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I have two open returns for INAD right now. One was a $22 70s shirt that obviously had a faux fur collar but I said “fur” (did not say faux) and she said “I thought it was real fur”. Ok, no problem, I accepted the return. She hasn’t mailed yet with the label that was sent to her, so I am calling today to close it. Wed morning is 7 business days and I forgot to call on Tuesday.
The bigger one is a Gucci briefcase from the 1980s. It’s a hardcase and classic with logos and gold hardware, awesome. I sold this briefcase for $480. She claimed “doesn’t seem authentic”. I accepted the return last Thursday night and am waiting for 0001 on Thursday morning tomorrow to call on the 6th business day and CLOSE it. She was extremely nasty in the message, so I’m glad I stayed pretty calm. Do I think it’s authentic? Yes; it came from the same online estate sale where I bought a lot of unopened vintage 80s Gucci perfumes, designer purses, and a bunch of jewelry that happened to have a $5K white gold watch in it (I paid $600 total for everything). But to be on the safe side, I had planned to send in pics to an authenticator if she mailed it back in time and be able to say that when I listed it again…so we will see. It’d be a real bummer if she later went to PayPal and got to keep a refund, AND the briefcase. Maybe because I offered a return, and she DIDN’T mail it back, I would be allowed to keep the funds. Waiting for Thursday morning anxiously!
Now this was my best week ever!
Jan 15-21
Items in store: 696
Listed this week: 22
Sales: $1,127.51
Items sold: 37
COGS: $109
Highest price: $110 Woolrich Coat (paid $10 at thrift); $80 Tommy Bahama Original scent (paid $1 at Estate sale)Whoa! Prices ranged from $9-$110. Most were in the $20-30 range.
Sometimes I’m surprised at what I listed prices at! I don’t remember listing a Pendleton shirt at $39 or 1980s shoes for $25. But I am happy I did.
4 months, 2 days to retirement from day job.
Last week was great with sales of $831.93; this new week not so much. But it all evens out once I look at the month to about $500 a week.
Jan 7-13
Items in store: 691
Listed new last week: 27
Items sold: 22
Sales: $351.92
COGS: $31.30Just plain old inventory. Most of it was stuff I picked up at bag sales. I went to an auction on Sat with my 3 year old and we only made it for about an hour before she melted. So we just saw rugs and I bought two vintage French train travel posters. Somehow I walked away with a 1960s shag rug by Karastan, 12 x 9 feet and weighing 90 lbs! So I listed it. Cost me $80; it’s Mid-Century Modern. It belongs on “Stranger Things” or “This is Us”. So come on prop people. The posters are going to my sister in Belgium to decorate her house. She went to a thrift store outside of Brussels this past week and bought 5 wool blankets for $1 euro each. I remember Jay and Ryanne buying those at a market in Denmark? a few year ago. I told her to pack a bunch up for me when she comes stateside in February.
I listed the rug at $900 to include shipping. It’s got some flat and balder spots but no stains. I did shipping estimates on U-Ship and going to Oregon would cost about $250-350 depending on who bid on shipping auction. I thought including the shipping might make it easier rather than people trying to figure out how to ship it. I also listed on Facebook for $600.
I also listed two Sikes wooden banker-lawyer chairs from the auction for $520 free shipping. Same process as above; these two need more refinishing work. I’ll see if anything happens in a few months with the “free shipping” cost inclusion, then may move back to “local pickup and you arrange shipping” method. I did sell an Ikea bed that way last year to Los Angeles from SC.
Doublythumbs, I only submitted one photo, it had the box label, broken figurine within the photo.
Lowcountry FF Jan 1-7, 2017
Total Items in Store: 690
Items Sold: 39
Cost of Items Sold: $73.00
Total Sales: $831.93
Highest Price Sold: $120.00 (vintage 1960s VERY MOD dress)
Average Price Sold: $21.33
Returns: 0
Money Spent on New Inventory This Week: $111
Number of items listed this week: 19Most items were sold for under $30 I had two high sales of a $120 vintage dress and a $90 pair of designer shoes (Delman). I had bought 22 pairs of designer shoes (Delman, Rangoni, Ferragamo) in September at a Charleston auction for $220 and have sold three now for $90, $90, and $80.
