Lunch Break Find 8/14/2013

Greetings!

Spent an hour digging through items at a thrift store with no luck ... then, on my way out the door I cam across this gem in the rough!

1960s Rosko Brand 'Embarrassed Frankenstein' Tin and plastic toy. Pretty rare find. Haven't gotten to test him out yet. What caught my eye was the sticker on the bottom ... looked kind of old. Then I looked closer at the item and it was made up of tin and metal parts as well as plastic which isn't that common in newer halloween items. Paid $3. Hoping to bring in $30 - $40.

Happy Hunting!

The eBay Freshman

Garage Sale Finds for 8/9/2013

Greetings!

Not a very successful run over my lunch break, but something is better than nothing I guess.

Disney's The Little Mermaid Large Metal Tin. Paid 25 cents.
Heavy Red Wing Work Boots - $3 (the girl at the sale said the paint is a kind that can wash off - we'll see). I always like to keep my eye out for Red Wings and Dr. Martens at sales. They both seem to do well. If you think I'm crazy for getting these boots ... do a quick eBay search for Red Wing boots and you will be shocked and amazed at how much they sell for.

Paid: $3.25
Hoping to make: $100 - $130

Happy Hunting!

The eBay Freshman

Garage Sale Finds 8/8/2013 (continued)

Greetings!

Went back out to do some more inventory shopping after work today. Thursday evenings after 5pm aren't the best time to get out there but it's better than nothing.  Actually had some pretty good luck!  Here's what I came home with:

2 Antique or Vintage prints. - Made de Paris - Petit Courier des Dames - Paris Boulevart les Italians, 1. Don't know much about them but they looked old and came in old frames (no glass). One of them is marked in light pencil - "Helors Lilvin" or something similar. Will have to try to research this a bit more. Paid $2 for the pair.

 Vintage hanging ghost decoration wind sock. Be keeping this probably - 50 cents.

 This was just a cool piece. Round wooden frame and the glass is sort of domed outward. Picture of a river running through some hills. Marked on the back - Peter Watson Studio, INC, Detroit 27, Michigan. Paid $3

 I LOVE VINTAGE MEN'S HATS! I wear them myself so it's always a struggle to give them up. I haven't tried any of these on yet. Paid $1 per hat which is a steal. I've had good luck with selling Knox brand ... I have another Dobbs brand hat in my store but it hasn't sold yet. Not sure about the Resistol hat ... looks like they made a lot of cowboy hats, but this fedora is pretty nice. The winter hat doesn't have a brand name on it which hurts the value a little, same with the golf hat. But both are vintage and people like golf stuff so they should sell eventually.  Paid $5 total.

 I'm really not very educated in camera stuff. But when I find it I try to at least dig through it a little bit. I purchased a Sylvania Sun Gun II, Sylvania Blue Dot Flashbulbs, Abinar Macro Camera Lens, Sylvania Blue Dot Flash Cubes, and a Honeywell Strobonar. Paid $10 for everything. I would be really careful with buying camera stuff - there is always camera stuff at sales and sometimes they are over priced.  Look for deals, make sure the power cords are there, if there is a box that's even better.

 And I bought some nice vintage sweaters and jackets. Most of the sweaters are IZOD golf sweaters which seem to do pretty well. 3 Izod sweaters. The blue one on the left isn't marked with a brand. The brown coat isn't marked either. The turquoise jacket is marked Aberdeen. Vintage golf stuff seems like it does pretty well. Make sure there aren't any stains or tears on your clothes. That brings down the value and the chance of selling highly. Paid $1 a piece for these - $6 total.

Total Spent on Inventory - $26
Hoping to bring in around - $175 - $250

My basic rule for buying is I like to average making around 10 x more for an item that I paid. Often times I make 15 x more or higher. But 10 x is usually the lowest I want to go. I don't like to buy an item for $1 and sell it for $5. Just doesn't seem worth it to me. So for example, if I paid $26 and made $260 then I'd be right on the money. I might have over paid a bit for the camera stuff, but you just have to kind of feel things out as you are buying inventory. You never know what's going to sell and for how much.

Happy Hunting!

The eBay Freshman

Finding Items To Sell On eBay

Greetings!

Finding the Stuff.  

