Quitting Your Day Job

Greetings!

Quitting Your Day Job.  

Don’t quit your day job just yet.  If you have bills to pay, then they have to be paid.  And unfortunately eBay isn’t a get rich quick scheme.  It is a business that you have to slowly build with triumphs and failures along the way.  Start working on your business during the evenings and on weekends or whenever your off time is.  If you are looking to get into this line of business you probably already have a passion for digging, searching, thrifting, etc., so it will be fun to get started and shouldn’t feel like too much “work”.  If it feels like work right away, maybe this isn’t right for you.  But if you get a buzz off of finding that treasure or unique item, enjoy researching it and taking photos of it and pricing it.  This really is a blast.  If you are only selling a few items a week (like we are right now) it’s a great hobby - but it’s not going to pay the bills.  

Get started listing items as fast (and as accurately) as you can.  Build up your store with items that are Buy it Now with Best Offer (Good ‘til cancelled).  You might not sell a ton of stuff right away, but it’s a good way to start to feel like you are building up an inventory.  Once you have your inventory built up a bit you can start to adjust your prices to reflect what is selling and what no one is paying attention to.  But be patient, just cause Billy doesn’t buy your motorcycle boots this week for $200 doesn’t mean that Jim won’t buy them next week for $190.  Don’t undersell your stuff - you worked hard to get it and getting rid of it for pennies isn’t doing anything for you.  

It takes a certain level of drive and skill to get to the level that my friends over on the eBay Scavengers Podcast are at, so don’t be discouraged if your store isn’t huge right away.  They have been working diligently and adjusting their lifestyles to allow them to do this full time.  It won’t happen over night, but it can happen for you too if you have the skill and drive to find the good stuff and keep on going!

We currently have 162 items in our store and have sold 26 items. We started our store in June. So in less than 3 months we've listed around 188 items. That's an average of around 62 items a month. So at this rate (not counting stuff we've sold) by the end of December we should have listed around 500 items.  Our personal store goal is to reach 500 items in our store inventory.  Granted, we will probably sell somewhere around half of that 50 items by the end of Christmas selling season ... so it's a very slow climb to get up to 500 items!

We are hoping that once we have 500 items in our store inventory we will be selling enough for my wife to quit her day job and raise the kid at home while working on the store full time. The road to both of us working on the store full time is going to be a long one, but I will keep you up to speed every step of the way!

Wish us luck as we continue our journey and we will wish you the same!

The eBay Freshman

Thrift Store Finds 8/7/2013

Greetings!

Hadn't bought any store inventory and I'm soon going to run out of stuff to list.  With the weekend garage sales still a day away I thought I'd swing by a small thrift store that I hadn't been to in awhile.  It's a non-corporate one so there are sometimes ok prices ... sometimes not.

Didn't come up with anything that will blow anybody's minds but found a few random things:

1972 Vintage Decorative Wall Art - Hunting Themed Marked "Tim - Made in wood (can't make out the rest) Jan. 1972. If I had to guess I'd say someone made this in wood shop in high school. Not a great piece of art but since it's dated it makes it easier to list it as "Vintage Rustic Hunting Decor" or something similar. Paid $1.99

Small Vintage Metal Bird Themed Trinket Tray marked "Made in China". Paid 50 cents. If you combine bird themed stuff with a vintage decor item that usually is a pretty good chance at a sale. Maybe not much to be made on this guy, but I can sell it for more than 50 cents.

Vintage Heirloom Oak Nut Tray by DiDware / A Division of Independent Stave Co.

Made of "rustic oak".  This thing had a lot of descriptive information on it so I figured I'd give it a shot. Someone might be missing this out of their set. I always come across nut cracker tools at yard sales so I will pick one up and include it with this bowl. Paid 75 cents.

Yesteryear Brand by Westwood 1992 Perfect Brand Coffee Mug. Paid 25 cents. Never bought a mug to sell on eBay yet. I think I could get 15 - 20 bucks off this. We'll see.

I bought this last item just because I think it's cool.  I love 1980's horror movies and this just jumped out at me for some reason. Burlington high School Class of 1986 Senior Banquet.  It is foggy glass and has a devil head on it. So 1980's occult vibe going on.  Paid 50 cents for this ... Don't mind if it even sells cause I just think it's rad.

That's it!

Paid: $4
Hoping to make: $75 - $100 off of these items.

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

Item Sold on eBay!

Greetings!

Sold an item on eBay yesterday:

Antique Louis Marx & Co Brown Plastic Toy Horse
Purchased for $3
Sold for $25 + Shipping

I usually only buy toys if they seem old, are in relatively good condition and have some sort of branding/date on them.  Something to do a little bit of research off of.  If I had no information and listed this as "Old Plastic Toy Horse" I don't think I would've gotten $25 for it.  Luckily I found a small logo on this horse, did some research on it, listed and sold a great quality item!  The stuff is out there guys, just start hunting, researching and selling!

Happy Hunting!

The eBay Freshman

Photographing Floppy Boots

Greetings!

Don't you just hate it when you by an awesome pair of boots ... and you are trying to stage them for a professional looking photo and they are all saggy and you can't get them to stand up?

I had this problem last night.

I found an old cardboard roll from some leftover wrapping paper and cut out a couple of short carboard tubes to stick in the boots.  Worked out pretty well I think.

FLOPPY BOOTS

CARDBOARD ROLLS

NON-FLOPPY BOOTS

Worked for me - maybe it'll work for you!

Happy Hunting!

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

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