Aug - Back To School - Sheeeesh

[vogeltron]

I get much more NPB on Auctions than I do BIN. I would say my BIN NPB are like 3-4%. My NPB on Auctions are like 15-20%.

[rsot]

Your competitors might be smoking you

[GreenBean]

Originally Posted by vogeltron

I get much more NPB on Auctions than I do BIN. I would say my BIN NPB are like 3-4%. My NPB on Auctions are like 15-20%.

Unwelcome company there?

I keep auctions for the holidays ( most of the time).....

Prefer to avoid drama to get money.

BIN are so nice, so very nice.

[golden_monkey]

Originally Posted by rsot

Your competitors might be smoking you

poked around at that too, they are down as well.... will be hard to smoke me cause my prices and service will be damn hard to beat.

but it did cross my mind... i looked... i can't find anything, unless people are just flocking to the noobie crap for crap seller.

I did notice some comp dropping down to 0.99 cent land and letting it roll, but to my calculations they are sucking it hard..... if they want to eat sand go for it... money not moving vs money going into a hole... we'll see who can do that the longest. psh

[rsot]

Likely just people trying to enjoy some vacation time away from computers before school/work gets started/harder - can be expected in August

[golden_monkey]

YEP, sales in a totally unrelated catagory are down as well. So its gota be across the board.

Just a blip in the year I suppose, which is to be expected with any kinda sales... don't panic... just expect it. ups and downs...

[rsot]

As Sandy D has stated across the board, prepare for holiday season sales

[yotano211]

I am prepping right now. I just revered a small storage unit, 15x15. I am starting to fill it up this week. I plan to be fully stocked this year.

[rsot]

Too bad you are far yotano, I'd sublet a little room

[vogeltron]

Originally Posted by yotano211

I am prepping right now. I just revered a small storage unit, 15x15. I am starting to fill it up this week. I plan to be fully stocked this year.

I hear you. This is the time of the year where it begins to get overwhelming. I am hoping I can turn inventory fast enough that I don't have to get a storage unit this year. But when you end up with so much inventory you are stacking boxes in your bathroom and can't close the door. You know you have a problem.

[joesshooze]

I am going to start ramping up this week. I usually order once or twice a month but I am going to start once a week tomorrow.

[Sandy D]

Originally Posted by yotano211

I am prepping right now. I just revered a small storage unit, 15x15. I am starting to fill it up this week. I plan to be fully stocked this year.

Awesome for you!

Means you found a product to sell to replace your computer stuff.

It wont be long and you will need a larger space.

LOL

I started with a 10x15 years ago. Then moved to a 30x50, then build a 60x200 pole building on our property with restroom, office etc.

Sold the property and bought a pool house in an HOA and no buildings.

Went back to 2 large storage units. Then went to 4 units.

Now own a 10,000 sq ft building with a drive through set of doors.

Keep a couple of the storage units right beside the office to meet craiglist people during office hours of the storage unit. Furniture etc goes into these units to sell on CL.

You are on your way.

Awesome for you.

[unclejohnny]

What the $׀& did I just read? Being a sponge in this forum is worth it. That jewel you just drop Sandy & yotano is encouraging.

[Sandy D]

I sure hope so. Hard work and dedication pays off.

I wont complain about working my 14-16 hours a day because the money and the things I do with my money is well worth it.

Getting to do what you want, when you want and being able to buy anything you want and provide the kids with anything they need and still make my own hours is well worth the hours put in.

Many only want to work an hour or so after work a day and then complain when they are not growing their business and making tons of money.

You get out what you put in and I do not feel sorry for those who sit in front of a tv all night and whine about not having anything.

I hope to encourage people to give the effort, put in the hours needed and it will pay off.

I just set my yearly sales record this past week breaking a record I did not think would be touched again. All because of the effort and hours put in.

What is so great is being able to take any day off you want to go to the beach, Disney, Universal, fly to the Smokey Mtns for a weekend trip or do whatever you want.

Yotano is changing gears with a new product so I am hoping he comes back and tells us he has done well.

[unclejohnny]

I agree 100% only problem with me now is my job, and at times that is 12 to 16 hours and the rest on stealth and stealth on the weekends which is a huge help. Sigh, luckily I have experience in patients.