I’ve always been a collector and a spender when it comes to finding treasures at thrift stores, pawn shops, antique stores, etc.  I am usually very conservative with my spending and this has both furnished our house as well as brought some goodies to our store.  The first items we listed on eBay were items we had around the house.  Once we felt like we sort of exhausted our inventory options there we decided to take out some money to go shopping for inventory.  Antique stores are ok as long as they are not super prissy high end stores - they might have some stuff in a box in the corner here and there that is cheap, but this is probably not ideal.  Pawn shops are probably a “no no” since they are already doing what you are trying to do with your store, flipping items for more than they paid.  Thrift stores can be hit or miss depending on what you are looking for and what kind of a thrift store it is.  If it is a smaller, non corporate thrift store - excellent. Corporate stores seem to have become savvy to what we are doing and are jacking up their prices on vintage and antique items, however you can still do pretty well at thrift stores and if you live in a more rural area (like us) and especially in an area with harsh winters (like us) you will need to do some thrifting because yard sales just won’t be available.  Yard Sales and Garage Sales are hands down the best.  You might go to 10 yard sales and only buy something from 1 of them, but if you find just 1 item at 1 yardsale that you pay under $5 and sell for $30 to $200, it was worth it in my opinion.

The kinds of items I look for personally when I'm out hunting are antiques and vintage stuff.  Vintage to me is anything earlier than 2000.  I think there is value to be found in nostalgic 1980s and 1990's stuff ... and fashion value in clothes.  Anything older than the 1980s I'm REALLY interested in.  I will look for appliances, toys and nick knacks that have the original box and are still in working condition. I've found that sporting goods, camping items, nautical themed, hunting or animal themed stuff is all pretty good. Stuff with a brand name, nice advertising and a date are always great.  If I find something that is just strange or bizarre I will absolutely pick it up. The more unique and interesting the better.  Don't be afraid of an item just because it has a little rust or some cobwebs on it ... you can research ways to clean items and that item that most people are passing up because it looks dirty could be your honey pot!

If you have a smart phone I would try to (covertly) research all items before you buy them to see what they are selling for (not just what they are listed at). Sometimes a yard sale seller will see you on your phone and call you out as a reseller and that instantly makes the negotiating less successful.  So just try to be a little subtle with your researching while holding the item in your hand.

Profit Margin. Buy it Now with Best Offer.

Ideally I'm looking to make 15 to 30 times more than I paid for an item.  So if I pay $1 for an item, I am planning on listing it for a minimum of $14.99. Depending on the item I might list a $1 item for  $199.99 with the Best Offer in place. It really depends on the item. After that I am usually hoping to make around 75% of my asking price.  If the item is still pretty new in our store and someone offers me less than 50% of what I'm asking ... I will usually give them a courtesy counter offer which is closer to my asking price ... and in most cases they never accept.  We haven't had much luck with counter offers so far.  Basically ... if you think their offer is pretty close to what you want, and you are making a profit of $20+ on the sale and you are ready to let the item go ... I'd say you should consider accepting it.  If you get super picky over negotiating over $5 on a $30 item ... you will more than likely lose the sale and that item might be lurking in your store for 8 months and you are kicking yourself.

Once in awhile you don't accept a best offer ... and then the next day someone pays you full price for the item.  You just never know ... you have to sort of just start listing and selling to get your own flow and your own idea of what you are comfortable selling for and accepting. If someone is giving you a really low-ball offer ... chances are they are a reseller like you who sees a value in your item and wants to sell it in their store for the price you are asking ... don't give in to these fools!  

There is no written law about how much to spend on an item and how much to sell it for. It's on a 'per item' basis.  When in doubt list higher than you think it's worth just in case it's a real gem!

Happy Hunting!

The eBay Freshman

Our eBay Store Just Hit 100 Items!

Greetings!

OUR EBAY STORE JUST HIT 100 ITEMS!  We are starting to feel like we are getting a decent amount of inventory built up finally!  Our goal is to get up to 500 - 1,000 items so that my wife can work on the store full time and raise our kid (or kids in the future) at home.  We are feeling good and going to keep on listing throughout the day.

Happy Hunting!

The eBay Freshman

A Heartfelt Post from The eBay Freshman

Greetings!

Just thought I would share a little bit about myself.  First and foremost my name is not really Bruce King.  Call it a 'pen-name' if you will. Why hide behind a name built up out of the names Bruce Campbell and Stephen King? To vaguely try and keep my personal information and store information lightly veiled in secrecy.  This is the same reason that I have not revealed my eBay store name either.  If someone out there is very interested in finding my store, they probably could with a little effort, but for now I just am trying to remain a bit more anonymous.  It's more about the tips and stories then about who I am and what my store is for now.

