Scavenger Life

Trash to Cash. A podcast about making a living on eBay.

Scavenger Life Episode 86: What’s Happening In Your eBay Store This Week?


Hey y’all! As you can see in this link, we have made a new video about how to pack and ship delicate artwork for ebay. We get that question about once a week, so we decided to show you how. Other things mentioned in this episode: Thrift Hunters aired on Spike TV with the dudes from Thrifting With The Boys. We enjoyed it and you can too- they have the full episodes streaming on the Spike website. We have a new FAQ page to answer frequent questions faster than an email could. Check out this cool video on Laughing Squid where Michael Pollan explains how cooking at home is much healthier than eating out.

Direct .mp3 link. Direct ogg vorbis link.

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 Jan 19-25, 2014

  • Total Items in Store: 3105
  • Items Sold: 60
  • International Sales: 15
  • Total Sales: $2435.17
  • Highest Price Sold: $150.00 (Mid-century framed prints)
  • Average Price Sold: $40.58
  • Returns: 1
  • Positive Feedback: 34
  • Neutral Feedback: 0
  • Negative Feedback: 0

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Scavenger Life Episode 85: We check in with Adam from The Mysterious Caravan

About 6 months ago, we interviewed new ebay seller, Adam, from The Mysterious Caravan store. Since then, he’s built up his store from under 100 items to 500 items. All while him and his wife, Emma, have full time jobs and a baby to tend to. Pretty amazing work! We check back in with Adam to see what has changed since he started and see if their on track to getting one of this ambitious couple to work full time doing ebay. Thanks for chatting with us Adam!

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Scavenger Life Episode 84: What’s Happening In Your eBay Store This Week?

Cool sparkle vest that we re-photographed and it finally sold (for a mere 5.99). Fire King cup sold to an international buying company for $30. Pair of bench made English riding boots was a nice high end sale this week for $175.

 We talk about what’s up this week in our eBay store. We have been cheating on eBay and listing on Amazon using Profit Bandit app on our iphones and ipad. But we have no idea if we’ll be successful selling books without doing FBA. We’ve had a few very nice sales to international buying sites like the Japanese Sekaimon. Jay mentions one of his favorite blogs Mr. Money Mustache where extreme early retirement, paying off debt and investing wisely are the main topics. We mention using USPS Pickup as the best method for beginner shippers. Also try the USPS Flat Rate Variety Pack of boxes for free. Don’t forget to stock up on our recommended shipping supplies as listed on our Resources page. Also check out Pixelmator for the Mac for simple photo editing.

Direct .mp3 link. Direct ogg vorbis link.

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 Jan 12-18, 2014

  • Total Items in Store: 3063
  • Items Sold: 46
  • Total Sales: $1799.72
  • Highest Price Sold: $175.00 (Benchmade leather riding boots)
  • Average Price Sold: $39.10
  • Returns: 1
  • Positive Feedback: 30
  • Neutral Feedback: 0
  • Negative Feedback: 0

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Scavenger Life Episode 83: What If It All Disappears? Conquering Your eBay Fears

I’m not the only one who has 80’s flashbacks when I see this image. Bought for about 5 cents, sold for $25.

When we first started selling on eBay, it never seemed like something we could do full-time. Make a living selling items we scavenged? No way. Then, as we began to consistently list and fill our store, it just became a numbers game. The more we listed, the more we sold. The more we sold, the more realistic it became that selling on eBay could become a full-time job.

But then we had a curious fear: what if we ran out of things to sell? What if the thrift stores stopped putting out items of incredible quality? What if everyone else found out about the treasures just lying around, waiting to be sold? What if people stopped donating and just sold the stuff themselves? I mean, there are now multiple TV shows detailing how to “pick & flip”. Do a search for “selling on eBay” on Youtube and there’s no mystery. Even Goodwill now has their own eBay clone where they sell millions of dollars of items a year themselves instead of putting them out on the floor.

In this episode we talk about how we stopped worrying, knowing that there will always be waste to find. We share our strategies on how we make sure we have plenty of different sources to scavenge at anytime of the year.

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Scavenger Life Episode 82: What’s Happening In Your eBay Store This Week?

An example of our Panasonic GH1 and 20mm Pancake lens with a shallow depth of field.

Jay and Ryanne talk about what’s happening in their store this week. A $1000 day, while rare, was a welcome deluge. We start doing our taxes with the help of GoDaddy Bookkeeping. Jay mentioned the New York Times article You Can’t Take It With You, but You Still Want More. Suzanne Wells gives us a great tip on how to see eBay Best Offer prices. Check out this variety of polymailers on Amazon. I pretty much get every size to be honest. We also mention our Panasonic GH series camera and 20mm lens that we love. We also love the Canon PowerShot cameras for a simpler point and shoot.

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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 Jan 5-11, 2014

  • Total Items in Store: 3025
  • Items Sold: 71
  • Total Sales: $2566.54
  • Highest Price Sold: $150.00 (King Size Goose Down Duvet)
  • Average Price Sold: $36.14
  • Returns: 3
  • Positive Feedback: 35
  • Neutral Feedback: 0
  • Negative Feedback: 0

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Scavenger Life Episode 81: What’s Happening In Your eBay Store This Week?

