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eBay is about to get more expensive

One of the bigger venues for selling your garage sale finds is about to get a lot more costly.

Starting May 1st, eBay has decided to change their fee structure, effectively raising prices for a good chunk of their sellers. My response to eBay, “What are you thinking?”

Believe it or not, sales on eBay have actually been going down recently, in part because eBay keeps getting more expensive. Sellers are now searching out other more affordable or

even free venues in which to sell their products (ie Tag Sell It!). As affordable as these other options may be, what if you just aren’t yet ready to give up your eBay store? What is a seller to do?

First, you need to understand where you fall in the new fee structure. The number of items in your store is going to play a big part in this distinction. Essentially there are a few different types of “stores” you can join that will cost you a monthly fee and allow you to list “x” number of items in your store per month for free. You’ll be paying for each listing beyond that “x” number, so if you have a large number of items in your store – around 500 or more, you’re going to need to get smart about selling. Each month you will be charged for the number of active listings you have, so you want to move your items as quickly as possible while still getting maximum profit from the sale. So how do you do this?

Make sure you’re basing your pricing off of the real market value of your items. If you’re pulling a price out of the sky, you could be way too high. If this is the case, your item won’t sell quickly, or possibly at all. You should take the time to check the completed sales section of ebay and find a good average sale price. If the item sold for $100, and you have the exact same thing, you will probably only be able to sell it for around $100. You may think that your item is worth more, but unless it’s in better condition or has more features, it most likely will not. Even if the value really is a lot higher, the market is going to dictate how much buyers will pay. If it’s available for less, no one is going to opt to pay more. If you need to get the full value for the item, you might want to consider waiting to list it until the market settles down. You don’t want to be paying a fee every month to maintain a listing that will most likely not sell for your asking price.

 

You can find the Completed Listings section at the top of a search page next to the Sold Listings section.

My next point is one that I stress all the time: to make sure you take good pictures, and not just one; you need lots of pictures. Depending on what store you have, you should be able to list up to 12 pictures per item. If that’s not the case for your store, try to limit yourself to two or three high quality photos. Buyers will feel more comfortable purchasing when they have a better sense of what they’ll be getting.

This listing is using the maximum allowed photos. It has a shot of each individual item in the listing so the buyer knows exactly what they’re looking at.

Third, when calculating how much it will cost to ship your item to a buyer, know that if you charge too much money, you’ll wind up in trouble. If someone buys the item, they will have the option to rate your shipping fees, and you can bet their rating won’t be positive. Worse yet, buyers could choose to avoid your listing all together. USPS has pretty affordable rates, and you can easily get a quote from their website if you have the weight and dimensions of your item. Stick to this cost, maybe adding a few extra dollars to cover packaging materials and the time involved in boxing the item.

Last but not least, buyers will more than likely have questions regarding your listings. You need to be sure you’re answering them in a timely manner. Online shoppers are savvy and will most likely be able to find the same item elsewhere if they don’t hear back from you. Try setting up your account to send messages directly to your cell phone so you can easily respond back as soon as the question is asked. The faster you respond, the faster you sell.

Finally, I would like to say to the executives at eBay, “You’re charging sellers too much.” If you keep it up, you will continue to lose more and more business to other venues that are either free or less expensive. Sellers are savvy and will find a way to sell without the help of your site if you don’t remain competitive.  Venues like Tag Sell It are completely free and are quickly gaining users as buyers become fed up with higher costs from eBay.

If you’re a seller and you haven’t started shopping around yet, you might consider perusing your options before May 1st arrives.

Good luck, and happy hunting!

Aaron

To learn more about Aaron LaPedis, visit www.thegaragesalemillionaire.com or contact him at thegaragesalemillionaire@gmail.com.

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Planning ahead

Hello from snowy, Denver, CO!

Today is a good day to be thinking about your next garage sale. You might be thinking to yourself, “What can I do on a snowy day that would help with an upcoming garage sale?” Well that’s a great question that I’d like to take a minute to answer.

I’ve been stuck inside for most of the weekend, hiding out from the snowy weather and slippery roads. While most people see days like these as a time to laze around watching movies and catching up on your favorite television show, I see these days as the perfect time to begin preparing for a garage sale. I’m not going anywhere, so why not spend my time sorting through my things, combining a bit of early spring cleaning with garage sale preparations.

