Scavenger Life

Scavenger Life Episode 76: How to sell on Amazon FBA: Interview with eBay seller Caty from SeattleStyleBlog

We love eBay because it lets us sell one-of-a-kind items that we scavenge throughout the whole wide world. As any scavenger knows, there are treasures lying around just waiting to be sold at auctions, flea markets, and thrift stores.

But we’ve always been interested in Amazon because it’s the other huge online marketplace. Why should we limit ourselves? After a lot of research, we couldn’t figure out how we could sell our used, one-of-a-kind items on a site that seems to focus on brand new products. Rarely do we find items that are brand new. And it’s even more rare to find brand new items in multiple lots. Isn’t Amazon about just selling 1000 iPhone cases from China for a 10-cent profit each?

Maybe we’ve just been scavenging in the wrong places. This week Caty, another eBay seller at seattlestyleblog, explains how she finds and sells items on Amazon using their FBA system. She says that each marketplace is different, but she makes money on both. She also points us towards Profit Bandit, an app for your smartphone to reasearch items to sell (and buy) on Amazon. Thanks Caty!

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Scavenger Life Episode 75: What’s Happening In Your eBay Store This Week?

Jay and Ryanne have had a very productive week. Still on a listing frenzy for the holidays, their sales have reflected this. Ryanne encourages you to buy shipping supplies before Dec 31st, so you can write them off on this year’s taxes. We’ve stared a Pinterest account for showcasing our store, so far it seems to be working, though we can’t be 100% sure. An interesting sale this week was $120 on 6 Starbucks mugs purchased for less than $5 at auction. Check out eBay’s completed Starbucks listings, they are insane.

Links we mention Mr. Money Mustache: the extreme early retirement blog, USPS Shoe Boxes, TwitterFeed, Brother Laser Printers vs. Zebra Thermal Printers and sticky paper for printing ebay shipping labels.

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We’ve included our weekly Ebay numbers below. In the comments, go ahead and post what you’ve done this week. And let us know if there are other numbers you want us to share.

The Weekly Scavenger Numbers

Jay and Ryanne’s Store Week Dec 8-14, 2013

Total Items in Store: 2960
Items Sold: 73
Total Sales: $2,508.51
Highest Price Sold: $179.99 (vintage southwestern wool blanket)
Average Price Sold: $34.35
Returns: 1
Positive Feedback: 31
Neutral Feedback: 0
Negative Feedback: 0

Mikey and Wendy’s store Week Dec 8-14, 2013

Total Items in Store: 1007
Items Sold: 21
Total Sales: $468.90
Highest Price Sold: $50.00 (multimeter)
Average Price Sold: $22.33
Returns: 0
Positive Feedback: 12
Neutral Feedback: 0
Negative Feedback: 0

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Scavenger Life Episode 74: How to make a seller’s life easier in eBay: Automated Hassle Free Returns and Automatic Feedback

As eBay sellers, we all know how many little tasks there are when listing and managing a large inventory. Mikey and Jay discuss the pros and cons of automating different tasks – hassle free returns and automatic feedback. Let us know if you have found other ways to free up time so you can focus on listing. Check out this video about how eBay’s Hassle Free Returns are supposed to work. We forgot to mention in the podcast that Auto Feedback is just for sellers with stores. If you’re serious about selling on eBay, you should get a store!

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Scavenger Life Episode 73: What’s Happening In Your eBay Store This Week?

Jay and Mikey talk about what’s going on this week in their eBay stores. Both have been successful in selling vintage and discontinued perfume. Jay gets a big sale on a Vietnam era G-1 Goatskin Bomber jacket. Mikey’s sales stay steady despite a listing freeze- enough to fund his other electronics business.

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We’ve included our weekly Ebay numbers below. In the comments, go ahead and post what you’ve done this week. And let us know if there are other numbers you want us to share.

The Weekly Scavenger Numbers

Jay and Ryanne’s Store Week Dec 1-7, 2013

Total Items in Store: 2920
Items Sold: 56
Total Sales: $2,154.04
Highest Price Sold: $300 (vintage leather Vietnam bomber jacket)
Average Price Sold: $38.46
Returns: 1
Positive Feedback: 21
Neutral Feedback: 0
Negative Feedback: 0

Mikey and Wendy’s store Week Dec 1-7, 2013

Total Items in Store: 1011
Items Sold: 16
Total Sales: $426.93
Highest Price Sold: $85.00 (Antique Lamp)
Average Price Sold: $26.68
Returns: 1
Positive Feedback: 7
Neutral Feedback: 0
Negative Feedback: 0

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Scavenger Life Episode 72: Why is eBay Trying To Destroy My Store? (Hint: It’s Not)

We were reluctant to go deep into the fevered swamp of eBay conspiracy theories. After eBay suspended 15,000 low performing accounts in August 2013, the eBay community boards lit up with the fear that eBay was shutting down all small sellers. There is now a dark thread that runs through many eBay blogs and their comments scaring new and old sellers alike that eBay is out to destroy their store. Recent emails to our blog showed that this dark cloud needs to be blown away.

Everyone will believe what they want to believe (or need to believe), but we’re just looking at the facts. It’s a competitive online marketplace that’s very different than when eBay started in 1995. Buyers have much higher expectations of presentation, item quality, customer service, and shipping speed. Amazon has really set the tone for the streamlined service people want. Sellers who can’t adapt will be left behind.

With e-commerce growing by double digits numbers year after year, there’s never been a better time to sell online. More people are buying from other countries as well, thus increasing sales. Let’s just say that we’re going to focus on improving and selling. If eBay ever becomes too annoying, they’ll always be other places to go. Let’s have some fun.

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Scavenger Life Episode 71: What’s Happening In Your eBay Store This Week?