[vogeltron]

Originally Posted by Sandy D

I sure hope so. Hard work and dedication pays off.

I wont complain about working my 14-16 hours a day because the money and the things I do with my money is well worth it.

Getting to do what you want, when you want and being able to buy anything you want and provide the kids with anything they need and still make my own hours is well worth the hours put in.

Many only want to work an hour or so after work a day and then complain when they are not growing their business and making tons of money.

You get out what you put in and I do not feel sorry for those who sit in front of a tv all night and whine about not having anything.

I hope to encourage people to give the effort, put in the hours needed and it will pay off.

I just set my yearly sales record this past week breaking a record I did not think would be touched again. All because of the effort and hours put in.

What is so great is being able to take any day off you want to go to the beach, Disney, Universal, fly to the Smokey Mtns for a weekend trip or do whatever you want.

Yotano is changing gears with a new product so I am hoping he comes back and tells us he has done well.

Well put SandyD. It is nice to be able to take a break at two or three and go to the GYM or do something you want to do for a little while anytime during a given day. However, on the flip side sometimes like you allude to you got to put in crazy hours. Put tons of your own cash on the line having no idea if you are going to make a profit or not. I don't know about you but I don't get to take a week off for Vacation. I am lucky if I can get away with taking off a long weekend once a year because of my responsibility to my customers.

But I have to be honest, I love it. Working a 9-5 would probably kill me. I would rather work 12 hour days for myself than do the every day grind. I live for the next deal, the next sale. Actually have some say over my own success in life. Even with all the ups and downs I wouldn't trade it for anything. For me this is living.

[GreenBean]

Originally Posted by vogeltron

I hear you. This is the time of the year where it begins to get overwhelming. I am hoping I can turn inventory fast enough that I don't have to get a storage unit this year. But when you end up with so much inventory you are stacking boxes in your bathroom and can't close the door. You know you have a problem.

You need lessons in stacking.

Attic

Basement.

Garage.

Under the dining table

[golden_monkey]

the only good thing that has happend this month so far is i got my TRS status back.

[GreenBean]

Originally Posted by golden_monkey

the only good thing that has happend this month so far is i got my TRS status back.

Excellent.

Nuture this.

There are 117 days and 23 hours until Christmas Day 2013.

Get into holiday mode now.

May the Force be with you. x

[Sandy D]

Originally Posted by vogeltron

Well put SandyD. It is nice to be able to take a break at two or three and go to the GYM or do something you want to do for a little while anytime during a given day. However, on the flip side sometimes like you allude to you got to put in crazy hours. Put tons of your own cash on the line having no idea if you are going to make a profit or not. I don't know about you but I don't get to take a week off for Vacation. I am lucky if I can get away with taking off a long weekend once a year because of my responsibility to my customers.

But I have to be honest, I love it. Working a 9-5 would probably kill me. I would rather work 12 hour days for myself than do the every day grind. I live for the next deal, the next sale. Actually have some say over my own success in life. Even with all the ups and downs I wouldn't trade it for anything. For me this is living.

I dont handle non selling products at all. I dont sell much new and a large portion of my stock increases in value just sitting there. I purchase antique with many items purchased that no one knew or knows what the item was when I bought it. No less then 100% markup with average 300-500%+.

Like a fine wine, I can buy an antique like I did buy a van load of antique today at the estate sale and let it sit for months. Most of those items value will rise over time.

Most here sell new items and the values usually never go up and if you pick a product that is a fad it can destroy your profits.

For example. I purchased a Jadite Glass vintage 1950's dinner ware set in January of last year. It is sitting on a shelf at my warehouse. Going price then was 400-450. I paid 95.00 for the set.

I watch certain things and the last one to sell was a week ago as they are very rare to find in the original boxes like I have and it sold for 600.00. Price went up.

Keeping it for December listing and can see it hitting 800-1000 as true collectors will pay to get it and gift it as a gift or add to their own collections. One sold for 852.50 last December on ebay.

Having a warehouse of stock is like money in your bank to me only I will easily double my money and can many times triple it if I time the sale of an item correctly.

I buy entire houses full of items many times a year. I sort the goodies/antiques, sell off the stuff I dont want to deal with such as new furniture, appliances etc and in many cases get more then 1/2 my money back doing this alone.