I spent most of Saturday afternoon going through my office and bedroom, and next on the list is the basement. As I go from room to room, I’m pulling everything out, making sure I actually touch everything – nothing is spared from the once over. If I haven’t used it in over six months or a year, it’s getting the boot. But I’m not going to actually throw out anything. No matter what condition it’s in or how bizarre it might seem, one person’s trash is often another person’s treasure.

The small Chinese pottery bowl that started as a $3 tag sale only to turn into a massive $2.2 million windfall at auction. Source: AFP/Getty Images

To give you a prime (if not extreme) example of this adage, while taking a break from my cleaning and sorting this weekend, I came across a New York Post article professing “NY family buys bowl for $3 – it sells for $2 million.” Can you believe that?! This family saw a seemingly ordinary bowl at a garage sale and purchased it back in 2007 for $3. After admiring it for many years, one of the family members decided to do some research (a true treasure hunter!). They soon found out that their ordinary bowl wasn’t so ordinary after all. Turns out, the bowl dates back to the 10th or 11th century and only one other piece exists today, and it’s in the British Museum collection. Sotheby’s estimated the piece would sell for between $200,000 and $300,000, but it wound up fetching a startling $2.2 million! (if you’d like to read the entire article, head here http://tinyurl.com/blokw4n)

I’m certainly not saying that everyone is going to find some hidden gem in their home, but you never know! Maybe something you’ve been sitting on is worth a pretty penny. And even if it isn’t, it might be worth something to someone else. The art dealer who purchased this bowl clearly wanted it since he was willing to pay way beyond the estimated value. On a smaller, more relatable scale, that trinket that’s been sitting in your closet might not appear to worth anything, but it might be worth something to someone out there. So don’t throw it out; sell it.

Go through every desk, closet, cupboard, basement corner and garage shelf and keep everything. And to add to that, if you’ve got something that seems unique, maybe take a minute to do a quick Internet search to see if it’s worth anything significant. You never know what you may find!

 

On another note, I just received an email from a follower who recently finished reading my book (thanks, Bob!). He had some really great garage sale tips to add to my repertoire, and I’d like to share a few of the pre-planning tips that you could start thinking about now:

  • Before throwing your garage sale, check with your town to see if you need a permit. If you do, see how far in advance you need to apply.
  • You should also check to be sure your town allows you to post signs throughout the neighborhood.
  • A few weeks or months before your sale (think now!!!) you should start saving paper and plastic shopping bags to use for your big buyers. They’ll appreciate the bag and it’s a great way to recycle!
  • Try to coordinate your sale with another local event. If there’s a festival or art fair in your town, try coordinating with that time frame. You’ll get a lot of out of towners that might notice your sign and swing by after they finish up at the festival.

 

Good luck, and happy hunting!

Aaron

To learn more about Aaron LaPedis, visit www.thegaragesalemillionaire.com or contact him at thegaragesalemillionaire@gmail.com.

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A deal is never done until the money’s in the bank

Don’t count your chickens before they hatch.

That old proverb rings particularly true when it comes to selling in the second hand market. If you’ve ever sold something and gotten all excited only to wind up not getting paid, you know what I’m talking about. These situations not only leave you hanging, but they often cause you to lose other potential buyers as well, almost doubling the sting of disappointment.

I find that at least once a month I’m reminded that people are not always as honest as they claim to be. I am constantly asked to hold an item for a week or a month because the buyer claims they can’t buy it now, but they will definitely be able to buy it at said future date. No matter the sob story they present or the number of promises they make, you can never be sure they will come through – and in my experience, they almost always leave you hanging.

I am constantly asked to hold WDCC pieces. I was once asked to hold this particular piece for three months with no deposit. I refused, but miraculously the item was still available three months later. As you can imagine, I contacted the buyer, but they still did not have the funds to buy the item.

The only way to protect yourself from this kind of disappointment is to require a non-refundable deposit. This immediately weeds out a good percentage of the flakey buyers. I recommend that you require at least 15% of the total price. This way if they don’t pay by the agreed upon date, you at least have something to cover your loss of selling time.

I do understand that we all want to be kind and help out our fellow man when we can, but I guarantee you that if a buyer can’t pay you for at least 15% of the item now, they aren’t going to be able to pay you the full amount in two to three weeks.

One more thing to note for these types of situations is that you want to make sure you put everything in writing. Draft some sort of document for both of you to sign stating that both parties agree to the time frame and the total amount due, and don’t forget to include that the deposit is non-refundable. A lot of my friends like to call this tactic ”having skin the game.” It really is the only way to protect yourself as a seller. Words are worthless if they’re not backed up with action.

