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9/20/20- 9/26/20
Total Items Listed (2 different IDs): 291
Items Sold: 11
Gross Sales (not incl shipping): $648.95
Highest Price Sold: $224.89 ‘70’s German KCB Rifle Bayonet (bought for $70)
Returns: 0
New Items Listed: 11
$ Spent on New Inventory: $53It was definitely a good week on eBay for me. This brings my weekly average gross up to $266 for 2020 which is about what I’ve done for the last couple years.
It’s the end of an era here in this area with the demise of the large St Augustine Flea Market, about a half hour south of Jacksonville. This was its last weekend. Being on prime real estate right at an I-95 exit, I am surprised it lasted this long (opened in 1985). Even though I’ve got death piles on top of death piles, my wife talked me into going on Saturday because she was in the market for a few things for the house. I tried not to shop but a couple items jumped out at me that will be easy money.
I asked many of the regular vendors where they would be setting up next. Many had been there since about when it opened. Most frequently the response was “I don’t know” which at first surprised me. As I thought about my days as a flea market vendor in the past and the regulars I met back then, though, I realized that they weren’t the type of people to be thinking too much into the future.
I had a dinner conversation about eBay with some new friends last night. It went a little different than your conversation. As frequently happens with folks I meet, they had a hard time getting their heads around the fact that I’m a lawyer who chooses to not practice law. (Speaking of that, I enjoyed hearing your caller from Adelaide!) They looked at me like I had three heads and asked what I spend my time on. When I replied, their eyes lit up and they started asking about consigning stuff with me. This is also not unusual with folks in my age group or younger down into their 50’s or so. They’re often dealing with aging and downsizing parents with a house full of old stuff, or sometimes they’ve recently inherited that house-full. I try to nicely discourage that line of thinking, and usually suggest a local auction.
09/24/2020 at 9:58 am in reply to: Anybody Seeing the New Item Specifics and Some of the Changes #81880I agree with all the above responses. The intent of the law is to place the obligation to provide any warning materials such as labels on the producer or packager rather than on the retail seller. A reseller (even if less than 10 employees) does have to provide a Prop 65 warning if the item is sold under their own or licensed brand; they obscure, alter or remove any existing Prop 65 warnings on any item; they fail to include in the sale any Prop 65 warning materials that they received with an item; or they knowingly introduce any listed chemical into an item.
9/13/20- 9/19/20
Total Items Listed (2 different IDs): 297
Items Sold: 10
Gross Sales (not incl shipping): $172.51
Highest Price Sold: $39 1st edition autobiography from the ’50s
Returns: 0
New Items Listed: 48
$ Spent on New Inventory: $0Not very exciting report, though, other than having a more productive listing week than usual. Since I haven’t said it for a while – thanks for your podcast!
I didn’t see it at all until you brought it up. (And I played the Avalon Hill AK board game as a kid.) This company clearly meant to copy the design since it’s about a match without the swastika though there is no mention of the connection on the website. Trying to be politically correct, I guess?
So eBay is saying it’s just random and we can’t rely on a price when our size and weight is accurate? Please let us know if you’re successful.
Good catch, Daniel. They have a great Facebook page, too. 🙂
They sell the patches here: https://www.uspalm.com/embroidered-patch
I’m stumped. The only official US military unit patches with a coconut/palm tree that I’m aware of are US Army National Guard from Guam or South Carolina but neither one of their patches are at all close to this. If it’s like 2 1/2 – 3 inches square shoulder patch size it might be for a military contractor; or something unofficial for a small unit, if it’s even military.
There’s one of those now on eBay for $39.99 free shipping and one NIP sold in 2017 for $39.99. Is that what you’re talking about?
9/6/20- 9/12/20
Total Items Listed (3 different IDs): 259
Items Sold: 5
Gross Sales (not incl shipping): $106.09
Highest Price Sold: $30 US War Dept German Language Guide Pamphlet (’50’s reprint)
Returns: 0
New Items Listed: 8
Money Spent on New Inventory: $0Re the new watch authentication service for all watches over $2K, I believe the update said somewhere (or maybe it was on the eBay for Business podcast) that doing this for high end watches was just a first step and that additional similar features were planned. I see the good news about this being a feature that focuses on eBay’s core strength in the rare and unusual (and in this case, expensive) rather than the usual “Amazonian race to the bottom” (quote Julie B). It’s not really that big of a step despite the hoopla, though, as they’ve been offering third-party authentication for $500-plus handbags and watches for select sellers since 2017 and 2018, respectively.
