Inventory

Thrift Fast

November 27, 2016 by Kari @ She Thrifts 7 Comments

I have started a thrifting fast. I am actually already over two weeks in and holding (fairly) strong. I thought about writing this post a couple weeks ago, but the irony of posting about being included in a list of top 10 thrifting blogs, only to turn around a couple days later and say that I am no longer thrifting . . . right? Doh. But it has to happen.

The thrift fast is happening for a couple reasons.

Reason #1: I have too much unlisted inventory!

Actually, maybe it’s happening for just one reason, and that’s it. I have too much unlisted inventory. I knew during the summer that I was buying more at yard sales and thrift stores than I was able to list, but I thought that once school started I would be listing soooo much more, and that I would catch up quickly on all my backlog. Reality: nosomuch.

I thought I would basically be eBaying full time. Reality: notsomuch. On a day that I can completely dedicate to eBay, I have just shy of 6 hours of time to work. The ideal would be to spend 100% of that time listing. The reality is that I usually have to spend part of it shipping sold items, cropping photos, chatting with my mail lady during pickup, eating lunch, washing dishes, starting laundry, etc. So even on my eBay-only days, I’m not getting as much done as I think I should.

Reality check: 6 hours isn’t full time anyway, it’s 3/4 time.

Reality check: I spend most of each Monday volunteering in both of my boys’ classrooms at school. Which is awesome. I know I am lucky I have the option to do it, and my kindergartener especially LOVES it. I usually have less than two hours left to get work done after volunteering, before having to pick the boys up from school. So, that’s certainly not a full day’s work.

Reality check: I’m getting called in to work more and more at my “real” job, and am working pretty much every Wednesday during school hours, and some Thursdays and Fridays too. Nice to have that money, but it equals more days that I am not getting in my full 6 eBay hours.

The result: Of course I’m not getting as much eBay work done as I had planned. I’m not getting my inventory listed as fast. (I’m not making as much money as I had planned.) I’ve let the backlog of inventory creep into our living spaces, which is really not okay. So I’ve cut myself off. No more thrifting in 2016. Honestly, maybe no more thrifting until Spring Break. We’ll see how it goes.

I have unlisted inventory sitting where our Christmas tree will go. Gotta list, gotta list, gotta list!

Inventory Inventoried + February Sales

March 28, 2016 by Kari @ She Thrifts 6 Comments

It has been a crazy couple months! Busy busy. In Dec/Jan/Feb I was given 2000 free bonus listings each month, so I spent quite a bit of time going through old inventory, ending listings, “selling as similar”, updating prices, adding best offer, as well as just tossing a few items in the donate pile. I didn’t get a lot of new items listed in February, but I did make it through my dozens of totes of active inventory. So, yay for that.

I had some decent sales this month too, including a couple mugs:

I probably paid around $3/each for them, and they both had a selling price of $34.95. Holly Hobbie had been listed since July 2015, and the Snow White Mug since 2013!!

I had a few plush sales.

I couldn’t believe I found this guy as the half-off color at GW!

Little Mermaid Dog
Paid: $0.99 @ GW, Sold $34.95 (listed since December 2015)

Mervyn’s Floppy Friends Gorilla Plush
Paid: $3.99 @ GW, Sold: $42.95 (17 days after listed)

I had the Build-A-Bear Disney princess dresses listed for quite awhile with no takers. I found the princess bear at VV after the dresses had been listed for a few months and added it to the lot (keeping the price the same) and it finally sold.

BABW Disney bear, 5 dresses, tiara, shoes, etc.
Paid: $12ish total?, Sold: $49.95 (listed since April 2015)

While plush will always be my favorite thing to sell, my most profitable sales now come from clothes. I like selling coats, although the margins on them aren’t usually as good because they cost more to ship.

Jones New York Jacket
Paid: $2 @ VV, Sold: $29.95 (17 days after listed)

Tahari Coat
Paid: $2 @ VV, Sold: $34.95 (11 days after listed)

Club Monaco Jacket
Paid: 2 @ VV, Sold: $39.95 (15 days after listed)

And some more clothes:

I think this is only the second St. John item I have ever come across. I probably priced it too low because it sold in less than a day.

Paid: $2 @ VV, Sold: $29.95

LEI Denim Jumpsuit
Paid: $2 @ VV, Sold: 34.95 (listed since December 2015)

Tommy Hilfiger women’s overalls
Paid: $2 @ VV, Sold: $49.95 (listed since January 2016)

I also sold a bunch of clothes in the $20-$25 price range.
The most interesting of which was this jacket:

NWT Picasso Faces Jacket
Paid: $2 @ VV, Sold $24.95 (19 days after listed)

What has been selling recently for you? Do tell!

Favorite Five Friday, 3/13/15

March 14, 2015 by Kari @ She Thrifts 3 Comments

I’ve finally had a few sales worth reporting. I’m slowly getting my eBay listing rhythm back, and my sales are starting to pick up again.

I had just added Best Offer to this listing during my inventorying, but it still sold at full price.

Little Bear Plush
Paid: $2ish @ Value Village, Sold: $24.95 (listed since March, 2014)

I added Best Offer to this plush when I was inventorying, and got a decent offer a week or two later.

Steiff Golden Labrador Plush Paid: $0.50 @ ys,
Best Offer Accepted: $40.00 (listed since September, 2014)

I had this mug listed for forEVer. I think I picked it up the first summer I started eBaying, and I’m pretty sure I accepted a best offer on it at some point, and the buyer never paid. If I had gotten as far as the mugs when inventorying I would have dropped the price really low just to get rid of it. Out of the blue it sold at full price!

History Channel Black Mug
Paid: ? @ ys, Sold: $34.99 (listed since 2013?)

I also dropped the price on this while inventorying last month.

Pilot Bear In Airplane Plush Plays Carpenters Top of the World Song
Paid: $1ish? @ ys?, Sold: $49.95 (listed since June, 2014)

Stay tuned for my fifth favorite sale of the week, which I will be sharing as a BOLO on Sunday.

What was your favorite sale this week?

Inventory Purgatory

February 24, 2015 by Kari @ She Thrifts 10 Comments

It’s going on and on and on.

Does everyone else inventory their eBay goods? Dare I admit that this is the first thorough inventory-ing that I have done since beginning my eBay journey? I’ve been maintaining my 1000-items-listed goal for awhile now . . . which is a lot of inventory to go through. Ugh. I can’t believe how long it is taking me, actually. Days.

I was offered a free one-month upgrade to an anchor store. It doesn’t currently make monetary sense for me to have an anchor store. But I took them up on the offer anyway!

I’ve been wanting to go through all of my listings and inventory for awhile now. The free month comes with 2500 free listings. The best part? It includes GTC listings! So I can end listings and “sell as similar” without it costing any money out of my pocket. I’ve been adding best offer to items that have been listed around 6 months. If something has been sitting for a really long time I’m dropping the price down to the lowest offer I would consider taking in hopes that it will sell and finally go on its merry way.

I’m a list-it-and-forget-it kinda girl. Obviously it doesn’t bother me if things don’t sell immediately. It seems like everything sells eventually.

I store my items with other like items (all Disney plush together, all maternity pants together, all train toys together, etc). It makes it easy to find things when they sell, but it’s a real pain to find things in my online store when I am trying to end listings. That is the most time consuming part.

I’ve already been seeing results, which is encouraging. Some of the items I’ve dropped the price on have already sold, I’ve been getting offers on others, and my sales have remained pretty steady overall even though I haven’t been doing any new listing, just re-listing.

What does your inventory, best offer, mark-down schedule look like? I’d love to hear about it!