Category: ebay

Cool and wet. It rained all day yesterday pretty much without a break. It varied between light misty drizzle and heavy drizzle. Late afternoon temps got into the high 60s and maybe the low 70s for a bit. I’m hoping today will be a bit drier.

I was feeling … odd. And since my plans were altered by the rain, and since I felt unwell, I went back to sleep for a bit. I hadn’t slept well, and I was really tired. Woke later, and had stuff to do, of course. So I got started on that.

Mostly did auction stuff, getting stuff out of the attic for the auction, and I even shipped an item I sold on ebay. I thought I’d killed all my listings, but apparently not. I’m $5 richer! I also managed to get a couple of “if I can” jobs done. I like to have some projects sitting around, ready to work on so I can do it if I have time or inclination. Yesterday I grabbed one.

I picked up an aircleaner/ionizer at goodwill for a few bucks, mainly because it was filthy. I tested it there and smelled the characteristic ozone smell, so I knew it worked. Similar models on amazon are $150-180. I took a little time and disassembled it, cleaned it thoroughly, and put it back together. It runs well, and from the smell, is working perfectly. It will deodorize a big room if needed, claiming up to 3500 square feet. In any case, it went into the attic until needed. That got it fixed, and out of the foyer where it was sitting and waiting for attention. I love little jobs like that that I can use as fill in for my day.

I also spent some time sorting and building out Elenco Snap Circuit kits. I buy them and pick up the parts at the Goodwill bins whenever I see them. At the bins the parts are essentially free, but even buying the missing parts on ebay or through the manufacturer site, they aren’t expensive, for the common parts anyway. I did order some things from their site, mainly fans and motor cogs, as the fans are always missing, and the drive cog on the motor is often broken. I put about a dozen kits together and will put them in the auction. They sell pretty well, especially around Christmas, even as used sets. I’ve got a half dozen more without boxes that are just waiting for the fans. They probably won’t go in the auction this season. I like putting the kits together. It satisfies my desire to save stuff from the crusher, helps a kid learn electronics, saves someone some money, and makes me good money for the effort and time involved. Doing a dozen at once is fairly efficient.

I wouldn’t call it a side hustle, because I only do the work twice a year, but it is something I know and know will pay off. The percentage ROI is big, even if the absolute money involved isn’t huge. Do enough of that and it adds up.

That is true of a lot of things, and a lot of preps too. Do a little bit of this, and a bit of that, look for places you can add value easily and effectively, and keep doing it. It will add up over time.

And your stacks will grow, as will your skills and knowledge.

And that is a good thing.

nick

Cool and clear, turning warm and clear. Possibly even “hot” for values of hot. It was nice bordering on sweaty yesterday by late afternoon. That would be just fine for me today too.

Did some pickups. Filled the truck bed and the passenger seat. My opening bid won 14 cases of methyl alcohol in bottles. Yeah, wasn’t planning for all that. That is so far more than a lifetime’s worth it isn’t funny. Should burn in an alcohol stove, or work as a cleaner, don’t know if it will work with resin printers to clean the model, but that would be sweet. Normally they recommend isopropyl alcohol.

I also won food, 10 packages of oreo cookies in various flavors, some Kettle chips, and something else I can’t remember. Also a bunch of OTC meds, some makeup for D1, and various and sundry other things for around the house. I made a big loop and hit three auctioneers before my doctor appointment.

After that it was ‘busy with kid stuff’ until late. D2 had a band concert. They’ve improved dramatically. My Axil G2 active hearing protection worked well for the parts that weren’t great.

Spent some time looking over my auction sales for the last two months, mainly to see how specific things did, and what my best sellers are. For margin, it’s clearly books. I pay between 33c and 50c per book, and it’s rare that the sort of book I pick up doesn’t sell. Minimum of $1, but $5-6 is more typical, and I hit $15 or more with several in every auction. Occasionally I have one that is crazy, like the one that sold for $420, although $40- 50 is more common. Most of what I pick up is either old, no UPC codes, or small press with narrow subject matter, or of local interest. Regional cookbooks did very well, as did outdoor books by authors telling their particular story.

Pokemon is a good seller, since it’s basically free (weighs very little) it has great margins, so do console game discs. Cast iron sells well too, but it’s heavy so the margin is poor. Modern Lodge sells for about $10-15 per piece, which is a small profit, but antique or collectible brands sell for much more. I had a collectible frying pan sell for $100 a couple weeks ago.

Well respected name brand cowboy boots, especially in exotic hides, sell well, but the ‘store brands’ like Justin don’t bring much money, even in great condition. Clothing and regular shoes are hit or miss- sometimes the top brands or vintage bring good money, sometimes it is just ordinary thrift store pricing. Even so, the margin on clothes is pretty good.

Ladies handbags, some vintage toys, and some cookware are all items selling well, but not for crazy money.

In general I’m seeing 1/3 to 1/5 of ebay sold price for most items with a few going much higher. And I’m getting a better idea of what should really be on ebay, where you don’t have to have the ‘right’ buyer during a narrow window of time, and your audience is broader. Add in that the economy is always changing, buyers come and go, and holiday spending has an effect, and you have to play a numbers game and hope for good averages. This month and last, I could finally get a lot of stuff in and sold. I hope it continues, and that the recent drop in prices improves.

Today I’ve got a few items to pickup, and all the normal list to do. I won a couple of blue plastic water barrels that will become part of my rainwater harvesting, either here or at the BOL. I won a couple of other things for the BOL too. And it would be nice to get some more stuff out of the attic and driveway for next week’s auction. At least I don’t have a bunch of kid chauffeur duties today.

