Scavenger Life Podcast

The Numbers: Week November 3-9, 2024 Nov 16, 2024

It’s difficult for us to know what a “normal eBay week” means for us these days as we’ve transitioned to focusing on other parts of our lives. We still find ways to scavenge pretty interesting items for cheap that we list. We have a store, it’s full of stuff, it’s all for sale, and we sell stuff each week. That’s what we know. It works!

After you’ve been selling on eBay for a long time, sometimes muscle memory is important. We’ve seen how it’s so easy to lose interest in selling online…and then how difficult it is to get back into it. What’s important to us is the pipeline stays open and loaded. Our large inventory carries us through busy times in our lives.

Our special holiday coffee blend is out for a limited time if you’re looking for presents. Matching Pajamas! Hope you guys are doing well!

Go directly to the forum here.

Our Store Week November 3-9, 2024

Total Items in Store: 9622
Items Sold: 23
Gross Sales: $883.79 (including eBay fees, shipping, and taxes)
Net Sales: $639.15 (minus eBay fees, shipping, and taxes)
Cost of Items Sold: $65
Cost of helpers: $40
Highest Price Sold: $90 (silver ring)
Average Price Sold: $27.78
Returns: 1
Money Spent on New Inventory This Week: $0
Number of items listed this week: 10
————
(Your numbers can be found here: https://www.ebay.com/sh/performance/sales)

The post The Numbers: Week November 3-9, 2024 appeared first on Scavenger Life.

**The Numbers: Week October 27 – November 2, 2024** Nov 09, 2024
We actually had a much better week than expected while we were on vacation. Usually we expect sales to drop when on “time away” but sales were steady.

Our best sale was a hanging light we found in the trash. Sold for $300! So satisfying.

We just put out our popular holiday coffee blend, Matching Pajamas, if you enjoy a good cup or need a special gift! we ship anywhere

Check out our coffee! ► broadporch.coffee
Join the conversation in the forum>> HERE

**Our Store Week October 27 – November 2, 2024**

Total Items in Store: 9650
Items Sold: 30
Gross Sales: $1,478.44 (including eBay fees, shipping, and taxes)
Net Sales: $1,098.89 (minus eBay fees, shipping, and taxes)
Cost of Items Sold: $44
Cost of helpers: $40
Highest Price Sold: $300 (vintage hanging light)
Average Price Sold: $36.62
Returns: 1
Money Spent on New Inventory This Week: $50
Number of items listed this week: 100
————
(Your numbers can be found here: https://www.ebay.com/sh/performance/sales)

The post The Numbers: Week October 27 – November 2, 2024 appeared first on Scavenger Life.

The Numbers: Week October 20-26, 2024 Oct 28, 2024

Slow week but we’ve also on vacation. So we’ll take these sales while our store is on autopilot. We’re having a lot of fun scavenging in a new town. We’ll know who the next President of the United States next week. Oh boy.

Check out our coffee! ► broadporch.coffee
Join the conversation in the forum>> HERE

Our Store Week October 20-26, 2024

Total Items in Store: 9629
Items Sold: 20
Gross Sales: $877.47 (including eBay fees, shipping, and taxes)
Net Sales: $634.70 (minus eBay fees, shipping, and taxes)
Cost of Items Sold: $44
Cost of helpers: $40
Highest Price Sold: $100 (vintage playing cards)
Average Price Sold: $37.21
Returns: 1
Money Spent on New Inventory This Week: $18
Number of items listed this week: 30
————
(Your numbers can be found here: https://www.ebay.com/sh/performance/sales)

The post The Numbers: Week October 20-26, 2024 appeared first on Scavenger Life.

The Numbers: Week October 13-19, 2024 Oct 26, 2024

We had a good week of sales but this current week has dropped off a cliff since we put our store in “time away” mode since we’re traveling. The algorithm really doesn’t seem to like sellers to be away.

Our coffee business is hot and heavy with two cafes in full bloom. We’re roasting more than ever with its own full time roasting crew. Exciting times.

Check out our coffee! ► broadporch.coffee
Join the conversation in the forum>> HERE

Our Store Week October 13-19, 2024

Total Items in Store: 9615
Items Sold: 29
Gross Sales: $2,047.49 (including eBay fees, shipping, and taxes)
Net Sales: $1,523.01 (minus eBay fees, shipping, and taxes)
Cost of Items Sold: $108
Cost of helpers: $40
Highest Price Sold: $225 (blender)
Average Price Sold: $52.51
Returns: 1
Money Spent on New Inventory This Week: $0
Number of items listed this week: 30
————
(Your numbers can be found here: https://www.ebay.com/sh/performance/sales)

The post The Numbers: Week October 13-19, 2024 appeared first on Scavenger Life.

The Numbers: Week October 6-12, 2024 Oct 15, 2024

As some others shared, it was a slow week on the eBay front. Lots of items under $25. Good news is that we’ve already sold as much in three days as all last week. It’s a marathon and not a sprint.

With the Fall season here, our cafes and coffee roastery has been gang busters. The weekend had people spilling out the door to grab coffee/food on their way to go hiking. We’re here for it.

Hope you’re having a good season!

Check out our coffee! ► broadporch.coffee
Join the conversation in the forum>> HERE

Our Store Week October 6-12, 2024

Total Items in Store: 9584
Items Sold: 24
Gross Sales: $826.23 (including eBay fees, shipping, and taxes)
Net Sales: $580.14 (minus eBay fees, shipping, and taxes)
Cost of Items Sold: $65
Cost of helpers: $40
Highest Price Sold: $150 (set of vintage plates)
Average Price Sold: $24.17
Returns: 0
Money Spent on New Inventory This Week: $0
Number of items listed this week: 10
————
(Your numbers can be found here: https://www.ebay.com/sh/performance/sales)

The post The Numbers: Week October 6-12, 2024 appeared first on Scavenger Life.

The Numbers: Week September 29-Oct 5, 2024 Oct 08, 2024

Our eBay store feels like its fully back in business with consistent daily sales of all the weird stuff we find. Since we’ve been listing on eBay since 2008, there are actually items that may have taken ten years to sell. Kind of nuts to think about it, but the work was done a long time ago, the item doesn’t take up much room, and listing fees are almost nothing. Thank you past selves for making us money today.

Christine posted about how younger sellers are focused on sell through rates and only selling items that sell quickly. This is a wonderful way to sell but I assume they spend a lot of time choosing and resarching items to sell. And then spend a lot of time optimizing their listings to sell quicker. And then managing the listings that don’t sell quick so they don’t sit unsold. One way or another, it’s all work. No shortcuts.

Fall is here. Cold weather is coming.

Check out our coffee! ► broadporch.coffee
Join the conversation in the forum>> HERE

Our Store Week September 29-Oct 5, 2024

Total Items in Store: 9604
Items Sold: 32
Gross Sales: $1,615.92 (including eBay fees, shipping, and taxes)
Net Sales: $1,116.76 (minus eBay fees, shipping, and taxes)
Cost of Items Sold: $117
Cost of helpers: $40
Highest Price Sold: $75 (vintage menorah)
Average Price Sold: $34.89
Returns: 1
Money Spent on New Inventory This Week: $50
Number of items listed this week: 10
————
(Your numbers can be found here: https://www.ebay.com/sh/performance/sales)

The post The Numbers: Week September 29-Oct 5, 2024 appeared first on Scavenger Life.

**The Numbers: Week September 22-28, 2024** Oct 01, 2024
We missed a week posting our numbers. Life has been busy because we lost one of production coffee roasters. If you know of anyone who wants to roast coffee full-time in Luray VA, email us here info@broadporchcoffee.com

Otherwise eBay sales continue to crank away. It’s crazy what people buy. We’re grateful for it all.

Check out our coffee! ► broadporch.coffee
Join the conversation in the forum>> HERE

**Our Store Week September 22-28, 2024**

Total Items in Store: 9609
Items Sold: 36
Gross Sales: $1,314.56 (including eBay fees, shipping, and taxes)
Net Sales: $946.22 (minus eBay fees, shipping, and taxes)
Cost of Items Sold: $65
Cost of helpers: $40
Highest Price Sold: $75 (vintage menorah)
Average Price Sold: $26.28
Returns: 1
Money Spent on New Inventory This Week: $0
Number of items listed this week: 0
————
(Your numbers can be found here: https://www.ebay.com/sh/performance/sales)

The post The Numbers: Week September 22-28, 2024 appeared first on Scavenger Life.

The Numbers: Week September 8-14, 2024 Sep 16, 2024

Another good week for us. Always feels good when we sell a handful of items each day. Our best sale was an old Swatch watch from the 1980’s that we sold for $300. We bought a jumbled box of them from a guy at a flea market last year for cheap. These were trendy watches popular when I was a kid.

We read this fun article about the largest trading card collection ever found. It’s in a small town just a couple hours where we live. I’m curious to hear what Craig, our resident trading card expert, thinks of this haul. Wonder how much the guy paid for all of it.

Check out our coffee! ► broadporch.coffee
Join the conversation in the forum>> HERE

Our Store Week September 8-14, 2024

Total Items in Store: 9641
Items Sold: 33
Gross Sales: $1,870.07 (including eBay fees, shipping, and taxes)
Net Sales: $1,251.10 (minus eBay fees, shipping, and taxes)
Cost of Items Sold: $101
Cost of helpers: $40
Highest Price Sold: $300 (vintage Swatch watch)
Average Price Sold: $37.91
Returns: 0
Money Spent on New Inventory This Week: $0
Number of items listed this week: 0
————
(Your numbers can be found here: https://www.ebay.com/sh/performance/sales)

The post The Numbers: Week September 8-14, 2024 appeared first on Scavenger Life.

The Numbers: Week September 1-7, 2024 Sep 11, 2024

It feels like our store is back in business. We’re selling an average of five items a day. Flow. That’s what it’s all about. Somehow we’ve gathered a huge backlog of items to list. There’s still so much stuff to scavenge out there in the world.

Otherwise, our cafe/coffee company is in full swing. Two cafes open seven days a week. Our wholesale coffee business has exploded where we now roast four full days a week. It’s a lot but it is satisfying. Lots of puzzles to solve.

Check out our coffee! ► broadporch.coffee
Join the conversation in the forum>> HERE

Our Store Week September 1-7, 2024

Total Items in Store: 9662
Items Sold: 37
Gross Sales: $1,667.91 (including eBay fees, shipping, and taxes)
Net Sales: $1,099.30 (minus eBay fees, shipping, and taxes)
Cost of Items Sold: $163
Cost of helpers: $40
Highest Price Sold: $170 (replacement part scavenged from a broken oven)
Average Price Sold: $29.71
Returns: 1
Money Spent on New Inventory This Week: $0
Number of items listed this week: 0
————
(Your numbers can be found here: https://www.ebay.com/sh/performance/sales)

The post The Numbers: Week September 1-7, 2024 appeared first on Scavenger Life.

The Numbers: Week August 24-31, 2024 Sep 03, 2024

There’s a growing awareness that algorithms are increasingly controlling many aspects of our lives. Dating apps, Facebook posts, news sites, online ads, google search results… It’s clear to us that eBay also has an algorithm that we must respect.

Sales feel back to normal for us after we abided by eBay’s seemingly new requirement for opting into “promoted listings”. This tacks on about another 15% in fees for us each week. So after final value fees, eBay gets about 30% of our profit. (We’re not bitter about it:) I do wonder where eBay thinks it can get more money from sellers in the future. Each little change they do seems to find a way to get more share of the profit. It’s tiring.

Otherwise, we’ve been having fun scavenging and have been finding a lot of good things to list.

Check out our coffee! ► broadporch.coffee
Join the conversation in the forum>> HERE

Our Store Week August 24-31, 2024

Total Items in Store: 9678
Items Sold: 38
Gross Sales: $1,215.46 (including eBay fees, shipping, and taxes)
Net Sales: $815.82 (minus eBay fees, shipping, and taxes)
Cost of Items Sold: $87
Cost of helpers: $40
Highest Price Sold: $100 (vintage watch box)
Average Price Sold: $21.46
Returns: 1
Money Spent on New Inventory This Week: $0
Number of items listed this week: 0
————
(Your numbers can be found here: https://www.ebay.com/sh/performance/sales)

The post The Numbers: Week August 24-31, 2024 appeared first on Scavenger Life.

The Numbers: Week August 18-24, 2024 Aug 26, 2024

What a difference between this week and the last couple weeks. The difference: promoted listings. It was only a week’s worth of data but almost 80% of our sales can from turning on “promoted listings”. Seems crazy.

So all these items sold were clicked on from someone else’s else’s listing? It’s confusing how it works. All I know is we paid an extra $180 for the ad fees on the items that sold. But if we didn’t do it, we likely wouldn’t have sold as much (like last week). I guess this is just how eBay is continuing to make more money. Thank god we find/buy all our inventory for cheap. In for a penny, in for a pound.

Otherwise it’s nice to be back to selling all the weird stuff we have.

Check out our coffee! ► broadporch.coffee
Join the conversation in the forum>> HERE

Our Store Week August 18-24, 2024

Total Items in Store: 9703
Items Sold: 38
Gross Sales: $1,700.04 (including eBay fees, shipping, and taxes)
Net Sales: $1,182.61 (minus eBay fees, shipping, and taxes)
Cost of Items Sold: $33
Cost of helpers: $0
Highest Price Sold: $150 (vintage Apple lapel pin)
Average Price Sold: $31.12
Returns: 0
Money Spent on New Inventory This Week: $0
Number of items listed this week: 5
————
(Your numbers can be found here: https://www.ebay.com/sh/performance/sales)

The post The Numbers: Week August 18-24, 2024 appeared first on Scavenger Life.

