eBay Scavengers Episode 80: How To Handle eBay Best Offers

Haggling doesn't come naturally to most Americans. We like our fixed prices. But as this recent New York Times article points out, we also like getting a good deal.

Adding “Make Offer" was a game changer for our eBay store. It's the honey pot to attract buyers while still having strong prices on good quality items. As we dabble with Amazon, we really miss the ability to haggle. Think about it: if you buy something for $1, price it at $60, and get an offer of $40, everyone is getting a good deal.

In this episode, Ryanne and Jay tell the story of how they moved from all auctions to only "Buy It Now"(BIN) with "Make offer". Sales doubled. We share our best offer tactics and "make offer" strategies. How to handle best offers and when to accept. It makes your eBay store into an old-time bazaar. It's where the action is.

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eBay Scavengers Episode 79: What's Happening In Your eBay Store This Week?

Old school sweater with old photo style. Sold for $8! Original kitsch nude painting, paid $10, sold for $185. Stars not included.

This week Jay and Ryanne talk about starting auto returns. We were inspired by our recent Caty Burt Amazon podcast and Suzanne Well's Amazon free e-book to start selling some books on Amazon. We are using the Profit Bandit app (App Store, Google Play) to figure out what books to list. Check out the International Shoe charts (here and here) we use to convert shoe sizes for listings. Since it's the end of the year, we encourage you to check out GoDaddy BookKeeping (formerly Outright) for organizing all your eBay store expenses.

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We've included our weekly Ebay numbers below. In the comments, go ahead and post what you've done this week. And let us know if there are other numbers you want us to share.

The Weekly Scavenger Numbers

Jay and Ryanne’s Store Week Dec 22-29, 2013

• Total Items in Store: 3016
• Items Sold: 50
• Total Sales: $1,914.23
• Highest Price Sold: $185.00 (Vintage kitsch painting of nude woman-MEOW!)
• Average Price Sold: $38.28
• Returns: 2
• Positive Feedback: 30
• Neutral Feedback: 0
• Negative Feedback: 0

Mikey and Wendy’s store Week Dec 22-29, 2013

• Total Items in Store: 1032
• Items Sold: 19
• Total Sales: $518.23
• Highest Price Sold: $50.00 (Pressure Gauge)
• Average Price Sold: $27.28
• Returns: 1
• Positive Feedback: 16
• Neutral Feedback: 0
• Negative Feedback: 0

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eBay Scavengers Episode 78: A New Years Pledge of Abundance

In this episode Wendy reveals the book she has been working on that is focused on taking back your time to improve your quality of life. Wendy and Mikey explain their lifestyle choices and how they became ebay sellers, which helped them meet the goal of abundance over wealth. Wendy's book entitled "The Good Life Lab" is available through Amazon and in most stores and is a guide to abundance through living hands on with help from the waste stream. Also check out their Holy Scrap blog documenting their New Mexico homestead.

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eBay Scavengers Episode 77: What's Happening In Your eBay Store This Week?

Wendy and Mikey start up listing again and see immediate results. Cool sales this week include a vintage lambs fur hat, used oil paints and a first generation iPod Coach brand cover.

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We've included our weekly Ebay numbers below. In the comments, go ahead and post what you've done this week. And let us know if there are other numbers you want us to share.

The Weekly Scavenger Numbers

Jay and Ryanne’s Store Week Dec 15-21, 2013, 2013

• Total Items in Store: 2993
• Items Sold: 52
• Total Sales: $1,843.53
• Highest Price Sold: $74.99 (Set of hockey sticks)
• Average Price Sold: $35.45
• Returns: 2
• Positive Feedback: 36
• Neutral Feedback: 0
• Negative Feedback: 0

Mikey and Wendy’s store Week Dec 15-21, 2013, 2013

• Total Items in Store: 1044
• Items Sold: 20
• Total Sales: $436.79
• Highest Price Sold: $54.00 (Coach iPod Case)
• Average Price Sold: $21.84
• Returns: 0
• Positive Feedback: 9
• Neutral Feedback: 0
• Negative Feedback: 0

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eBay Scavengers Episode 76: How to sell on Amazon FBA: Interview with eBay seller Caty from SeattleStyleBlog

We love eBay because it lets us sell one-of-a-kind items that we scavenge throughout the whole wide world. As any scavenger knows, there are treasures lying around just waiting to be sold at auctions, flea markets, and thrift stores.

But we've always been interested in Amazon because it's the other huge online marketplace. Why should we limit ourselves? After a lot of research, we couldn't figure out how we could sell our used, one-of-a-kind items on a site that seems to focus on brand new products. Rarely do we find items that are brand new. And it's even more rare to find brand new items in multiple lots. Isn't Amazon about just selling 1000 iPhone cases from China for a 10-cent profit each?

Maybe we've just been scavenging in the wrong places. This week Caty, another eBay seller at seattlestyleblog, explains how she finds and sells items on Amazon using their FBA system. She says that each marketplace is different, but she makes money on both. She also points us towards Profit Bandit, an app for your smartphone to reasearch items to sell (and buy) on Amazon. Thanks Caty!

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eBay Scavengers Episode 75: What's Happening In Your eBay Store This Week?

Jay and Ryanne have had a very productive week. Still on a listing frenzy for the holidays, their sales have reflected this. Ryanne encourages you to buy shipping supplies before Dec 31st, so you can write them off on this year's taxes. We've stared a Pinterest account for showcasing our store, so far it seems to be working, though we can't be 100% sure. An interesting sale this week was $120 on 6 Starbucks mugs purchased for less than $5 at auction. Check out eBay's completed Starbucks listings, they are insane. 