Sold the $1 Danish Modern Office chair for $90, and packed the sh*t out of it in a huge recycled box!

Happy New Year, Scavengers. This week we play a musical intro created for us by Adam from Skrap-Ill in Philly. He says he started selling on eBay to help fund his music. Smart.

So with the New Year, there’s always new changes. Mikey and Wendy have decided to leave the podcast to work on other projects. They’ve always been an inspiration for us so we’re excited to see what they do next. You can follow their projects and adventures at The Holy Scrap Hot Springs Blog. And check out Wendy’s book The Good Life Lab. If you’re a scavenger, you should read it. You can still hear them throughout the first 80 episodes.

In this episode we talk about how January has been great so far, more evidence that the “General Store” theory works. And of course we answer all your questions. We also talk about what we hope to accomplish this year. What will your 2014 be like? Tell us in the comments.

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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 29, 2013 – Jan 4, 2014

  • Total Items in Store: 3004
  • Items Sold: 65
  • Total Sales: $2364.40
  • Highest Price Sold: $210.00 (Vintage Typewriter)
  • Average Price Sold: $36.37
  • Returns: 1
  • Positive Feedback: 38
  • Neutral Feedback: 0
  • Negative Feedback: 0

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Scavenger Life Episode 80: How To Handle eBay Best Offers

Haggling doesn’t come naturally to most Americans. We like our fixed prices. But as this recent New York Times article points out, we also like getting a good deal.

Adding “Make Offer” was a game changer for our eBay store. It’s the honey pot to attract buyers while still having strong prices on good quality items. As we dabble with Amazon, we really miss the ability to haggle. Think about it: if you buy something for $1, price it at $60, and get an offer of $40, everyone is getting a good deal.

In this episode, Ryanne and Jay tell the story of how they moved from all auctions to only “Buy It Now”(BIN) with “Make offer”. Sales doubled. We share our best offer tactics and “make offer” strategies. How to handle best offers and when to accept. It makes your eBay store into an old-time bazaar. It’s where the action is.

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Scavenger Life Episode 79: What’s Happening In Your eBay Store This Week?

Old school sweater with old photo style. Sold for $8! Original kitsch nude painting, paid $10, sold for $185. Stars not included.

This week Jay and Ryanne talk about starting auto returns. We were inspired by our recent Caty Burt Amazon podcast and Suzanne Well’s Amazon free e-book to start selling some books on Amazon. We are using the Profit Bandit app (App Store, Google Play) to figure out what books to list. Check out the International Shoe charts (here and here) we use to convert shoe sizes for listings. Since it’s the end of the year, we encourage you to check out GoDaddy BookKeeping (formerly Outright) for organizing all your eBay store expenses.

Direct .mp3 link. Direct ogg vorbis link.

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 22-29, 2013

  • Total Items in Store: 3016
  • Items Sold: 50
  • Total Sales: $1,914.23
  • Highest Price Sold: $185.00 (Vintage kitsch painting of nude woman-MEOW!)
  • Average Price Sold: $38.28
  • Returns: 2
  • Positive Feedback: 30
  • Neutral Feedback: 0
  • Negative Feedback: 0

Mikey and Wendy’s store Week Dec 22-29, 2013

  • Total Items in Store: 1032
  • Items Sold: 19
  • Total Sales: $518.23
  • Highest Price Sold: $50.00 (Pressure Gauge)
  • Average Price Sold: $27.28
  • Returns: 1
  • Positive Feedback: 16
  • Neutral Feedback: 0
  • Negative Feedback: 0

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Scavenger Life Episode 78: A New Years Pledge of Abundance

In this episode Wendy reveals the book she has been working on that is focused on taking back your time to improve your quality of life. Wendy and Mikey explain their lifestyle choices and how they became ebay sellers, which helped them meet the goal of abundance over wealth. Wendy’s book entitled “The Good Life Lab” is available through Amazon and in most stores and is a guide to abundance through living hands on with help from the waste stream. Also check out their Holy Scrap blog documenting their New Mexico homestead.

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Scavenger Life Episode 77: What’s Happening In Your eBay Store This Week?


Wendy and Mikey start up listing again and see immediate results. Cool sales this week include a vintage lambs fur hat, used oil paints and a first generation iPod Coach brand cover.

Direct .mp3 link. Direct ogg vorbis link.

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 15-21, 2013, 2013

  • Total Items in Store: 2993
  • Items Sold: 52
  • Total Sales: $1,843.53
  • Highest Price Sold: $74.99 (Set of hockey sticks)
  • Average Price Sold: $35.45
  • Returns: 2
  • Positive Feedback: 36
  • Neutral Feedback: 0
  • Negative Feedback: 0

Mikey and Wendy’s store Week Dec 15-21, 2013, 2013

  • Total Items in Store: 1044
  • Items Sold: 20
  • Total Sales: $436.79
  • Highest Price Sold: $54.00 (Coach iPod Case)
  • Average Price Sold: $21.84
  • Returns: 0
  • Positive Feedback: 9
  • Neutral Feedback: 0
  • Negative Feedback: 0

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