I think you get the picture..
I had one sale on ebay since Sunday. Yesterday. So I went multiple days with 0 sales. Hard to stay upbeat I'm sure you all can understand. I did have one sale on etsy as well which was nice. I have listed every day on ebay but still crickets. I'm hoping things pick up this weekend.
I've been going through my store, category by category, and removing free shipping on the listings that still have it. Although I haven't been using free shipping for a while I still have quite a few old listings that offer free shipping. I'll be slowly going through all of them and taking it out.
Lastly, today I had a crazy wacky idea. I should probably keep it to myself it's so crazy :) So I believe what some other people believe, that the more you list the more you sell. Not just because you have more stuff to sell but I believe the ebay algorithm rewards you for listing. I'm a solo artist. I don't have a partner to help me with listing and I'm more like that turtle up there than I am a hare when it comes to listing. I normally reach a high of about 5 items a day. Sometimes a little more, sometimes a little less. I'd like to do 10 or more every day but with all things as they are I don't think that will happen unless I really push myself and I just don't see that happening on a daily basis. So here is where the crazy comes in. This morning I thought to myself, what if I could find an item that is cheap, easy to list, easy to ship and easy and reliable to source. I wouldn't be selling it to make any real money but because I can list it quickly and get my daily listings up to 10 or more. So what do you think? I haven't thought of the item(s) yet but I'm thinking maybe something from the dollar store. If you have any ideas let me know in the comments. And let me know what you think of my idea. I know it's not Scavenger Life style but I am trying to think way outside the box. Doing my taxes was eye opening when I saw my profit for the year. Although it increased since last year it is not cutting it. Not for all the work involved. Yet, I don't want to give up. I enjoy this way of life. I want to make it work!
The one lonely item that sold. It's a high school yearbook. Sold for $19.99 free shipping. I probably paid a buck for it.
Heads up little tortoise, slow and steady.(If that's the case then I should win because I am sooo slow.) I thought about stuff from the $ store and tried some items. I spent about $35 and I doubt that I have made $5 in profit. It just isn't there. When you know you can list something from a yard sale or thrift store that you paid a dollar for and get $10 in return it seems pretty time consuming to list something from the $ store for $3-5 and make a dollar or less profit. I even tried multiple quantity and calculated for first class and padded envelope. Still not enough profit. But the down side is our $ store is small and they don't have a large variety that I have found in larger cities. You may find a gem in your store that will be a big seller. I say do the research and try a few items. Limit the amount you invest and if it doesn't sell hopefully it is something you already use.
ReplyDeleteI'm not as interested in the profits as being easy to list. I want the dollar store items to bolster my listing numbers and the higher profits will hopefully come from selling my normal inventory after Cassini gives me an extra boost (that's the theory anyway) :)
DeleteI think you are on the right track. I'm doing the same thing but with used trucker hats and coffee mugs. They cost .25-.50 cents. I can make a listing for one then just change a few details. If I do them all at once it goes pretty fast. The profits not huge but it put my store from 250 listing to 300. Since then things have picked up a lot. I'm not selling many mugs or hats but my older things are selling. I really enjoy your blog by the way!
ReplyDeleteThanks Brandy! I'm glad to hear your experience and happy to hear you enjoy my blog :)
DeleteIt started off being really slow, having sold only 2 items from Monday - Wed. But them yesterday I sold 4 items, so it picked up a bit. But nothing yet today. People busy getting their taxes done? LOL
ReplyDeleteI didn't think of that Margaret but it makes sense. I certainly was!
DeleteLove your idea. Seems like if you list every day, you sell more. Not because you have more items but just because you listed items. Not sure dollar store items are the right choice though. Maybe T-shirts? Old concert shirts, Harley-Davidson, or sports shirts. They are EASY to find and list, cheap and usually sell pretty easy.
ReplyDeleteJust curious: did you sell a random yearbook? Why would someone buy a yearbook?
People buy old yearbooks from the schools they attended. Probably if they didn't buy one initially or they lost the original. I've sold a few of them. Another way to sell yearbooks is if you find a yearbook with a famous person in it. I haven't found any like that but I know other people sell those. Do a search on ebay using the search term yearbook and look at the completeds. You'll see they can go for big bucks. I always pick them up when I find them for a buck or two in decent condition.
DeleteI like your idea of concert shirts. That's one thing I've been meaning to start looking for.
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ReplyDeleteNancy: What a brilliant idea! I think Mellissa of mellisarose mentioned buying some Sally Hansen items from the dollar store and listing them and they sold. And I'm sorry I can't remember who posted (it may have been Mellissa again!) buying red licorice of all things from the dollar store and it surprisingly sold for a good profit. I see where you are going with the more you list, the more you sell theory and you should definitely put it to the test.
ReplyDeleteAhhhhh - 1988. One of the best years of my life! Let's just say George Michael was the it guy at the time and my beau looked just like him. Gotta Have Faith! To this day, 80s music is my favorite!
I love that song too :) Lucky you having a boyfriend who looked like George Michael. Candy was one of my ideas too. I should take a look at some of the old post in Melissa's blog. I'll write another blog post once I've tested this theory and let you all know how it turns out.
DeleteI'm right there with you on 80's music. It's my favorite too!
ReplyDeleteLast year I scored a huge box of greeting cards at an estate sale and had some luck selling those in lots. Doesn't the dollar store sell cards 2/$1.00? You could try selling those in small lots as long as they're not over 13 ounces packed. They're easy to ship. For some odd reason, Thanksgiving cards sold the best for me.
I had a lot of low priced items in my Etsy store when I started. I was trying to get traffic and sales. Now that I'm a bit more established and have some reviews under my belt, I'm raising my prices and trying to stock better items, but the traffic has slowed to a crawl. I could be the time of year? Tax time, getting ready for graduation, just got off spring break....pick one. lol
Cards are a great idea Lorraine. I hope your etsy sales pick up soon. I have about 45 listings on etsy now. Things have been slow there too. I think I've sold ten things now on etsy since I started last fall. Sales I wouldn't have had otherwise so I think it's worth it even if it's slower than ebay.
DeleteSo I was thinking about you this morning. What if you did your listings and instead of listing all of them in one day, schedule some to start the next day. It would be cheaper and easier than trying to source some cheaper inventory. Would save you time too? Just thinking out loud.
ReplyDeleteI don't have any problem listing every day so I'm not sure how that would help. Maybe I'm not understanding exactly. I list about 5 items daily. I'd like to get that up to at least ten every day but it would be impossible unless it was something really easy to list. The more I think about my idea the less I think it's going to work. I really can't think of anything that is going to take that much less time to list than what I already have. I really appreciate everybody's ideas. You guys are great.
Deletehoping it picks up for you soon. I have been slow all month. Then boom yesterday and this morning so far....14 sales. Selling dust headed your way :D
ReplyDeleteThank you Grace! I do appreciate the selling dust :) Glad your sales took off. I have had a couple yesterday and today too so things are looking up
DeleteThank you everyone for your suggestions. They've given me some new ideas. I'll be sure to do a follow up to this post if I carry out the experiment. Sold three more things since I wrote the blog post yesterday so things are looking up. Must be Grace's selling dust! Hey Grace you should bottle that up and sell it!
ReplyDeleteLOL!
DeleteI don't know that I have anything to add, but if you do give it a try, I hope you'll share the results here.
ReplyDeleteI will. It may be a failure but if I try it I will share the results.
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