The Numbers: Week August 11-17, 2024 Aug 19, 2024

We love to travel but its also really nice to be home. We’ve lived in our small town for about 15 years and planted roots where we know most people everywhere we go. Much different from when I grew up in a suburb of a large city. Though small towns have their own issues, we feel like we’re actually part of the fabric of the community.

eBay is still slow for us. We’re playing around with promoting items vs not promoting items. This past week reflects not promoting again. Lots of really low offers that we’re just not willing to take. Keep rolling.

Check out our coffee! ► broadporch.coffee
Join the conversation in the forum>> HERE

Our Store Week August 11-17, 2024

Total Items in Store: 9742
Items Sold: 10
Gross Sales: $544.47 (including eBay fees, shipping, and taxes)
Net Sales: $426.17 (minus eBay fees, shipping, and taxes)
Cost of Items Sold: $33
Cost of helpers: $0
Highest Price Sold: $160 (artwork)
Average Price Sold: $42.61
Returns: 0
Money Spent on New Inventory This Week: $0
Number of items listed this week: 0
————
(Your numbers can be found here: https://www.ebay.com/sh/performance/sales)

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The Numbers: Week August 4-10, 2024 Aug 14, 2024

Absolutely brutal week. Probably our slowest week on eBay ever. We’re guessing it’s a combination of our second week with “Time Away” turned on + generally slow summer sales. We also re-listed our entire store of almost 10,000 items which costs us $100.

Good news that we had a great, relaxing time in NYC. I feel like we caught up on sleep and talked about a lot of good ideas away from the daily workings of our life. It’s important to us have space to talk about the future.

But its weeks like these when we feel like “Is our eBay store done for? Has the good times finally come to an end?” Who knows! Let’s see what happens.

Check out our coffee! ► broadporch.coffee
Join the conversation in the forum>> HERE

Our Store Week August 4-10, 2024

Total Items in Store: 9750
Items Sold: 15
Gross Sales: $456.05 (including eBay fees, shipping, and taxes)
Net Sales: $210.67 (minus eBay fees, shipping, and taxes)
Cost of Items Sold: $34
Cost of helpers: $0
Highest Price Sold: $35 (toilet paper wall holders)
Average Price Sold: $14.04
Returns: 0
Money Spent on New Inventory This Week: $0
Number of items listed this week: 60
————
(Your numbers can be found here: https://www.ebay.com/sh/performance/sales)

The post The Numbers: Week August 4-10, 2024 appeared first on Scavenger Life.

**The Numbers: Week July 28 – August 3, 2024** Aug 05, 2024
Brutally slow week for us on eBay. We’re in NYC for two weeks so our store is set for “Time Away”. The lack of sales might be a combination of the delayed shipping option and normally slow summer online.

That being said, we did sell a commercial bread slicer for $1200 on Facebook Marketplace. We bought it on Facebook for $90 several months ago. Very nice flip. We’ve followed the lead from other Scavengers here who buy and sell on Facebook. Cash sales are nice! Because we have a truck and a big storage building, we can flip almost anything.

Our two cafes are cranking along. Our new cafe in Harrisonburg will be interesting to watch as college kids come back from summer break. The town has an influx of 30,000 kids in just a couple weeks. We hope they find our place downtown

Otherwise, it’s nice to be away with good neighbors keeping an eye on our homestead. We seem to sleep better when we’re not at home with a million things to do.

Check out our coffee! ► broadporch.coffee
Join the conversation in the forum>> HERE

**Our Store Week July 28 – August 3, 2024**

Total Items in Store: 9701
Items Sold: 14
Gross Sales: $635.85 (including eBay fees, shipping, and taxes)
Net Sales: $456.24 (minus eBay fees, shipping, and taxes)
Cost of Items Sold: $21
Cost of helpers: $40
Highest Price Sold: $105 (wall clock)
Average Price Sold: $32.58
Returns: 0
Money Spent on New Inventory This Week: $25
Number of items listed this week: 30
————
(Your numbers can be found here: https://www.ebay.com/sh/performance/sales)

The post The Numbers: Week July 28 – August 3, 2024 appeared first on Scavenger Life.

The Numbers: Week July 21 – July 27, 2024 Aug 03, 2024

We had a rare big sale this week where we sold a vintage Chanel purse for $1200. eBay had us send it to their Authentication Expert in New Jersey. Once it was authenticated, eBay ships it to the buyer. This service was free to us and the buyer. Assume eBay is willing to do this so buyers will be confident buying authentic designer goods on their site. eBay’s cut of $1200 (promoted listing percentage + final Value fee) was hefty.

Check out our coffee! ► broadporch.coffee
Join the conversation in the forum>> HERE

Our Store Week July 21 – July 27, 2024

Total Items in Store: 9675
Items Sold: 19
Gross Sales: $2,158.87 (including eBay fees, shipping, and taxes)
Net Sales: $1,705.67 (minus eBay fees, shipping, and taxes)
Cost of Items Sold: $177
Cost of helpers: $40
Highest Price Sold: $1200 (vintage purse)
Average Price Sold: $89.77
Returns: 1
Money Spent on New Inventory This Week: $0
Number of items listed this week: 30
————
(Your numbers can be found here: https://www.ebay.com/sh/performance/sales)

The post The Numbers: Week July 21 – July 27, 2024 appeared first on Scavenger Life.

The Numbers: Week July 14-20, 2024 Jul 24, 2024

Slow week? Average week? Good week? Who knows. We’ve lost track of what’s what. We have a store, things are selling, yeah!!

We certainly are not the poster child of how to get rich on eBay, but we can claim the fame to longevity and endurance which counts for something. Health issues? keep selling. Start another business? keep selling. Travel for long periods? keep selling. Steady money works for us.

Fun to read how other people are doing and how they sell. I feel there’s just a handful of us here. A little corner to ourselves without a lot of hype.

Check out our coffee! ► broadporch.coffee
Join the conversation in the forum>> HERE

Our Store Week July 14-20, 2024

Total Items in Store: 9644
Items Sold: 23
Gross Sales: $1,019.94 (including eBay fees, shipping, and taxes)
Net Sales: $758.89 (minus eBay fees, shipping, and taxes)
Cost of Items Sold: $38
Cost of helpers: $40
Highest Price Sold: $95 (fishing waders)
Average Price Sold: $32.99
Returns: 0
Money Spent on New Inventory This Week: $0
Number of items listed this week: 20
————
(Your numbers can be found here: https://www.ebay.com/sh/performance/sales)

The post The Numbers: Week July 14-20, 2024 appeared first on Scavenger Life.

**The Numbers: Week July 7-13, 2024** Jul 15, 2024
It’s been a while since we’ve talked about our coffee company here, even though it takes up most of our time these days. Our first Broad Porch Coffee cafe in Luray, VA recently celebrated three years (when we ended the podcast). Our newest cafe in Harrisonburg, VA is almost six months hold. Both are doing well and growing. Our wholesale roasting is probably the fastest part of our business as we get a reputation in the region for high quality roasting and service.

Sometimes we question why we started a brick and mortar business, but it is nice building relationships with people in real life. As we grow older, I’d even say it’s necessary for a good life. Certainly keeps us on our toes. We interact with town employees, the people who live here who hang out in our cafes, and the people who work for us. God bless America

Below is a snapshot of our eBay sales last week. These weekly sales continue to give us the freedom to pursue other things like own a coffee company (or at least de-risk the reality of running a coffee business).

Check out our coffee! ► broadporch.coffee
Join the conversation in the forum>> HERE

**Our Store Week July 7-13, 2024**

Total Items in Store: 9616
Items Sold: 31
Gross Sales: $1,475.95 (including eBay fees, shipping, and taxes)
Net Sales: $945.14 (minus eBay fees, shipping, and taxes)
Cost of Items Sold: $44
Cost of helpers: $40
Highest Price Sold: $360 (vintage boy scout patches)
Average Price Sold: $30.48
Returns: 0
Money Spent on New Inventory This Week: $0
Number of items listed this week: 20
————
(Your numbers can be found here: https://www.ebay.com/sh/performance/sales)

The post The Numbers: Week July 7-13, 2024 appeared first on Scavenger Life.

The Numbers: Week June 29 – July 6, 2024 Jul 08, 2024

We turned off all Promoted Listings etc this past week so these are all organize sales. Definitely seeing drop in sales but we keep more of the money. It’ll be interesting to see if eBay has decided that sellers must pay for ads to sell anything significant (on top of final value fees).

Other than facebook marketplace for local sales, we still don’t see any serious competitors to eBay’s vintage sales market.

Check out our coffee! ► broadporch.coffee
Join the conversation in the forum>> HERE

Our Store Week June 29 – July 6, 2024

Total Items in Store: 9639
Items Sold: 22
Gross Sales: $955.18 (including eBay fees, shipping, and taxes)
Net Sales: $633.36 (minus eBay fees, shipping, and taxes)
Cost of Items Sold: $44
Cost of helpers: $40
Highest Price Sold: $55 (vintage dress)
Average Price Sold: $28.78
Returns: 0
Money Spent on New Inventory This Week: $0
Number of items listed this week: 100
————
(Your numbers can be found here: https://www.ebay.com/sh/performance/sales)

The post The Numbers: Week June 29 – July 6, 2024 appeared first on Scavenger Life.

**The Numbers: Week June 23-29, 2024** Jul 03, 2024
Sold a lot of stuff this week. Most of it lower dollar. Highest priced item was about $45. Our average sale was $22. Churn and burn.

We’re not sure if this is new or something we overlooked, but we realized that each week we’ve been charged for “offsite ads”. These are ads for our items that eBay places on other websites. If someone clicks on the ad, we pay a fee whether it sells or not. Last week we spent $27 on these offsite ads. Yikes.

No idea how long we’ve allowed these ads to occur. I think we’ve been able to turn them off because these ads do not fit into our system of selling. The whole point is we list items we find cheap/free and pay just a couple cents cents each month to keep them listed on eBay until sold. These offsite ads are eating into that profit margin since we pay whether the items sells or not. The Harvard grads at eBay are really finding more and more ways to get into seller’s pockets

eBay just list our item and let it all happen naturally. Trust the process.

Check out our coffee! ► broadporch.coffee
Join the conversation in the forum>> HERE

**Our Store Week June 23-29, 2024**

Total Items in Store: 9502
Items Sold: 37
Gross Sales: $1,233.03 (including eBay fees, shipping, and taxes)
Net Sales: $830.84 (minus eBay fees, shipping, and taxes)
Cost of Items Sold: $44
Cost of helpers: $40
Highest Price Sold: $45 (designer throw pillow)
Average Price Sold: $22.45
Returns: 0
Money Spent on New Inventory This Week: $0
Number of items listed this week: 20
————
(Your numbers can be found here: https://www.ebay.com/sh/performance/sales)

The post The Numbers: Week June 23-29, 2024 appeared first on Scavenger Life.

**The Numbers: Week June 16-22, 2024** Jun 25, 2024
Our big sale this week was a $900 vintage appliance. Ryanne finds these things online when people are cleaning out a house. Since we have a storage building, we can keep it for a long time since they’re slow sellers. This oven probably sat for over six months before selling to someone across the country.

The other challenge is working with eBay buyers to use freight companies. Sometimes we get eBay buyers who are savvy with Uship. In this case, we had to get the freight quote, organize the shipping, and make sure the buyer felt confident in the process. So it’s definitely no easy money.

Otherwise, we have a new kitten in our household so that’s always fun

Check out our coffee! ► broadporch.coffee
Join the conversation in the forum>> HERE

**Our Store Week June 16-22, 2024**

Total Items in Store: 9498
Items Sold: 35
Gross Sales: $2,426.76 (including eBay fees, shipping, and taxes)
Net Sales: $1,703.38 (minus eBay fees, shipping, and taxes)
Cost of Items Sold: $145
Cost of helpers: $40
Highest Price Sold: $900 (vintage oven)
Average Price Sold: $48.66
Returns: 0
Money Spent on New Inventory This Week: $0
Number of items listed this week: 20
————
(Your numbers can be found here: https://www.ebay.com/sh/performance/sales)

The post The Numbers: Week June 16-22, 2024 appeared first on Scavenger Life.

The Numbers: Week June 9-15, 2024 Jun 21, 2024

Let’s blame it all on the heat. Gdamn is it hot outside.

Sales have really picked up for us over the past month or so. Definitely selling a lot of lower dollar items, but it all adds up. We sold a jacket for $40 that must have been listed for at least ten years. TEN YEARS! Everything eventually sells….as long as something is selling today.

eBay sent us this message:

We’re excited to let you know that we’ve increased the selling limit on your account to $50,000,000.00. This means you can list more of your items and help grow your business on eBay.

It’s good to hear that all the rage among the youth is buying vintage. We’re here for it.

Check out our coffee! ► broadporch.coffee
Join the conversation in the forum>> HERE

Our Store Week June 9-15, 2024

Total Items in Store: 9502
Items Sold: 42
Gross Sales: $1,646.83 (including eBay fees, shipping, and taxes)
Net Sales: $1,154.15 (minus eBay fees, shipping, and taxes)
Cost of Items Sold: $87
Cost of helpers: $40
Highest Price Sold: $90 (vintage wool hat)
Average Price Sold: $27.47
Returns: 1
Money Spent on New Inventory This Week: $0
Number of items listed this week: 20
————
(Your numbers can be found here: https://www.ebay.com/sh/performance/sales)

The post The Numbers: Week June 9-15, 2024 appeared first on Scavenger Life.

