| Today's good news is that I went out and trashpicked and acquired a large amount of clean high-end foam wrap from the furniture/appliance rent-to-own store.
They are one of my best sources. Another one is the health food/pill shop. There are also gift shops that are useful at times.
I only trashpick. I have tried asking people to save stuff for me, but they forget.
Since I'm an Ebay seller, being able to trashpick clean packing material is a real plus. Buying boxes or styrofoam peanuts or foam wrap is really expensive.
When I have a good surplus of clean packing material (generally I only buy tape, and manila envelopes when I can get them cheap, and I can), I feel a lot more comfortable with running a lot of listings at once.
So, that was good. Now I can focus on listing more stuff without having to worry about this so much, though I still need to find a box of styrofoam peanuts.
The last three boxes I shipped out were with large books, and I had to really scrabble to find packing material. But since I carefully save things that might be useful, since I've been doing mail order since about 1997, I managed effectively.
Trashpicking is a careful art. It's best to focus on businesses that are unlikely to be putting toxic stuff in the trash, and it's also good to check the bins frequently, and know the trash pickup schedule, when you find a good place to trashpick. Be particular. Don't dig out stuff from the bottom.
I cut my costs a lot via trashpicking packaging material, and that gives me an edge. I am profligate with tape, though. A well-taped box is always reassuring to receive.
Also, I put my books in plastic bags (I mostly sell books, though I also do other stuff). That way they are waterproofed.
I haven't been buying lately, because I'm still working out some old inventory. But when I start buying, this is how I'm going to do it, with some other suggestions about how you might do it as well:
1. Look for quality items I can't use. Clothing can be good, since it comes in a lot of sizes. New shoes, such as good quality hiking boots. You can sell these at auction at sites like Ebay; wait for them to give good promotional rates.
2. Find small decorative things that aren't just junky stuff. Freight matters a lot.
3. Take the time to be careful with your photographs. Buy a midrange camera from Costco or buy a used one online. Learn how to use it.
4. Write a concise, snappy description of your sale item. Note its failings, be honest. Don't carry on excessively.
Your ratings as a seller will depend on this, and they matter. Don't rush yourself as you write and design your listings. Buyers are savvy; they can tell a rank amateur from someone reasonably competent and professional.
5. Ship fast and keep in touch with your customers. Make sure they get email notification when their purchases are shipped.
6. Use tracking numbers. Delivery confirmation (US Postal Service) costs about eighty cents now. Build it into the price of your item. Make sure your customers get that number sent to them when you ship them their purchase. Buying insurance is much less useful. Better to pack and label very carefully, and pay for the tracking number. If you are selling something worth maybe a hundred or so, consider using signature confirmation for a few bucks. Insurance claims with the post office take forever and can be difficult to win.
7. Back to buying: shop yard sales, sure. Get there early. But also look to your local thrift shops. If you have one locally that is run as a charity, make a point of gifting them anything you have that you can't sell and don't need. Come by frequently. Make a point of buying things from them. Get receipts from them for donations, and also for purchases. Write them up yourself and ask the clerk to sign them, if necessary. It all adds up. Sure, you won't necessarily be able to write off donations if you don't make enough money to file schedule A, but do it anyway. You never know.
That's all I can think of off the top of my head. Any other ideas?
Now, for the comments:
far as dead furniture goes, the way you do that is work out the trash pickup days, when people will put stuff like that out.
Stay away from pine, look for hardwood. You should also be able to drill small, direct holes so that you can screw together broken limbs.
Also, have the patience to do refinishing.
Overall, not a good way to make money, but if you want better furniture and have the patience to work this, you can truly get better furniture. (Me)
you know about the YA YA chairs...? .started in '88, a visual artist started working with inner city high school kids, focused on making personal projects outa cast-off chairs. YA YA's evolved into a deep, self-sustaining force in NOLA. I've had the pleasure o' working with some of the YA YAs... (luckydog) (ed. note: that is one cool site, very inspiring)
Another excellent trash-picking target are those storage rental places (they've become ubiquitous for storing the too much junk consumers accumulate).At either the beginning or end of the month, when people who can't pay get their stuff tossed into the dumpsters, or have reclaimed what they can and trash the rest. Often you can find halfway decent furniture items if you've an eye for it, boxes, packing materials, all sorts of nifty odds and ends.
You may have to get to know the management, or rent a small unit yourself so you can be there whenever you want. If you're doing a lot of buying and selling and trash-picking, it'll pay for itself...(Joieau)
I thought they auctioned off... the contents of storage containers or sold merchandise to junk dealers. I'd be surprised if they just threw it out. Especially nowadays.
that being said, when I lived in a large apartment complext therre was always junk in the trash bins. One time someone unloaded the entire contents of an apartment out on the grass. People were coming from all over picking at it. it was weird. (DawnG)
Another eBay selling/listing tip: don't overestimate, or get too hung up on, what you perceive as the "worth" of what you're selling.
In the past we've sold stuff on eBay that we found in thrift stores-- mostly designer clothing-- and though we knew that they were "worth" big bucks, that never meant that we could count on their bringing big bucks. Some things that were pretty rare and valuable got no bids. Some things that were well-made but not really big-ticket items ended at prices that were astronomical compared to the starting price. You never know-- people get into bidding wars over things; or they just don't feel like buying sometimes. We found that the best overall strategy was to start our items reasonably with a little profit built in, and also to build in auction costs into the item's price. Then we'd sit back and see where the auction goes. (concernedamerican)
University book sales. They all have them, about twice a year.
You're not looking for the bookstore's 50% off sale; you're looking for the library's "we're selling the books nobody's checked-out" sale. I got some great first editions from those events. (openda)
There are a variety of organizations that hold such events.
I don't drive, and that limits me a lot. But even where I live, there are old folks homes that have annual book sales, and the library does one, and there are various churches that hold rummage sales, etc. And sometimes the schools dump books, too.
It's all about learning how to buy, and making connections. (Me)
I gave up selling on Ebay.
And aLibris. I sell on my own websites now. Vintage cookbooks on my food site. Nonfiction on my political site. They have only been up a month or two, so it is not clear how the pages will do, but we shall see. I have a blog selling homemade cat toys filled with organic catnip and other toys I make.
I am busy and happy. I join many other people who are running very small businesses. I am proud. I am productive. And my religion blog (where I sell Kindle) is being followed internationally as well as nationally. All my blogs/businesses are very small scale, but everybody has to start somewhere.
The big bad banks cannot hurt me if I don't depend on them. (CherryTheTart)
Another place to sell large items is Craig's list, things people don't want to pay to ship like the dogloo doghouse I didn't need anymore.
One eBay selling tip I have...if you have an odd size item to sell, find the box you can ship it in before you list it. That way you can ship quickly when the auction is over. It impresses the heck out of me when I get an ebay item faster than most catalogs or online commercial stores can do it. (loftT)
that's good advice. Also check the weight and box dimensions. They charge extra for big boxes. I learned that the hard way once. With the weight and box dimensions you can work out the postage online, although first class postage probably varies with distance. (Me)
Nurse Kelley is in the process of creating a Kos Katalogue. E-bay is good, and Etsy (etsy.com) is another place to sell hand-made goods. More exposure is always better when trying to sell unique items. (puzzled) |