I’m stacking up money, and clearing the way for more useful stuff, as well as buying stuff for the stacks. It’s a ‘multifaceted’ approach. Yeah, that’s the ticket. Multi- faceted.

However you source it, stack some stuff.

nick

Here in Houston it’s still hot and humid. Plenty hot during the day, but now we are getting some cooler temps in the late afternoon/early evening. It almost felt nice when I went out to get some stuff from the truck around 6pm.

Spent most of the day doing auction stuff. I took a bunch of stuff to my auctioneer in the afternoon. He’s recovering from his surgery but still slow and tires quickly. Quad bypass will do that to a guy. Unlike in the past, he hasn’t shut me down after a delivery or two, so I’ll keep bringing stuff. I’ve got a lot. I’ve also got a huge pile of stuff that won’t sell well locally, but will do ok on ebay. As I’m sorting and pulling, that pile keeps getting bigger. Don’t know what I’ll do about it, most of the stuff is ‘smalls’ that have great margin, but low overall profit. Ie. cheap to get but also selling cheaply.

I stocked up on smalls when my bigger stuff stopped selling. It’s a grind to sell smalls though, so it’s not what I want to do right now. If I can’t get the kids to do it, I might have to get serious about clearing my slush pile (sometimes called a ‘death pile’ because you’d rather kill yourself than list the stuff.) That won’t make me happy but it might be the only thing that sells. Everyone is concerned that buyers have run out of money.

Time will tell if that’s the case. It’s certainly causing me to change my habits. I’m just not buying stuff that I’d like to have, unless I really need to have it. There is always something to buy in the auctions but now I’m asking “how does it move me closer to my goals” and “is it worth the time and gas to go get it”? Lots I’d have bought without question a year ago, I’m letting go by now. Part of that is that I’ve got most of what I need and want. But part is definitely the changing economic landscape.

It’s time to internalize the ideas we’ve been thinking were coming in the future, as they are here now. Prices are higher. Goods are scarcer. Trouble is brewing. Once again we need to move from prepping for something into living with that thing, while prepping for the next thing.

Oh, and mom nature will still be kicking us in the nuts every once in a while too. Gotta be ready for that.

So there is still reason to stack it up… and make hay while the sun shines. I’m afraid these are ‘the good old days.’

nick

Hot and humid. It has been a bit cooler in the mornings. Barely noticeable, but just that little bit cooler that says ‘Fall is coming.’

Spent Sunday wrapping up at my show. Awards breakfast (I got a certificate for helping out). Some very slow show floor. Door prize drawing (didn’t win anything this year). Then pack up and get out. I had several empty bins and a couple that I sorted as I packed that are only 1/2 full. I’m taking some of the leftovers to my auctioneer.

Had a good time. Turned some inventory back into cash. Got some stuff sold and out of my storage unit. Chatted with people. Spent some time talking with D2 and showing her the ropes. All in all, well worth spending a weekend on it.

Now it’s back to the normal hustle and bustle. Today I’ll return the bins to storage, and pull out a few bins I didn’t have access to, and get ready to take more stuff to auction. I found several bins that should be full of auction stuff while looking for my show stuff. It almost looks like I could make enough space to move one of the other storage units into it, and cancel one. That would be awesome. Or I could use the space to move more stuff out of the house. That has it’s own appeal too.

Whatever I do, it’ll be hot and sweaty work. Attic, back yard, driveway, garage, or storage- it’s hot. And if prices or demand or both are falling, it behooves me to get as much stuff sold as quickly as possible.

Of course there is all the normal daily stuff to do to, and whatever got pushed back by taking the weekend off…

So I’ve got some stacking to do. And more work.

It’s a great life if you don’t falter…

Stack, it’s good for the soul.
n

Hot, yep. Humid, yep. Miserable outdoors, yep. It does seem like this has been going on for longer than usual, outside of the drought year. Funny that I’m not seeing huge scare stories about the drought.

Lake at the BOL is still higher than last year too.

I did mostly small jobs all day yesterday. Other than cutting the grass in the back yard, I was doing non-essential or low priority jobs. Some for auctions, some for household cleanup, some just domestic bliss.

One of the things I did that definitely could have waited, but fits in the cleanup and auction categories, was going through a couple of pairs of boots in the closet. Had to determine if they were for me, and fit, or if they needed something before going to the auction. I ended up cleaning, conditioning, and even touching up the color on several pairs. At some point I picked up a box of leather paints and leather dyes. It’s pretty cool to do some quick fixes and have a dramatic improvement in look. Most boots and shoes look much better just with a leather treatment and a brushing. It’s definitely a prep to have good quality footwear and the tools to maintain it. Plus it is a lot cheaper to keep a pair nice than to replace them, or to get a used pair and bring them back to like new condition.

Today I should be able to take some stuff to my local auctioneer. Wife will be happy to have the bins out of the foyer. I should also list some high value items on ebay. It would be nice to do a couple of quick sales and make some money. Since I’ll be home this week and coming weekend, this will be a good time to list some things I think will sell right away.

While doing the other auction stuff I’ve also got to start pulling stuff together for my upcoming swapmeet/convention/show… It would be nice to make some real sales there too.

Focus this week will be on selling and getting ready to sell, so tangentially on money… Money is a prep. Earning it, spending it wisely, saving it, and making it work for you are all skills you can improve. Work on your money skills.

And stack. Always stack.
nick