The Numbers: Week June 2-8, 2024 Jun 12, 2024

We’ve been selling a lot of items the last several weeks because we’re taking almost any offer people send us. So lots of volume but lower profit. Some items are selling for under $20. We change with the economic times. With a big inventory, we can churn when we need to.

Otherwise, we’ve been dipping our toe back into thrift store shopping. We’ve avoided thrift stores the last two years because of the crazy pandemic prices and general saturation of shoppers. (Maybe we were just too tired too). But it’s been fun to randomly stop by an independent thrift store in an old rundown strip mall to see what the kind of junk is bubbling up. It’s been fun. We’re definitely buying less but paying more for quality items.

Check out our coffee! ► broadporch.coffee
Join the conversation in the forum>> HERE

Our Store Week June 2-8, 2024

Total Items in Store: 9512
Items Sold: 46
Gross Sales: $1,574.03 (including eBay fees, shipping, and taxes)
Net Sales: $1,062.28 (minus eBay fees, shipping, and taxes)
Cost of Items Sold: $109
Cost of helpers: $80
Highest Price Sold: $85 (vintage neckace)
Average Price Sold: $23.09
Returns: 2
Money Spent on New Inventory This Week: $35
Number of items listed this week: 0
————
(Your numbers can be found here: https://www.ebay.com/sh/performance/sales)

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The Numbers: Week May 26-June 1, 2024 Jun 05, 2024

Better week for our sales. Lots of random sales. Highest sale was a vintage denim jacket to someone in Japan. Another was an amateur carved wooden head sculpture that we’ve had for a long time. There’s value in things people can find no where else.

Summer has kickstarted our vacation rentals and cafes. Now we start saving up for the slower winter. Always look ahead.

Check out our coffee! ► broadporch.coffee
Join the conversation in the forum>> HERE

Our Store Week May 26-June 1, 2024

Total Items in Store: 9543
Items Sold: 38
Gross Sales: $1,747.01 (including eBay fees, shipping, and taxes)
Net Sales: $1,268.04 (minus eBay fees, shipping, and taxes)
Cost of Items Sold: $113
Cost of helpers: $80
Highest Price Sold: $230 (vintage denim jacket)
Average Price Sold: $33.36
Returns: 1
Money Spent on New Inventory This Week: $0
Number of items listed this week: 10
————
(Your numbers can be found here: https://www.ebay.com/sh/performance/sales)

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The Numbers: Week May 19-25, 2024 May 30, 2024

Feels like summer sales aka the slow season. No idea if its just us. Good news is this week is already better. For some reason this week people are buying from us.

We sold a pop-up book for $250. This was something we found on the street in a box of old books. After some research we found it its by an artist that people collect. You never know.

We randomly drove by some yard sales and did some great scavenging. It felt like 208 where stuff was plentiful and cheap. Load up the truck.

When we do have slow sales, we remind ourselves that we pay very little for our inventory. Risk is low and profit is high (when stuff sells).

Check out our coffee! ► broadporch.coffee
Join the conversation in the forum>> HERE

Our Store Week May 19-25, 2024

Total Items in Store: 9576
Items Sold: 16
Gross Sales: $1,090.86 (including eBay fees, shipping, and taxes)
Net Sales: $703.06 (minus eBay fees, shipping, and taxes)
Cost of Items Sold: $37
Cost of helpers: $80
Highest Price Sold: $250 (pop up book)
Average Price Sold: $43.94
Returns: 1
Money Spent on New Inventory This Week: $75
Number of items listed this week: 10
————
(Your numbers can be found here: https://www.ebay.com/sh/performance/sales)

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The Numbers: Week May 12-18, 2024 May 23, 2024

Definitely a slow week of low dollars sales for us. Half are sales were clothes. Clothing is a niche we can’t quit. Feels like a weird time right now. Keep on listing.

Check out our coffee! ► broadporch.coffee
Join the conversation in the forum>> HERE

Our Store Week May 12-18, 2024

Total Items in Store: 9598
Items Sold: 19
Gross Sales: $606.66 (including eBay fees, shipping, and taxes)
Net Sales: $413.73 (minus eBay fees, shipping, and taxes)
Cost of Items Sold: $42
Cost of helpers: $40
Highest Price Sold: $50 (vintage drawers pulls)
Average Price Sold: $21.75
Returns: 1
Money Spent on New Inventory This Week: $0
Number of items listed this week: 30
————
(Your numbers can be found here: https://www.ebay.com/sh/performance/sales)

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The Numbers: Week May 5-11, 2024 May 13, 2024

We just returned home after almost two weeks away. It was nice to get away from our daily life, though we’re always connected to our different businesses online. For us, running our business is more of a lifestyle than a burden. We’ve created ways to make money that we don’t hate and have consistently tried to change the parts we don’t like. From scavenging to hospitality to roasting coffee, it all comes from a place of things we enjoy. Thankfully these things also make us money to live in this world.

While we travel, we also scavenge in new places that is always fun. We probably picked up another couple months of new inventory that we now have to photograph and list.

Our best sale this week was a vintage dresser that we sold for $1500 on eBay. For our rentals, we’re always looking for quality furniture for cheap. This dresser was an example of something we bought for $100 and ended up not using. So we list it on eBay as “local pickup” and it sits in our garage. It took about a year for someone to finally buy it. They’re working through Uship to get it picked up. Perfect example of being patient for the right buyer. We list furniture on Facebook as well but the wacky messages are constant and everyone wants things cheap.

Check out our coffee! ► broadporch.coffee
Join the conversation in the forum>> HERE

Our Store Week May 5-11, 2024

Total Items in Store: 9541
Items Sold: 20
Gross Sales: $2,868.67 (including eBay fees, shipping, and taxes)
Net Sales: $2,089.26 (minus eBay fees, shipping, and taxes)
Cost of Items Sold: $326
Cost of helpers: $0
Highest Price Sold: $1539 (vintage dresser drawers)
Average Price Sold: $104.33
Returns: 0
Money Spent on New Inventory This Week: $30
Number of items listed this week: 75
————
(Your numbers can be found here: https://www.ebay.com/sh/performance/sales)

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The Numbers: Week April 28 – May 5, 2024 May 08, 2024

We’ve been away this past week so have our store on “time away’ which sometimes feels like it affects sales. We do really like that eBay created the “time away” feature because we no longer have to keep changing our handling time while we’re gone. It’s a positive sign that eBay does evolve. Just like it seems like we get more automatic payments when we accept a buyers offer.

We sold our last Singer Sewing machine this past week. In the past decade, we could find old sewing machines for cheap and resell for a good profit. They often didn’t even need to work. Whether because of competition or more affordable new sewing machines, that market has fallen flat for us. Reminds us when we sold old record players all the time. These days, we would never try to list one. Too much trouble for not enough profit.

Check out our coffee! ► broadporch.coffee
Join the conversation in the forum>> HERE

Our Store Week April 28 – May 5, 2024

Total Items in Store: 9541
Items Sold: 18
Gross Sales: $880.51 (including eBay fees, shipping, and taxes)
Net Sales: $549.92 (minus eBay fees, shipping, and taxes)
Cost of Items Sold: $112
Cost of helpers: $80
Highest Price Sold: $80 (vintage Singer sewing machine)
Average Price Sold: $30.55
Returns: 0
Money Spent on New Inventory This Week: $0
Number of items listed this week: 25
————
(Your numbers can be found here: https://www.ebay.com/sh/performance/sales)

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The Numbers: Week April 21-27, 2024 May 01, 2024

Better week but still slow. Not having any big dollar sales affects the total, but we’ll take it. We have time in the next couple weeks to really focus on eBay so we’ll see if we can make the eBay gods happy.

Overall life is good. Just hanging onto this capitalism train.

Check out our coffee! ► broadporch.coffee
Join the conversation in the forum>> HERE

Our Store Week April 21-27, 2024

Total Items in Store: 9541
Items Sold: 23
Gross Sales: $875.31 (including eBay fees, shipping, and taxes)
Net Sales: $628.27 (minus eBay fees, shipping, and taxes)
Cost of Items Sold: $47
Cost of helpers: $40
Highest Price Sold: $50 (vintage light switch)
Average Price Sold: $38.04
Returns: 1
Money Spent on New Inventory This Week: $0
Number of items listed this week: 25
————
(Your numbers can be found here: https://www.ebay.com/sh/performance/sales)

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The Numbers: Week April 14-20, 2024 Apr 25, 2024

Slow week. Number of items sold were down, mostly low dollar. Disaster! Was it because we’ve focused on other things? Or are people just not buying what we have to sell? It’ll pick back up. We’ll have more time for eBay soon.

We just celebrated three years of the opening our of first cafe in Luray. I clearly remember when we first opened in April 2021. We were still doing the podcast back then.

From what we’ve learned the past 15 years when we first started selling on eBay and then vacation rentals and now cafes, it’s all just work. Just depends on where you want to spend your time.

Check out our coffee! ► broadporch.coffee
Join the conversation in the forum>> HERE

Our Store Week April 14-20, 2024

Total Items in Store: 9526
Items Sold: 16
Gross Sales: $689.31 (including eBay fees, shipping, and taxes)
Net Sales: $493.08 (minus eBay fees, shipping, and taxes)
Cost of Items Sold: $28
Cost of helpers: $80
Highest Price Sold: $100 (coffee grinder)
Average Price Sold: $30.81
Returns: 1
Money Spent on New Inventory This Week: $0
Number of items listed this week: 20
————
(Your numbers can be found here: https://www.ebay.com/sh/performance/sales)

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The Numbers: Week April 7-13, 2024 Apr 17, 2024

Sales continue to roll in. Coolest sale? We sold a digital still camera that we found in the trash still in the box. It’s one of those early digital cameras from 2008 before everyone has iPhones. I guess kids love them these days because they’re “retro”: $110. We’ll take it.

Hope you guys are having a good week juggling life. The struggle is real.

Check out our coffee! ► broadporch.coffee
Join the conversation in the forum>> HERE

Our Store Week April 7-13, 2024

Total Items in Store: 9535
Items Sold: 26
Gross Sales: $1,468.09 (including eBay fees, shipping, and taxes)
Net Sales: $1,074.10 (minus eBay fees, shipping, and taxes)
Cost of Items Sold: $99
Cost of helpers: $40
Highest Price Sold: $110 (digital still camera)
Average Price Sold: $41.31
Returns: 0
Money Spent on New Inventory This Week: $0
Number of items listed this week: 50
————
(Your numbers can be found here: https://www.ebay.com/sh/performance/sales)

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The Numbers: Week March 31 – April 6, 2024 Apr 10, 2024

We’re in a period where we’re not listing because life has gotten very busy. Other projects are needing our immediate attention. It’s nice that our eBay store hums along without constant supervision. Getting our time is what we value most.

Check out our coffee! ► broadporch.coffee
Join the conversation in the forum>> HERE

Our Store Week March 31 – April 6, 2024

Total Items in Store: 9494
Items Sold: 29
Gross Sales: $1,570.66 (including eBay fees, shipping, and taxes)
Net Sales: $1,030.39 (minus eBay fees, shipping, and taxes)
Cost of Items Sold: $126
Cost of helpers: $40
Highest Price Sold: $150 (steel sink)
Average Price Sold: $35.53
Returns: 0
Money Spent on New Inventory This Week: $0
Number of items listed this week: 0
————
(Your numbers can be found here: https://www.ebay.com/sh/performance/sales)

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The Numbers: Week March 24-30, 2024 Apr 01, 2024

I mentioned our big sale last Sunday. Turned out to be $675 for a set of Tiffany dishes. One of those finds on a big table lot at an auction that we had no idea was worth so much. Took a while to sell. But patience can sometimes be a virtue?

Otherwise we sold some shoes, artwork, a knife, a DVD, a pillow case, a tote bag, nightgown, a slide ruler. Completely random. Just the way we like it.

By the way, we really like Martin over at Things I find in the garbage. He posts rarely these days but always has fun stories of all the stuff he finds for free on the street. He’s also been scavenging for a long time. He shares how he sometimes struggles with his chosen lifestyle. His stories are great.

Check out our coffee! ► broadporch.coffee
Join the conversation in the forum>> HERE

Our Store Week March 24-30, 2024

Total Items in Store: 9529
Items Sold: 22
Gross Sales: $1,642.83 (including eBay fees, shipping, and taxes)
Net Sales: $1,145.90 (minus eBay fees, shipping, and taxes)
Cost of Items Sold: $144
Cost of helpers: $80
Highest Price Sold: $675 (set of Tiffany dishes)
Average Price Sold: $52.08
Returns: 0
Money Spent on New Inventory This Week: $0
Number of items listed this week: 0
————
(Your numbers can be found here: https://www.ebay.com/sh/performance/sales)

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The Numbers: Week March 17-23, 2024 Mar 28, 2024

Normal week for us on eBay. On Sunday (not reflected in these numbers), we sold $400 of some fancy plates. Dishes and china are difficult to store and slow to sell, but we find they can sell for high profit. Usually no one wants the fragile dishes so we get them cheap. Ryanne has gotten good at knowing what patterns will sell.

