My Top eBay Moments This Week

This week on eBay has been a prime example of the ups and downs of this crazy business. I've got another return on its way back to me ("They were a bit snug in the butt area"). I got yet another negative (I'm up to 2 this month, 3 this year) from a woman who insisted that my new with tags size 7 child's rash guard shirt was really a toddler size, and that it wasn't US sizing. I questioned her about her negative, because I did accept a return and refunded her (albeit, minus my restocking fee since I made no error), and she replied back that it wasn't personal - she just wanted to warn my future buyers that I sell clothing that isn't US sizes. Ugh. Whatever.

But I'm letting that go. I had an awesome sales week! I sold 73 items. 16 of those were shoes. And as with last week, a lot of them were shoe care products. And the best part of my week is that everyone actually paid! I didn't have to open any UPI cases. I do have 2 jars of shoe cream that are currently unpaid, but they just bought them this morning and requested an invoice. I ran a 3-day 25% off sale with very good results. Without that, I'm certain my sales would have been nowhere near what they were. But then I got sucked right into a black hole on Tuesday and Wednesday. I'll keep an eye on my traffic and sales, and I'll call eBay if necessary.

Some of my favorite sales:

Let's start out with a bang. This is a $2 replacement piece from Thomas and Percy's Carnival Adventure. I paid $5.29 for it in April. You can imagine my deep, deep disappointment when I realized it was missing quite a few pieces. I've been selling the parts (for other lucky folks who are able to complete their own sets thanks to me). So far, I have sold 20 pieces for $47. No, it's not $300, but at least it wasn't a complete bust.

I paid 53 cents for this last December. It is on Tina's Golden Books top sellers list (top selling as of last October), but it was only in acceptable condition. For 53 cents, I decided to give it a shot and was surprised to see that there weren't many others that were listed, and the ones that were were listed for around $30-40. I initially priced mine for $39.99 or best offer (with free shipping). Over the next year, I put it on sale and changed the price several times. I finally sold it for $19.99 with free shipping. Not awesome, but not bad for a 53c investment.

My 4 year old and I were cleaning her room a couple months ago, and she completely voluntarily said to me, "I don't use this anymore. You can sell it."  lol. I listed it 2, maybe 3 months ago for $29.99 or best offer. I sent it to auction a couple times. I had watchers all along, and one ridiculously low offer, but that's it. Last weekend, during my 25% off sale (on sale for $20.99), I had someone offer me $15. I counteroffered for $20 with a note explaining that the 25% discount already made it an excellent price. That afternoon, someone else bought it for the sale price of $20.99. That evening, the original offerer (?) wrote to see if I still had it because she wanted it. That's eBay for you. If you see something you want, buy it. It may not be there tomorrow.

This was in that huge lot of baby clothes I bought in February. I figure I paid less than 30 cents per piece for that lot. I've sold most of it and have made back 8 times my investment! New, these are listed for $40-60. Most used ones are listed for $13-20. I sold mine for $22.49.

I didn't have this long. In retrospect, I shouldn't have included it in my 25% off sale. But it was bulky, it's gone, and I'm happy with the price I got for it. I paid $2.99 for it 3 weeks ago and sold it for $29.99 free shipping. I was able to wrap it in bubble wrap and ship it first class in a poly mailer for only $3.28.

These SAS shoes were in excellent condition. I could have gotten more for them, but again ... clearing out older inventory. (I just watched a deer run across the road in front of my house) I paid $6.50 for them in June and sold them (25% off) for $30. Always buy SAS shoes when you find them, unless the size has been worn off. I've had that problem with more than one pair of these.

Yet another Alf. This is the 4th one of these that I've sold. This is another one that shouldn't have been in my 25% off sale. I guess I got a little generous when I was selecting what to include in the sale. I paid 53 cents for this guy 3 weeks ago. Shipped him to Puerto Rico for $37.49. The free shipping only cost me $5.39.

These Birkenstocks can't possibly have ever been worn. There was absolutely zero wear to the insoles, and the edges of the soles were still sharp. I paid $2.99 for them 3 weeks ago and sold them this week for $37.50 (25% off sale). They were free shipping too (I'm moving to all free shipping until after Christmas), but they went in a padded flat rate mailer for only $4.90.

These don't have a story. They are Johnston & Murphys. I had heard that they were good sellers, so I was excited to find them. Other than my infamous Ferragamos, I've had NO luck at all selling men's shoes. I paid $6.97 for these in August and sold them (25% off) for $37.50. I'll continue to scan the men's shoes for Ferragamos, but other than that, I don't really bother with men's shoes anymore.

So that's about it. No major out-of-the-park sales, but lots of good sales that added up to a great week! What about you? How'd you do this week?