Taking up space
Somehow April flew by, and it feel like some kind of ironic joke - March was about making space, April filled it right back up. I bought quite a bit. And listed even less. However, I did make a bit more than normal, so I'm doing something right.
But should I keep going? Let's find out.
By the numbers
Spend: $423.11
Gross profit: $1,110.14
Net profit this month: $677.03
Listed on eBay: 76 (compared to 97 last month)
eBay rating: 98.9%
What Sold
Highlights
Silk Stalkings
Jackpots are hard to come by in this biz. The 100x profits are not every day. They're barely every month. But April delivered with the sale of the 5th season of Silk Stalkings - $149.95 Don't ask me what it's about, I just know it's money, baby!
Starla appears
I didn't get too far with Instagram progress but I did manage to share a streak of toys other resellers should buy. And the very first toy that came to mind was Starla - the cowgirl monster truck from the TV show Blaze and the Monster Machines. By the thrifting gods and the blessed manifesting powers of The Secret, I found her in the toy aisle within the same week of posting! Sold her days later for a whopping $50 too!
Mark it down
Beyond the serious profits this month, I did manage to follow up on a goal I set last month to experiment with eBay sales. Earlier in April, I tried a quick 24-hour markdown sale, putting my entire store at a 10% discount. Didn't want to get too carried away, especially on some of the cheaper toys I have in my store. However, the initial sale only resulted in a single purchase. Overseas. An eBay buyer found a brand-new but thrifted Pumpkin Pie Yankee Candle.
Round the corner
Over an April weekend, my brother sent me a local Facebook post about a garage sale. Luckily, he's always looking out for me and this particular sale was literally around the corner. I bolted out the door and found a table of Imaginext characters and some other goodies, including two sealed (but battered) WWF Hasbro wrestlers. At the time of writing this, one already sold for $60! (I paid about $3.50.)
Action figure stash
I don't know what collector changed his mind or culled his collection but, around the third week of April, my trips to the thrift stores resulted in way more vintage action figures than normal. One Tuesday morning delivered the guy I'd be seeking out all along - The Toxic Avenger, New Jersey's first superhero. Plus, I found some bonus Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. I kept noticing a bunch of other goodies in bags along the toy wall and kept frantically grabbing. Lucky for me, my regular competition was nowhere to be found. And then again, two days later, even ten minutes late to the start of the day, I was able to snag some more bags, with some variations of power rangers inside.
Last but not least, I thought listing less than 100 items would be a failure, but it seems that listing doesn't always correlate to profits. It was a lucrative month despite the space closing in. I'll have to keep that in mind on the days when I just can't make time to list.
Fails
Drop in the ratings
I had finally inched my way to 99.5% this month, making up for an early career flub reselling a video game that apparently didn't work. Well, this month delivered my most recent failure. It seems that despite all the packages I drop off at my local USPS office being shipped successfully, a brand new DVD copy of Romeo & Juliet didn't make it out of Hoboken. Even still the tracking number says it's sitting blocks from me. Needless to say, the buyer didn't appreciate the late purchase that never showed. They lit me up on the eBay reviews and my proud 99.5% dropped severely down to 98.9% It's a long way to the top if you want to rock and roll.
Perfectionism is a bitch
While I might have listed enough and experimented with sales, I didn't find the time or courage to start posting more on Instagram. I still have the idea to pivot harder to teaching others the ropes, but I'm stalled by perfectionism. I want a consistent style decided before I began to share, which is probably not even necessary. I'm just concerned I'll annoy my followers sharing something consistently new. But who cares!? The whole point is finding the right audience. If people unfollow, let them!
Going forward
It's funny how the home decor side of things still manages to stay in the loop. A local friend and fellow thrifter reached out about organizing a flea market of sorts in East Rutherford. She wanted to know if I'd like to join and sell my things. Naturally, I said yes. This would be a great time to cull the collection of home decor items that are still collecting dust on my kitchen shelves. If you're reading this and you're not too far, come swing by the Good Times Trading Post - May 16th, 12-6pm, 20 Winter Place, East Rutherford, New Jersey.
I'm still stuck to this idea of teaching reselling. While I'm finding that reselling toys from the thrifts might not be the fastest or best route to riches, it is a fun hobby and something worth sharing. I haven't decided yet how I can generate a community of customers but I have a few ideas. And I think there is an appetite out there. I've always seen comment sections in YouTube videos of the occasional toy theme. There is not enough content out there. Plus, the best part is the information lives on. You can post a hundred tips on an Instagram account and new fans could arrive all the time. And it could take some of the pressure off my back hunting so hard from week to week. Less research, more success.
Let's see what this means next month.