Check out our coffee! ► broadporch.coffee
Join the conversation in the forum>> HERE

Our Store Week March 17-23, 2024

Total Items in Store: 9465
Items Sold: 22
Gross Sales: $1,065.26 (including eBay fees, shipping, and taxes)
Net Sales: $756.10 (minus eBay fees, shipping, and taxes)
Cost of Items Sold: $62
Cost of helpers: $40
Highest Price Sold: $125 (Hudson Bay Wool Blanket)
Average Price Sold: $34.36
Returns: 0
Money Spent on New Inventory This Week: $0
Number of items listed this week: 0
————
(Your numbers can be found here: https://www.ebay.com/sh/performance/sales)

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**The Numbers: Week March 10-16, 2024** Mar 19, 2024
eBay sales have been coming in weird spurts of sales. Slow/dead on one day. Then lots of sales the next. We’d drive ourselves crazy trying to figure out why. All we do is keep listing

Maybe it’s old, but I just noticed that when I click on someone’s eBay item that I see their item info, but then there’s now “You may also like” with an almost infinite scroll of other people items for sale. eBay has for a long time put other listings on the page, but this feels new. Ultimately I assume we sella lot of our items with “promoted listings” in this way. All’s fair in love and war.

Our new cafe is in full gear. We even met a scavenger who happened to be in Harrisonburg with his family.

Check out our coffee! ► broadporch.coffee
Join the conversation in the forum>> HERE

**Our Store Week March 10-16, 2024**

Total Items in Store: 9476
Items Sold: 33
Gross Sales: $1,685.75 (including eBay fees, shipping, and taxes)
Net Sales: $1,238.84 (minus eBay fees, shipping, and taxes)
Cost of Items Sold: $128
Cost of helpers: $80
Highest Price Sold: $140 (cash register stand)
Average Price Sold: $37.54
Returns: 1
Money Spent on New Inventory This Week: $60
Number of items listed this week: 40
————
(Your numbers can be found here: https://www.ebay.com/sh/performance/sales)

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The Numbers: Week February 25 – March 2, 2024 Mar 05, 2024

We had some good sales on eBay, even though it was slower than last week. Our new cafe is busy and fun to hang out in. Otherwise, we’re focusing on just strengthening what we have and taking on no new projects.

Check out our coffee! ► broadporch.coffee
Join the conversation in the forum>> HERE

Our Store Week February 25 – March 2, 2024

Total Items in Store: 9455
Items Sold: 19
Gross Sales: $1,353.45 (including eBay fees, shipping, and taxes)
Net Sales: $873.82 (minus eBay fees, shipping, and taxes)
Cost of Items Sold: $55
Cost of helpers: $40
Highest Price Sold: $135 (antique cutlery)
Average Price Sold: $45.99
Returns: 1
Money Spent on New Inventory This Week: $0
Number of items listed this week: 50
————
(Your numbers can be found here: https://www.ebay.com/sh/performance/sales)

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**The Numbers: Week February 18-24, 2024** Feb 26, 2024
Our new cafe has now been opened for a week. Since it’s a college town, it was very busy right out of the gate. Good! If you’re ever in Harrisonburg VA (off I-81), our place is right in the middle of downtown.

We purchased the building and are super excited with how it came out. It’s been about ten months from the time we started to renovate, hired and trained staff, and opened. I’m sitting here right now enjoying the vibe.

Now we have our time back from this cafe project, we’re refocusing on eBay. We did a big reorganization this weekend and called our helper back to start taking photos again. Our sales have continued to be solid, always selling the weird stuff. Such weird stuff that we’re mainly finding one step from the dump.

We love scavenging but we’ve also learned we love design and hospitality. It’s a great life finding things you like to do (and can make the numbers work).

Check out our coffee! ► broadporch.coffee
Join the conversation in the forum>> HERE

**Our Store Week February 18-24, 2024**

Total Items in Store: 9415
Items Sold: 21
Gross Sales: $2,039.20 (including eBay fees, shipping, and taxes)
Net Sales: $1,399.50 (minus eBay fees, shipping, and taxes)
Cost of Items Sold: $108
Cost of helpers: $80
Highest Price Sold: $400 (lot of vintage light switches)
Average Price Sold: $66.64
Returns: 2
Money Spent on New Inventory This Week: $0
Number of items listed this week: 0
————
(Your numbers can be found here: https://www.ebay.com/sh/performance/sales)

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The Numbers: Week of February 4-10, 2024 Feb 12, 2024

It was interesting to hear everyone’s experience/opinion selling clothes in 2024. It’s a whole new world for those of us who started years ago. So many sellers selling so many clothes on so many different platformsI hear everyone’s argument that clothes are easy to store and ship. True!

That being said, we love selling our weird bulky items. It was about four years into our eBay adventure when we realized that you could sell more than clothes and shoes on eBay. It was Mikey and Wendy who opened up our eyes to all the strange things you can find at yard sales. It was a revelation to us that people bought old, weird stuff. Collectors! It was even more awesome because it was so fun to find and research these items. And then even more more awesome because we could often get this stuff for cheap because most sellers don’t have the storage for them.

This week was an example of how we sold many cool weird items that we got for cheap. Most took a long time to sell but we have lots of storage and patience is a virtue.

Check out our coffee! ► broadporch.coffee
Join the conversation in the forum>> HERE

Our Store Week February 4-10, 2024

Total Items in Store: 9464
Items Sold: 30
Gross Sales: $1,612.76 (including eBay fees, shipping, and taxes)
Net Sales: $1,145.03 (minus eBay fees, shipping, and taxes)
Cost of Items Sold: $124
Cost of helpers: $40
Highest Price Sold: $140 (antique chocolate pot)
Average Price Sold: $38.16
Returns: 1
Money Spent on New Inventory This Week: $0
Number of items listed this week: 25
————
(Your numbers can be found here: https://www.ebay.com/sh/performance/sales)

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The Numbers: Week of January 28-February 3, 2024 Feb 05, 2024

Ever year we think we’ll phase out selling clothes since competition has grown tremendously for used clothing. There are more sellers scavenging for pieces so thrift stores charge higher prices + there’s more pieces online on more platforms so clothes sell for less.

That being said, 15 of the 35 items we sold this week were clothing. Prices are definitely lower than when we started selling 15 years ago, but we are good at only listing quality. We’ve found a place where we consistently get good quality clothing for almost nothing (we’ll never tell). Also, clothes are easy to photograph, list, store, and ship.

We just can’t quit the clothing business. We’ll sell whatever we can find cheap/free and sells!

Check out our coffee! ► broadporch.coffee
Join the conversation in the forum>> HERE

Our Store Week January 28-February 3, 2024

Total Items in Store: 9472
Items Sold: 35
Gross Sales: $1,668.58 (including eBay fees, shipping, and taxes)
Net Sales: $1,078.18 (minus eBay fees, shipping, and taxes)
Cost of Items Sold: $112
Cost of helpers: $0
Highest Price Sold: $130 (vintage band t-shirt)
Average Price Sold: $30.80
Returns: 1
Money Spent on New Inventory This Week: $0
Number of items listed this week: 25
————
(Your numbers can be found here: https://www.ebay.com/sh/performance/sales)

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The Numbers: Week of January 14-20, 2024 Jan 24, 2024

For the next several weeks it’s still all-hands-on-deck trying to get our new cafe open. All the details feel endless. In smaller towns/cities, it feels like all eyes are on us. Each day we’re waking up and getting more details done, pushing as hard as we can to open. Until we open, it’s costing us money. When we open, we’re making money! Business is simple!

eBay is doing well for us. Lots of random stuff selling. Having this pipeline allows us to do other things.

Check out our coffee! ► broadporch.coffee
Join the conversation in the forum>> HERE

Our Store Week January 14-20, 2024

Total Items in Store: 9483
Items Sold: 41
Gross Sales: $1,820.70 (including eBay fees, shipping, and taxes)
Net Sales: $1,250.48 (minus eBay fees, shipping, and taxes)
Cost of Items Sold: $133
Cost of helpers: $0
Highest Price Sold: $100 (vintage combat boots)
Average Price Sold: $30.49
Returns: 1
Money Spent on New Inventory This Week: $0
Number of items listed this week: 0
————
(Your numbers can be found here: https://www.ebay.com/sh/performance/sales)

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**The Numbers: Week of January 7-13, 2024** Jan 17, 2024
Our new cafe opens in the next two weeks so we are completely slammed. Renovations are being finished, inspections being scheduled, supplies being ordered, staff being hired and trained, nuts. It’s like big production being put on! Its very stressful but we hope/know its a great emotional/financial pay off

eBay sales are going well. Steady sales are always a great feeling. Hope you guys are selling.

Check out our coffee! ► broadporch.coffee
Join the conversation in the forum>> HERE

**Our Store Week January 7-13, 2024**

Total Items in Store: 9535
Items Sold: 40
Gross Sales: $2,609.96 (including eBay fees, shipping, and taxes)
Net Sales: $1,874.29 (minus eBay fees, shipping, and taxes)
Cost of Items Sold: $89
Cost of helpers: $40
Highest Price Sold: $1000 (Vintage appliance)
Average Price Sold: $46.85
Returns: 2
Money Spent on New Inventory This Week: $0
Number of items listed this week: 10
————
(Your numbers can be found here: https://www.ebay.com/sh/performance/sales)

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The Numbers: Week of December 31-January 6, 2023/24 Jan 10, 2024

We ended the year with strong sales and are happy with how are store is working. When you sell stuff you scavenge randomly, you just never know how it’ll do. It’s a much different business model from a store that does market research and stocks items that are popular for resell. As scavengers, we’re always hoping there are other people that see the value in the stuff we find.

Our most fun sale was a vintage hanging lamp that we sold for about $150. Several months ago we went to a house that was being renovated. The woman sold us a set of 1970s appliances for $300 (that Ryanne quickly sold for $2000). While at the house, Ryanne saw some lamps in the dumpster out front. Lady said we could have them free. Ryanne jumped in and got them. I love her.

We’re about a month away from opening our new cafe in Harrisonburg, VA. Last minute renovations are taking longer than we want. Lots of moving pieces. Hiring a full staff. Need to train. Set up equipment. Style the inside. Oh boy. Its a bigger city but has a small enough downtown that we have a lot of buzz and anticipation. Let’s go.

Check out our coffee! ► broadporch.coffee
Join the conversation in the forum>> HERE

Our Store Week December 31-January 6, 2023/24

Total Items in Store: 9580
Items Sold: 27
Gross Sales: $1,528.72 (including eBay fees, shipping, and taxes)
Net Sales: $947.37 (minus eBay fees, shipping, and taxes)
Cost of Items Sold: $89
Cost of helpers: $0
Highest Price Sold: $175 (studio vase)
Average Price Sold: $35.08
Returns: 0
Money Spent on New Inventory This Week: $100
Number of items listed this week: 50
————
(Your numbers can be found here: https://www.ebay.com/sh/performance/sales)

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**The Numbers: Week of December 24-30, 2023** Jan 01, 2024
Happy New Year The last week of 2023 was pretty solid for our eBay store. We sold a number of items that we got for free from a clean-out we did of someone’s garage. We love free. The woman was happy to load up our truck with stuff that was cluttering her place, but she did think we were weird we wanted it all. I kept thinking, “Lady, you are making our week.”

We honestly don’t have any big plans/changes for our eBay store. For many of us, consistency is really the key to success rather than ever increasing big changes. Keep burnout at bay is probably the biggest “all the time” goal. After 15 years of selling online, we avoid burnout by just doing a little bit all the time + selling things we think are fun to find.

One goal is to photograph and list on Facebook Marketplace a bunch of big items we’ve collected this past year. There’s furniture we replaced at our rentals. Left over construction material from our last renovation. Kitchen equipment we’ve updated from our cafe. It all has value but takes work to process.

See you in 2024.

Check out our coffee! ► broadporch.coffee
Join the conversation in the forum>> HERE

**Our Store Week December 24-30, 2023**

Total Items in Store: 9580
Items Sold: 27
Gross Sales: $1,244.06 (including eBay fees, shipping, and taxes)
Net Sales: $932.37 (minus eBay fees, shipping, and taxes)
Cost of Items Sold: $59
Cost of helpers: $80
Highest Price Sold: $87 (vintage roller skates)
Average Price Sold: $34.53
Returns: 1
Money Spent on New Inventory This Week: $60
Number of items listed this week: 20
————
(Your numbers can be found here: https://www.ebay.com/sh/performance/sales)

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The Numbers: Week of December 17-23, 2023 Dec 27, 2023

We noticed that eBay seems to be trying to solve the issue of unpaid items on offers. The issue is when a buyer makes an offer, doesn’t pay, and keeps an item tied up in limbo. After a week or so, seller has to relist. A big waste of time and lost income.

Over the past year, eBay sometimes requires a payment option when a buyer makes an offer. If the offer is accepted, the buyer is immediately charged. We like this. Commitment to purchase when offer is made.

This past week, we noticed eBay is testing a different system. We would get offers, accept, but not see the items in our solds. I guess eBay is allowing multiple buyers to make offers on the same item. Sellers accept any good offers. Whichever buyer pays first, gets the item.

I guess this system creates FOMO among buyers to encourage them to pay quickly…while also keeping an item listed till it’s paid for. I guess this also gives the buyer power because they can put offers on multiple items, choosing the best one. This forces sellers to consider all offers and imagine they’re competing with other sellers to win the buy.

Not sure which system eBay will ultimately choose. Likely whichever one buyers prefer and use more since the whole goal is to sell as many items as possible. We’re just glad to see eBay evolving.

