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Many scavengers who live in cold climates fear winter. The cold weather means no more yard sales or flea markets which can be a huge source of awesome finds. Scavengers who live in 12-month warm climates don’t have this problem. But they usually deal with high prices and tough competition because the warm living means high density populations.

Winter is our favorite season for eBay because it means uninterrupted work. No more distractions like yard sales that start as early as Wednesday some weeks. During warm months, we also buy much more than we can easily list. At a good auction, we can easily buy a carload of stuff that will take 3 weeks to photograph and list. So we’re never worried about a lack of inventory in the winter. We always have TOO MUCH. It’s a great problem to have.

Winter also means we have less reasons to leave home. Our town gets quiet. Less outdoor chores to do. No gardening. No cutting grass. Just sit by the wood stove and list all our cool items on eBay. The shorter days of light also keep us more focused.  We know it gets
dark by 4pm (sometimes even 3pm?!), so we take photos efficiently during
day light.

Since we like to travel in the summer/fall, winter is when we bulk up our store. We can dream of our travel as we work hard listing. Then when we travel in the summer, we can let our eBay store sell on autopilot for up to two months with little drop of income while we enjoy ourselves. (Love 30-business day handling time!) Our next trip is in April (Portland and New Orleans), so we have five months of pure eBay living to prepare.

Hope Winter treats you well.

In this podcast, we mentioned the following links:
–I see more and more articles about people working towards Early Retirement. This article talks about “Super Savers”. Guy saved $1-million by the time he was 35.
–And check out our other podcast about running a vacation rental.

Our Store Week November 8-14, 2015

• Store #1
• Total Items in Store: 3986
• Items Sold: 42
• Cost of Items Sold: $85
• Total Sales: $1,732.85
• Highest Price Sold: $175 (Vintage Danish Modern Side Table)
• Average Price Sold: $41.25
• International Sales: 2 GSP
• Returns: 1
• Money Spent on New Inventory This Week: $60
• Number of items listed this week: 49

———-
Bonanza: $100 jacket
———- 

• Store #2
• Total Items in Store: 684
• Items Sold: 10
• Cost of Items Sold: $12
• Total Sales: $389.92
• Highest Price Sold: $80 (vintage hat)
• Average Price Sold: $38.99
• International Sales: 0 GSP
• Returns: 0
• Number of items listed this week: 66

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Another quiet-ish week for us on eBay. We haven’t seen the holiday sales yet (Hope they come!) But things are still selling and we’re listing as fast as we can.

Many Americans are obedient consumers always buying new things whether they need them or not. But even as Scavengers, we can get into the habit of constantly acquiring more stuff. We may never pay retail, but there’s always more to bring home. We remind ourselves to use what we have and sell anything we don’t need. It’s a lesson that has done well for us so far…especially when sales are slow and money needs to be saved.

This week we talked about the following links:
–eBay is starting the new Performance standards in February which will do away with Defects. But now there’s a new things called “Late Shipment Rate“. Obviously eBay expects tracking to be uploaded within your handling time. However now eBay will ask the customer if they received the item within the estimated delivery date. If not, that’s a “ding” against you. Hopefully it won’t cause issues because of slow post office issues.

–If you use Go Daddy Bookkeeping, I’ve finding the Profit/Loss page very helpful. If you’re logged into your account, that page will let you compare your sales from different months. Helps give us an better perspective on our sales at different times of the year.

Our Store Week November 1-7, 2015

• Store #1
• Total Items in Store: 3974
• Items Sold: 25
• Cost of Items Sold: $155
• Total Sales: $1,465.95
• Highest Price Sold: $600 (Vintage sewing machine)
• Average Price Sold: $58.62
• International Sales: 1 GSP
• Returns: 0
• Money Spent on New Inventory This Week: $100
• Number of items listed this week: 84

———-

• Store #2
• Total Items in Store: 626
• Items Sold: 10
• Cost of Items Sold: $15
• Total Sales: $223.91
• Highest Price Sold: $40 (Williams Sonoma Napkin set)
• Average Price Sold: $22.30
• International Sales: 0 GSP
• Returns: 0
• Number of items listed this week: 5

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Sales felt quiet this week, but our weekly numbers showed we had a solid week. eBay was down for a couple hours, showing that there’s likely some heavy architectural changes going on behind the scenes. Progress marches on.

We talk about how we’ve learned over the years that it’s good to be frugal, but sometimes being too cheap causes us problems. So what we do now is “find value” in the things we buy. Meaning we’re willing to pay more for things IF we think we get more out of something. This is the Scavenger Way.

