Depot have new, cheap shipping (moving) boxes in larger sizes. Limited sizes, but really good prices.
Nat Nast polos. Hard to find, but worth it. We have also had good luck with Brooks Brothers polo shirts, but not much with their LS shirts.
I find more shirts when not looking for shirts. Looking for jeans or shorts and happen to stop by the shirt rack, for example.
I wear Eddie Bauer and Nautica, but they don’t seem to do well, generally speaking.
Good video, BTW. Must watch for newbies who think all brand names sell….
I have lots of fall clothing to list in Sept. Winter stuff in early October. Very few “gift” type items along the way.
Will get back to “bread and butter” items after the winter listing is done.
A couple of years ago, while waiting in line at a GW, I overheard a customer bragging that she had redecorated her home completely with thrift finds. Well, we did too, but would never brag about it to total strangers!! Let people think you spent big bucks!!
Most thrifts I go to do not have workers sophisticated enough to sort out ALL the finds. Things like designer shoes, purses and Starbucks cups will be put in the showcase at ebay prices. But I STILL find similar items on the racks. They just don’t seem to be able to “cherry pick” everything, I guess.
Most of us still hit yard sales, even though more and more people are scanning and looking things up on their iphones. ebay sellers come and go, and leave goodies behind for the rest of us! Jay is right-there is soooo much surplus stuff out there!
A real beauty!! Use it and love it. Sell it when it no longer fits your needs. Would also make a nice heirloom!! Congrats!
Found a nice wood office desk, with chair, for $50 at a yard sale. The seller even offered to deliver it to my home, 5 miles away! That find allowed me to sell my old office set, with bookcases, for $900. Nice swap!
Recently found a Calvin Klein mens jean jacket my size, for $3.50. Have been losing weight and my belts no longer fit. Found two at new size for 25 cents each-designer leather in near mint condition. Was standing in line at Goodwill a month ago, and realized my entire outfit that day, including shoes (excluding underwear) was thrift finds.
Also have a nice collection of unique coffee cups found for under $1 each.
We moved from a rural area to something closer to a nearby city. One reason is that a friend had a heart attack and went to the local hospital ER on a Sunday afternoon. Their cardio Dr. did not work on Sunday, so he was airlifted to a regional hospital 40 miles away. That took about 50 min. and cost $21k!! He could have died waiting for the heli ride.
I have read many articles about relocation to cheaper COL areas, and never see this issue addressed. If you have a health condition, or are over 50, it is something to consider.
Hey Saint!
Try selling men’s jeans and cargo shorts. If you can find good prices, they are profitable and easy to sell. They compliment each other, since jeans are in demand about 8 months of the year and shorts fill out the other 4 months. Easy to measure-we use waist, inseam, rise and cuff width. Very few returns with guy stuff. Levi 501s are very popular, as well as low end “designer” brands: Lucky, Polo. We stay away from anything sold at Costco and Walmart.Sometimes you can buy jeans with knee holes for a quarter or so at yard sales. Sell as distressed, or cut them down to shorts. We have also had luck selling jeans with a stain or two. List 2 at a time of the same size and sell as work jeans.
(BTW, we gave up on women’s jeans long ago. Too hard to fit, too many returns, and too trendy- thrift stores are now filled with hip hugging jeans no one wants due to popularity of “Mom” jeans).
Watch out for thinned, worn seats, and hemmed lengths. Good luck and welcome back.
We bought our heavy duty, metal shelves from Menards. They are often on sale, or Menards has an 11% rebate sale about once a month. HD racks about 5-6 ft. tall can be purchased for around $80 or so. Ours are nearly bulletproof.
Also, found a great deal on some HD indoor scaffolding 6 ft. tall on wheels at Menards about 6 years ago. They were $100 each before rebate. I find them to be perfect shipping tables. The platform can be raised/lowered, and it is easy to make extra shelves from 2×6’s run across the rungs, to keep boxes and envelopes organized. Would also make a nice photo table.
The nice things about the scaffolding is that it rolls (can be locked down). Resale is easy (if ever needed) since contractors are always looking for cheap ones.
To those of you who have expensive Goodwill stores: do they have a senior discount day? I am a senior, and on Wed. seniors (50 plus) get 30% off PLUS a 10% discount if they are GW card members. Many times my adult son (also an eB seller) will come with me and he gets the discount if I pay (his credit card). Most times, he saves $100+ on a days shopping.
If your stores have the senior discount, do you have a retired relative who is bored and would like to go shopping? They can shop for themselves or look through the books. They can pay with your credit card/cash and get the discount. They might even catch the bug, and start selling themselves! And buying their lunch is also a nice incentive!
