Ebay sellers thread (other platforms too)

[disneysteve]

November 2024 wrap up

Ebay:
$880.97 gross
$615.57 net

November was a slow month sort of by design but I still hit my original $600/month profit goal. The actual net was about $40 higher because of a couple of items sold from our personal collection where I zero out the cost since you can't deduct losses on personal sales but I still got the money.

I did no sales to Replacements in November because I've been accumulating stock to take there in person. We head down on Wednesday and will deliver $2,200 worth on Thursday morning so that will be in my December tally.

We were out of town for 4 days last month and will be away for 4 days this month too for the North Carolina trip. Estate sales slow down some around the holidays, like there was only one sale Thanksgiving weekend when there are usually several. Because of our trip this week, I'll be missing the in person sales and a couple of online auctions so no sourcing will happen unless we do some shopping while in NC (which we probably will knowing us). I anticipate December being slow except for the load going to Replacements this week.

Beginning January 1, my quota for Replacements resets. I have to sell them at least $5,000 worth of merchandise during the year to remain in the program at the reduced fee. When I first joined, I wasn't sure how realistic that would be, but since July 1 I've sold them nearly $13,000 worth so hitting $5,000 in a full year should be no problem at all.

[disneysteve]

I just booked my next road trip to North Carolina to bring china to Replacements. I don't have nearly as much to deliver as I did last time but I'm going to do my best in the next 2 weeks to find more.

When I posted that a week ago, I had about $1,300 worth of stock to take. I've focused on my sourcing this past week and now have $2,163.50 ready to go with another week before we leave. I'm not sure how much shopping I'll do this week with the holiday and all. There is only one estate sale that I know of this weekend and I don't think there was much china in the photos. I can probably hit a few thrift shops and I'll keep trolling Marketplace. I just picked up a set today that will sell for $256 (I paid $115). I'm more comfortable with what I have now. It will cover the cost of the trip and still leave some profit.

[disneysteve]

how much will the rental be? Is it worth it?

No, it’s not worth it if I look at it strictly from the business side. We’re viewing this trip more from the personal vacation aspect with the china delivery as a bonus.

Going forward I think I’ll go back to shipping the china to them as I get it unless I come across some higher dollar stuff. When that happens, I’ll stop shipping, let things accumulate, and plan a trip down toward the end of the 60 day delivery window.

[LivingAlmostLarge]

Turo. I’m renting from the same guy but a slightly newer van.

how much will the rental be? Is it worth it?

[disneysteve]

That would be a fun vacation. Turo or rental car company?

Turo. I’m renting from the same guy but a slightly newer van.

[LivingAlmostLarge]

I just booked my next road trip to North Carolina to bring china to Replacements. We're going on 12/2. I don't have nearly as much to deliver as I did last time but I'm going to do my best in the next 2 weeks to find more. Strictly financially speaking, it's probably not really worth going, but my wife is going to come along this time. We're staying for 3 nights and making a little vacation out of it, so I'm less focused on the business end. We have friends who live about 30 minutes from there and my cousins about an hour from there so hopefully we'll get to see some or all of them as well as explore the Greensboro area a bit. Driving down also means I don't have to pack and ship all of what I've got. I think I already have 10 cartons ready to go plus a few more things I need to pack. Hopefully I can find a bunch more between now and then.

That would be a fun vacation. Turo or rental car company?

[disneysteve]

I just booked my next road trip to North Carolina to bring china to Replacements. We're going on 12/4. I don't have nearly as much to deliver as I did last time but I'm going to do my best in the next 2 weeks to find more. Strictly financially speaking, it's probably not really worth going, but my wife is going to come along this time. We're staying for 3 nights and making a little vacation out of it, so I'm less focused on the business end. We have friends who live about 30 minutes from there and my cousins about an hour from there so hopefully we'll get to see some or all of them as well as explore the Greensboro area a bit. Driving down also means I don't have to pack and ship all of what I've got. I think I already have 10 cartons ready to go plus a few more things I need to pack. Hopefully I can find a bunch more between now and then.