Someday all might be revealed.  And if someone really wants to know, I could possibly send you the information via a direct message.

I was feeling a strange sense of guilt about pretending to be someone else and not letting people know my true identity ... but I will continue to correspond through this blog as Bruce King. 

Now that I have that weird blip off of my chest.

A little about me.  I'm a 29 year old male, married with a new born daughter, a dog, and a rabbit to take care of.  I'm a homeowner and work full time as a Graphic Designer for my day job.  When I'm not at work, or spending time with my family I am literally working on the eBay store all of the time.  I'm out hunting, taking photos, listing, shipping, researching ... it's a non-stop process of learning and doing and I love it!

But why do this?  What is the drive to put in 20-30 hours a week on an eBay store, using personal money to invest in inventory and shipping supplies and gas to start up a business that will take up tons of space in my house and probably will never make me "rich", and is frowned on by some people?

The reason is ... I love it.  I can't explain exactly why ... I'm from a small town and when I moved to a city and got into the Thrift Store Scene back in 2002 I couldn't get enough of it.  I had to keep going week after week to see what treasures I could dig up for a bargain.  It's not the same as 'sale shopping' at a retail store ... there is a sense of wonder, randomness and history to thrift, antique and yard sale shopping.  It's that feeling of never knowing what you are going to find and how much it's going to be worth.  Finding that unique fashionable item that no one else has. Also, what's the story behind the item? Who used to own it? Who are you going to meet at a garage sale in a neighborhood you've never been to?  It's completely interesting and thrilling.

I've always been interested in history, weapons, clothes, trinkets, toys, and other random items ... so it makes sense that I would love this job.  It gives me the "OK" to go out and buy all of this random stuff that I think is cool ... but it also allows me to not be a hoarder.  It's purposeful, repurposing of quality goods back into the hands of people who appreciate the items.

I hate to see quality things get thrown out and I have a sense of pride as a 'savior of oddities' or ' 2nd hand treasure hunter'.  It gives me this strange sense of fulfillment that I have never felt in my life.  It's like it's what I was meant to do.

Having an eye for quality items through piles and piles of junk isn't just by chance.  It's from having an interest in antiques, history, fashion and many years of buying for personal reasons that I have been able to transform into a unique business skill set. Everything I sell in my store is at least somewhat interesting to me or I would not sell it. I'm selling a part of me every time I put an item up for sale - something about each item I find calls to me in some way.  Of course there are times when I will try to find items that I think are worth something that I can get for cheap ... but I still will have some sort of intellectual investment in the item.

I've always wanted to have an attic like that scene from The Goonies where there is just like tons of awesome and weird stuff. Like swords, and paintings globes and treasures ... it's just part of my personality. And I think it would be so cool to have parents that collect and sell odd and antique stuff.  But all parents think they are cool, right? ha ha

I also hope to build this business to help teach my child the importance of quality. Teach her a sense of respect of history and give her a basic knowledge base of what stuff is worth and the stories behind what makes them worthwhile.  I hope to pass on some of my trading skills to my daughter if she is interested in this sort of thing and I hope to teach her to not be wasteful with her money. You can be a consumer, but be smart about it.

I think I've poured enough out of my heart for one day. :)

Please let me know what you think of all of this!  Do others out there feel completely sucked in to this process of repurposing items? Or do you just do it for a quick buck?  More or less I'm guessing it's a combination of those reasons, that's why I do it too!

I will be hitting up some sales on my lunch break today and tomorrow (Saturday) morning.  My goal is to get 100 items in our store by Sunday night (right now there are 79).  Wish me luck and I'll keep you up to speed with my findings and techniques!

The eBay Freshman

Selling Yourself Short and Giving Stuff Away on eBay

Aiming High. 

When it comes to selling on eBay the same age old questions come up ...

"What is this item worth?"

"How much am I going to list this at?"

"How much profit do I expect to actually make?"

My advice would be, when in doubt aim high.  We always try to start our Buy it Now listings a bit higher than what we think the item will actually sell for because with the Best Offer function in place you can almost always assume someone will come in with a low ball offer based on what you have for your Buy it Now price.  If I want to make 19.99 on an item I might list it at 29.99 or 34.99.  If I want to make $49.99 on an item I will probably list it at $69.99 or $74.99.

Also, we always always ALWAYS have the buyer pay for shipping.  I get the appeal of listing items with 'free shipping' but I just like to charge them for shipping rather than bother with factoring in the shipping cost into the actual price of the item.  For the most part buyers aren't stupid and they are going to figure out that the shipping cost is not actually 'free' and it's just tacked on to the price of the item.