In this podcast, we discuss the following links:
–Go to healthcare.gov to compare private healthcare plans. Important if you’re self-employed. It’ll be cheaper than you think. And always cheaper than not having insurance in a medical emergency.
–Martin from Garbage Finds talks about getting a $220 ticket for scavenging in the trash. He’s one of my favorite Scavengers (our interview) who really puts a lot of love each week into his blog posts. I donated $20 to help him pay his ticket. You can donate here.
–People sometimes ask us how they can help us,so we made a new page: Help Us, Help Yourself.
–We talk about our favorite laser printer. If you’re new, please don’t use an inkjet printer because the ink mafia will bleed you dry.

Have a good week of sales!

Our Store Week October 25-31, 2015

• Store #1
• Total Items in Store: 3913
• Items Sold: 27
• Cost of Items Sold: $65
• Total Sales: $1,140.77
• Highest Price Sold: $159 (Ferragamo shoes)
• Average Price Sold: $42.22
• International Sales: 2 GSP
• Returns: 1
• Money Spent on New Inventory This Week: $110
• Number of items listed this week: 56

———-

• Store #2
• Total Items in Store: 629
• Items Sold: 9
• Cost of Items Sold: $15
• Total Sales: $281.91
• Highest Price Sold: $80 (vintage Silverado truck logo)
• Average Price Sold: $31.32
• International Sales: 0 GSP
• Returns: 0
• Number of items listed this week: 33

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We had a very productive week since it was the first time in two months where we could spend full-time on eBay. It felt great. We took photos and listed every day. Amazing what you can get done when you consistently work. Though our sales were pretty quiet, we had a decent income with several high dollar sales.

eBay must be doing some changes behind the scenes because we’ve had the same issues as others with their website and mobile app.  No matter. We worked around the kinks and we hope the site gets better because of the changes.

We hope your week went well. 

Couple links we discussed in this podcast.
—eBay showed a bigger profit than expected this quarter. This was a big deal since it’s the first earnings report after Paypal split off hopefully showing eBay can stand by itself. Who knows. Time will tell.
–Cyndi (aka Amazing Taste) shared with everyone her method of setting goals for her eBay business. She and her husband have a long history of strong sales showing that consistency pays off.
–And as we always say, come rent our farmhouse if you want to escape to Virginia. We love giving discounts to Trash Elves.

The Weekly Scavenger Numbers 
Our Store Week October 11-17, 2015

• Store #1
• Total Items in Store: 3882
• Items Sold: 24
• Cost of Items Sold: $52
• Total Sales: $1,540.39
• Highest Price Sold: $149 (gardening tools) + Bonanza: $500 (wool rug)
• Average Price Sold: $43.33
• International Sales: 0 GSP
• Returns: 2
• Money Spent on New Inventory This Week: $65
• Number of items listed this week: 78

 ————-

• Store #2
• Total Items in Store: 599
• Items Sold: 6
• Cost of Items Sold: $25
• Total Sales: $272.95
• Highest Price Sold: $80 (brass curtain tie backs)
• Average Price Sold: $46.33
• International Sales: 1 GSP
• Returns: 0
• Number of items listed this week: 27

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We realized that for the last six months our eBay store has been a mix of Housecleaning and Auto-pilot. We’ve either been listing mainly low-cost items from our “death piles” (items we’ve been putting off listing), or simply been traveling and done nothing in our store at all.  We haven;t even been scavenging much

But because our large inventory lets us float for up to three months at a time, we’ve consistently been making about $6k a month. This pays all our bills (plus some), yet we’re definitely making less than years past. No complaints here: at the end of the year we’ll have a very clean house/storage and have lots of good memories hanging out in new places. It’s just good to note that decisions we make have a direct effect on our business.

Now for some shameless self-promotion: If you want a winter break, consider renting our Farmhouse. We’ll give great deals to any Trash Elves. It doesn’t get really cold in Virginia till January so it’s a great time to go hiking in the Shenandoah National Park.

