Hey, eBay sellers. It's Suzanne a Wells, your host, and welcome to episode number 49 of eBay the right way. Today's date is February 23 2022. Wow, we are getting really close to the one year anniversary of this podcast that went by so fast. Today's guest is Jennifer Elliot. And her motto is don't pigeonhole
yourself diversify. And make sure you listen all the way to the end, as Jennifer remembered some details after we recorded the podcast, which is totally understandable, because it can be a challenge to remember details during an interview when you're put on the spot, which I try not to do, but sometimes the details come later. So when that happens, I include them at the end. Before we get into the interview, we're going to do a quick calendar check in. And let's jump ahead to February 28,
the last day of this month. The question is how many items did you list this month? Just fill in that number. There's no right or wrong answer. Some months, you list more than others. But this will help you track your progress. Especially if you're trying to accomplish more every month and list more items. And you can track this just on a notepad just write down the number of items you listed each day of that month or write it directly on the calendar. Do it on the notepad on your phone,
however you want to do it. But the bottom line here is you can't improve what you don't measure. So let's say you count up those items that you listed. And it was 50 for the month. You can push yourself the next month maybe to do 55 or 60 or whatever number is going to work for you. But just remember, you can't improve what you don't measure. Okay, and now we will get into the chat with Jennifer. We have Jennifer Elliot with us on this episode. And where exactly are you located? Jennifer?
I am from Hudson, Wisconsin. So right on the border of Minnesota. And I'm about 20 minutes away from St. Paul, which is right next to Minneapolis. So the cities. Have you heard of Bloomington? I have the Mall of America. Okay, that's where my little brother was born when we lived in Minnesota for a short time in the 60s. Bloomington, Minnesota. Yeah, me I have gone we go there often. The Mall of America is there. So that's its claim to fame. Right. And my kids have been there they went on a
trip with their dad. So they've been more places in the world than I have. But they did go there. And you know, this was in the mid 2000s I think and there was a big bridge collapse up there. Oh, yes. Do you remember that? I do. Yeah, that was on the news for a long time. Yeah, that was scary. I I remember it because we do everything in Minnesota even though we live in Wisconsin, so workshop play all Minnesota and so it's always scary when you can kind of picture that could have been you
on there. I mean, I didn't take it daily. But enough were you think about that. Yeah, that was sad. Well, they were there near that bridge the day that happened. So I saw it on the news. And it was like Yeah, Mom, we're right near there. texting them and anyway, wow, that was That was harsh. Yeah, that was Yeah. Okay, well onto eBay. So I picked you out from the supersize and the mega size sales because it just kept
seeing your name popping up. And so let's talk about when you first started eBay and what what event are you Why you got started selling on eBay? Well, my husband has had our eBay account since June of 2000. So it's been on there for a long time, but I never released sold, I'd say, around 2000 in like, five. I did cabbie for a short time. I sold cabbie clothes. Oh, see a big cat. Yes. Okay, gotcha. Like I actually did the parties and brought the clothes and people would buy.
Okay, so that was a direct sales model where you had to sell to people having parties and nothing online. Correct. Yeah. And I did that for maybe a year, and it was fine. But I just kind of got out of it. And I used eBay to sell the remnants or the rest of my stock. And then I never really did it again. Until 2019, May of 2019. So pretty new. And that's kind of when I discovered I could sell other things. Like from Goodwill. It never occurred
to me before that. So it was kind of, I wish it would have occurred to me back after cabbie, because that was kind of when the housing market wasn't doing good. And we could have probably use the extra money more than it would have been a really nice time. But honestly, I probably had never even stepped foot into goodwill at that point in my life. So just wasn't meant to be then. But I didn't know about the
stores either. Until someone I was working with in 2003, who just had the greatest fashion sense. She was always very put together and edgy and fun. And I was like, really hate your clothes, just like Goodwill. Like, what do you mean? I didn't know you could buy stuff there. I thought it was just a place to take things to get rid of them. Yeah, to donate. Yep. And then when I was shopping in there, I had lost my job and gone through a
divorce. And I was looking for professional clothing due on job interviews, because my background was in corporate and banking and all that. And that's what I went there for. And then the idea, like you said, you put it together. Here's all this stuff I can sell. And I thought it was the most novel idea ever. Yeah, nobody's thought of this. And really, that was 16 years
before you started doing it. So yeah, for the seller's listening, just because you can put it together in your mind doesn't mean everybody else can. Yeah, a lot of people don't even know this goes on. They'll ask you questions about items. And you're like, I don't know, this was in the state sale. Fine. I don't know the history. And they don't even realize that we're getting stuff from thrift stores and wherever.