And what is there to lose when listing high?  Sure people might scoff and pass over your item because they think you are ridiculous ... but the flip side is that people might actually stop on your item because it IS listed high.  It spikes curiosity... What is so special about THIS lot of Care Bears? Even though the answer is nothing - they stopped and looked at YOUR Care Bears instead of someone else's ... and maybe, just maybe they will make a 'low offer' which just so happens to be what you would actually like to make off of the item.

See what I'm getting at here?

So don't be afraid to list your item a little higher than you think it's worth.  Of course, if you list it way too high it probably won't sell ... but it's easier and makes more sense to list high and lower your price later, than short change yourself.  You worked hard to find that interesting, unique, quality item - don't give it away!

Happy Hunting!

The eBay Freshman

Items Sold on eBay Update!

Greetings!

Sold 2 items on eBay yesterday.

Fletcher Oval / Circle Glass Cutter w/ box and instructions:

Purchased for 50 cents. Listed for 29.99 + shipping.
SOLD FOR BEST OFFER OF $21 + shipping.

Antique Unique Art MFG. CO., Inc. S-R8 Tin Lighthouse with Sailors

Purchased for $2. Listed at $39.99 + shipping.
SOLD FOR $39.99 + shipping.

TOTAL SPENT ON TWO ITEMS: $2.50

SOLD FOR: $60.99

TOTAL PROFIT: $58.49

Happy Hunting!

The eBay Freshman

When Disaster Strikes and the Death of My iMac

Greetings!

What do you do when disaster strikes your life and your store?

Over the past few months we've had the following problems with our home (which means we had the following problems with our store since it's in our basement):

1. The Air Conditioner broke during the hottest week of the summer. Talk about a miserable work environment.  Hot, humid and totally steamy!
2. The basement flooded - ruining our carpet and causing some mold to start to grow. The water, luckily only damaged a few store inventory items. But I was forced to empty out our basement and move it to the garage - this was no fun ... and the lack of air conditioning only made it less fun.
3. The Garage Door stopped functioning. It's pretty tough to operate your temporary store out of your garage when it isn't opening or closing.
4. We had an ant infestation in our kitchen. Which is just gross.


All of these things on top of having a 3 month old, dog, rabbit, as well as both my wife and I working full time at our regular jobs and maintaining the day to day chores and upkeep of our home ... while trying to go out and buy store inventory and list items ...

Let's just say it's been trying.

I learned today that ...

5. My iMac's motherboard is fried and it would be about $1,000 to replace it.  That's a lot of pairs of shoes to be sold on eBay!

So what do we do when disaster strikes?  You take care of your shit. That's all you can do!

1. We had the air conditioner replaced and the home is now comfortable to live in again.
2. After fixing what we could with the problem outside where the water seemed to be coming in, we tore out the carpet in our basement, dried everything out, bleached any mold areas we found, replaced soggy parts of our walls and re-carpeted the basement with cheap indoor/outdoor carpet.  We moved the shelves and the store inventory down stairs and are back in business now.
3. We were able to figure out what was wrong with the garage door ourselves - a sensor was bumped and just needed to be re-aligned. That was a small miracle that we didn't have to replace that as well!
4. Killed the ants. Sorry guys.

and...

5.  What can you do?  The computer was from 2008.  I'm just thankful that we were able to salvage our photos and music and data.  Going to store that stuff on an external drive and work off of my wifes laptop for now - we were lucky we already had a back up computer - which is a good point - always have a back up plan for you store.

Happy Hunting!

The eBay Freshman

Having a Professional Looking Store Logo, and Branding Yourself

Logos and Branding.  

With any store or product branding is important.  I figured why wouldn’t this be the same for our eBay store?  If we treat it professionally and seriously maybe other people will too?  

Luckily I work as a graphic designer for my day job, so I was able to come up with a logo and business name for us pretty quickly.  We use this logo for our profile picture and we also had some “thank you’s” printed out that we can put into each package that includes our logo and the words “Enjoy your purchase” and “Thank you for your business” and at the bottom it says “If you have time please stop by and let us know how we did ... we love feedback!”  We also left a blank space where we can personalize each item with a statement like “Hope you like your hat!” etc.  That helps us look like a more legit business while also personalizing each buyers experience. I realize that not everyone has a graphic design background and work station, but you probably have a friend or a friend of a friend who can help you out with a logo for cheap.