For me working long hours is a treat as I can like today not work on anything except for going to the auction, buying a van load, paying their workers to load my van up and drive into the building to leave it for my girl who will sort it, clean it and inventory it for me in the morning.

Come home, spend some time with my kids as the DH is out of town, once they go to bed I can make accounts, check ebay sales and do whatever I want.

Being your own boss is awesome. Like tomorrow I can pick to work all day or head to the mall. Or work half of a day and pick up my kids from school and go to Disney for the evening.

I have been dealing in antiques since I was a kid. Not much competition anymore as most older folks who were competition have stopped or retired completely. Younger folks have no clue what an antique is and only come to the auction to buy for themselves or to take a risk. Competition anymore is not fierce like it was for years so I usually have my pick of the entire buildings anymore.

I get a pit in my stomach to get to it knowing online what is up for sale.

Getting paid to live your passion is simply awesome.

[Sandy D]

Originally Posted by vogeltron

Well put SandyD. It is nice to be able to take a break at two or three and go to the GYM or do something you want to do for a little while anytime during a given day. However, on the flip side sometimes like you allude to you got to put in crazy hours. Put tons of your own cash on the line having no idea if you are going to make a profit or not. I don't know about you but I don't get to take a week off for Vacation. I am lucky if I can get away with taking off a long weekend once a year because of my responsibility to my customers.

But I have to be honest, I love it. Working a 9-5 would probably kill me. I would rather work 12 hour days for myself than do the every day grind. I live for the next deal, the next sale. Actually have some say over my own success in life. Even with all the ups and downs I wouldn't trade it for anything. For me this is living.

As the saying goes the best time to buy an antique is now.

I broke my all time sales record for a year this year and it is only August so the year has been fruitful.

Long days are common for me. When I owned my own manufacturing business in my 20's I put in many 20-24 straight hours. When I sold it and worked as a sales rep for a large corporation I was on call 24-7 and (LOL) and had my own seat on the airline warmed up and ready for me at any minute.

I would not trade what I am doing today for anything.

I hope others who do not want to put out the effort understand what they could accomplish with a few more hours of work put in.

[jeffweico]

I totally agree with Sandy. I also sell used items, I specialize in rare, out-of-print books. Most of them are bought as a collection. I take everything for one price. I get rid of the garbage for cheap on Amazon and list the rarer books at whatever price I want to get for them. I also find some rare items selling online for cheap. I buy them and re-list at a much higher price.

I sometimes have people call me about buying a book, or a few books, as rare items. I tell them upfront that I will only pay between 25% and 50% of what I expect the book to eventually sell for. Why? Because I might have to hold on to that book for more than a year before it sells. The quicker I think I can sell it, the more I am willing to pay for the book.

Like Sandy, I can choose WHEN to work on my business, but if I want to make money, I MUST do the work. Books must be graded, listed, sold, shipped, etc. Inventory tracking is extremely important as well, since I sell on multiple venues.

I also sell other items, when I can find a niche product. I DO sell new items frequently, but the business is not as stable. If I find a nice new product that I can get cheap, I can make some money on it for awhile, but monkey see, monkey do. Meaning, I have maybe a month or so of good sales with good margins before everybody and his brother is trying to sell the same thing, driving down the prices.

Still, I have noticed that the competition for online sales has DECLINED over time. Back in the late 1990's, the competition was MUCH tougher. A lot of people figured they were going to make big $$$ fast by selling online, and it was not unusual for more than 100 sellers to be selling the same item. Now, there are far fewer sellers. My GUESS is that a lot of people gave up on the idea due to the competition and are not interested in returning.

Don't get me wrong, competition can still be BRUTAL for the better selling items and more of today's competitors don't seem to have any qualms about resorting to dirty tricks to try to get other sellers banned. That part of it is worse now than it ever has been.

That is one reason I like what I am selling now. My competition is limited as the supply of goods is limited. I'm guessing it is one of the things that Sandy likes about selling antiques. The fact is, I can want to sell a vintage glassware set just like hers, but first I need to buy one at a price that will allow me to make a profit. And even if I AM able to do this, there is likely enough business where we can both sell our items at a decent profit.

Research and knowledge is key here. Sandy can probably look at a lot of a hundred items and know what they are worth based on her previous experience. I can do that with books. It DOES take more time and effort than selling new items, but the rewards can be worth it.