Good luck on all your selling adventures.

Happy hunting!

-Aaron

To learn more about Aaron LaPedis, visit www.thegaragesalemillionaire.com or contact him at thegaragesalemillionaire@gmail.com.

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How garage sale millionaires are made

Last week I had someone come into my art gallery to offer me a Disney animation cel. For those of you who aren’t familiar, animation cels are prints that come from the production of an animated show, ie. Disney, Warner Brothers, etc. These cels can range in value anywhere between a few hundred to several thousand dollars depending on the rarity and condition of the piece.

The cel this man was looking to sell is titled “The Mighty Duck” and depicts a scene from Disney’s The Hockey Champ (1939). It was already framed and both the piece itself and the frame were in excellent condition. The man also had the original certificate of authenticity to go with the cel – a major plus.

 

So I asked the man what he was looking to sell the piece for and he replied with a flat “$200.” I was familiar with the piece and new he was offering a great price, so I bought it. After paying the man, I asked where he had acquired the piece, and it turns out he bought it at a garage sale that was selling a large collection of cels. I asked him if he would mind sharing how much he paid for it. The man was afraid to answer me, fearing I would be upset at how much I had paid, so he simply said he got the piece at a “dirt cheap garage sale price.” The true retail value of this piece is over $1,000, so no matter what he made off of my purchase, I still got a great deal.

This story leads me to two main points:

1. The question I get asked most often: Are there still good deals at garage sales? Absolutely. It doesn’t matter what state, city or county you’re in, there will always be good deals if you’re looking in the right places.

2. Almost as important as #1, the people who originally sold this cel and others for dirt cheap were most likely given or inherited these cels from a family member. Odds are pretty good that they were simply downsizing and had no idea what this particular cel, or any others, were truly worth. So my advice goes as follows:

When you have valuable items in your home that aren’t commonly known for their value, you should keep an active list of your inventory. Be sure to include their appraised value, the appraisal itself and even a record of what you paid for them. This will help you ensure you are properly insuring your items in case of a theft of tragedy. An inventory list will also come in handy for any future owners of your possessions (think family inheritance or gifts). The last thing you would want is for a friend or family member to stick your items in the cheap section of their garage sale because they didn’t know how much they were truly worth.

 

With that, I’ll leave you with just one final thought:

A true garage sale millionaire always understands what his/her items are worth before they sell them.

The person that doesn’t know what they’re selling is the one that creates wealth for other garage sale millionaires.

Which person are you?

 

Good luck, and happy hunting!

-Aaron

To learn more about Aaron LaPedis, visit www.thegaragesalemillionaire.com or contact him at thegaragesalemillionaire@gmail.com.

 

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What’s hiding in your closet?

Since this is National Organization month, this is the perfect time to talk about cleaning your house. And since I’m the Garage Sale Millionaire why not make some money doing it?

As I’ve learned as recently as today, when you go through closets, garages and basements, there are a lot of items that you don’t use, not to mention items you didn’t know you had.

For example, I went through my closet today and noticed that I have a lot of baseball hats. I decided to pull them out and see if there were any that I could get rid of when out fell a watch. I don’t wear baseball hats all that often, so this watch had to be in there for at least a year. It was once my favorite watch, but since I had clearly forgotten about it, I haven’t worn it in ages. I could decide to keep the watch and start wearing it again, but I’ve since replaced it with other timepieces, so I think it’s time to sell it.

This is the watch I found hiding in my closet.

I certainly don’t think everyone is going to start organizing their closet and find a watch hiding in there, but you could find something else you didn’t know you had. It could be as simple as finding a few old records you don’t listen to, dvds you don’t like or a suit you don’t fit into anymore that could easily be sold. All these thigns can help you not only make space to organize your other items, but it could help you make some extra money to pay those annoying credit card bills that might be starting to show up.

Have a great week.

Good luck. And happy hunting!

-Aaron

To learn more about Aaron LaPedis, visit www.thegaragesalemillionaire.com or contact him at thegaragesalemillionaire@gmail.com.

Don’t be undersold on eBay

I’m sure you’ve all heard me say that when you’re selling items on eBay you need to search both current and completed listings to get a good starting price for your item. But what do you do if your item has never been listed or sold before? What if you’ve searched everywhere and can’t find [...]