The Weekly Scavenger Numbers 
Our Store Week October 18-24, 2015

• Store #1
• Total Items in Store: 3830
• Items Sold: 26
• Cost of Items Sold: $150
• Total Sales: $1,215.67
• Highest Price Sold: $250 (wool rug)
• Average Price Sold: $46.73
• International Sales: 1 GSP
• Returns: 2
• Money Spent on New Inventory This Week: $50
• Number of items listed this week: 18 

 ————–

• Store #2
• Total Items in Store: 575
• Items Sold: 6
• Cost of Items Sold: $10
• Total Sales: $195.95
• Highest Price Sold: $40 (vintage hat)
• Average Price Sold: $32.50
• International Sales: 1 GSP
• Returns: 0
• Number of items listed this week: 38

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Hi everyone. We’re back. After two months traveling, we’re now home for the next seven months. We can just focus on scavenging, listing, and selling. Hanging out with our cats. Cooking at home. The simple life. Time to get busy for the holiday selling season.

Good news is we had pretty consistent sales while we were gone. So make sure you bulk up your store as much as you can. You never know when you might need some time off.

In this episode, I mentioned IFTTT.com that lets you set up notifications on specific Craigslist searches. This is how we buy all kinds of high quality items for cheap.

The Weekly Scavenger Numbers 
Our Store Week October 4-10, 2015

• Store #1
• Total Items in Store: 3836
• Items Sold: 34
• Cost of Items Sold: $145
• Total Sales: $1,926.79
• Highest Price Sold: $225 (vintage wool rug)
• Average Price Sold: $56.67
• International Sales: 2 GSP
• Returns: 1
• Money Spent on New Inventory This Week: $0
• Number of items listed this week: 0 

———–

• Store #2
• Total Items in Store: 542
• Items Sold: 3
• Cost of Items Sold: $5
• Total Sales: $95.96
• Highest Price Sold: $40 (steam iron)
• Average Price Sold: $31.98
• International Sales: 0 GSP
• Returns: 0
• Number of items listed this week: 0

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After traveling for four weeks overseas, it takes a solid three days to catch up with our life. Of course packing 150 packages for eBay takes time. But also: catching up with friends about small town news, hanging out with our cats, sleeping weird hours because of jet lag and visiting our local thrift stores to see if we missed anything.  But we’re slowly getting back into our comfortable eBay lifestyle.

It was a good week of sales for us. We expect sales to continue till January. Remember to save any extra money you make now to help during the slow months. It’s all about creating a 12-month business where good months balance the slow months.

——-
Technical nerd note: Apologies for the poor audio quality in the first 5 minutes. We do a double recording (just in case) and our nice recorder was not running. After 5 minutes it sounds nice though. I blame jet lag! -Ryanne
——-

In this podcast we mention the following links.
–Tim sent us this story about a guy who digs for 1800’s Levis in abandoned silver mines. They can sell for up to $100k. What?
–MarkH20 reminds everyone that eBay is altering their Return System“Hassle Free Returns” is officially going away. Sellers now have more control over their return policies. For us, we’ll continue to offer 30-day returns. It’s what we expect as buyers.

Oh, and if you want to listen to us scavenge in Amsterdam, here’s a podcast that Mark did with us. He followed us around at the IJHallen flea market and then interviewed us about how it all works.

The Weekly Scavenger Numbers

Our Store Week September 13-19, 2015

• Store #1
• Total Items in Store: 3895
• Items Sold: 37
• Cost of Items Sold: $90
• Total Sales: $1,680.25
• Highest Price Sold: $180 (commercial crepe griddle)
• Average Price Sold: $45.41
• International Sales: 3 GSP
• Returns: 0
• Money Spent on New Inventory This Week: $60
• Number of items listed this week: 0 

• Store #2
• Total Items in Store: 551
• Items Sold: 8
• Cost of Items Sold: $40
• Total Sales: $379.93
• Highest Price Sold: $110 (Vintage place mats)
• Average Price Sold: $47.49
• International Sales: 0 GSP
• Returns: 0
• Number of items listed this week: 30

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In the photo above, you can can see Ryanne’s dream stay in Paris. A packaged sandwich and a Tall Boy. This is about how our brief stay in Paris went. Cheap and simple. Wish we could have stayed much longer but only stayed a night on our way to Barcelona where we now start a week of work.

We’ve been traveling all of September but eBay sales have been steady. Not tremendous, but a good solid stream of sales. We’re ready to really put in some time this fall/winter into our eBay store. Sometimes just photographing and listing is calming.

Check out our Download All project. You can now download all our episodes all at once to load onto any device you want.

This week Anna wrote a fun write-up of her experience at eBay’s 20th Anniversary. There’s also the videos of all the speakers at the event.