Yeah, exactly. Yeah. It still didn't even occur to me much until I ran into one of my really good friends at Target. And she was there and she's like, Oh, I'm just buying some shipping supplies because I sold something on Macari. And I was like, oh, what's Macari? And so she's telling me that it's this app. And, and I was like, that's
a really good idea. I should sell just some of the stuff we have around home, the girls my girls things and and so we went I went home and I eventually, like downloaded mCherry and looked on there. And I was I think I listed a couple things. But I got kind of bored with that fast with my own stuff. And I realized that there was this woman on there selling pottery like mad and I'm like, wow, she is raking it in and her name was Ray done. And I was like this woman is amazing. I thought I
was like this. I thought it was a woman like literally just selling her own pottery. I was so out of it. So I remember googling who Ray Dunn was and I realized that it was this thing that people were doing and they would go to home goods or Marshalls or TJ Maxx and they would buy and then sell the more hard to find pieces. So I kind of played around with that. And I did that for actually quite a while I quite a few months I would go and I would find things and I would sell it on McCarty.
That got kind of old fast too, though, because your cost of goods is higher and it's everything. I got very good at shipping breakables right away. So that was kind of I guess, a good learning point. But I started exploring YouTube. So really, YouTube is my biggest reason. It taught me about Goodwill. It taught me about eBay. And so I eventually just switched to eBay. And I did mostly closed in the beginning, like everybody, because that was the YouTube people I was
finding. And then I just branched out and I found you and I found others. And I've joined your premium library in the beginning. And I like just took everything I could take in about everything. Thank you. I appreciate that. Yeah, I just I kind of was like, you know, this is almost like a college education just sitting here on YouTube for anyone to have. And it literally, yeah, I would just would listen as I was doing things, or, yeah, I just took in as much as I could about
everything. Because then I get kind of bored with clothes. It's not my favorite. I didn't like the measuring and I don't know the returns. So I kind of stuck with men's because men's clothing returned less than women's. And yeah, that's true. Yeah. And I did that for a man shop differently. And I started off with golf shirts and men's clothing. And what I saw was, they will buy multiples of something, you know, five, golf shirt size large, like they know
what they want. They they go on, they buy multiples, they're stocked up, they know their size, women's clothing is so inconsistent. Last sizing, like you really don't know if it's gonna fit, even if you put measurements because everybody is shaped differently. And unless you have one exactly like it that you're measuring, and you know that Ralph Lauren thing fits you perfectly. Women's clothing is so much more inconsistent. But I did notice with men, they it's like they do
their once a year shopping. They go on and they buy all my stuff. And they're done. Yep, exactly. I'll still scan men's shoes and basic, like if something jumps out at me, I still will. But overall, I'd kind of switched to hard goods. And well, let me back up a second to re done because listeners might not know what that is. It's ra e, d u n n. It's a person's name. She's an artist. And her signature look is usually something white with long skinny letters. So might be a bird
house, it says bird on it. Or salt and pepper shakers, it just say salt and pepper. It's very plain looking. A lot of it is not all of it. But if you don't know you just look at and say, Wow, that's just so plain. Like why would anybody want that? And I had a big Ray done sale this week. I sold a set of three mugs. They had like sea surf and swim something like that. And they were beach related. And
they were 80 cents apiece. I put it together and made a set because there had been a set with different ones like that. And I thought oh, for somebody beach house is the perfect. And they sold for $125. Yeah, that's amazing. And that they were different. They had the teal on the inside. Yeah, so that was a little bit different. But so I didn't know about it until a couple years ago. I'm like, What is this ray done? Everybody's talking about? And it's like, why is that so great. It's at TJ
Maxx. It's at home goods, but it depends on when it was made. Not everything you're going to find at TJ Maxx and home goods is going to be valuable. But the earlier pieces that might show up in goodwill or at garage sales are going to be more valuable. Yeah, well her earlier stuff is it can be crazy valuable the stuff I was finding at like home goods, it would be the pieces that they would only release a few of like, there'd be certain birdhouses birdhouses were huge when I was kind of doing it.