[disneysteve]

October 2024 wrap up

Ebay:
$3,570.39 gross
$2,826.09 net

Replacements.com:
$6,264.03 gross
$4,502.79 net

Facebook Marketplace:
$0

Total:
$9,834.42 gross
$7,328.88 net

It was a wild month with nearly $10,000 in combined sales.
I had my 2 biggest ebay sales ever at $1,130.55 and $1,000.00. Including those two items, I had 7 ebay sales over $100 each which is the most I've ever done in a month. Six of the Replacements sales were over $100, 1 of which was over $1,000, and 1 over $3,000.

I'm blown away by these numbers. My net profit for the month is more than the $7,200 income I budgeted for the entire year. I absolutely don't expect to hit numbers like this regularly, if ever again, but it is amazing what one can do with a little effort. I will admit I'm feeling a bit burned out right now though so I'm taking it easy for a bit. Still buying and selling but I'm not going at it full blast at the moment.

[LivingAlmostLarge]

I sold the second box to the runner up bidder today. We went back and forth a bit and agreed on $1,000. He's already paid and I'll ship them out tomorrow. Turned out to be a guy who bought a Lionel train from me a couple of years ago.

Paid $60 on 10/10 and sold for a combined $2,130.55 in 12 days, my two biggest ebay sales ever.

that's a crazy ROI

[disneysteve]

I sold the second box to the runner up bidder today. We went back and forth a bit and agreed on $1,000. He's already paid and I'll ship them out tomorrow. Turned out to be a guy who bought a Lionel train from me a couple of years ago.

Paid $60 on 10/10 and sold for a combined $2,130.55 in 12 days, my two biggest ebay sales ever.

[disneysteve]

Did you ever look inside the box?

I saw the posting and it said never opened.

what happens if it was opened at some point and it’s not really the track?

just the way my mind works.

I thought about that but the boxes are sealed with the original long copper staples on the top and bottom. There's no way they could have been opened and reclosed perfectly without any damage at all to the cardboard or signs of tampering. These are clearly factory sealed. Plus I bought them from a home that had a large Lionel collection. No reason at all to suspect any funny business.

[Jluke]

In case anyone is curious, my profit on this sale after postage, ebay fees, and cost of goods comes to $940.76.

I upgraded shipping from Ground Advantage to Priority, insured it, and had forgotten that ebay requires Signature Confirmation on items over $750 so postage came to $27.88.
Ebay's fee was $151.90.
My cost for the item was $30.00.

Did you ever look inside the box?

I saw the posting and it said never opened.

what happens if it was opened at some point and it’s not really the track?

just the way my mind works.

[disneysteve]

Auction ended today.

Final price: $1,130.55!

In case anyone is curious, my profit on this sale after postage, ebay fees, and cost of goods comes to $940.76.

I upgraded shipping from Ground Advantage to Priority, insured it, and had forgotten that ebay requires Signature Confirmation on items over $750 so postage came to $27.88.
Ebay's fee was $151.90.
My cost for the item was $30.00.

[disneysteve]

That's pretty remarkable. As for the decision .... personally, I'd go with 'bird in the hand' -- I assume the runner-up bid was something north of $1k, so unless you think you'd get significantly above that in a few weeks/months, why not just move the merchandise & take the win?

Congrats!

Agreed. I hadn't taken a moment to think it through yet. I just sent the offer to the runner up. The 3rd place bid was quite a bit less than 1st and 2nd so if I can get the 2nd place person to bite, that would be excellent. Even if they offer me somewhat less, I'll probably take it. I'd say anything $700 or above.

[kork13]

Auction ended today.

Final price: $1,130.55!

Not a bad return at all on a $30 investment. And I've got a second box still to sell. I need to decide if I want to offer it to the runner up bidder or wait a while and then list it separately.

The auction ended up with 774 views, 80 watchers, and 46 bids.

That's pretty remarkable. As for the decision .... personally, I'd go with 'bird in the hand' -- I assume the runner-up bid was something north of $1k, so unless you think you'd get significantly above that in a few weeks/months, why not just move the merchandise & take the win?

Congrats!