Watches have been one of eBay’s top selling categories for years. Maybe high-end sneakers are next. When my son told me about the StockX authenticated trading platform for sneakers back in 2016 when it launched I thought it was just a flash in the pan and an unsustainable business model. (I did some initial research and it appeared to be a scammy gimmick.) But I was apparently wrong as StockX is going strong and they now have multiple competitors.
09/15/2020 at 8:08 am in reply to: The New Time Away Settings (Old “Vacation Settings”) – Woo hoo! #81573I hope we’ll still be able to select 30 day handling. If so, unfortunately we won’t be able to warn buyers with the vacation header any more if we’re going over 15 days, unless we want to hide our listings.
It appears to only be for new commodity items in the catalog, thank goodness. Don’t have to worry about it trying to game it unless you’re selling new iPhone cases. Trying to one-up Amazon, I guess, though didn’t Jordan Sweetnam say he wants to get away from trying to compete with Amazon?
I’d take a Funkadelic badge, though, for sure. Free Your Mind and ….
09/12/2020 at 2:14 pm in reply to: Zenith record player, Oil lamp, Linemans belt, Matchbox truck, Panasonic Stereo #81510More random sales from over the summer:
These new with tags and box Belleville Brown Leather Flight Boots are one of a number of designs that are now approved for wear by the various armed services. They were an extra pair my wife had that she never needed. In an unusual size (men’s 7 1/2) they went for a good price of $145 BIN with free shipping, which ended up at $14 by FedEx Home.
https://www.ebay.com/itm/274341083916
The lot of trashed salvage Vietnam era US Army slant-pocket ripstop cotton camouflage shirts I bought a while back at $25 each that I’ve discussed here before have been selling well so I keep raising my BIN price, and getting it. This one had a desirable 82<sup>nd</sup> Airborne Division shoulder patch (the “Jumpin’ Junkies” in Vietnam) and sold at $140 plus shipping.
https://www.ebay.com/itm/274344949323
This is a regulation miniature US Air Force Senior Pilot Wing in bullion for optional wear on dress uniforms. Essentially free in a box lot it sold for $18 plus shipping.
https://www.ebay.com/itm/153765828477
I am wary of electronics bits and pieces but if I don’t have anything in them and they’re easy and cheap to ship, I’m ok with taking a chance on non-functioning or a flaky buyer. I researched this XJacker headphone adapter kit from a yard sale free box and near as I could tell, they were only useful in the early days of Xbox 360 when gamers had to kludge things together for optimum play. I was waiting for them to be returned once the buyer realized they had no practical purpose now but there was nary a peep so no news is good news. They sold for $15 plus shipping.
https://www.ebay.com/itm/273750258673
This consignment challenge coin was one the better ones to sell recently. It is for the Bahrain School, where US military, diplomatic, and other non-local expat kids go to school in Bahrain. (The administration just announced a deal it brokered between Bahrain and Israel to normalize relations, which is a big deal!) The coin sold for $72 plus shipping.
https://www.ebay.com/itm/274097445771
More US military surplus here: a 1990-vintage Combat Vehicle Crewman helmet, new in the box. I picked this up for $70 several years ago when a local shop picked up a gaylord box full of them in size small from an online auction. I only bought one but should have bought more. Or better yet, I should have skipped the middle man and started paying closer attention to that govt auction. It sold for $260 plus shipping.
09/11/2020 at 12:31 pm in reply to: The New Time Away Settings (Old “Vacation Settings”) – Woo hoo! #81483That is a big help but it’s only goes up to 15 days. They’re not allowing 30 day handling any more, which I have used successfully. According to the FAQs you can either hide your listings up to 30 days or leave them up for up to 15 days:
<p style=”text-align: left;”>“Is there a limit on how long I can schedule my time off using Time Away? With Time Away you have two settings: you can hide fixed price listings from search for 1 to 30 days or keep listings visible, but with a notice that you’re away for 1 to 15 days.”</p>Sounds like a plan though I would just go ahead and cancel the order, choosing “there’s a problem with seller’s address” as the reason which has worked for me in getting the cancellation done (and my fees back) without the necessity for any more back and forth, rather than waiting on the buyer.
I sell direct and I’ve never had a foreign can’t-pay situation, but I did have some issues earlier in the pandemic with buyers from some countries I usually ship to being unable to purchase my items at all, and one situation where the buyer could purchase but I could not print an eBay label. (I was able to print one on PirateShip.) At the time, the USPS had a list of about 100 countries for which mail was suspended. Turns out that eBay was involuntarily adding some of those countries (but not all of them) to my list of countries to which I don’t ship and then separately disallowing shipping labels to be printed for some other random countries. Different departments taking things into their own hands, I guess.
If you take it off GSP don’t forget to add the language back into the listing about the buyer having to pay any taxes or duties.
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