Links we mention Mr. Money Mustache: the extreme early retirement blog, USPS Shoe Boxes, TwitterFeed, Brother Laser Printers vs. Zebra Thermal Printers and sticky paper for printing ebay shipping labels.

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We've included our weekly Ebay numbers below. In the comments, go ahead and post what you've done this week. And let us know if there are other numbers you want us to share. 

The Weekly Scavenger Numbers

Jay and Ryanne’s Store Week Dec 8-14, 2013

• Total Items in Store: 2960
• Items Sold: 73
• Total Sales: $2,508.51
• Highest Price Sold: $179.99 (vintage southwestern wool blanket)
• Average Price Sold: $34.35
• Returns: 1
• Positive Feedback: 31
• Neutral Feedback: 0
• Negative Feedback: 0

Mikey and Wendy’s store Week Dec 8-14, 2013

• Total Items in Store: 1007
• Items Sold: 21
• Total Sales: $468.90
• Highest Price Sold: $50.00 (multimeter)
• Average Price Sold: $22.33
• Returns: 0
• Positive Feedback: 12
• Neutral Feedback: 0
• Negative Feedback: 0

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eBay Scavengers Episode 74: How to make a seller's life easier in eBay: Automated Hassle Free Returns and Automatic Feedback

As eBay sellers, we all know how many little tasks there are when listing and managing a large inventory. Mikey and Jay discuss the pros and cons of automating different tasks - hassle free returns and automatic feedback. Let us know if you have found other ways to free up time so you can focus on listing. Check out this video about how eBay's Hassle Free Returns are supposed to work. We forgot to mention in the podcast that Auto Feedback is just for sellers with stores. If you're serious about selling on eBay, you should get a store!

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eBay Scavengers Episode 73: What's Happening In Your eBay Store This Week?

Jay and Mikey talk about what's going on this week in their eBay stores. Both have been successful in selling vintage and discontinued perfume. Jay gets a big sale on a Vietnam era G-1 Goatskin Bomber jacket. Mikey's sales stay steady despite a listing freeze- enough to fund his other electronics business.

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We've included our weekly Ebay numbers below. In the comments, go ahead and post what you've done this week. And let us know if there are other numbers you want us to share. 

The Weekly Scavenger Numbers

Jay and Ryanne’s Store Week Dec 1-7, 2013

• Total Items in Store: 2920
• Items Sold: 56
• Total Sales: $2,154.04
• Highest Price Sold: $300 (vintage leather Vietnam bomber jacket)
• Average Price Sold: $38.46
• Returns: 1
• Positive Feedback: 21
• Neutral Feedback: 0
• Negative Feedback: 0

Mikey and Wendy’s store Week Dec 1-7, 2013

• Total Items in Store: 1011
• Items Sold: 16
• Total Sales: $426.93
• Highest Price Sold: $85.00 (Antique Lamp)
• Average Price Sold: $26.68
• Returns: 1
• Positive Feedback: 7
• Neutral Feedback: 0
• Negative Feedback: 0

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eBay Scavengers Episode 72: Why is eBay Trying To Destroy My Store? (Hint: It's Not)

We were reluctant to go deep into the fevered swamp of eBay conspiracy theories. After eBay suspended 15,000 low performing accounts in August 2013, the eBay community boards lit up with the fear that eBay was shutting down all small sellers. There is now a dark thread that runs through many eBay blogs and their comments scaring new and old sellers alike that eBay is out to destroy their store. Recent emails to our blog showed that this dark cloud needs to be blown away.

Everyone will believe what they want to believe (or need to believe), but we're just looking at the facts. It's a competitive online marketplace that's very different than when eBay started in 1995. Buyers have much higher expectations of presentation, item quality, customer service, and shipping speed. Amazon has really set the tone for the streamlined service people want. Sellers who can't adapt will be left behind.

With e-commerce growing by double digits numbers year after year, there's never been a better time to sell online. More people are buying from other countries as well, thus increasing sales. Let's just say that we're going to focus on improving and selling. If eBay ever becomes too annoying, they'll always be other places to go. Let's have some fun.

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eBay Scavengers Episode 71: What's Happening In Your eBay Store This Week?

Found this Danish modern office chair for $2, hoping to sell for $150.

Jay and Ryanne talk about getting a little frazzled by listing so much during the holidays. Sales of high dollar items are up, so it looks like it's working. Cyber Monday turned out to be a slowish day for us, but we're here for the long and steady haul. We got a request from a listener to do a show about taxes. Luckily, we've already done that episode and it's here for you to listen to. Check it out.

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We've included our weekly Ebay numbers below. In the comments, go ahead and post what you've done this week. And let us know if there are other numbers you want us to share. 

The Weekly Scavenger Numbers

Jay and Ryanne’s Store Week Nov 24-30, 2013

• Total Items in Store: 2913
• Items Sold: 55
• Total Sales: $2,183.52
• Highest Price Sold: $220 (vintage cast iron coffee grinder)
• Average Price Sold: $39.70
• Returns: 1
• Positive Feedback: 24
• Neutral Feedback: 0
• Negative Feedback: 0

Mikey and Wendy’s store Week Nov 24-30, 2013

• Total Items in Store: 1026
• Items Sold: 20
• Total Sales: $611.40
• Highest Price Sold: $89.99 (fish poacher)
• Average Price Sold: $30.57
• Returns: 1
• Positive Feedback: 9
• Neutral Feedback: 0
• Negative Feedback: 0

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