It's Not All Rainbows and Butterflies

Greetings!

Just thought I would give a little update on how our store is doing. 

We technically started our store in June 2013 but it definitely wasn't a full month of sales. By the end of June we had spent more than we made on inventory and shipping supplies. Just started hammering out the beginning foundation of our store.  We had a loss that month of around $17 even though we sold $267 worth of items. We had 33 items in our store by the end of June.

In July we had tons of problems with our house (and health) and didn't get much done at all. Again we took a loss by the end of the month but our inventory had grown. We ended up with a loss of around $52 even though we sold $222 worth of inventory. We had 71 items in our store by the end of July.

August was our first full month of working on the store and making decent sales. We walked away with a profit of $318.60. That's after spending $200 on inventory and $129 on eBay fees, and buying a Brother Printer for the store for $129.47. So it was a great month! Sold 19 items for $760. By the end of August we had 174 items listed in our store.

Which brings us to September. We had a great first half of the month, sort of mirroring August. The second half of the month has been surprisingly slow. We've also spent twice as much on inventory this month to try to bulk up for the winter. We have taken out $400 total in September for buying inventory. Our eBay fees this month will be around $190. So far we've sold around $413 worth of items which barely covers our inventory spending money for the month. We still have 10 days to have a blitz of sales but we haven't made a sale since last weekend. Currently we have 265 items in our store.

So it seems like we're climbing up month to month and making more and building our inventory more. So that is good, but I've also started to feel a little bit of doubt about some of the inventory I've been buying. Why is this item and this other item still in my store since June? I think it's cool, but no one else is looking for it I guess? It's times like these that I have to remain patient and just keep on listing. When in doubt - list more stuff! Our goal is to hit 500 items in our store by XMAS this year. We will see if we can do it!

In closing - sometimes it isn't easy selling on eBay. It comes in waves of awesome sales and then nothing. I think the important thing is to just keep going and have a little faith in yourself. Try not to get discouraged if you have an awful week of sales. Just get back out there and find more cool stuff to list!

I wish you good luck out there friends and hope you wish the same for us!

Happy Hunting!

The eBay Freshman

Thrift Store Finds 9/11/2013

Greetings!

Made a quick run to a thrift store on my lunch break today:

Rubber Jason Voorhees Mask with fabric costume. It's gonna be tough to sell this given my extremely painful love of horror, but gotta do it! Paid $6.99 which is a little steep, but with Halloween around the corner people will totally be into it (I hope - if not ... guess I'll have to keep it!).

 Dr. Marten boots. These are higher then ones I normally find and I believe more valuable. Excellent used condition - Paid $13. ALWAYS BUY DR. MARTEN BOOTS! (not necessarily the low cut shoes though ... haven't sold any of those yet).

 Cumbres & Toltec Scenic RR Hat. Paid .79 cents. This is my favorite time of year for thrifting because they always bring out giant pils of Halloween 'costumes' which often times is old clothes, hats and accessories. You gotta dig but sometimes it's worth it!

 Vintage 1973 Wooden sign that says LOVE and has cupids by Americana Decorative Wall Plaques (Wallace Berrie & Co. Inc.) Just looks awesome - paid .50 cents.

 Vintage Skeleton Key Wall Decor with Fabric backdrops. Set of 3 for $1.50. No brand name, this could be hit or miss. We'll see.

 Traveling Minstrel/Musician piece of art. Signed but can't make it out. Will have to do some research. I just think this is cool and I might keep it. Paid $1.

 Antique Spats. Paid $1.99. Not sure how I will do on these.

 1914 Print by John Duncan "Children of Lir" in Antique frame. Paid $1. I think this will do well if the right buyer comes along. Very cool!

Total Spent: Approx $28

Hoping to make around: $200 - $250

Happy Hunting!

The eBay Freshman

Thrift Store Lunch Break Finds - 9/4/2013

Greetings!

Grabbed a couple items on my lunch break at a local thrift store:

Vintage Vollrath Fondue Fork Set with original Box - Because our mid century modernists need to eat too!  Paid $1.

 Antique Alsace French Doll ( I only know this because I have another one that had the case ). Paid $1.

 Vintage Ceramic Busts of old man and old woman ... I bought these because the old man looks like a sailor with his sweater/turtle neck, beanie and pipe in his pocket. Will list as nautical decor and hopefully sell!  Paid $2 for the pair.

Total Spent: $4
Estimated Resell Value: I'd say around $70 - $100 if I have a little luck.

Happy Hunting!

The eBay Freshman

Thrift Store Finds - 9/3/2013

Greetings!

Went out to a local thrift store on my lunch break. Spent too much but came away with some decent finds!

Gold Nike Bag. Paid $4.

 Mid Century Modern Plastic General Electric Wall Clock. Paid $9.99 (ouch! I know!) Might have paid too much for that. But it has really nice numbers and I like the colors and style.

 Vintage Porcelain Trinket container with horses. Not sure if this was a powder box at one time, or what was supposed to be held in it but the horses look very nice. Paid .99

 1989 Enescdo Halloween Figures on Bench. Paid $1.99

 Vintage Straight Brim Bahamas Trucker hat - Paid $1.99

  Vintage Straight Brim Disney World Trucker hat - Paid $1.99

I realize I paid a bit more for these items than I normally do, but I'm anxious to get more inventory stocked up before Christmas and there haven't been many garage sales in my area the past week and a half.

Total Spent: Approx $22

I'd like to think I could make around $160 for these items.

Happy Hunting!

The eBay Freshman