Lynn’s eBay ezine Volume IV, issue number 27

‘List, List and then List Some More!’

by Lynn A. Dralle, ‘The Queen of Auctions’

It amazed me that starting on Sunday, July 6th at about 2 pm to Monday, July 7th at about 7 pm, I sold $719.55 out of my eBay store. I did say my eBay store. Nothing sold at auction during that time period, it was all store merchandise.

Shocking isn’t it? Especially when the media is saying that the economy is so bad. In about 29 hours, I sold more than the average weekly earnings of a full time worker. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, at the end of 2006, the average weekly earnings of a full time worker (before taxes etc.) was $682.00.

Now, the $719.55 that I sold was not all profit, but pretty darn close to it. Let’s take a look at the different sales transactions that added up to this amount and figure out how close I came to making as much as an average worker in a little over ONE day.

1. Bristol Crown Ducal Pink Dinner set originally purchased in December of 2207 for $125.00 at a thrift store. Sold 4 serving pieces for $165.00 at auction immediately during the holiday season 2007. Set is paid for. Relisted in my eBay store on December 29, 2007

Here is one of the dinner plates. Check it out.

I sold $379.80 worth on July 6th (21 pieces). All profit.

2. Noritake Silver Key set was originally purchased for $100 in Riverside California. Remember that baseball tournament that I was at on June 15th, (Father’s day) and my mom and I went to an estate sale that advertised 50% off for the holiday? Well of course you do!

I originally sold a sugar bowl for $9.95 and we relisted the rest of it in my store on July 1, 2008. Sold $179.89 worth on July 6th

Here are the cups and saucers in that set.

It is just beautiful and was hardly used at all!

By the way, the buyer was going to be in town and emailed to ask if he could pick it up. I usually say NO but told him that if he bought a reasonable amount, I would meet him at a public location. I do NOT let anyone come to my home anymore to pick up items. I encourage you to follow the same policy.

We agreed to meet at our local Wendy’s and I made Houston come with me. We met in the parking lot and the buyer handed me $180 cash and I handed him a box of lovely china. After I purchased Houston a chicken sandwich for lunch, he looked at me and said, “That wasn’t so bad!”

$180 minus $90.05 cost, leaves $89.95 profit. AND I still have more than 1/2 the set left which includes all the serving pieces. They will eventually sell for about $300.

3. Random pieces of blue and white dinnerware. I am guessing that the person who bought these seven dinner plates from me was trying to mix and match anything in blue and white. What a fun idea!

Sold one Hartstone blue and white checkered plate for $9.99. Listed in my store on July 1, 2008. I had paid $1.00 at a garage sale. See them here.

Sold three Burgess & Leigh Chequers Dinner plates for $14.99 each. Listed in my store on June 8, 2008. I paid $1.00 each at a garage sale. Check them out here.

Sold three Italian Quadrifoglio blue plaid plates for $9.99 each. Listed in my store on December 11, 2007. I paid 50 cents each at garage sale. See the sale here.

Grand total for this sale was $84.93 and I paid $5.50. Profit $79.43.

4. Odds and Ends from my eBay store that sold in that 29 hour period

Red, white and blue picture frame listed July 11, 2007 $9.99 paid 50 cents

Teak Turtle listed December 11, 2004 $9.99 paid 25 cents

Two Blue Onion Soup Bowls listed October 19, 2007 $9.99 paid 50 cents for both

Plastic Shark Display listed December 11, 2007 $14.99 paid $1.00

I have to show this one! Click here.

Ironstone platter listed April 9, 2008 $9.99 paid $1.00

I Sell Pages $39.95–Since this is one of my teaching tools or books, I am not adding it to the total for obvious reasons.

Alaska bell listed September 20, 2007 $9.99 paid 25 cents

Santa Claus figurine listed January 10, 2006 $9.99 paid 50 cents

Grand total of miscellaneous store items $74.93. Cost $4.00. Profit $70.93.

Total sales $719.55. Cost of Goods Sold $99.55. Gross profit $620.00. Now my eBay and PayPal fees typically run me 15% for both listing and selling. Taking that away leaves me with about $527.00! Not bad for approximately ONE day’s work. I am only $155 away from a worker’s average weekly salary! I love eBay.

One more thing. If something does sell (either from your eBay store) or at auction and the person hasn’t paid within one week. I recommend filing an unpaid buyer’s dispute against them. If they don’t pay for it after seven more days, request your eBay fees and relist the item. I used to wait a month, but on more expensive items, two weeks is my (and also) eBay’s limit.

Check out the Curtis Jere piece that sold for a lot of money several weeks ago. The winning bidder never paid and we relisted it right away. Don’t let money sit in your “waiting for money” book for too long.

Check out the C. Jere figurine here.

Now the point of this article is that you MUST have an eBay store and you must stock it as quickly as you can. Once something doesn’t sell, get it relisted in your store IMMEDIATELY. Do you see how many items were relisted on July 1st in my store that sold by July 6th? Also, notice how that little turtle took almost four years to sell. You just never know!

The moral here is “List, List and then List some more!” If you want to ramp up your eBay store, I recommend my downloadable report Fifteen Things You Must Know and DO to Run a Successful eBay Store. Get your eBay store up and running so that it can go to work for you!