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Hey - lookie there! We have a search bar now! How embarrassingly easy was that?? I didn't realize there was a blogger gadget for adding a search bar. It took me about 2 seconds. Enjoy!

What Do YOU Want to Learn About?

I need some inspiration. I want to teach you. I want you to learn. I've been selling on eBay long enough that I've forgotten what some of the basic things were that I had to learn. What do you need help with? What are you struggling with? What new aspect of selling on eBay are you afraid to branch out and try? Please give me some posting ideas in the comments. This blogging business is harder that it looks from the outside. It's HARD to come up with things to write about (except my weekly finds, sales, etc posts). What do you want to learn? And don't worry - if you ask me to teach you something I don't know how to do, I have a whole team of people to help me learn :)   No question is too easy or too hard.

Another Consignment Sale!

I participated in another children's consignment sale this weekend. It's the same one I did in September, but it was in a different town. I learned a lot of lessons this time and thought I'd share them.

First off, something I should have thought of but didn't:  Town A is a lot more well-to-do than Town B. I didn't take that into consideration with my pricing. Therefore, only my lower-priced, non-brand name items sold this time. My higher-priced Gymboree stuff hardly sold at all, not even on half off day!

Second lesson: I went into this sale with high expectations. Too high. I didn't realize this was the first sale they have ever had in the new location. It was in a kind of hard-to-find location. The traffic just wasn't there. When selling at a new sale, don't get your hopes up. The sale in Town A has been there for a couple years now and it is huge! I don't doubt the Town B sale will grow, but it does take some time to get the word out. I was very disappointed, because I went into it expecting way too much from a brand new sale.

Third lesson: Minimize the driving as much as possible! This town was also an hour from me. I dropped my stuff off on Tuesday evening, went back up on Wednesday evening to shop the presale, then went up again on Sunday afternoon to pick my unsold items up. That ended up costing me about $45 in gas. (I hadn't actually figured that up until just now - ugh). I need to combine trips. Here's what I'm thinking for next time: drop my stuff off as late in the day on Wednesday as possible, then hang out in town Wednesday afternoon until the pre-sale that evening. Volunteer for a late shift on Saturday, then take my unsold items home with me that evening. Have them mail my check after the sale. That will cut the driving down by one whole trip (90 miles) and $15. Also, by volunteering, I'll get an extra 5% of my sales, so not only will I save money on gas, but I'll make MORE money at the sale.

Fourth lesson: I didn't get to make it for the half-off sale (see Third Lesson above). When I stopped to pick up my unsolds yesterday, I was amazed at how many items were left that I would gladly have bought for half price. I casually mentioned it to the woman who runs the sale, knowing full well that selling items on pick-up day would be a logistical nightmare. But she said, "Well then go buy them! I'm keeping track of today's last minute sales and will send out separate checks tomorrow." So I set my stuff down and shopped away! I spent about $50 on 13 items (all Gymboree and Hanna Andersson for resale). I was so excited about the things that I bought, that I left without my check! Yes, I LEFT MY CHECK on the counter in the store. Ugh. I emailed her. I REALLY hope she found it, and that someone else didn't accidentally scoop it up. That would really stink - all that hard work for nothing. Actually for significantly less than nothing when you consider how much I spent on gas and the clothes that I bought.

So here's the final report (you'll see why I was so disappointed):

I took 93 items and sold 42. I guess that's decent, but as I mentioned earlier, it was all my low-priced stuff.  I sold a total of $160.50 worth. The people who run the sale keep 60% of that, plus a $5 consignment fee per seller. I list half of my stuff under my name, and half of my stuff under my sister's name so she can get into the sale early as a "consignor," so that's $10 that I lose in consignment fees, plus the 40%. So my checks totalled $86.30.

Let's do some sickening math, shall we?

Total Earnings: $86.30

Total Spent Wednesday night on clothes for my kids plus 2 items for resale: $40

Total Spent Sunday afternoon on clothes for resale: $50

Total Spent in Gas: $45

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$48.70 in the hole, assuming I get my checks ($135 in the hole if I never see them again)

I'm not going to count ink, cardstock, or hangers, because that is even more sickening.

So sad.

I had a good time, I enjoyed prepping my items for the sale. But I've got to either lower my prices for Town B next time, or just stick with the sale in Town A (my personal preference).

My Top eBay Moments This Week

I'd like to thank you all for your supportive comments on my last grumpy post. It's very helpful to know that I'm not just being defensive, and that my buyer really was out of line.

In this week's Top Moments post, I'm not going to mention ANY of my downs from the week (believe me, there were plenty). I'm going to stay upbeat and focus on all the ups (believe me, there were plenty of those too!). I have to shift my focus. Every couple of weeks, I find that I need an attitude adjustment. My income isn't required. I need to learn to be grateful for the income I do have, and not focus on the stupido's out there.

