August was really slow and I cursed ebay on a daily basis...but I still listed and shipped what sold. It was my slowest month in 2 years and I am glad it is behind me.
September is when my daughter and I go to Atlanta for DragonCon and shopping. Because August was so slow I was more careful in my shopping. I think it paid off. I found myself looking at things I picked up and putting them back on the shelf/rack if they wouldn't earn me at the very minimum $20...most of the time more. I came home with less stuff (really!!)and I hope better stuff. I have listed lots of it and it seems to be paying off. Here is the haul:
Just enough room to see over the pile of stuff so I don't get stopped.
When I went to pick up the rental car they upgraded me to a Toyota 4 Runner. I didn't think about how high off the ground they are. Just look at all of that room to fill with....stuff. My daughter is just over 5" (on tippy toes) and had trouble climbing up on the seat. Oops...won't do that again without thinking.
Back home for a week and then back down to Columbia SC for the grandson's graduation from boot camp. No pictures, they are on my phone and I haven't downloaded them yet.It's amazing how much he grew up and matured in those 10 weeks. I thought we had the wrong soldier until we hit the pizza place and he still could pack it in. That's my boy!! He graduated on Thursday morning and about an hour after graduation it started raining and raining and raining. Serious rain, as we all now know. Some of the places on the news were places that we had just been. I can't begin to imagine the amount of time it will take to clean up all of the damage. Thoughts and prayers to everyone dealing with the flood.
October has started off with a bang and sales are better than they have been in several months. Of course sales need to make up for the past slow months so I can save some for the spring.
The Atlanta trip was a business trip and the Columbia trip was a business trip.I went a day early and I stayed a day late and went shopping in Columbia and found some very good items. One bunch of items I found at a Habitat ReStore. I found 6 boxes of vintage photo paper.(They had a vintage enlarger but was way overpriced for me) The good kind made in Germany in the 60's. I have a box similar to this, mine is a larger size and not as old, but you get the idea. I have mine listed for not as much so I hope it sells. I also have some of these, only I have an original set of 8 with an old Meopta warranty card with them. So the moral of the story is to check out ALL of the thrift stores. Mom&Pop, Goodwill, Salvation Army, Value Village....whatever is there because the good stuff is there. All you have to do is look.
One quick tip that I learned from the Trash Elves is to keep listing...even on vacation. I was able to schedule at least 5 listing daily, with 5 day handling, for every day that we were gone and Sat and Sunday when we got back. I was able to do this because things were so slow in August. When I got home from vacation I had 34 packages to mail. More than a normal week!! I usually average between 20-30 packages weekly with low to mid range items and occasionally a big $$ item. I was able to do this when I went the next week to Columbia. Not quite as good in sales, but still sold stuff.
I want to save up enough to be able to go to Arizona for my grandson's school graduation in the Spring so I am trying to ramp up sales. Of course there is always a possibility that he will be sent to the Middle East or Hawaii after graduation. Right now I am pulling for Hawaii but we don't know. I don't know how I will make the trip to Arizona a business trip, but I am willing to try. Any thoughts as to how to pull that off?
Keep listing and shopping and listing and shopping. Feed the ebay beast!!
When I went to pick up the rental car they upgraded me to a Toyota 4 Runner. I didn't think about how high off the ground they are. Just look at all of that room to fill with....stuff. My daughter is just over 5" (on tippy toes) and had trouble climbing up on the seat. Oops...won't do that again without thinking.
Back home for a week and then back down to Columbia SC for the grandson's graduation from boot camp. No pictures, they are on my phone and I haven't downloaded them yet.It's amazing how much he grew up and matured in those 10 weeks. I thought we had the wrong soldier until we hit the pizza place and he still could pack it in. That's my boy!! He graduated on Thursday morning and about an hour after graduation it started raining and raining and raining. Serious rain, as we all now know. Some of the places on the news were places that we had just been. I can't begin to imagine the amount of time it will take to clean up all of the damage. Thoughts and prayers to everyone dealing with the flood.
October has started off with a bang and sales are better than they have been in several months. Of course sales need to make up for the past slow months so I can save some for the spring.
The Atlanta trip was a business trip and the Columbia trip was a business trip.I went a day early and I stayed a day late and went shopping in Columbia and found some very good items. One bunch of items I found at a Habitat ReStore. I found 6 boxes of vintage photo paper.(They had a vintage enlarger but was way overpriced for me) The good kind made in Germany in the 60's. I have a box similar to this, mine is a larger size and not as old, but you get the idea. I have mine listed for not as much so I hope it sells. I also have some of these, only I have an original set of 8 with an old Meopta warranty card with them. So the moral of the story is to check out ALL of the thrift stores. Mom&Pop, Goodwill, Salvation Army, Value Village....whatever is there because the good stuff is there. All you have to do is look.
One quick tip that I learned from the Trash Elves is to keep listing...even on vacation. I was able to schedule at least 5 listing daily, with 5 day handling, for every day that we were gone and Sat and Sunday when we got back. I was able to do this because things were so slow in August. When I got home from vacation I had 34 packages to mail. More than a normal week!! I usually average between 20-30 packages weekly with low to mid range items and occasionally a big $$ item. I was able to do this when I went the next week to Columbia. Not quite as good in sales, but still sold stuff.
I want to save up enough to be able to go to Arizona for my grandson's school graduation in the Spring so I am trying to ramp up sales. Of course there is always a possibility that he will be sent to the Middle East or Hawaii after graduation. Right now I am pulling for Hawaii but we don't know. I don't know how I will make the trip to Arizona a business trip, but I am willing to try. Any thoughts as to how to pull that off?
Keep listing and shopping and listing and shopping. Feed the ebay beast!!
That's smart to keep listing while on vacation, love how eBay works for you while your away. I wish I would have set my account up to post while I'm on vacation. Perhaps next time!
ReplyDeleteIt takes a lot of extra effort to get things scheduled and get ready for vacation, but this time it was really worth it. Just list all that stuff you have sitting around!!
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