Yeah, that's being with her. Yeah. And so I would go in and if I hit it, right, you know, I would, I would catch a couple birdhouses and I could, I'd buy them maybe maybe 20 either 2499 or 2999. But then you turn around and Macari and you could sell it for one or $200 depending on somewhere between that so those were really good you didn't find those as often but certain people would want she did mugs with like names on them, but they couldn't find
their name in their stores. And so if you could find it then they would buy it from you for an upcharge or things like that. It was fun. It was fun because it kind of got me addicted to the hunt part of it. But now I don't think I think it's dropped a lot and I don't think her stuff you going down home goods even the birdhouses now I don't think are you could turn around and resell. Yeah, I think it's like
everything else. like that once the reselling market gets a hold of it, and so many people know the price has dropped some, but don't be discouraged because there's cookie jars and you know, platters and all kinds of things. And it's ceramic. It's breakable. So I am starting to see it more often. I've got some other mugs that are listed now, a set, they're like travel and adventure or something like that. And they're she made so
much stuff. And I don't even know when she started maybe 10 days ago, well, I think she was before she was in home goods and all that. She was in just art studios. She first had her own art studio, then she went into smaller art studios. And so if you can find things from art, the art studios, you're talking like, really big money. But that is not signed the same way. It's
just her name, and stuff. So that those are more, and she still does, I guess make things for outside of home goods, TJ Maxx Marshalls, but they're pretty hard to find, I think. But you never know. Yeah. To my garage sales. And when you're picking you just never know what's gonna show up in front of you that. I mean, it's that's what what keeps us addicted is it's so it's unpredictable. It's like you never know.
That is that is the best part. I remember going into a Goodwill for one of my first times, and ironically, I found an older Ray done mug. And it had an older stamp on it. And I was like, that's so ironic, because but um, and I turned around and I remember I got it for maybe 299. And I sold it for 120 Something that was yeah, it was quick. It was a quick, very quick flip. Yeah. So you have to study the Hallmark
on the bottom. It doesn't say the date it was made, I don't think but it's it's just what it looks like because logos evolved over time. And you can tell the time period something was made if you know that logo history like John Deere, that's evolved over over 100 years. And so depending on what the deer looks like, you can figure out when it was made. So then that's the fun part. For me. It's like, oh, what do I have here? You know, and you spend $1, take it home,
do the research. And sometimes you're pleasantly surprised by how old something is like How did this even get here? I love that I love older like antiques and different things. And I love that research part of those of the vintage things. Now you also homeschool. I do I have three daughters, 1512 and seven. Oh my. Yeah, that 15 and 12 year old I really don't have to do much with fortunately, they're pretty self sufficient, which is nice. my seven year old. She's in first
grade. So she has only been in homeschool because of COVID. And so last year was kindergarten and she couldn't read. So it really involved me a lot. This year, she can read really well. But I still have to be there to direct him. Help her so she does take her do homeschooling all along. Are you only transitioned during COVID Well, I always leave my girls have been in school. And then the plan was once they hit middle school, they were going to homeschool and then we decide
for high school what to do. So my oldest daughter when COVID hit she was actually in her first year of homeschool and which was kind of nice because I had already done all the research on which school and her education was never interrupted. She just had her full year like normal which was yeah, that is a plus. Yeah, and then the following year was when it was still really bad and so we just I just knew I was gonna keep my other two and I knew what school to put him in so that was nice.