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Reliving your childhood through toys from the past

With the holidays fast approaching, I’ve begun looking through my items and different collections for things I can part with. I plan to use my downsizing efforts to fund the presents I will buy for family friends (a great idea if you’re strapped for cash this year!). When I was looking through my items this past weekend, I came across an antique wind up race car tucked away in a cupboard. I took the key, wound it up and let the toy shoot across my desk. I was instantly reminded of all of my favorite childhood toys.

No, I’m not quite old enough to have played with tin toys as a child, but I did have a few great toys when I was a child, and that race car reminded me of all of them. That’s the beauty of a these kinds of antiques. Not only are they rare, and thus collectible, but they also carry a nostalgic quality that we all enjoy, making them even more desirable. The joy of receiving a quality toy that provides countless hours of entertainment and happiness can’t be rivaled.

Continue reading →

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The last Twinkie on Earth

These days mark the end of an era for Twinkie lovers across the globe. Hostess has announced that it will be closing its doors, due in part to a baker’s strike. While this may be a sad day for you, I encourage you to look on the bright side: this could be a great money making opportunity!  While this may be hard to believe, I encourage you to set aside your desires for the cream-filled treat and think about the situation that has come into light.

When a company closes down (or in more common fashion, stops production on a certain item/product) that company, and all of its products, are brought into the media spotlight. This creates a frenzy of demand, raising prices.

If you have the opportunity to buy a box or two of Twinkies, you might be able to resell them for a nice profit. If you check eBay, there are currently listings ranging from the standard cost all the way up to $2,500,000 for a 24 count box. And while it’s hard to believe anyone would pay into the millions for a couple of a Twinkies, if you search the completed listings, you’ll see that someone paid $10,000 for nothing more than a two pack of Twinkies and a two pack of Hostess Cupcakes. Shocking!

What’s also shocking is the price increase on Twinkies collectibles. Items such as lunchboxes and figurines tend to sky rocket in value in situations like these; and collectibles might be a better investment since, contrary to popular belief, Twinkies do not actually last forever, but only for a few months after packaging.

Now I must warn you that although this all seems like an unbeatable opportunity, be aware that these cream-filled delights will only be worth this much for a short while. As quickly as the value has risen, it will in turn fall. So if you decide to jump in the game, do so quickly. You don’t want to be the one holding the bag full of Twinkies when the clock runs out!

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Deal Hunting Hiatus

Hello fellow garage sale hunters! I regret to inform you that I’ll be taking the month of October off from blogging. I’ve had a great deal of projects come up – including some rather large collections I intend to sort, research and resell – and unfortunately will not be able to maintain my weekly postings. I recommend that you take this time to put together one last garage sale for the season! October is a great month to clean out your summer clothes and items and get them sold before it’s too cold to showcase them in your driveway for a good price.

Pick a room in your house and go through every drawer and every closet. Make piles of items you don’t use, items that can be easily cleaned up or repaired and items you want to keep. After everything is cleaned out, only put away your pile of “keepers,” which will hopefully be the smallest pile! Remember, if you haven’t used or worn it in a month or two, it probably isn’t worth keeping.

After you’ve gone through every room in the house, take the time to tackle your repair pile. If it just needs a quick dusting or cleaning, it’s probably going to be worth your time to clean it up and get a bit more money for it. If you aren’t sure what something is worth, check the Internet; eBay can be a great pricing guide. Do remember, however, that you’re throwing a garage sale; you won’t necessarily be able to get the same prices you see listed on eBay. Your main goal is to get rid of things you don’t use or need, so use the prices you find as a general guide and make sure to offer a fair deal to your buyers. No one is going to buy a used item at full retail.

Don’t forget to advertise your sale. TagSellIt.com is a great platform to use to reach a wide range of shoppers. Be sure to mention your big ticket items to draw in a crowd. Make sure you put up large, brightly colored signs directing your shoppers to the sale. Be sure to include a date so no one is confused!

Finally, and perhaps most importantly, after you’ve spent the time preparing to be successful, have fun! Garage sales are a great way to meet people in your community. You can even recruit neighbors to add items and help out with the sale. The more the merrier!

I hope to hear all about your garage sale success when I come back in November! And in the meantime, feel free to see what I’m up to on facebook and Twitter!

Good luck and happy hunting!

- Aaron

learn more about Aaron LaPedis, visit www.thegaragesalemillionaire.com or contact him at thegaragesalemillionaire@gmail.com.