We had another good week of sales. We’re actually running low on unlisted inventory, so we’re on the hunt for more. Treasure hunting is my wheelhouse.

Check out our coffee! ► broadporch.coffee
Join the conversation in the forum>> HERE

Our Store Week December 17-23, 2023

Total Items in Store: 9585
Items Sold: 35
Gross Sales: $2,343.95 (including eBay fees, shipping, and taxes)
Net Sales: $1,719.82 (minus eBay fees, shipping, and taxes)
Cost of Items Sold: $157
Cost of helpers: $80
Highest Price Sold: $325 (antique bowl)
Average Price Sold: $49.13
Returns: 1
Money Spent on New Inventory This Week: $0
Number of items listed this week: 10
————
(Your numbers can be found here: https://www.ebay.com/sh/performance/sales)

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The Numbers: Week of December 10-16, 2023 Dec 18, 2023

It feels like holiday season in our store. We sold almost six items a day this week, which is a lot for us. People wanted all our weird stuff. Old toy cars. Old pottery. Several pieces of artwork. Lamps. Drawer pulls. Sold a pair of sweat pants for $85. What? Good feeling of accomplishment.

We’ve always taken returns. If someone is unhappy, we always say “send back for a full refund”. Recently we’ve started letting people keep items instead of sending them back IF we don’t think we can resell the item. Returns have always been a touchy subject for us because we don’t like when people complain about petty things or fishing for refunds. We’ve always thought it’s important to make people send things back. But as many of you have said, sometimes it’s just easier to just say “Keep it. We’re done”.

If you’re looking for a cool holiday gift, consider sending them coffee that we roast! http://broadporchcoffee.com We roast fresh each week.

Join the conversation in the forum>> HERE

Our Store Week December 10-16, 2023

Total Items in Store: 9612
Items Sold: 40
Gross Sales: $2,262.73 (including eBay fees, shipping, and taxes)
Net Sales: $1,675.26 (minus eBay fees, shipping, and taxes)
Cost of Items Sold: $88
Cost of helpers: $80
Highest Price Sold: $250 (vintage toy car)
Average Price Sold: $41.88
Returns: 1
Money Spent on New Inventory This Week: $200
Number of items listed this week: 30
————
(Your numbers can be found here: https://www.ebay.com/sh/performance/sales)

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**The Numbers: Week of December 3-9, 2023** Dec 11, 2023
We’re very happy about life in general, including our eBay business. Important to recognize when it feels like things are clicking and all our work is paying off. This isn’t always true

Our best sale of the week was a vintage doorknob from the NY public schools for $150. If you google it, the door knob has a very distinct cool style. I bought the doorknob for $40 at a thrift store which is a rare strategy for us. We like to buy cheeeaaaaaap. It was one of the “glass case” items. I took a chance on the purchase because I saw that the knobs sell for over $100. Knob sold the same day we listed it.

Check out our coffee! ► broadporch.coffee
Join the conversation in the forum>>

**Our Store Week December 3-9, 2023**

Total Items in Store: 9611
Items Sold: 35
Gross Sales: $1,765.03 (including eBay fees, shipping, and taxes)
Net Sales: $1,306.58 (minus eBay fees, shipping, and taxes)
Cost of Items Sold: $112
Cost of helpers: $80
Highest Price Sold: $150 (vintage doorknob)
Average Price Sold: $37.33
Returns: 1
Money Spent on New Inventory This Week: $20
Number of items listed this week: 20
————
(Your numbers can be found here: https://www.ebay.com/sh/performance/sales)

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The Numbers: Week of November 26-December 2, 2023 Dec 04, 2023

Feels like people are buying which is good because we have a lot to sell! We’ve found a consistent source of inventory that’s been keeping our store full of cool items. Because competition is so fierce, we’re keeping it a secret. Good honey holes don’t seem to last long these days.

When we renovate properties, we usually start buying items to decorate the place. Home goods, furniture artwork. It’s fun to shop with a purpose. Because we can shop for a good six months, our rentals always have a good collection of eclectic, high quality items that we purchased for little money.

Then anything we don’t use, we sell. This week we sold a set of small nesting tables for $600. They look cool but are not functional for a rental. Put it back into the stream and make some money off them. This is the scavenger way.

Check out our coffee! ► broadporch.coffee
Join the conversation in the forum>> HERE

Our Store Week November 26 – December 2, 2023

Total Items in Store: 9645
Items Sold: 35
Gross Sales: $2,777.56 (including eBay fees, shipping, and taxes)
Net Sales: $2,029.58 (minus eBay fees, shipping, and taxes)
Cost of Items Sold: $154
Cost of helpers: $40
Highest Price Sold: $600 (vintage nesting tables)
Average Price Sold: $57.98
Returns: 2
Money Spent on New Inventory This Week: $30
Number of items listed this week: 40
————
(Your numbers can be found here: https://www.ebay.com/sh/performance/sales)

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The Numbers: Week of November 19-25, 2023 Nov 27, 2023

When things consistently sell in our eBay store, I have a noticeable spring in my step. Such a great feeling to be living our life doing fun projects and money is being made. It’s all the same stuff we’ve always been selling but this week people are buying.

Our best sale this week was a part from an old clothes washer we purchased off Craigslist for $200. The people told us it worked, but when we plugged it in…it didn’t work. Craigslist is a “caveat emptor” avenue. We’ve had hundreds of successful deals on Craiglist so live and learn. Ryanne took the washer apart and now we’re selling it in pieces. I bet we’ll make money!

Check out our coffee! ► broadporch.coffee
Join the conversation in the forum>> HERE

Our Store Week November 19-25, 2023

Total Items in Store: 9605
Items Sold: 33
Gross Sales: $1,479.21 (including eBay fees, shipping, and taxes)
Net Sales: $1,068.04 (minus eBay fees, shipping, and taxes)
Cost of Items Sold: $128
Cost of helpers: $40
Highest Price Sold: $135 (dishwasher control panel)
Average Price Sold: $32.26
Returns: 1
Money Spent on New Inventory This Week: $0
Number of items listed this week: 30
————
(Your numbers can be found here: https://www.ebay.com/sh/performance/sales)

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The Numbers: Week of November 12-18, 2023 Nov 22, 2023

Sales felt good this week. Selling and average of about 4 items a day. Shipping is almost annoying. Always fun to wake up to see sales.

Running a brick and mortar business (our cafe) is definitely so much very different than running an online store (eBay). We have set hours where someone has to be there. You have to prepare products and keep them stocked, especially selling food. You see and talk to the customers who are buying the product. Why even do it?

When all goes right, our cafe is such a cool vibe. We have a mix of locals and people visiting to enjoy the mountains. Our favorite music is playing. Food is fresh and coffee is well made. Everyone is enjoying what we’re serving. They’re hanging out, having meetings, catching up, reading. Staff is enjoying themselves. It’s the dream of a neighborhood cafe. It’s been feeling like this all week and I love it.

Check out our coffee! ► broadporch.coffee
Join the conversation in the forum>> HERE

Our Store Week November 12-18, 2023

Total Items in Store: 9592
Items Sold: 27
Gross Sales: $1,837.29 (including eBay fees, shipping, and taxes)
Net Sales: $1,336.44 (minus eBay fees, shipping, and taxes)
Cost of Items Sold: $104
Cost of helpers: $40
Highest Price Sold: $375 (vintage bathroom sink)
Average Price Sold: $49.49
Returns: 0
Money Spent on New Inventory This Week: $0
Number of items listed this week: 10
————
(Your numbers can be found here: https://www.ebay.com/sh/performance/sales)

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The Numbers: Week of November 5-11, 2023 Nov 13, 2023

We had another solid week on eBay. Selling random things we find is always so much fun. We still love it so much after all these years. That hit of dopamine when an item sells feels just as good as when we started.

I’m quietly freaking out about a coming recession which is scary as hell for everyone but especially small business owners. We’re hoarding cash as we can. But of course we’re also pouring money into a new building to open a new cafe. Be worried but be hopeful.

Check out our coffee! ► broadporch.coffee
Join the conversation in the forum>> HERE

Our Store Week November 5-11, 2023

Total Items in Store: 9603
Items Sold: 32
Gross Sales: $1,360.01 (including eBay fees, shipping, and taxes)
Net Sales: $1,036.29 (minus eBay fees, shipping, and taxes)
Cost of Items Sold: $82
Cost of helpers: $80
Highest Price Sold: $160 (vintage cast iron pan)
Average Price Sold: $32.38
Returns: 1
Money Spent on New Inventory This Week: $0
Number of items listed this week: 10
————
(Your numbers can be found here: https://www.ebay.com/sh/performance/sales)

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The Numbers: Week October 22-28, 2023 Oct 30, 2023

October is our busiest month at the cafe because everyone comes to our area to see the leaves change. Every weekend in October has broken our previous best weekends. The winter is coming so things will get slow till the Spring, but we hope we can give locals a reason to hang out with us and caffeinate.

Most fun thing we sold this week? An empty case for earbuds that we found on the ground. $10. Scratches that scavenger itch. Find it. List it. Sell it.

Check out our coffee! ► broadporch.coffee
Join the conversation in the forum>> HERE

Our Store Week October 22-28, 2023

Total Items in Store: 9636
Items Sold: 25
Gross Sales: $1,154.98 (including eBay fees, shipping, and taxes)
Net Sales: $859.02 (minus eBay fees, shipping, and taxes)
Cost of Items Sold: $45
Cost of helpers: $80
Highest Price Sold: $95 (vintage mirror)
Average Price Sold: $34.36
Returns: 0
Money Spent on New Inventory This Week: $0
Number of items listed this week: 40
————
(Your numbers can be found here: https://www.ebay.com/sh/performance/sales)

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The Numbers: Week October 15-21, 2023 Oct 27, 2023

We spent last week in NYC for a mini-vacation. It’s really a city where we feel so at home and love to wander. Ryanne and I met in Manhattan when we lived and worked there as young adults. We stay outside the tourist areas, have friends there, and love to explore the almost limitless places to eat and watch people. Plus we enjoy scavenging the streets.

We also took time to work on our eBay store. One thing we did was “end and relist” all our items as many of your suggested. AND YOU WERE RIGHT. As soon as we listed all our old items as new, things started to sell. I absolutely hate that you guys were right and eBay works this way. Our listings were the exact same. No added photos or description. We just tricked the algorithm. Seems dumb but I guess this is the game. We’ll now be ending and relisting often. Not too proud to be wrong.

Our biggest sale of the week was Ryanne’s scavenge. She found a set of red enamel appliances from the 1950’s in working shape. A local woman was gutting a house and sold them to us for $300. They sold on eBay for $2500 within three days. The buyer in California arranged the shipper. A perfect scavenging storm. The wildest stuff is out there to buy and sell.

Check out our coffee! ► broadporch.coffee
Join the conversation in the forum>> HERE

Our Store Week October 15-21, 2023

Total Items in Store: 9627
Items Sold: 22
Gross Sales: $3,916.77 (including eBay fees, shipping, and taxes)
Net Sales: $3,047.88 (minus eBay fees, shipping, and taxes)
Cost of Items Sold: $389
Cost of helpers: $80
Highest Price Sold: $2500 (set of vintage appliances)
Average Price Sold: $138.54
Returns: 0
Money Spent on New Inventory This Week: $300
Number of items listed this week: 75
————
(Your numbers can be found here: https://www.ebay.com/sh/performance/sales)

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**The Numbers: Week of October 8-14, 2023** Oct 17, 2023
This week we had a dress returned for the second time in as many months. It’s a “mother of the bride” dress and we are suspicious people are “renting” it from us since it is wedding season We relisted it with “no refunds”.

It’s interesting to read everyone’s comments on their end-and-relist habits + paying high promotions fees to spur sales. We can afford to have a pretty long view of our eBay store and see how things play out. We’re going to do some “end and relist” action this week, but otherwise we’re going to ride the “list it and forget” train off the cliff

Check out our coffee! ► broadporch.coffee
Join the conversation in the forum>> HERE

**Our Store Week October 8-14, 2023**

Total Items in Store: 9585
Items Sold: 11
Gross Sales: $611.25 (including eBay fees, shipping, and taxes)
Net Sales: $529.81 (minus eBay fees, shipping, and taxes)
Cost of Items Sold: $54
Cost of helpers: $40
Highest Price Sold: $125 (printer)
Average Price Sold: $48.16
Returns: 1
Money Spent on New Inventory This Week: $0
Number of items listed this week: 40
————
(Your numbers can be found here: https://www.ebay.com/sh/performance/sales)

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**The Numbers: Week of October 1-7, 2023** Oct 11, 2023
Quiet week in our eBay store. We’re definitely in our reseller phase of “how passive can our eBay store be and still make money”. We are still scavenging, listing, selling, shipping, but with less time invested.

Experiments are good and in our case necessary. The big project we’re working on now is trying to open a second larger cafe in Harrisonburg VA. We purchased the building in the downtown last year and are currently doing full renovation. There’s a lot of moving parts and a lot of money involved. It’s a big swing! especially in this weird economy where it feels like a recession is always just around the corner. Maybe that’s just the trauma of 2008 and COVID pandemic deep in our psyche. It’s a lot of fun, a huge challenge, and we couldn’t be more excited.