I also recommend having a professional sounding url.  Even if it's just a shortened version of your store name, that is fine.  I personally just don't like to see sellers with creepy names, or offensive names, for instance, bob69doggystyleluvr wouldn't really float my boat.  This doesn't mean the person doesn't have quality items for sale, but if I saw that as a seller name on an item I was considering buying I would be immediately turned off. Even though your store is an online store instead of a physical store, you should still treat it as if you had to face your customers in person.  Try not to be rude and always maintain that professional appearance.  Your online presence is just as important as an in person presence (if not more).  So keep it clean and professional!

Happy Hunting!

The eBay Freshman

Garage Sale Finds for 7/27/13

Greetings!

After several duds, I wound up having a wonderful day of yard sale shopping!  Let's try to break it down shall we?

Garage Sale 1
1964 Drummond Lithograph on wood - 75 cents

Garage Sale 2
Vintage Bowl - Made in Italy - $1
Antique Silver (I think it's Silver) Plate Marked 1943 - Rogers & Bro - 50 cents
Set of 6 antique wine glasses that have a triangle logo with the word "Dentistry" on them - $1

Garage Sale 3
Set of what looks to be antique brass cherub themed towel hanging rods and soap dish - $4 (asking $6)
what appears to be a 1960's reprint of a 1930's Hatamen cigarette advertisement (oriental themed) - $2

Garage Sale 4
I paid $15 for the following items (asking price $20):
2 shelves - ALWAYS need more shelves
1 antique wooden toy chest with circus themes painted on it
1 antique the Mickey Mouse March (1955) music box toy
1 porcelain eagle lamp (needs repair - no shade)
1 porcelain penguin piggy bank with scarf - pretty sure he's a character from a cartoon in the 70's or 80's - parked PJK on bottom
1960's Smith Corona Typewriter (with case) - in nice working condition and good shape

I almost called it a day after Garage Sale 4 but decided to venture on ...

Garage Sale 5
1962 NW Airline (oriental) alcohol bottle with quark - $1

Garage Sale 6
1978 DC Comic Superman Pencil - 50 cents

Garage Sale 7
Deer themed tapestry - 75 cents
Really nice looking photograph/portrait of boy scouts in color - $1

Garage Sale 8
Pair of Hiking Boots (Linesmall) - $7 (they were asking $10)

Garage Sale 9
small book shelf - $2 (asking price $4)

Total Spent - $38.50

Estimated Resale Value if I have a little luck - $350 - $450

(PS - I went to way more than 9 sales today - just counting the ones I purchased items at)

I had a great time shopping today and am excited to get listing!  I stayed up late laying carpet in the basement last night and finished the job ... so tomorrow I will be happily moving my shelves and inventory back down into the basement where I can get cracking at taking photos, researching items and listing away!

Happy Hunting!

The eBay Freshman

Garage Sale Finds for 7/25/13

Greetings!

Not much to report here ... had some carpet delivered today so I had to meet the delivery guys at my place on my lunch break. But I was able to squeeze in one quick yard sale.

I decided to start to bring 'personal spending money' along with my 'store money' to the sales I go.  I've passed up too many things I could use around the house this summer so I decided it's time to get smart!

Most of what I grabbed today is for personal use but there are a few items that will o up in the store.

For myself I purchased an air purifier for the basement.  Technically this could be seen as a business purchase because we run our business out of the basement and I'm down there all the time.  Having more fresh, clean air to breath will be beneficial to my health and will also help keep our items smelling ... well, not like an old basement.  Paid $15 for this item - they were asking $20.  I will usually try to make a lower offer on items that are over $5.  Anything that is less than $5 and is worth picking up is probably priced good even for reselling.

Also picked up a vaporizer since my daughter is sick and needs it - $1 - beats buying it new from Target!

Grabbed a small hand saw - $1 - need this for cutting out some spots in my wall where there might be mold from the flooding I talked about in a previous post.  Again - could be considered a business expense since I need it to keep my health in check down there ... but it was just a buck anyway!

Wire cutters - 50 cents - for personal use.

The only items I got for the store today were small ones. Nothing too special.

Paid 50 cents a piece for 4 Lillian Vernon Chinese Bowls (1983) in their original boxes, so $2 there.

And I picked up a pair of vintage Nolan Ear Muffs with the original box (1982) for $1.

So spent $3 on items for the store ... hoping to make $30-$50 off the two items.

I am hitting up a sale tonight that sounds promising so hopefully I will have better finds to share tomorrow!

Happy Hunting!

The eBay Freshman