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I happened to have three UPS Ground packages I dropped yesterday afternoon (12/16) at a UPS Store and two are already in the destination area with delivery Friday (both to Mid-Atlantic) and one with an in-transit scan still in Jacksonville today. But that one is going to the Seattle area so it was probably put on a cross-country truck today. I would not expect another scan for several days for cross country ground. It says delivery will be Wednesday. (Precious liquids going to friends for the holidays.)
The last FedEx Ground packages I sent were in late October and they were fine but that was a while back.
I don’t offer express at all on any listings and no one has asked in a long time. I’m not inclined to accommodate even if they did because that’s a lot of shipping to eat if there’s a return. Just call me Grinch.
Thanks. I like it tall because I like to stand for packing. Even smalls. And I need a large surface. I’ve got an old dining table with a solid hardwood top but it’s not tall enough so I should try taking the legs off and making something like what you’ve got.
That’s still a neat garage, even full up. Looks great!
Nice, Joe! What are those table top surfaces you’re using? I have not found anything I like as a backing for all the box cutting I do. (Nice neat garage, too 🙂 I’m envious )
12/6/20 – 12/12/20
Total Active Items (3 different IDs): 321
Items Sold: 14
Gross Sales not incl shipping: $667.14
Highest Price Sold: (tie) $140 not incl shipping – antique brass bulb horn (going to Switzerland) and a vintage Yugoslavian Mauser bayonet
COGS $161 (not incl family items or consignment)
Returns: 0
New Listings: 6
$ Spent on New Inventory: 0An excellent week. I’ve been bad at letting my inventory drop but at least am dribbling some listings in here and there, and they have been some higher dollar items. My carrier here has said repeatedly that he will take any and all packages I leave – glad to hear he makes money on it.
If you mostly source at flea markets and yard sales, a state sales tax certificate may not be that useful since you’re not being charged tax anyway. Many retailers aren’t set up to sell wholesale so they charge tax on every sale and won’t take your certificate. The certificate can be most useful when buying at auction because auctioneers will take it and depending on what you sell there may be wholesalers you’d be interested in who will only sell to resellers with a certificate. There are record-keeping requirements for the certificate set by your state department of revenue.
But if you’re going to report business income on your state and federal tax returns, depending on your locale you may need a business license issued by the city or county you’re in and to get zoning clearance to operate out of your house, etc., even if you don’t get a tax certificate from your state department of revenue. Business start-up requirements are very specific to your state and locality and vary widely across the country. Does the “CT” in your name refer to Connecticut? If so, start here: https://www.advancect.org/faq/connecticut-business-registration-requirements-br/
Congratulations on your first year of big numbers!
Using Time Away is a great idea. Doesn’t impact TRS status but gives breathing room for packages that get stuck. Knock on wood I have been fortunate so far – I ship many First Class Packages but there’s one Priority package to AZ that has been stuck for a week….
I lean towards selling smalls by the each, if it’s worth it, so I usually end up with a combination thereof after going through a lot like this. I can list, pack, and ship a small in just a few minutes each so for me it comes down to the value of the item balanced against intangible factors such as buyer drama in the category and desirability of the item. Some things would get listed; other things might just go in the trash. You say that splitting the lot up into different lots would be “lots of work” so perhaps dealing with each little thing would not give you joy. 🙂 If that’s the case for you, list it all together.
It’s a matter of temperament – there’s no right answer. Everybody is different. (For example, if this were a pile of nice designer clothing, I couldn’t even deal with it. It would go straight to Goodwill.)
11/29/20 – 12/5/20
Total Active Items (3 different IDs): 329
Items Sold: 8
Gross Sales not incl shipping: $191.20
Highest Price Sold: $45 – US Navy challenge coin (consignment)
COGS (all family items or consignment)
Returns: 0
New Listings: 0
$ Spent on New Inventory: 0I’m getting back down into my usual weekly sales range after a couple of crazy weeks. I need to get back to listing.
Sharyn is correct, the seller has to be in the program. Assuming guaranteed delivery was offered to the buyer, that date will be shown on the “Order Update” email they receive with the header that their order “is being shipped”. Underneath the guaranteed delivery date shown in the email is the sentence “You can always let us know if your item is late” with the words “let us know” hyperlinked. If they click on that link they’ll be taken to a page where they’ll be offered to claim a voucher. There are probably other ways to get to it.
I was in the guaranteed delivery program but then dropped out of it probably because I went through some long handling time periods.
I think industrial and commercial buyers have not been conditioned to expect free or cheap shipping like consumers have. In my experience, non-eBay dealers and auctions for those types of used items often charge a hefty handling fee on top of the actual postage charge if you want something shipped and make no apologies for it. It’s just business.
If eBay has shown a buyer a guaranteed delivery date and the package does not show by that date, the buyer can claim a voucher.
Might have to jump through some hoops with the Canadian version of the FDA to import a food product to Canada. Maybe not that much trouble for a small seller. Hopefully you won’t have to print your labels in English and French. 🙂
I wouldn’t worry too much about the lack of tracking, it may show up later tonight. (Check it on usps.com; don’t trust the tracking link on your eBay shipped items page.) My post office has taken SmartPost before without any problems. The FedEx places should take it too but I have found that inexperienced clerks can be thrown off by the unfamiliar label and two bar codes. Just to be sure you can go in tomorrow morning but I’ll bet they’ve processed it without a hitch and it’s on its way.
Great surprise, DT! Something like that’ll really make your day.
I missed posting last week having spent the holiday week in Texas but wanted to brag on my great week before, so this report is for a two week period. A couple home runs sure brought the average up:
11/15/20 – 11/28/20
Total Active Items (3 different IDs): 336
Items Sold: 20
Gross Sales not incl shipping: $2,048.83
Highest Price Sold: $575 not incl shipping (to Belgium)– 1967 Porsche 911 dealer sales brochure packet.
Returns: 0
COGS: $696.63
New Listings: 3
$ Spent on New Inventory: 0Ebay is not switching over stores that primarily have listings of coins or bullion, adult items, and I think there are a couple other types of listings that Adyen NP will not permit in MP. A couple months ago one of my stores was receiving the notices of being switched over but I had some coins listed. I called to ask to opt out due to the coins but they said they’d only waive the requirement to switch over if the store was 90% or above in listings that MP won’t accept “yet”. Only like 20% of my listings at the time were coins so they would not let me opt out. I ended those listings and relisted them under a different seller ID, which remains off MP.
My stores switched over without any issues. The only issues I’ve heard of are the two mentioned above, namely the additional banking security hoops to get set up and leaving enough money in Paypal to cover returns and also eBay charges and fees if there’s not enough in the pending MP payout to cover them or your settings are still to pull from Paypal.