We’re hoping to open early 2024, so this new cafe will take most of our time until then. It’ll be interesting to see how our store does during this time. Ryanne has actually been finding and selling things locally on Facebook. I think she likes the quick cash and no shipping

Check out our coffee! ► broadporch.coffee
Join the conversation in the forum>> HERE

**Our Store Week October 1-7, 2023**

Total Items in Store: 9572
Items Sold: 11
Gross Sales: $508.43 (including eBay fees, shipping, and taxes)
Net Sales: $363.22 (minus eBay fees, shipping, and taxes)
Cost of Items Sold: $27
Cost of helpers: $40
Highest Price Sold: $100 (duvet)
Average Price Sold: $33.02
Returns: 1
Money Spent on New Inventory This Week: $0
Number of items listed this week: 20
————
(Your numbers can be found here: https://www.ebay.com/sh/performance/sales)

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The Numbers: Week of September 24-30, 2023 Oct 04, 2023

Quiet week for us with only twelve items selling. Our favorite sale was a magazine we found on the street that sold for $35.

We’ve been enjoying the recent conversations in the forum. A successful seller really does have to find their own balance between efficiency and sustainability. As we’ve seen from other popular sellers, its possible to build up a huge eBay business but seems it’s difficult to maintain it. Burnout is real. Plus, as we’ve experienced, eBay works best when its part of a larger strategy.

Check out our coffee! ► broadporch.coffee
Join the conversation in the forum>> HERE

Our Store Week September 24-30, 2023

Total Items in Store: 9568
Items Sold: 12
Gross Sales: $722.37 (including eBay fees, shipping, and taxes)
Net Sales: $566.69 (minus eBay fees, shipping, and taxes)
Cost of Items Sold: $32
Cost of helpers: $40
Highest Price Sold: $140 (dress)
Average Price Sold: $47.22
Returns: 1
Money Spent on New Inventory This Week: $0
Number of items listed this week: 20
————
(Your numbers can be found here: https://www.ebay.com/sh/performance/sales)

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What sells on eBay; Surveyor transit, Convertible boot, MCM Bar Cart, 10 band radio, Schlitz trash can, Mephistos Sep 27, 2023

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The Numbers: Week of September 17-23, 2023 Sep 25, 2023

Felt like a normal week of steady sales. Lots of fun weird items. Today we sold a magazine for $25 that we found in the trash. This is the most exciting thing to us!

We’ve been having fun reading people’s posts in the forum. I know its a small group of us, but we like that there’s still some of us evolving our stores and wanting to connect. Never a dull moment.

Check out our coffee! ► broadporch.coffee
Join the conversation in the forum>> HERE

Our Store Week September 17-23, 2023

Total Items in Store: 9578
Items Sold: 23
Gross Sales: $1,190.77 (including eBay fees, shipping, and taxes)
Net Sales: $964.92 (minus eBay fees, shipping, and taxes)
Cost of Items Sold: $89
Cost of helpers: $40
Highest Price Sold: $140 (wool pants)
Average Price Sold: $41.95
Returns: 1
Money Spent on New Inventory This Week: $0
Number of items listed this week: 20
————
(Your numbers can be found here: https://www.ebay.com/sh/performance/sales)

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The Numbers: Week of September 10-16, 2023 Sep 19, 2023

Just when we start buying into all the conspiracy theories that our eBay store is being hidden, we had a surprisingly busy week of sales. No rhyme or reason to it. Maybe eBay can hear our conversations? We want to believe.

We bought a used washing machine for $200 on Craigslist from a guy who promised it worked. It didn’t work. So Ryanne parted it out and we already almost made back our money. I bet we’ll profit some. More of a pain in the ass than anything. As we’ve gotten older, we realize now what’s worth buying new and what is worth the hassle of buying used.

Check out our coffee! ► broadporch.coffee
Join the conversation in the forum>> HERE

Our Store Week September 10-16, 2023

Total Items in Store: 9577
Items Sold: 33
Gross Sales: $1,592.43 (including eBay fees, shipping, and taxes)
Net Sales: $1,257.77 (minus eBay fees, shipping, and taxes)
Cost of Items Sold: $120
Cost of helpers: $80
Highest Price Sold: $150 (ice skates)
Average Price Sold: $38.11
Returns: 1
Money Spent on New Inventory This Week: $100
Number of items listed this week: 50
————
(Your numbers can be found here: https://www.ebay.com/sh/performance/sales)

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What Sells On eBay: Gatherette collator, RCA Stereo, Cat switch cover, Sony boombox, Mirro cream sugar set Sep 17, 2023

Post your What Sold video in the forum>>

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What Sells On eBay: Spectacles, Travel Chess, Hitachi stereo, Mishka 1980 Olympics Mascot, Fender amplifier Sep 17, 2023

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What Sells On eBay: Panabrator massager, Tension pole lamp, Mercury gas tank, Boat anchor, Fender Bassman amp Sep 17, 2023

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The Numbers: Week of September 3-9, 2023 Sep 12, 2023

Our big sale this week was a commercial dishwasher. We purchased it used, had it in our cafe the last two years, and then sold it for a profit after the cafe needed an upgrade. Nice! Otherwise, we still had some nice steady sales.

Curious see if Fall and holiday season bring more sales this year.

Check out our coffee! ► broadporch.coffee
Join the conversation in the forum>> HERE

Our Store Week September 3-9, 2023

Total Items in Store: 9528
Items Sold: 18
Gross Sales: $2,723.94 (including eBay fees, shipping, and taxes)
Net Sales: $2,212.14 (minus eBay fees, shipping, and taxes)
Cost of Items Sold: $613
Cost of helpers: $80
Highest Price Sold: $1800 (commercial dishwasher)
Average Price Sold: $122.89
Returns: 1
Money Spent on New Inventory This Week: $0
Number of items listed this week: 20
————
(Your numbers can be found here: https://www.ebay.com/sh/performance/sales)

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The Numbers: Week of August 27-September 2, 2023 Sep 06, 2023

It happened about 6pm.
“Uh oh, ” I said “We just sold a $1500 purse.”

This should be great news. Why shouldn’t we be over the moon to sell a vintage Chanel purse? Because if you’ve sold on eBay long enough, you know that large purchases are fraught with “problems”. The buyer had sent an offer, we accepted, and they even immediately paid.

So we waited to see if we’d hear from the buyer. An hour later, we get the first message.
Buyer: “I am so sorry but I messed up when I put in my offer. I meant put offer 1050 not 1500. Is there anyway you could cancel this offer?”
What do we do? We’re very hungry for this sale.
Us: Hi, thanks for messaging me. I could refund you $200 if that would help. Let me know, thanks.”
Buyer: “I’ll have to end up returning it anyway if it’s sent to me. It’ll be a hassle to have to go through that for the both of us. Please understand.”

At this point, the buyer is already discussing returning the item. We just canceled the sale. Easy come, easy go. These are the ups and downs of being an eBay seller.

Check out our coffee! ► broadporch.coffee
Join the conversation in the forum>> HERE

Our Store Week August 27-September 2, 2023

Total Items in Store: 9541
Items Sold: 12
Gross Sales: $669.30 (including eBay fees, shipping, and taxes)
Net Sales: $488.60 (minus eBay fees, shipping, and taxes)
Cost of Items Sold: $47
Cost of helpers: $80
Highest Price Sold: $180 (wool rug)
Average Price Sold: $40.71
Returns: 0
Money Spent on New Inventory This Week: $0
Number of items listed this week: 50
————
(Your numbers can be found here: https://www.ebay.com/sh/performance/sales)

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The Numbers: Week August 20-26, 2023 Aug 30, 2023

An incredibly slow week for us on eBay. Our favorite sale was a washing machine part that Ryanne pulled out of a broken washer. Otherwise, mainly low dollar items and clothes. Good news is this inventory cost us almost nothing.

Running a brick and mortar is different than eBay in many ways…but we do get feedback/ratings like eBay through Google Reviews. Like eBay, we get the rare grumpy customer who gives low stars with weird reasoning. But unlike eBay, some reviews are from local people we actually know. One local woman who comes in often gave us three stars (average rating) and complained about having to clean off her own table since we’re self-service. What do we do? It’s a strange situation seeing her each week enjoying our cafe whole knowing she publicly blasted us. Why didn’t she just give us direct feedback? Who knows. We smile and do the best we can.

Check out our coffee! ► broadporch.coffee
Join the conversation in the forum>> HERE

Our Store Week August 20-26, 2023

Total Items in Store: 9498
Items Sold: 17
Gross Sales: $618.76 (including eBay fees, shipping, and taxes)
Net Sales: $491.64 (minus eBay fees, shipping, and taxes)
Cost of Items Sold: $33
Cost of helpers: $80
Highest Price Sold: $65 (washing machine part)
Average Price Sold: $28.92
Returns: 1
Money Spent on New Inventory This Week: $0
Number of items listed this week: 10
————
(Your numbers can be found here: https://www.ebay.com/sh/performance/sales)

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The Numbers: Week August 13-19, 2023 Aug 23, 2023

Did you know that Costco branded clothes is popular among the youth? I guess you’d call it normcore? We found a pair of Costco sweatpants that we sold for over $55. I can’t remember something we’ve scavenged that has surprised us like this. We do like the $1.50 hotdog drink combo.

Otherwise we’re cranking along. Working on another big project that maybe will be done by the end of the year.

Check out our coffee! ► broadporch.coffee
Join the conversation in the forum>> HERE

Our Store Week August 13-19, 2023

Total Items in Store: 9495
Items Sold: 29
Gross Sales: $1,106.35 (including eBay fees, shipping, and taxes)
Net Sales: $876.37 (minus eBay fees, shipping, and taxes)
Cost of Items Sold: $102
Cost of helpers: $80
Highest Price Sold: $55 (costco sweatpants)
Average Price Sold: $30.21
Returns: 0
Money Spent on New Inventory This Week: $0
Number of items listed this week: 20
————
(Your numbers can be found here: https://www.ebay.com/sh/performance/sales)

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The Numbers: Week August 6-12, 2023 Aug 14, 2023

Our highest sold item was a sink faucet we recently scavenged for free. A woman posted locally about needing to do a clean out and willing to give away stuff if we picked it up. We arrived in our truck and loaded furniture, home goods, ladder tools, etc. We’ve sold almost $1000 of items in the first couple weeks. Some stuff sold on Facebook Marketplace and some stuff on eBay.

We really don’t like to pay for inventory. The sales are even sweeter when we know we scavenged the items for free.

Check out our coffee! ► broadporch.coffee
Join the conversation in the forum>> HERE

Our Store Week August 6-12, 2023

Total Items in Store: 9469
Items Sold: 20
Gross Sales: $871.01 (including eBay fees, shipping, and taxes)
Net Sales: $690.89 (minus eBay fees, shipping, and taxes)
Cost of Items Sold: $43
Cost of helpers: $80
Highest Price Sold: $200 (sink faucet)
Average Price Sold: $34.54
Returns: 0
Money Spent on New Inventory This Week: $30
Number of items listed this week: 30
————
(Your numbers can be found here: https://www.ebay.com/sh/performance/sales)

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What Sells On eBay: July edition! Aug 10, 2023

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The Numbers: Week July 30 – August 5, 2023 Aug 07, 2023

Our big sale experiment is over. With a 50% sale, we doubled our normal transactions for one week…but then quickly came back down to earth this week.

What did we take from the experiment?
–In a 10,000 item store, some items are price sensitive.
–Running a deep sale is like doing steroids. The juicing gives quick results but also disappears once the juicing stops. I imagine that it’d take more and more juicing to get the same results week after week.
–We still think our time is better spent scavenging items we enjoy finding, and being patient on sales.
–Our way of selling still works for us. The main goal is to continue listing.
–Whatever works for you is whatever works for you!

Hope you guys had a good week!

Check out our coffee! ► broadporch.coffee
Join the conversation in the forum>> HERE

Our Store Week July 30 – August 5, 2023

Total Items in Store: 9337
Items Sold: 25
Gross Sales: $1,057.08 (including eBay fees, shipping, and taxes)
Net Sales: $814.32 (minus eBay fees, shipping, and taxes)
Cost of Items Sold: $66
Cost of helpers: $80
Highest Price Sold: $220 (vintage lamp shades)
Average Price Sold: $32.57
Returns: 2
Money Spent on New Inventory This Week: $0
Number of items listed this week: 10
————
(Your numbers can be found here: https://www.ebay.com/sh/performance/sales)

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The Numbers: Week July 23-29, 2023 Jul 31, 2023

A couple weeks ago, Craig suggested an experiment. We really love his contributions here and appreciate his insight on how he runs he store. His suggestion? Run a 50% sale.

I’m always skeptical of big sales since we don’t think our weird, vintage items are very price sensitive. Either someone wants them or they don’t. We have “make offer” on everything if an interested person wants to negotiate our price. We mostly don’t sell popular items. We sell the kind of items other people throw away. That’s our jam.

So how did the experiment go? We sold about twice as many items as we normally do. 55 items instead of about 23 items. We made $2100 instead of $800-$1000. Nice! but nothing gangbusters.

Maybe there were some buyers who didn’t want/know to “make offer” and needed the deep discount to purchase. Maybe we priced too high so the lower priced items popped up in people’s searches. We sold a lot of items for $10 or less, but we also sold some items for over $100 (that had originally been priced $300+). Any experiment that makes us money is a success in our book, but we’re still mulling over if there’s any long term strategy here. Selling items for $10 and less isn’t exciting. A race to the bottom seems like a losing game, but maybe we have to be more realistic on pricing.