So without further ado .. I sold 61 items this week, 15 of which were shoes. I sold a good mix of older and newer inventory this week. I am on day 3 of a 3-day 15% off shoes sale. I've sold a few, but it didn't spark the higher sales that my 25% off sale caused last week. I think this afternoon I will study my sales over the past few weeks. I think Tuesdays have traditionally been my slowest days. If that proves to be true, I will try to run a 25% off sale next Tuesday, one day only. I need to work on boosting my sales on those slow days.

My favorites - because I'm not talking about the downs, I have extra ups to talk about :)

I had one of these that my babies had outgrown, and I found a second one at a yard sale this summer for a quarter. I had them listed in one listing with a quantity of two available. I sold both to the same buyer for $10 each. Not a huge dollar amount, but turning a quarter into $20 isn't bad at all.

This was part of a lot I bought in September. I bought a Big Jim Safari Hut and all of these Big Jim accessories were in it. Naturally, none of these pieces actually went WITH the Safari Hut set, so I had to sell them separately. I thought it would be a big seller, but alas. I sold the hut for $10.50 at auction awhile ago, sold 2 pieces of accessories for $6, and sold the rest of them yesterday for $17. Again, nothing earth shattering, but I ended up with $33.50 from my initial $6.35 investment.

This guy was my daughter's. Squeeze him and he roars and says, "My name is Bufford, and I'm proud to make your acquaintance!"  He sold for $18.99 (-$2.94 shipping).

My sister's boyfriend's mother died recently. She had more clothes than I have ever seen in one home before. I picked out the nicest stuff to sell for them on eBay. I ended up with 76 pieces total. This was the first one that sold for $19.99 (-$2.43 shipping).

This wasn't a big exciting sale either, but it makes me smile. I paid $1.50 at a yard sale in June, but only because it was still in the wrapper. I sold it for $19.99 (-$6.65 shipping).

Now we're getting into the higher sellers. I thought for sure these Eccos would sell quickly because of the crazy color, but I put off listing them until it was too late for northern hemisphere spring and summer. I paid more for these than I would have liked ($9.90), but they still did alright. I sold them to an Australian buyer (where it IS spring, headed into summer) for $29.75. I had them listed with free domestic shipping, but because it was an international sale, she paid the shipping too.

These were another item from the new with tags yard sale I went too in September. They are just plain ol' men's Columbia pants. I paid $7 for them and sold them for $39.99 (-$4.75 shipping).

And another yard sale find - a Columbia 3X women's fleece vest. I paid $7 for it and sold it for my full asking price of $41.99 (-$3.28 shipping).

These sold quickly! I paid $4.99 for them on October 20 and sold them this week for my full asking price of $50 (-$5.08 shipping). I love Danskos!

The next day, I sold my black ones. I paid $8.97 for these in July and sold them for $50.00 plus shipping. I'm always willing to pay more for Danskos (up to $10), because I know they're a guaranteed $50 sale.

I sold this for my aunt. An older woman from her church gave it to my cousin, who just wasn't interested in dolls. My aunt kept very good care of the doll for all these years and asked me to sell it for her this summer, hoping for a tidy sum. I looked her up, but completeds showed that she was only selling for $5-10. I took a risk and listed her high, figuring I could always accept less later. She sold this week for my full asking price of $69.99 plus shipping! My aunt was thrilled!

And last but not least, another yard sale find - new with tags Timberland puffer coat. I paid $9 for it. I had someone message me to ask if it was authentic. I had to confess that I couldn't say 100% for sure, but that everything else that I had bought that day had proven to be authentic, so I thought so. I didn't hear back from them, and that afternoon, a different buyer bought it for my full asking price of $73.99 plus shipping!

At that yard sale, I bought 120 items for $717.75. To date, I have sold 37 items for $1030.47. I'm at a profit of $300 and I still have 83 items left to sell!

How about you? What were the highs of your week? (Remember, no lows today. Focusing on the highs!)

Harrumph

Just so you know, I'm busy hiding in the corner, having a snit-fit about my latest stupid undeserved negative. I don't feel like coming out to play today. But I got myself a good dose of retail therapy this evening. Maybe I'll come out and play tomorrow for a Goodwill finds post. Maybe. After I wash my feet.

Fantastic Finds Friday

We want to hear all about your Fantastic Finds! This features isn't about your exciting sales. It's about your exciting finds! There are so many places to find inventory: your closet, your garage, a yard sale, thrift stores, a consignment item you're selling for someone else. What did you find this week that you are excited about? It can be something you're excited to get listed OR something you're excited to keep! You can even post to your listing, if you'd like. Free advertising!

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~~Lesley
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I found a big fat nothing this week. Absolutely nothing. This is the first time in a LONG time that I didn't even set foot in a thrift store. I just didn't have the time. But we have a short day of homeschool planned today. You can bet as soon as it's over, we're headed out to run errands, one of which is Goodwill. I hope to find something worth the wait!

~~Jessica
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What about you?  If you found something this week that you are excited about please share your enthusiasm here!!

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?