And yeah, and now my so far my 15 and 12 year old don't want to go back they are enjoying it a lot so and my seven year old I'm torn because I actually really do love homeschooling or it's we're on a really good groove it's really fun to watch her learn and but I would like her to go to school and and get some of those things I can't give her the social part of it you know, but yeah, like the food fights in the cafeteria Yeah, all those great memories we have of being exactly mean I
guess you could have those at home but it's not going to be the same. Yeah, her sisters probably have a few of the good she probably has the fights poked covered self defense tires. Yeah, that's this was on some show some at some point, but I liked this quote. There's a lot of estrogen in that house. So you can ask my husband there. Yeah, it definitely is. So you started kind of just selling your own stuff and moving along. And let's talk about some of your big sales.
I kind of, I knew you're gonna ask that. So I kind of went back and tried to refresh my memory of like the exact numbers. And I think, not long after I started going into hard goods. Okay, first of all, I would say 95% of my inventory comes from Goodwill. And it's just, it fits my life, just with what it is. Now I can go into business hours, when I'm out, I can run in, I never, I don't have a schedule. So I don't really know what days or it just has to be
there when I can do it. Now, I'd say the other 5% comes from Facebook marketplace, because it's again, something I can just do when I have the time. And so, but ironically, my biggest sales probably come from Facebook marketplace there that 5%. And I think it's a really nice tool, it's getting a little harder now that they've opened it up. And it's just become more resellers on there. But you can sit and
scroll and look and look. And then you can find something and you can really take your time and research and really decide if if you take a little bit of a chance and buy something that's maybe a little more spendy if it would actually sell and you know, so I do a lot of that. So my biggest sale was actually on Facebook marketplace. And it was a Chicago stained glass lamp. And it was an antique. And I bought it from a man locally for
$300. And I sold it. It took about six months, probably, which was actually faster than I was kind of expecting it to sell. But it's sold for 1200. Wow. So yeah, that was my biggest and that was terrifying to ship. I literally went to Walmart and bought brand new full pillows. And like, I just shoved like pillows, in everything and around everything amongst everything else. So not recently. Um, no, that was probably fall of 2019 or so. Okay, did you post that on the group? I don't know if I did.
Well, I posting about the pillows. I've seen other people that are they'll say yeah, when I'm out thrifting and I see pillows for really cheap that are clean. You know, I'll get those to keep on hand it uses packing material just has a really creative idea. I mean, everybody knows about the pool noodles and all that. But yeah. Some of those even like the travel pillows you put around your neck, those can be good for putting around things to cushion
them. And you know, they're not going to be super heavy and add that much weight. But what's better to cushion something fragile than pillows? Yeah, exactly. And I bought them I just went to Walmart. So they were their cheapest ones. I didn't care about their quality, but they were I left them in their wrapping so that she would
know they were new. Oh, right. I know she could donate or keep or whatever she wanted to do with it, you know, but I separated the shade the glass shade from the really like give us a hard brass autumn and pack them separate. But just it's funny, it got there and it was safe. And she left a review and she was really happy. But she did say she was like, the packing was slightly ridiculous. I I don't care that's better than this
thing arrived in 5000 pieces. So yeah, and it would have broke my heart because I did a lot of research on that. And I learned about the company, the Chicago company and it was it's truly it was an antique it had a lot of history to it. And so not just I didn't know it wasn't all just about the money like I really wanted it to be somewhere where somebody was appreciating and enjoying it because it was such a cool piece you know in history like that, but you were smart to
take it apart. And I think as for the listeners as your eBay business evolves, you you start looking at things like that before you buy them buy How am I going to ship this does this come apart? Can I you know, take it apart and pack it in pieces and your your brain starts looking at things differently. It's like, No, this is one piece you know, that's gonna be really hard to ship like maybe a chandelier or light fixture that has all those globes that they