We mentioned that we just finished a house renovation. Here it is. We purchased this place in October and did a gut renovation over the past ten months. Maybe Ryanne will share some before photos. We really like how it turned out!

Check out our coffee! ► broadporch.coffee
Join the conversation in the forum>> HERE

Our Store Week July 23-29, 2023

Total Items in Store: 9341
Items Sold: 55
Gross Sales: $2,621.92 (including eBay fees, shipping, and taxes)
Net Sales: $2,100.22 (minus eBay fees, shipping, and taxes)
Cost of Items Sold: $188
Cost of helpers: $80
Highest Price Sold: $220 (vintage lamp shades)
Average Price Sold: $38.18
Returns: 1
Money Spent on New Inventory This Week: $0
Number of items listed this week: 10
————
(Your numbers can be found here: https://www.ebay.com/sh/performance/sales)

The post The Numbers: Week July 23-29, 2023 appeared first on Scavenger Life.

The Numbers: Week July 16-22, 2023 Jul 27, 2023

Things are selling. That’s good news. Shoes and cooking pots and wooden drawer knobs and old software and vintage xmas cards and weird folk art and used t-shirts and camo gift wrapping paper. It’s wild. No one but you and us would believe you can make money off this stuff. Most people would have just thrown this stuff away. We love it and glad someone else did too (and paid us for it).

We’re currently doing an experiment where we deeply discounted our entire store. Will everything sell? Is our weird stuff price sensitive? Tune in next week.

We also just finished gut renovating a house we’ve been working on the last ten months. It was a beast. We’ll share photos next week.

Check out our coffee! ► broadporch.coffee
Join the conversation in the forum>> HERE

Our Store Week July 16-22, 2023

Total Items in Store: 9363
Items Sold: 23
Gross Sales: $1,182.40 (including eBay fees, shipping, and taxes)
Net Sales: $960.36 (minus eBay fees, shipping, and taxes)
Cost of Items Sold: $97
Cost of helpers: $80
Highest Price Sold: $100 (vintage christmas cards)
Average Price Sold: $41.75
Returns: 1
Money Spent on New Inventory This Week: $0
Number of items listed this week: 10
————
(Your numbers can be found here: https://www.ebay.com/sh/performance/sales)

The post The Numbers: Week July 16-22, 2023 appeared first on Scavenger Life.

The Numbers: Week July 9-15, 2023 Jul 18, 2023

For anyone still keeping up on this adventure, we’re currently in the “passive selling” mode of our eBay store. For the past two or three months, we’ve been busy working on other projects. Haven’t been listing much and very little active scavenging. Good news is that things keep selling.

Over the fifteen years of selling on eBay, we’ve been through these periods of up to six to eight months where we depend on our large inventory to carry us. With almost 10,000 items, things are bound to sell each day. Are sales good? Are sales bad? The answer is that this method is sustainable for us.

Running and maintaining an eBay store over the long haul can be a chore. Life happens. This is why many/most eBay sellers drop off over time. Family issues, job opportunities, or just the boredom of listing gets in the way. We built up a huge inventory (aka “the pipeline”) so we can focus on other things (lkie a coffee shop!) and not burn out. When our newest projects are completed, we can jump back into scavenging with fresh energy. In the meantime, we’ll take these weekly sales. Felt petty good this week!

Check out our coffee! ► broadporch.coffee
Join the conversation in the forum>> HERE

Our Store Week July 9-15, 2023

Total Items in Store: 9397
Items Sold: 23
Gross Sales: $1,390.22 (including eBay fees, shipping, and taxes)
Net Sales: $1,103.15 (minus eBay fees, shipping, and taxes)
Cost of Items Sold: $122
Cost of helpers: $80
Highest Price Sold: $165 (pair of vintage boots)
Average Price Sold: $47.96
Returns: 1
Money Spent on New Inventory This Week: $0
Number of items listed this week: 0
————
(Your numbers can be found here: https://www.ebay.com/sh/performance/sales)

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The Numbers: Week July 2-8, 2023 Jul 13, 2023

We’ve been enjoying reading the “Scavenge of the Week” that Craig started. Going out and never knowing what you’ll find really is then lifeblood of this lifestyle. Retro Treasures is still at the top of his game when it comes to finding caches of treasures.

I know when we go out flea market, thrift store, yard sale or auction, there’s never any guarantee we’ll find anything. It’s just the excitement that we might. Thanks to the continued abundance/waste in our country, we rarely come up short.

Summer slow down has affected us. Mainly selling a lot of clothes. You never know.

Check out our coffee! ► broadporch.coffee
Join the conversation in the forum>> HERE

Our Store Week July 2-8, 2023

Total Items in Store: 9415
Items Sold: 23
Gross Sales: $983.34 (including eBay fees, shipping, and taxes)
Net Sales: $804.47 (minus eBay fees, shipping, and taxes)
Cost of Items Sold: $46
Cost of helpers: $80
Highest Price Sold: $70 (Antique book)
Average Price Sold: $34.97
Returns: 2
Money Spent on New Inventory This Week: $0
Number of items listed this week: 10
————
(Your numbers can be found here: https://www.ebay.com/sh/performance/sales)

The post The Numbers: Week July 2-8, 2023 appeared first on Scavenger Life.

What Sells On eBay: Ninja coffee lid, Treasure chest, Bronze Sun face thermometer, Zenith Cobra record player Jul 04, 2023

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The Numbers: Week June 25 – July 1, 2023 Jul 04, 2023

Boy was eBay slow for us last week. Sloooooooow. Probably our slowest week since we started selling in 2008. Very few items sold and most low dollar. Good news is we already surpassed last week yesterday. Ups and downs.

Ryanne has now trained two roasters to handle daily coffee roasting for our business. We’ve quintupled the amount of coffee we sell (served in our cafes, purchased online, and wholesale) so our roastery is almost a full-time operation. She’s done a great job building processes and teaching how to roast, ship, and invoice. All that eBay experience translates well!

Happy 4th everyone.

Check out our coffee! ► broadporch.coffee
Join the conversation in the forum>> HERE

Our Store Week June 25 – July 1, 2023

Total Items in Store: 9419
Items Sold: 13
Gross Sales: $507.18 (including eBay fees, shipping, and taxes)
Net Sales: $346.70 (minus eBay fees, shipping, and taxes)
Cost of Items Sold: $22
Cost of helpers: $80
Highest Price Sold: $70 (decorative tray)
Average Price Sold: $26.66
Returns: 2
Money Spent on New Inventory This Week: $0
Number of items listed this week: 10
————
(Your numbers can be found here: https://www.ebay.com/sh/performance/sales)

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The Numbers: Week June 18-24, 2023 Jun 28, 2023

Last week was good for us on eBay. This week (so far) is deadly slow. We’ve been very busy on a couple non-eBay projects that we may post here soon enough.

Good news is our cafe is having a phenomenal summer, likely because we’re a known quantity now in our town. Locals know we’re open everyday and tourists find us on Google Maps. It’s a good feeling walking in to a busy scene.

Check out our coffee! ► broadporch.coffee
Join the conversation in the forum>> HERE

Our Store Week June 18-24, 2023

Total Items in Store: 9429
Items Sold: 20
Gross Sales: $1,256.71 (including eBay fees, shipping, and taxes)
Net Sales: $992.76 (minus eBay fees, shipping, and taxes)
Cost of Items Sold: $79
Cost of helpers: $80
Highest Price Sold: $250 (lamp)
Average Price Sold: $49.63
Returns: 2
Money Spent on New Inventory This Week: $0
Number of items listed this week: 10
————
(Your numbers can be found here: https://www.ebay.com/sh/performance/sales)

The post The Numbers: Week June 18-24, 2023 appeared first on Scavenger Life.

What Sells On eBay: Seiko clock, Sewing Cabinet Drawers, Fender Strat, Vintage TV Antenna, CB microphone Jun 27, 2023

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The Numbers: Week June 11-17, 2023 Jun 20, 2023

This past weekend was Ryanne’s bday! We spent a couple nights in Richmond, VA which is only a couple hours from us, but a city we’ve never explored. It’s definitely a cool little city.

Met a scavenger who dropped by our cafe to say hi. Nice to see people in real life after doing the podcast for so many years.

Check out our coffee! ► broadporch.coffee
Join the conversation in the forum>> HERE

Our Store Week June 11-17, 2023

Total Items in Store: 9440
Items Sold: 25
Gross Sales: $1,200.81 (including eBay fees, shipping, and taxes)
Net Sales: $955.77 (minus eBay fees, shipping, and taxes)
Cost of Items Sold: $48
Cost of helpers: $80
Highest Price Sold: $175 (vintage lock set)
Average Price Sold: $38.23
Returns: 0
Money Spent on New Inventory This Week: $0
Number of items listed this week: 10
————
(Your numbers can be found here: https://www.ebay.com/sh/performance/sales)

The post The Numbers: Week June 11-17, 2023 appeared first on Scavenger Life.

What Sells On eBay: Mail slot door, Chord buddy, Turntable, Polaroid camera, Counter checks, Pencil sharpeners Jun 19, 2023

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The Numbers: Week June 4-10, 2023 Jun 12, 2023

Super slow week. We sold mainly low dollar clothes. No idea why. But as always, grateful for everything we did sell. Ryanne and I both have a birthday this month. Happy bday to us!

Check out our coffee! ► broadporch.coffee
Join the conversation in the forum>> HERE

Our Store Week June 4-10, 2023

Total Items in Store: 9454
Items Sold: 20
Gross Sales: $626.75 (including eBay fees, shipping, and taxes)
Net Sales: $502.42 (minus eBay fees, shipping, and taxes)
Cost of Items Sold: $34
Cost of helpers: $80
Highest Price Sold: $37 (guitar case)
Average Price Sold: $25.12
Returns: 2
Money Spent on New Inventory This Week: $0
Number of items listed this week: 40
————
(Your numbers can be found here: https://www.ebay.com/sh/performance/sales)

The post The Numbers: Week June 4-10, 2023 appeared first on Scavenger Life.

What Sells On eBay: Bible, Discman, Big Mac Denim jacket, Giant Avett Brothers Poster, German Stereo Console Jun 12, 2023

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The Numbers: May 27 – June 3, 2023 Jun 05, 2023

Solid week of sales for us. We’re still trying to change our clothing inventory system so we can make room for a home laundromat. As you guys know, it’s all the mundane details that make any business a success.

We’ve been selling stuff on Facebook Marketplace more and more. Big stuff that we cant easily ship that we scavenge on our daily adventures. Lots of old furniture and wood. Facebook is sooooooooooooo flakey, but its a nice source of cash.

Check out our coffee! ► broadporch.coffee
Join the conversation in the forum>> HERE

Our Store Week May 27 – June 3, 2023

Total Items in Store: 9435
Items Sold: 28
Gross Sales: $1,457.10 (including eBay fees, shipping, and taxes)
Net Sales: $1,041.73 (minus eBay fees, shipping, and taxes)
Cost of Items Sold: $12
Cost of helpers: $80
Highest Price Sold: $125 (pair of antique tea cups)
Average Price Sold: $37.20
Returns: 0
Money Spent on New Inventory This Week: $0
Number of items listed this week: 20
————
(Your numbers can be found here: https://www.ebay.com/sh/performance/sales)

The post The Numbers: May 27 – June 3, 2023 appeared first on Scavenger Life.

What Sells On eBay: Vintage watches, Antique needle cabinet, Bike rack, Slide rule, Ouija board, 1970’s Motorcycle helmet Jun 04, 2023

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The Numbers: May 21-27, 2023 May 30, 2023

We had a very busy weekend at our cafe and are just coming up for air. Celebrating two years in business, our cafe was completely mobbed this holiday weekend (which is a good thing). From 8am to 3pm each day, we were just making coffee and food without stopping. Our staff was great, it was exhausting, and also gratifying. Running a business where you meet your customer is so very different than running an eBay business.

As far as eBay goes, sales have been steady for us. Packing has been annoying (which is also a good thing).

Check out our coffee! ► broadporch.coffee
Join the conversation in the forum>> HERE

Our Store Week May 21-27, 2023

Total Items in Store: 9429
Items Sold: 33
Gross Sales: $1,438.18 (including eBay fees, shipping, and taxes)
Net Sales: $1,127.87 (minus eBay fees, shipping, and taxes)
Cost of Items Sold: $150
Cost of helpers: $80
Highest Price Sold: $270 (vintage mirror
Average Price Sold: $43.57
Returns: 2
Money Spent on New Inventory This Week: $0
Number of items listed this week: 40
————
(Your numbers can be found here: https://www.ebay.com/sh/performance/sales)

The post The Numbers: May 21-27, 2023 appeared first on Scavenger Life.

What Sells On eBay: Mega Double Edition! May 24, 2023

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The Numbers: May 14-20, 2023 May 22, 2023

When we first sold on eBay, it was all clothes all the time. When we purchased our home, we renovated an old garage into a 500 square foot climate controlled clothing storage. It felt BIG compared to what we were used to. We built these rolling clothing hangers that also stored shoes. We were psyched. No more digging into piles or fooling with bins.

Over the years as reselling has become popular, clothing became a grind because it’s the gateway drug for anyone new to the scene. We still have a lot of clothes for sale and still scavenge them when we can get high quality for cheap, but our focus is on all the weird stuff we now love to find and sell. Possibility for better profits.

