Money Monday: Much Improved

Sales were much improved last week. As I read through my blog list, it seems that it pretty much true for the majority of eBay sellers. Isn't it nice to hear the "cha-ching" on your phone when you have a sale? I still get excited when I hear it.

 

Last week I was busy with chores around together house so my listing numbers are about the same. We have a lot of fix it projects to complete before the end of the year. Sometimes it is hard to find a balance between eBay and things that need to get done around the house.

 

One of those projects is both eBay and house related. I am trying to get my inventory under control so I know where items are and how many I have of each. Definitely a thankless task, but needs to be done. This project will definitely take more time to complete.

See the Banker's Boxes in the picture? I am attempting to put my mug inventory in them. It is time consuming, but at least I can see what I have, tweak the listing and improve the picture quality. I am also trying to include 12 pictures into my listings. eBay provides twelve free pictures, and I figure of I can use all of them ( at least on my new listings) my items will place higher in the search.

 

I had a couple of good sales last week. My best sale was the Indiana Blue Teal Thumbprint Tumblers. These tumblers were part of the church estate sale over a month ago. I paid $5.00 for the whole box of glasses (48 total). That was the specific price on the box, but if I average all the listings by the $50.00 I spent for the WHOLE lot, the price would be closer to 0.83 cents a listing. ($50.00 divided by 66 listings)

 

Back to the tumblers. Monday, a customer bought ALL 12 of the tumblers! She paid $151.00 with F/S.

 

 

Mug sales this week were pretty good. This is the best one, I think. Four Zodiac mugs ( vintage Federal glass) sold for $45.99 and shipped internationally to England. The buyer paid $65.00 in shipping, can you believe it? If they would have sold in US i would have paid shipping. All four mugs cost about $3.00 total.

 

 

 

 

Last week was a pretty good week on eBay!

Here is how last week went:

Active listings: 615

Cost of items sold: $27.50

Number of sales: 20

Total sales: $485.00

Amount spent on new inventory: $30.00

Average selling price: $24.00

International sales: 2

Returns: 0

Feedback: all positive this week

Hope your week was awesome!!

 

 

 

 

Money Monday: Slow.....but Steady

I have been steady listing, but I know I can do better. I have about 120ish free listings left for this month and I am going to try like heck to use them all up. That will get me pretty close to 700 items listed.

In order to work eBay more like a business than a "hobby" I will be keeping track of my actual eBay time I spend listing, packing and cleaning. Trying to avoid the distractions of working from home is not always so easy.

My plan is going to be to document by signing in and out on a piece of paper ( just to keep me honest) when I am working and when I am at lunch, etc.

This morning was moderately successful. After a two mile walk at 6:00 AM, I came home, fixed breakfast and started to work at 8:00. I finished out the morning with listing and packing until 12:00.

Then is was time to get cleaned up, load of car to go to post office and run a couple of other errands too. I think I can get in another solid hour this evening.

I think this little experiment will help me be better organized and more productive.

My sales for the last two weeks are slow but consistent. There were a couple of good sales. I posted pictures below.

Here are the numbers for the last two weeks:

Active listings: 574 (512-two weeks ago)
Items listed last two weeks :62

Cost of items sold: $13.00
Number of sales: 14
Total sales: 353.00

Amount spent on new inventory for two weeks: $75.00
Average selling price: $25.00
International sales: 5
Returns: 1
Feedback: all positive this week

Who knew Bicycle shirts were so valuable? Goodwill for $2.99. Best offer of $80.00 FS

 

I found this Chinese dictionary at GoodWill for $1.99. It sold for $93.99 buyer paid shipping. I estimated the price. I saw some on Amazon for about 60.00 bucks. I just decided to go for it and list it high. You never know....

 

 

Mug flip of the week. I found this Dracula mug at a local Thrift for 0.50 cents. Sold for 24.99 FS

 

And yes, another $1.49 care bear sold. And now it is on its way to Norway!

 

 

Hope you all had a great week of sales!

 

 

Estate Sale: How I Spent $50.00

This weekend, our church had an estate sale in their basement. The belongings were that of a member who recently went to live with family members and Maine. Her family had already gone through everything that they wanted and decided to donate the rest of the items to the church and all proceeds from the sale will go to the church.

Last thing I need to do is to go to an estate sale, thrift store, or Goodwill and spend more money. But, I am weak, I admit it. I had to go.

I went Sunday after church and pick the items that I wanted. I put them in the cleaning closet so I could pick them up later on this week and that was yesterday.

Here are a few pictures of the items that I picked up at the estate sale. I was able to get most of them listed yesterday. This was made easier by the fact that they were multiples. The blue glasses each design had 12 and a set. So there were 12 cordials, 12 sherbets, 12 goblets, and 12 tumblers.

The pattern is Indiana teal blue king crown thumbprint glassware.

I have them listed in sets of two with prices ranging from $19.99 to $24.99 with free shipping.

Next I listed Warren Kimble coastal breeze by Sakura dinnerware.

These are listed BIN with prices ranging from 19.99 to 29.99 includes free shipping. The prices might be a bit high, but the dinnerware is heavy and I need to make sure I can cover the shipping.

Of course ther are mugs. I think the most interesting one is the National Security Agency one. I priced that higher at $34.99 as it is a bit unusual and hard to find.

The needlepoint is beautiful, and then there is the vintage ice bucket! I love it, it's round and has penguins on it.

There are a few more items to get listed. Several Revereware pots and pans and about three really heavy forks. I have no knowledge on flatware so this will take some research. A couple of vintage scarves and a cross stitch table cloth. I will get those listed and share with you. **Here is the last bit of the haul**

Over all, I think it was a pretty good haul for $50.00!!