Everything else was gloves, belts, small pillows, Stampin’ It Up lot…I tried to go to auction last Thursday night and then Saturday, but they were iced out down here in SC; we don’t have snowplows or salt trucks so the roads were stilly slippery until yesterday. So this Sat’s auction in Charleston will be massive; I’m trying to decide if everyone else is going to go now too, or if I should go to a promising estate sale that same morning. There are 12 great Persian runners/rugs at the auction, so perhaps I can snag one for cheap to sell high. My auction does the reverse and sells all individual items first, then table lots at the end.
There is an auction tonight at 5:30 pm, about an hour away, that has a lot of green Fire-King restaurant-ware. I’m debating today on whether to drive out there and take a chance that at least some of the lots will go cheaper. I have my three year old with me, so I really have to think hard about it. I might say what the hell and give it a go.
From South Carolina: Week of Dec. 24-31
Total Items in Store: 667
Items Sold: 18
Cost of Items Sold: $84.30
Total Sales: $553.00
Highest Price Sold: $90 (vintage 1950s blue velvet swing coat)
Average Price Sold: $30.70
Returns: 1
Money Spent on New Inventory This Week: $72
Number of items listed this week: 8I had a 10-day handling time on the above items as I took a trip to USVI to visit my husband working there and Florida to visit the parents. I have spent 8 hours today shipping, which took extra long due to a malfunctioning printer and having to travel to my storage unit; but I overcame technology and triumphed in the end. The $90 sale was a “best offer” for a gorgeous blue velvet vintage coat; bought at online auction for $12 and now heading to Napa, California. I also had a $80 sale for a 24-place pipe stand that cost me $15 at a charity store, so thank you Steve and Ryanne for mentioning those in your videos and podcast respectively.
I am VERY excited for it to be 2018! I retire in July at age 42 from federal service. Everyone keeps saying “what are you going to do?”; I say “sell online and own my own time”. That gets me crazy looks and I have heard that I am wasting my graduate education (upon which I owe no student debt and paid in cash at the time). This doesn’t bother me nor my husband…I want to wake up when I want and have adventures on random Tuesdays. Ebay can supplement that lifestyle easily.
A quick glance at my yearly numbers (without my accountant’s help yet):
2017 Revenue: $34,367.12
COGs, Fees, Shipping, Refunds: $15,593.53
Profit: $18,229.71I do need to add up other expenses too: mileage, storage unit, new printer, shipping supplies, and provide to my accountant.
2018 Goals:
1. Go to more auctions and estate sales for inventory. This is consistently where I find the higher dollar items.
2. Set up quarterly tax payments with accountant.
3. Fund restoration of our new “boat home” with ebay funds exclusively if possible.Thanks for the comments. I contacted an experienced seller in NYC who sells similar watches at high prices, some $10K. She said she has not had any scam returns in about 400 transactions but has had two credit card “chargebacks”. She said she delivers via UPS, requires signature, and has a report beforehand on the watch to authenticate it. I listed my watch for $7500 and am doing the same. I thought about researching jewelry stores in the area but I don’t want a small cut. Also, I did check with Ebay “valet” which is the service that receives high end items – they don’t accept high end jewelry though and art that requires more authentication. So we will see. My item # is: 142621444777
Ebay valet link
https://www.ebay.com/s/valet/faq#prohibitedStore listings: 824
Items sold: 24
COGS: $95
Sales: $555
Highest: $160 for Galco hunting speed-loader bag; was $38 from the “glass case” at Salvation Army.
New listings: 48Went to an auction this past Saturday in Charleston with my 3 1/2 year old daughter who lasted well for three hours coloring and talking. We bought two Sikes office “banker lawyer” chairs and an antique wooden “sea chest” for $65. I haven’t bought Furniture before but am willing after hearing about U-Ship.