We’re now in the process of taking over half of that 500 square feet room to turn into a huge laundry room for our rental business. We’re currently washing all the towels and linens of three houses (each with three bedrooms) sometimes several times a week. Currently we do it all in our tiny 50 square foot utility room. It’s laundry madness. So we’re going to build a personal laundromat.

We put all our clothes on sale and some sold this week. We may do some culling soon. Evolution.

Check out our coffee! ► broadporch.coffee
Join the conversation in the forum>>HERE

Our Store Week May 14-20, 2023

Total Items in Store: 9396
Items Sold: 38
Gross Sales: $1,547.74 (including eBay fees, shipping, and taxes)
Net Sales: $1,223.49 (minus eBay fees, shipping, and taxes)
Cost of Items Sold: $143
Cost of helpers: $80
Highest Price Sold: $125 (vintage cast iron pot)
Average Price Sold: $32.19
Returns: 1
Money Spent on New Inventory This Week: $50
Number of items listed this week: 0
————
(Your numbers can be found here: https://www.ebay.com/sh/performance/sales)

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The Numbers: May 7-13, 2023 May 15, 2023

We list stuff. It often sits for months or even years. But it all eventually sells. If we list enough, things sell every day. And if we can get inventory cheap enough, we’ll always make money.

Check out our coffee! ► broadporch.coffee
Join the conversation in the forum>> HERE

Our Store Week May 7-13, 2023

Total Items in Store: 9423
Items Sold: 18
Gross Sales: $1,175.30 (including eBay fees, shipping, and taxes)
Net Sales: $916.81 (minus eBay fees, shipping, and taxes)
Cost of Items Sold: $166
Cost of helpers: $80
Highest Price Sold: $110 (vintage movie poster)
Average Price Sold: $50.93
Returns: 0
Money Spent on New Inventory This Week: $50
Number of items listed this week: 30
————
(Your numbers can be found here: https://www.ebay.com/sh/performance/sales)

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The Numbers: April 30 – May 6, 2023 May 08, 2023

Sold the fewest items during a week in a long time. BUT the items we did sell were for over $50 so our average profit was about the same as most weeks. You just never know.

We’ve been doing a lot of scavenging lately which has been nice. Trying to find places that are overlooked and items that other scavengers don’t want. We like cheap!

We are full steam ahead at our coffee shops and roastery. Please consider ordering some coffee. Our two roaster employees, Izzy and Shane, are ready to roast!

Check out our coffee! ► broadporch.coffee
Join the conversation in the forum>> HERE

Our Store Week April 30 – May 6, 2023

Total Items in Store: 9385
Items Sold: 9
Gross Sales: $954.30 (including eBay fees, shipping, and taxes)
Net Sales: $752.79 (minus eBay fees, shipping, and taxes)
Cost of Items Sold: $96
Cost of helpers: $40
Highest Price Sold: $200 (vintage lamp)
Average Price Sold: $83.64
Returns: 0
Money Spent on New Inventory This Week: $40
Number of items listed this week: 40
————
(Your numbers can be found here: https://www.ebay.com/sh/performance/sales)

The post The Numbers: April 30 – May 6, 2023 appeared first on Scavenger Life.

What Sells On eBay: Giant clock, Pioneer Turntable, Hairpin barstools, Starburst TV Trays and Clock, Plant stand May 01, 2023

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The Numbers: April 23-29, 2023 May 01, 2023

From the comments over the past month, it sounds like everyone is busy with their lives outside of eBay. Good! If you’ve built up a nice inventory online, things will sell while you live your life. (You still have to ship!)

We’re super excited about things going on this year. Lots of work to do. One little thing at a time.

Check out our coffee! ► broadporch.coffee
Join the conversation in the forum>> HERE

Our Store Week April 23-29, 2023

Total Items in Store: 9337
Items Sold: 21
Gross Sales: $1,010.71 (including eBay fees, shipping, and taxes)
Net Sales: $807.83 (minus eBay fees, shipping, and taxes)
Cost of Items Sold: $55
Cost of helpers: $40
Highest Price Sold: $150 (vintage curtain tie backs)
Average Price Sold: $38.46
Returns: 0
Money Spent on New Inventory This Week: $0
Number of items listed this week: 10
————
(Your numbers can be found here: https://www.ebay.com/sh/performance/sales)

The post The Numbers: April 23-29, 2023 appeared first on Scavenger Life.

What Sells On eBay: Doc Martin loafers, Glass Mug O Nuts, Designer shirt, CCTV Monitor Apr 27, 2023

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The Numbers: April 16-22, 2023 Apr 25, 2023

Good week of sales and we did nothing different. The power of zen selling?

I (Jay) went to a flea market for the first time since the pandemic. It was awesome. I love flea markets and talking to people and seeing everything they bring. There’s the antique guy who has ridiculous prices on everything and uses his table to just show off his collections, rarely selling. The lady who always brings piles of nothing but kids clothes. The tool guy. The hunting, knife, bullet guy. The lady who sells plant starters she’s grown herself. The lady who sells discounted soaps she’s bought with coupons. And my favorite, the junk guy who spreads out all his jumbled knick knacks over several tables for you to sort through (everything under $5).

As much as we depend on eBay for steady sales and profits, I love that there’s still a community who love cash and in-person sales.

I spoke to several sellers who complained that it’s been harder for them to find stuff to sell. Likely because more auctions are going online. I’m more and more confident though that the deluge of abundance/waste will find its way to the market for cheap one way or the other. As a scavenger, it’s just about finding where that stream is.

Ryanne competed in a national competition for coffee tasting. This skill is needed for being a great roaster. She made it to the quarter-finals against some of the best in the country. Next year!

Check out our coffee! ► broadporch.coffee
Join the conversation in the forum>> HERE

Our Store Week April 16-22, 2023

Total Items in Store: 9337
Items Sold: 21
Gross Sales: $1,345.86 (including eBay fees, shipping, and taxes)
Net Sales: $1,066.84 (minus eBay fees, shipping, and taxes)
Cost of Items Sold: $70
Cost of helpers: $40
Highest Price Sold: $150 (vintage curtain tie backs)
Average Price Sold: $50.80
Returns: 0
Money Spent on New Inventory This Week: $0
Number of items listed this week: 20
————
(Your numbers can be found here: https://www.ebay.com/sh/performance/sales)

The post The Numbers: April 16-22, 2023 appeared first on Scavenger Life.

The Numbers: April 9-15, 2023 Apr 17, 2023

As we all discussed last week, it feels like a weird slooooooow period is upon us. Our week was certainly quiet. A handful of sales, few offers or messages. Our gut is that we’re starting a recession that hasn’t been officially announced. Or everyone is just worried and pulling back spending (is this the same thing?)

Anyway, we’re still finding new stuff to sell, putting it in the pipeline, and know it’ll all eventually sell. Hope you guys are doing well!

Check out our coffee! ► broadporch.coffee
Join the conversation in the forum>> HERE

Our Store Week April 9-15, 2023

Total Items in Store: 9337
Items Sold: 15
Gross Sales: $804.52 (including eBay fees, shipping, and taxes)
Net Sales: $642.53 (minus eBay fees, shipping, and taxes)
Cost of Items Sold: $55
Cost of helpers: $80
Highest Price Sold: $80 (vintage lamp)
Average Price Sold: $42.83
Returns: 1
Money Spent on New Inventory This Week: $0
Number of items listed this week: 20
————
(Your numbers can be found here: https://www.ebay.com/sh/performance/sales)

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What Sells On eBay: String art, BMW patch, Aristocraft birds, Slot cars, Zenith stereo Apr 11, 2023

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The Numbers: April 2-8, 2023 Apr 10, 2023

It’s currently a stressful time at Scavenger HQ. We have a lot of pokers in the fire which is exciting and overwhelming. When do you know when it’s too much?

I guess you really don’t know. We just try to have as much fun as we can while doing projects. If it’s not fun, we don’t do it. Stress isn’t the worst. It’s hating our lives while working on something that’s the killer.

It’s just like listing on eBay. Sure, this pile of men’s ties might make us money, but we hate photographing and listing ties. It makes our life miserable because ties are boring, so we just re-donate. Researching and listing random antique porcelain plates can be overwhelming but is also fun for us. We like to be excited about what we’re doing.

We had a good week of sales on eBay. Sold a lot of fun weird items. Our pipeline of items to list seems never ending. There’s just so much good stuff out there.

Check out our coffee! ► broadporch.coffee
Join the conversation in the forum>> HERE

Our Store Week April 2-8, 2023

Total Items in Store: 9348
Items Sold: 21
Gross Sales: $1,323.23 (including eBay fees, shipping, and taxes)
Net Sales: $1,079.54 (minus eBay fees, shipping, and taxes)
Cost of Items Sold: $81
Cost of helpers: $80
Highest Price Sold: $200 (vintage necklace)
Average Price Sold: $51.40
Returns: 0
Money Spent on New Inventory This Week: $0
Number of items listed this week: 20
————
(Your numbers can be found here: https://www.ebay.com/sh/performance/sales)

The post The Numbers: April 2-8, 2023 appeared first on Scavenger Life.

The Numbers: March 26 – April 1, 2023 Apr 03, 2023

No big news on the any fronts. We’re just “heads down and working”. Is the economy going to crash? How scared should we be? How much cash do we need to keep on hand? Will people keep buying our sh*t? These and other exciting thoughts keep us up at night. Welcome to the glamorous life as small business owners.

I did sit for an interview with Mark from “Not Your Dad’s CPA“. We interviewed him for our podcast in 2016 for reseller tax advice. He since has become a tax accountant almost exclusively for other resellers. He’s a good guy and resource.

Check out our coffee! ► broadporch.coffee
Join the conversation in the forum>> HERE

Our Store Week March 26 – April 1, 2023

Total Items in Store: 9340
Items Sold: 24
Gross Sales: $1,283.34 (including eBay fees, shipping, and taxes)
Net Sales: $974.82 (minus eBay fees, shipping, and taxes)
Cost of Items Sold: $122
Cost of helpers: $80
Highest Price Sold: $150 (lot of wool coats)
Average Price Sold: $40.61
Returns: 0
Money Spent on New Inventory This Week: $0
Number of items listed this week: 20
————
(Your numbers can be found here: https://www.ebay.com/sh/performance/sales)

The post The Numbers: March 26 – April 1, 2023 appeared first on Scavenger Life.

What Sells On eBay: Woolums lamp, Office chair, Auto parts, Acoustic guitar, Record player Apr 02, 2023

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The Numbers: March 19-25, 2023 Mar 28, 2023

Our common refrain last week was “why am I so tired?” Ryanne and I both would be exhausted by the end of the day. It’s the first week of Spring and we realized what a bust Winter we’ve had. Usually the cold season is when we “catch up” with things, but this year we’ve been pushing deep into several new projects.

With coffee, we’re expanding our wholesale business as seen in our recent announcement of roasting the coffee for our local hospital chain, who is a great partner. But doubling our wholesale orders overnight meant a lot of work training new staff, testing new equipment, and building new systems to handle more roasting. It’s exciting to see the roastery that we built during the pandemic full of activity.

As for eBay, we had good steady sales all week. Lots of offers coming in and we’re happy to accept them. Our large inventory is really doing all the work during these times when we’re busy. It’s a good feeling when things you planned/worked come together!

Check out our coffee! ► broadporch.coffee
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Our Store Week March 19-25, 2023

Total Items in Store: 9360
Items Sold: 28
Gross Sales: $1,438.58 (including eBay fees, shipping, and taxes)
Net Sales: $1,140.14 (minus eBay fees, shipping, and taxes)
Cost of Items Sold: $117
Cost of helpers: $80
Highest Price Sold: $95 (artwork)
Average Price Sold: $40.71
Returns: 0
Money Spent on New Inventory This Week: $50
Number of items listed this week: 50
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(Your numbers can be found here: https://www.ebay.com/sh/performance/sales)

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What Sells On eBay: Vintage TV antenna, Levis sherpa denim jacket, Jim Dandy Grits material, Apothecary bottles, Pencil sharpener, GE Wildcat stereo Mar 26, 2023

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The Numbers: March 12-18, 2023 Mar 20, 2023

When we started selling on eBay, it was 2008 when banks were collapsing across the country and hundreds of thousands of people were losing their homes. We didn’t own much of anything. eBay was a way to make some money in a rural community.

Fifteen years later, banks are collapsing again. I’m not educated enough to know how serious things are in the economy. We’re still helpless to do anything about the larger world, but we know we can work and be smart. Our financial lives have grown since 2008 and yet scavenging and listing on eBay is still part of our habit. Our scavenger knowledge have only improved. Nothing else has really changed. Here’s one of the first weeks we started publicly posting our numbers.

No magic or secrets. Just listing the same as before. Hope you had a good week.

Check out our coffee! ► broadporch.coffee
Join the conversation in the forum>> HERE

Our Store Week March 12-18, 2023

Total Items in Store: 9316
Items Sold: 21
Gross Sales: $1,335.52 (including eBay fees, shipping, and taxes)
Net Sales: $1,062.02 (minus eBay fees, shipping, and taxes)
Cost of Items Sold: $117
Cost of helpers: $80
Highest Price Sold: $110 (antique scale)
Average Price Sold: $50.57
Returns: 0
Money Spent on New Inventory This Week: $0
Number of items listed this week: 10
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(Your numbers can be found here: https://www.ebay.com/sh/performance/sales)

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What Sells On eBay: Flood lights, Vintage L&M cigarettes, Cat figure, Silvertone TV antenna, Lite-Brite Mar 18, 2023