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Thanks for sharing thrifty2.
Out of curiosity, what types of ephemera do you generally sell? How is your average selling price on that sort of stuff? Decent, or do you make it up on volume?
If nothing else, that link may help identify specific models and ages, making for better keywords. Many razors sell in the $10-20 range consistently, but there are some that sell for $100-250 on a regular basis too.
It’s like anything else, just got to take the time to learn. In my case, they interest me, so it comes naturally.
My wife and I have been married for just over six years, and did things relatively “cheap” by “normal” standards. I see friends spending $40-50k on a wedding, and want to be sick…
All said and done, we were out the door in the $6-8k range, with about 80 guests. Still a boatload of money, but “cheap” by many standards, and everyone had a BLAST.
Ways we saved:
Hors d’oeuvres instead of a meal
Snacks were provided by us (bulk candy bar, pretzels, chips, etc)
Cash bar, no free drinks
Family friends acted as photographers, with photos as our wedding gift
My mother makes wedding cakes, so ours was free/dirt cheap
Set-up/tear-down was all family/friend labor, so we didn’t have to pay anyone for thatWe didn’t register anywhere for a bunch of stuff we didn’t really need, so anyone wanting to give us something gave cash, or just a card. If memory serves correctly, we ended up with about $2-3k in cash from gifts. We didn’t specifically ask for cash, but by not asking for anything else, most people got the idea.
If I had it all to do over again, I would have tried to do it even cheaper. Our venue (a hotel looking over an apple orchard) and hors d’oeuvres were our biggest expenses (around $3-4k if I recall correctly). I’d look to have it somewhere cheaper, and would probably look into doing a big barbeque/etc for food. If you can cut your venue/food bill way down, the rest can be done relatively cheap.
On a non-scavenger related note, one of the best things we did (in my opinion) was have guests sign photo mats, instead of a guestbook. After the wedding, we put pictures from the wedding in the frames, and they hang on our wall, instead of buried in a closet.
Congrats BTW!
I generally take my photos on either a small hardwood table, our sofa (neutral gray color), or on our hardwood floor. I try and use natural light when/where possible, but in many cases, my day job prevents me doing so.
I’m considering picking up a cheap light stand/umbrella as I sometimes find the lighting in our home to be spotty (we’ve got a LOT of lights, but many are pot light style).
I don’t want to spend much, and like the look of my items on a “real” backdrop, as opposed to a plain white light box, so I’m thinking this might be my best option.
I’m a Canadian. Major considerations for you;
1. Immigrating is NOT as easy as you would think.
2. Canada Post is prohibitively expensive, slow, and has inferior tracking compared to USPS. If you’re selling online, you need to lower your prices to compete, or live close enough to to a border to use USPS.
3. There are some beautiful areas, no doubt. I hope you like snow (think October to April in many areas).
4. Your American dollar will go a lot further here due to the exchange.
5. Scavenging is like anywhere else. There’s stuff everywhere, you just need to put in the work to find the best/cheapest inventory.
6. Take a good look at taxation. Not sure what taxes are like there, but Canada’s income and sales taxes vary pretty widely from province to province.
Furniture, and items that I know will sell quickly and relatively high (old porcelain signs, some glass/China items, oil/gas/mancave stuff) primarily.
Stuff that will sell quickly and high, and/or is a pain to ship. We enjoy doing the shows, so we don’t mind getting a little less in some instances to avoid shipping and eBay/PayPal fees. It’s nice to have multiple avenues to move things (eBay, Amazon, shows). Really lets me looks for just about anything if the price is right.
Plus, the antique shows are often a great place to pick up inventory that people haven’t fully researched properly.
Hit an antique auction yesterday. Picked up some great stuff, but most of it will likely get sold at antique shows that we do. A few items may make their way onto eBay eventually if they don’t move locally.
Hope everyone else has been having success!
Blackcat, fully get your aggravation, as I’ve been there, and through it myself. Painful situation that often ends up with an unpaid item case, and a relisted item (in my experience at least).
With the above said, I’m not sure where your buyer was located, but I really do wish that they would find a way to opt certain countries out of the GSP. As a Canadian, I tend to avoid buying through the GSP program when/where possible because it is WAY more expensive. USPS Priority or First Class has full tracking through Canada Post, which, though slower than USPS, is very reliable.
If it were me, I’d be looking pretty hard at other options that were fully weather-tight, and could be climate controlled. Then there would be zero concern with regards to what you’re able to store in there, and if/when you ever end up selling your place, it would make for a much more usable space if someone wanted to use it for storing vehicles, using it as a mechanic/service area, etc.
For me, it would really boil down to cost/benefit, but I would hate to spend $8k on a building, and either not be satisfied fully with the result, or to later find that for a little more I could have a climate controlled space.
Cheap storage space is great, but it may be worth spending the extra up front for more versatility, peace of mind, and resale value.
Just my $0.02!
Funny you mention Kohler urinals, Jay. I just picked up a brand new, in the box Kohler bathroom sink this weekend for $15. Retails for $165. Thinking I’ll list just below that…
Like Jay, I’m having a great day so far. Two sales, for a total of $236. With that said, they’re more likely just anomalies than a sign of a trend, but it sure is a great way to start a day/week!
Interested in this too. Are you selling your book lots on ebay primarily for décor, or are you bundling a few similar books (by author, genre, etc) and selling them to readers?
I’ve got a bunch of books (some hardcover, some paperback, some vintage) that I’ve accumulated from auctions/etc. I’ve sent the “good” ones into Amazon FBA, but would love to move some of the others somehow other than garage sales in the summer/etc.
As for Amazon sales, I have a very limited inventory (<300 items), but rarely sell books, with the exception of the odd textbook here and there…
Ours was just OK. Picked up a few odds-and-ends antiques that will mostly get sold at the antique shows. Most of the stuff I was really interested in went higher than I was willing to pay.
Picked up a few old yearbooks from the 1950’s that I’ll list on ebay, but not much else that’ll be headed online.
Looking forward to next weekend’s auction on the East coast though!