Warning because here is a kid story: I bid on some antique dollhouse furniture but stopped at $50; one older lady was buying all the doll stuff. Well my toddler had promised not to cry but she did when we didn’t get the Furniture, then said
“I’m sorry, I promised my momma” to the auctioneer. A vintage baby kewpie doll was next and a lady bought it for $5 and gave it to my daughter, who promptly stopped crying and walked it around the area showing everyone. I apologized for bringing her but hey, sometimes you have to scavenge when you can. I hadn’t planned to even go since my husband is in the USVI doing engineering work but I had a couple Xmas blowmolds to sell to a woman near the auction house, so I stopped in. Sold the blowmolds for $100 and got the chairs and chest for $65.I must say now though – I have a business idea called “Ebay Court”. I’ll do televised arbitration “Judge Judy” style (which is what she really is – an arbiter). Guest judges will be allowed. We’ll get all kinds of crazypants on “Ebay Court TV”. “Crayzpants” is my own legal jargon term. The “Case of the Swapped Dolphin Sculpture” will be a good starter.
The forum will be state court if arbitration cannot be resolved. The ebay policy and user agreement can say “you create a legally binding contract”, but state laws determine what is a contract. There has to actually be a forum to have a dispute – there is no “EBAY COURT”. So there will have a plaintiff and defendant in state court. The plaintiff can present the ebay user policy and the judge will see what terms the parties agreed to; however since so much is undefined, it will be a hard fight. That being said, even if someone “wins” the case against the seller, they cannot generally force a sale and delivery of an item. The buyer gets “made whole again” – a refund (and maybe legal fees). The seller cannot force a payment either but can be made whole again too – such as costs of re-listing the item. No more legal advice from me – this is a cerebral exercise that has no real application. No one will normally go to state court over an ebay transaction; a settlement would occur before that likely to kill the issue for everyone. OUT for me on this topic. And no more legal advice – the thought makes me sick to my stomach. I am quitting the law in six months to sell full-time so I don’t have to talk to people everyday and listen to their problems. Take care everyone.
Nov 20-26
Items in store: 788
Sales: $467.49
Items sold: 19
COGS: $44I am a contracts attorney and what occurred is legal. I often hear “but it’s not fair…moral ethical..blah blah” from both buyers and sellers. I tell them the fair part is what they agreed to in the contract – that is the “fair umbrella” they choose to stand under. Whether this “contract umbrella” has holes that allows rain to fall on one or the other is dependent on the facts of a certain situation. It could go in favor of one or the other.
Issue: May a seller cancel a sale on eBay for any reason?
Rules: Ebay User Guide which all sellers and buyers “sign” allows for cancellations. It does not require buyer agreement to unilaterally cancel a transaction.
“Errors” is an intentionally vague term that can go in favor of buyer or seller. To operate on this platform requires an assumption of risk that the buyer may never pay; the seller may cancel. Further, parties agree to the “remedies” – feedback and refunds.Analysis: Regardless of how one views an error as right or wrong, it is allowed by the terms of the contract – the User Policy; although the policy gives examples of an error, there is no prohibition on cancelling due to pricing in error. A remedy is available to the buyer – negative feedback and full refund to make him “whole again”, which is the standard remedy. Ryanne and Jay offered the remedy, which was accepted albeit with some drama on buyers end.
Conclusion: The cancellation was legally allowed. As regarding ethics, the morality of any Marketplace should be set by a code of conduct. Ebay has Policies and User Guides with vague language. Until Ebay decides what is a “moral” error and sets this forth in its Policies, it is permissible to cancel a sale, as long the seller also provides the required remedies.
My two cents. I would not consider this in the realm of Unfair or Deceptive Trade Practices as the buyer agreed to the rules and has been provided a remedy.
Nov 13-19
Items in store: 785
Items sold: 27
Sales: $639.00
COGS: $53.25
Highest: $99 for pair of Blundstone boots for which I paid $3 at church thrift; followed by $59 French perfume promo hoodie ($2 at dame thrift) and a $50 talking vintage Vox Clock that cost $1 at yard sale.I did also sell a pair of Gucci boots for $220 that I had stupidly bought for $175 in rookie days. I didn’t count that since I basically just made my money back.