Found this Danish modern office chair for $2, hoping to sell for $150.

Jay and Ryanne talk about getting a little frazzled by listing so much during the holidays. Sales of high dollar items are up, so it looks like it’s working. Cyber Monday turned out to be a slowish day for us, but we’re here for the long and steady haul. We got a request from a listener to do a show about taxes. Luckily, we’ve already done that episode and it’s here for you to listen to. Check it out.

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We’ve included our weekly Ebay numbers below. In the comments, go ahead and post what you’ve done this week. And let us know if there are other numbers you want us to share.

The Weekly Scavenger Numbers

Jay and Ryanne’s Store Week Nov 24-30, 2013

Total Items in Store: 2913
Items Sold: 55
Total Sales: $2,183.52
Highest Price Sold: $220 (vintage cast iron coffee grinder)
Average Price Sold: $39.70
Returns: 1
Positive Feedback: 24
Neutral Feedback: 0
Negative Feedback: 0

Mikey and Wendy’s store Week Nov 24-30, 2013

Total Items in Store: 1026
Items Sold: 20
Total Sales: $611.40
Highest Price Sold: $89.99 (fish poacher)
Average Price Sold: $30.57
Returns: 1
Positive Feedback: 9
Neutral Feedback: 0
Negative Feedback: 0

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Scavenger Life Episode 70: Selling Vintage Slides and Photographs on eBay

Flickr Creative Commons photo by FlorianSimon

Have you noticed those mysterious boxes of adventure that span the globe? They’re hidden under old table cloths and in dusty boxes along with musty shoes. They are boxes of memories left by families that have scattered. They are adventures of the young and carefree, and the focused intent of hobbyists honed in on a particular passion: birds, orchids, the wild, boating, or Disneyland. Yes we’re talking about vintage slides and photographs! Listen in on Wendy and Ryanne as they discuss how they might make a living, or maybe an art project, out of old 35mm Kodachrome slides. We talk about how to digitize and scan slides for listing on eBay. Worth a fortune or just another distraction?

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Scavenger Life Episode 69: What’s Happening In Your eBay Store This Week?

Vintage warming trays- they look so cool, yet are bulky and delicate. Truly a scavenger dilema! Bought for $1, sold for $60.

Wendy and Ryanne talk about what’s going on in their eBay stores this week. Things are picking up for the holidays, especially since both of us are on a mad listing spree. We answer some listener questions and Ryanne suggests you go stream as many episodes of Antiques Roadshow as humanly possible.

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We’ve included our weekly Ebay numbers below. In the comments, go ahead and post what you’ve done this week. And let us know if there are other numbers you want us to share.

The Weekly Scavenger Numbers

Jay and Ryanne’s Store Week Nov 17-23, 2013

Total Items in Store: 2894
Items Sold: 55
Total Sales: $2,899.39
Highest Price Sold: $499 (24 rolls of designer wallpaper)
Average Price Sold: $52.70
Returns: 1
Positive Feedback: 37
Neutral Feedback: 0
Negative Feedback: 0

Mikey and Wendy’s store Week Nov 17-23, 2013

Total Items in Store: 1029
Items Sold: 22
Total Sales: $565.73
Highest Price Sold: $55.00
Average Price Sold: $25.72
Returns: 1
Positive Feedback: 7
Neutral Feedback: 0
Negative Feedback: 0

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Scavenger Life Episode 68: Our Mom and Pop eBay Store Approach- How We Make a Living on eBay

We like to think of our eBay store as an updated version of the 1950s Mom and Pop General Store. flickr-cc-by derrypubliclibrary

This week we thought we’d talk more about how we approach our eBay
store to make a full-time living. We sell used items that we buy at
thrift stores, yard sales, auctions, and even dumpster diving. But
this isn’t new info. We’ve been scanning the multiple eBay blogs and
Youtube channels where everyone talks about how much money can be made
from “flipping” items. Must be easy, right?

For us, it’s all about thinking of our store as a “Mom & Pop shop”. We
do all the work, and we make all the money. Super low overhead. If we
don’t want to work a lot, then we won’t make a lot of money. Selling a
pair of shoes is easy. Selling 100 pairs of shoes in a month is a
serious time commitment.

In this podcast, we share how we structure our time, work with each
other, and make 90% of our income from selling old shoes on eBay. Here is a link to an interview with Ryanne’s mom, Jena, another long time ebay seller who has inspired us to be independent.

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Scavenger Life Episode 67: What’s Happening In Your eBay Store This Week?

We found this rug for free on the street in NYC. It just sold for $150!

Ryanne and Jay talk about what’s going on in their eBay store this week. Some tough returns, cancellation denials and ebay buyer history gripes. The good news is, we sold a rug we found on the street for free for $150 and a pair of $5 lamps for $120. Life as an eBay seller is still great. We mention a new technique on how to get unpaid buyers to pay- request their phone number through ebay. You can decide to call or not, either way this has worked to motivate some of our buyers to pay. Here is the link to where you can request another user’s information. Be aware that an email will be sent you and your buyer with both your phone numbers listed. So far, it’s worked for us!

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We’ve included our weekly Ebay numbers below. In the comments, go ahead and post what you’ve done this week. And let us know if there are other numbers you want us to share.

The Weekly Scavenger Numbers

Jay and Ryanne’s Store Week Nov 10-16, 2013

Total Items in Store: 2838
Items Sold: 46
Total Sales: $2,207.56
Highest Price Sold: $200 (vintage wool blanket)
Average Price Sold: $47.97
Returns: 2
Positive Feedback: 47 (because we shipped 190 items over the weekend after vacation)
Neutral Feedback: 0
Negative Feedback: 0

Mikey and Wendy’s store Week Nov 10-16, 2013