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