The Weekly Scavenger Numbers 
Our Store Week September 13-19, 2015

• Store #1
• Total Items in Store: 3930
• Items Sold: 26
• Cost of Items Sold: $46
• Total Sales: $1,084.92
• Highest Price Sold: $135 (vintage briefcase)
• Average Price Sold: $41.69
• International Sales: 2 GSP
• Returns: 0
• Money Spent on New Inventory This Week: $100
• Number of items listed this week: 0

• Store #2
• Total Items in Store: 560
• Items Sold: 6
• Cost of Items Sold: $10
• Total Sales: $158.94
• Highest Price Sold: $45 (vintage vase)
• Average Price Sold: $26.50
• International Sales: 2 GSP
• Returns: 0
• Number of items listed this week: 35

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We’ve had a long weekend after hanging out with our friend, Mark, at the IJ Hallen flea market. This is our third visit to Europe’s largest flea market. We found a lot of cool items and only spent about $100. Could have easily spent more but we limited ourselves to what we could fit into a single army duffle bag. We’ll be posting a rare “haul video” on Wednesday to show what we bought.

We’re still having summer sales traffic (aka slow), but this is probably because our handling time has been 10-30 days(!) since August. Instead of being bummed, we’re grateful for the continuous sales even though we’re traveling.

On this podcast we mention the following links:

• Faith (aka Flim) mentioned LoHeads or LoLifes on her interview. Watch this short video about the phenomenon of 1990s Brooklyn tough guys who love Polo clothes.
• Several listeners mentioned that eBay has a new experimental price search page. Good to see eBay opening up some of it info in more designed ways.
• eBay has a wait list to get access to the new new Seller Hub. Might as well see what it’s like. I assume it’s going to eventually replace the current Seller Dashboard. I’m hopeful it’ll give us access to more info.
• Mark sent a link to a video that shows you will soon to be able to better customize your return policies. 
• Jenn sent us an interview she did discussing eBay as an alternative for people who’re getting out of jail to getting a hourly wage jobs.

The Weekly Scavenger Numbers 
Our Store Week September 6-12, 2015

• Store #1
• Total Items in Store: 3959
• Items Sold: 17
• Cost of Items Sold: $40
• Total Sales: $850.69
• Highest Price Sold: $120 (vintage coat)
• Average Price Sold: $50
• International Sales: 2 GSP
• Returns: 0
• Money Spent on New Inventory This Week: $10
• Number of items listed this week: 23

• Store #2
• Total Items in Store: 532
• Items Sold: 3
• Cost of Items Sold: $5
• Total Sales: $170.78
• Highest Price Sold: $110 (Weight straps)
• Average Price Sold: $56.66
• International Sales: 0 GSP
• Returns: 0
• Number of items listed this week: 35

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We have been settling into Amsterdam. That means taking lots of walks and looking through the trash. So far we found huge bag of newly laundered designer clothes, a house warming gift for our friend,  a fancy purse/luggage piece, and then numerous items like lights and decorations that will be too big to bring home, sadly. Hopefully other scavengers have grabbed those things. Jay got a little cold, so you might hear him sniffling a bit (and Ryanne gets to write this post). Another great thing about being away from home- less distractions and time to list. Ok, you could argue that being in a beautiful, European city would provide more distractions, but being here for 3 weeks allows for time to work. We got on a listing spree (even Jay!) and will continue this coming week until we list all of our backlog.

Mark sent us this link to Paypal’s Purchase Protection info. Sounds like nothing much has changed, they’re just spelling out out again for everyone. We’ve never had a problem with these rules, so hopefully all will stay the same.

Check out Mikey and Wendy’s eBay ‘on the road’ shipping set up in their Honda Element or Hondaminium (so impressive, see the photo here) as they call it. They’ve been traveling for 6+ months on a big road trip, but they’re still selling and shipping on the road. Pretty amazing to see!

The Weekly Scavenger Numbers

Our Store Week August 30-September 5, 2015

• Store #1
• Total Items in Store: 3906
• Items Sold: 21
• Cost of Items Sold: $32
• Total Sales: $906.89
• Highest Price Sold: $250 (lot of nail polish)
• Average Price Sold: $43.14
• International Sales: 1 (1 GSP)
• Returns: 0
• Money Spent on New Inventory This Week: $5
• Number of items listed this week: 61 

• Store #2
• Total Items in Store: 501
• Items Sold: 11
• Cost of Items Sold: $18
• Total Sales: $295.90
• Highest Price Sold: $60 (The Villager wallet)
• Average Price Sold: $26.90
• International Sales: 2 (2 GSP)
• Returns: 0
• Number of items listed this week: 63

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