My Top eBay Moments This Week

Alright, kids. I'm back! I'm still just as busy as I was last week, and I haven't come anywhere close to getting caught up on anything, but I happen to love my Top eBay Moments post, so here I am :)

I had a great eBay week this week! I'm out of my most recent black hole, and my sales have taken off again. I had 89 sales!! Only 10 of those were shoes. I sold a LOT of shoe care products (small dollar amounts). I have one Unpaid Item case open currently. I'm not holding out much hope, and I'm really disgusted, because it was a big sale, and it wasn't mine. (More on that in a bit...) I sold an item this week that I didn't have. I originally had 2 of them and had previously sold both of them, but eBay didn't update the quantity on my listing and my listing showed that I still had one available. Grr. I quickly refunded with a message, and the buyer immediately agreed to cancel the transaction. I also had a few returns this week, which is always frustrating. But, I accept returns. I charge a restocking fee (more on that in another post...), and I don't refund shipping (unless it was my fault, obviously). I got back 2 things that didn't fit and one thing that I listed as a dress but was actually a shirt. Oops. Everyone was nice this week, which was so refreshing.

International sales have really picked up too. Are you shipping internationally?? I sold an item this week for $39.99. I just checked completeds and mine was the highest priced one that sold. There were lots of others listed for less than mine, so why did mine sell and theirs didn't? I'm pretty sure it was because I offered international shipping and the others didn't. If you aren't shipping internationally, you need to seriously reconsider that decision. eBay is truly a worldwide marketplace.

Ok, enough of my side rant .... On to my favorite sales:

The only reason I'm mentioning this sale this week is because I had to sell it twice before it stuck. The first buyer didn't read the description and thought it was full sized. She gave me a really hard time right from the start, and I got fed up with her, so I blocked her. She found out I blocked her and gave me a negative. Ugh. She also returned the bear, which I refunded, immediately relisted, and sold a few days later. So yes, the first buyer is still a poo-head (so mature, right?), but at least the bear is gone.  Paid $0, Sold for $10.

The only reason I'm featuring these is because I bought them on 10/27/2010 and I sold them on 10/27/2011. That greatly amused me. Paid $3.90, Sold for $20.00.

These Columbia shorts came from this yard sale. I put off listing them because they were shorts, and who's gonna buy shorts at the end of October? Well, someone from Florida, that's who. They sold the morning after I listed them. Paid $6, Sold for $24.99.  I bought 120 items at that yard sale, and I spent $717.75. So far, I have sold 28 items for a total of $739.27. I've made back my investment in one month, and I still have 92 items left to sell!

Remember this yard sale? I sold the last piece of Revere Ware that I bought at that sale (for $25). I bought 6 pans (plus 4 lids) for $40. I sold all of it for a total of $141.99, and in less than 2 months. Another win!

I had just sworn off Polaroids when the ones I already had started selling! I bought this one for $1.99 back in June. It sat around for months before I finally got around to listing it. I listed it two weeks ago and it quickly sold to an Australian buyer for my full asking price of $39.99! I guess I'm back to buying Polaroids again...

This was the international sale I mentioned earlier. I bought this car on a shopping trip with Lesley in June. I paid 97 cents for it. I listed it for $39.99 or best offer. I got an offer for something like $10, with an accompanying note letting me know that $39.99 is entirely too much for a used toy. Yeah well. Decline. I sent it to auction twice, starting at $26.99, but got no bids. I stuck it back in my store this week for my original $39.99 or best offer and sold it full price to another Australian buyer! You'll definitely want to add this one to your BOLO list.

No fancy story behind these. I paid $2.99 for these in June. I had zero watchers, zero offers, zero interest whatsoever in these boots. Over the weekend, an eBay member messaged me asking if they were waterproof. (They aren't.) The next day, a different member bought them for $40 (free shipping, which was only $4.90).

These were another quick sell. Always buy Keens. I knew these would sell quickly, because they are a little cuter than the usual style. I paid $2.99 for these on October 11. I listed them quickly, and they sold a few days later on the 21st for $45!

And another quick one! I paid $4.99 for this bear on October 18 and listed him the same day at auction. It only got one bid, but it was a good one - $49.99! I was bummed that it didn't go this high, but that seller is obviously off his rocker, since the highest this bear has sold in the past year was about $60. I'm happy with my x10 profit.

My two highest sales this week weren't even my own items. Bummer. This Merrell jacket was from my sister-in-law. In fact, I don't think it was even hers. I think a friend of hers gave it to her and she didn't want it. Lucky her - she paid nothing for it and sold it for $59.99!

And this one - the last time I visited my sister-in-law, I eyed my nephew's Lego closet with envy. He's got so much great, resellable stuff in there! I told him how much he could get for his Batmobile if he decided to sell it. Not surprisingly, he said no. Also not surprisingly, after he had a couple months to sleep on it, he changed his mind. He brought it to me, fully assembled, wrapped in a blanket and tucked safely into a huge Rubbermaid. It was dusty, didn't have a box, didn't have instructions, but he assured me it was complete. It sat around for awhile, because I wasn't sure how to clean it. I finally decided to brush it off the best I could with an old toothbrush and listed it as needing some cleaning. I listed it for $149.99obo, hoping for at least $100, but because it had no instructions, I wasn't sure I'd get that much. I got a $100 offer over the weekend. I checked with my sister-in-law and she said to accept it. So I did, but naturally ... it hasn't been paid for yet. There is currently an Unpaid Item case open for it, and I'm really annoyed, because now I have to tell my nephew that he's not getting his $100 after all. :(

So there you have it - some good, some bad. How'd you do?

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**UPDATE, several hours later:  WOOT! The Batmobile is paid for. I don't have to make my nephew cry after all :)