Items sold: 44
Total sales: $914.69
COGS: $160.25
Highest: $92 for stained Burberry trench coatConfession: three weeks ago I was at MY church’s bazaar; I love church sales. I bought a 1963 cardboard Barbie “new dream house” with furniture for $3. I sold it within two days for best offer of $245. Then this past Sunday one of the older church ladies asked how my 3 year was enjoying the doll house, and I lied and said she loves it. Now I worry what Jackie will say to the church ladies if they ask her about it this next Sunday! Jackie will take her pretend phone and put her stuffed animals on my photo background boards and say “cheese you’re on eBay”. She also tells me not to sell certain things in the house, like the couch. Will see this Sunday…
Items in store: 554
Sold 7-13 Aug: 19
COGS: $118.50
Sales: $925.50
Highest sold: Gucci horsebit loafers for $179 BIN; 1920s campy Ship print for $130 (Best Offer).
Listed: 17
Store: Lowcountryfashionfinds
Favorite sale: 3 yearbooks from all-girls Chicago area high school from years 1947-1949 to same buyer, at $45 each BIN. Bought at Estate sale for $1 each.A great week of sales, even though only 19 items were sold. I loved selling the ship print for $130 from the 1920s that I paid five dollars for. It’s going to Massachusetts. I bought it a year ago but only put it up on eBay about three weeks ago. I tried to sell it locally but had really low offers of $40. I was nervous about shipping such a large Framed print with glass, box was about 33″ x 55″. But I packed it as well as I could, and it’s off. I’m going to look for more art at estate sales. Funny story about an estate sale this past weekend in Charleston. I found a painters wooden box, vintage from the 50s, I closed up the case and put it between my feet while I was looking at china and I had a woman literally try to take it from between my feet. I told her that it was mine, and she gave me a dirty look, told me I should be holding it, and walked away. I just laughed, which I think made her angrier. I found some half-finished pastel prints under the bed, which they gave me 10 for $10. I listed them and we’ll see if anybody’s interested in partially completed art.
I don’t know what I would do without this side hobby. I try to read only the headlines and not watch CNN, but I work for the federal government and of course we have to stay up to date. So every day is rather stressful now. I have 11 months to retirement. In comparison to the Korea and Charlottesville situations, I like that I have control over my eBay store. I might not control what people buy, but I can control what I put in, and my reaction to customers when they do buy items. I received a negative feedback yesterday from a customer who bought a $25 pair of boots. I had opened an unpaid item case after five days. Then she paid. The negative feedback was just the number “2”. I emailed her last night and asked if I could help in anyway and if she would like a return. I’ll wait a few days to see if I get a response, then I’ll call Ebay and ask for it to be removed. Just a grumpy buyer. Not a grumpy dictator.
Total in store: 543
Sold: 19
COGS: $63
Total sales: $625.99
Highest price: $60
Average price: $32
Returns: gave a $10 refund to woman who had purchased expired ink from April 2017 for $25.50; I like to raid the home offices at estate sales first and get ink. She said the black ink worked but the color cartridge would not be recognized per the computer message because it was expired. Weird but she was happy with $10.
New inventory:$60 (estate sale)Highest price was a piece of green glass called a “flower frog”. I had no idea what it was but picked it up at estate sale for a quarter. I put it on thmy forum here a month ago, but no ideas really! I put it on the Reddit forums and had two people say it was a flower frog to arrange flowers. I put it on auction since I had no idea and it got ten bids to $60. You can see it in sold items at: lowcountryfashionfinds
I live 90 minutes south of Charleston in Port Royal SC, and just bought my family’s eclipse glasses. We don’t have a spare room or even a yard since we live downtown with two kids, but there are a lot of cheaper airbnbs here since we have a big tourist market – the Marine Corps Recruit Depot brings in several thousand visitors a week. You could also camp at the SC state parks! We have about three or four beach campgrounds at least. See: southcarolinaparks.com