don't come off. You know, that's, that's going to be a beast. But I've seen several people post floor lamps, table lamps where, you know, it comes apart into five pieces or whatever, and it just makes it so much easier. That's how a store would ship it to you. Right? They will take it apart. Maybe it would be on assembled. Yeah. And I think you have to think to what is going to make it worth that kind of stress and work in for me that Dollar Point was worth my dollars, I was
going to be good with it. You know, if it was $300.02, five, even then I probably start getting pretty mad when I wish. You know, if it was only $100 or whatever $200 profit, I'd be questioning whether it was worth it, but But I mean, even just like a set of coffee mugs? What? Yes, those three mugs and everybody knows I hate shipping stuff like that, but $425 a $2 for him. So
absolutely. I wrapped each one and bubble wrap, put each one in its own cube box, and then put those boxes in a bigger box with lots of packing material. And the test is does it shake? Yes, you seal it if it doesn't shake? And is there enough cushioning on the perimeter of it so that if it does fall off the back of a truck or gets thrown around or whatever, that there's enough cushioning there. And you guys just don't write fragile on
anything? No, I don't. And that is an invitation for whoever the shipping company is ups, USPS, whatever. I mean, you've seen these videos on YouTube, where they see fragile stickers all over something. And that's an invitation that's a challenge to see if they can kick it around in a break or they throw it against the wall or whatever. So just just be incognito, just pack it well and don't put any words on the outsides indicate this is fragile, because that might come back to bite you.
Yeah. And yeah, what you said about shaking, that's a huge thing. I do have this one. I don't know if it's really a tip. But it's one thing I discovered over time that I love for packing. So I will put like, over a mug or something that's pretty, you know, outside, I will use tissue paper to kind of soft because it's softer. And then I actually go to Home Depot and I buy it's the brown paper that they use for flooring. And,
and it's thicker. So as a packaging, and I'll take a piece of that, and I'll wrap over the tissue paper of whatever fragile and then I'll bubble wrap. And it's it's pretty thick. So you really it really gives it like an extra barrier. And I'll also use that, you know, in between to help it not move or shake. But yeah, it's just it's at home. And I know if you buy it comes in really big rolls. And so um, you know, at our home depot, at least if you buy a few of them, you get like a
discount. Because for you know, quantity and stuff. So that stuff. It's stiffer than just your typical packing paper. And so I feel like it really you can really make it keep whatever you're doing firm. They lay it down before like if you were to get new floors, like hardwood floors or something, they lay it down on the floor. I don't know ever since I've started using it though. I've I've only had a few things break over the three years I've been doing this or
so. But um, maybe one or two things, but never since I've started using that. Well, and I think the key to packing breakables is multiple layers. Yes, it's not just bubble wrap it's do bubble wrap and then put put in a box or put cardboard around it and then puts more bubble wrap around that and you've got all these layers that have air in them because bubble wrap is just air.
So that's really the trick is, is just keep layering it and then do that shake test so you don't hear anything moving around and you should be good. Yeah, yeah. Okay, what's another big sale? Um, I think I can credit you for this. I'm pretty sure it was on one of your videos or one of your followers few years ago posted about that Douglas Simba or Lion King? Oh, yes. That's my solo book too. Yeah, the giant five foot long plush Simba from The Lion King. Yes. But it's like specifically the
Douglas. Three I think is they only made a few. Yeah, it was a promotional item. I think And the query, the manufacturer is Douglas, who also makes all kinds of plush, but that is like the Holy Grail of plush. Yes, that Simba. Yes. And I was fortunate that was exciting. I found. It was like a Saturday afternoon. And we're being lazy. And I normally talk about later, but I was scrolling on Facebook marketplace. And I came across that. And it just triggered that memory of learning that it was
just stuck in my brain. And so I got really excited and I texted the guy. And he said, oh, it just, it had been on there for a long time. And he's like, I just promised it to somebody. And I was like, No. And I just told them, Well, if it falls through, I can come get it today. And I think he was asking 150 And they said, I will give you 175. And I will come today and get it. Oh, yeah. That offered more. Which is probably Babu not so nice, because he did email back in
like an hour. And he's like, okay, it's yours. If you come get it today. That guy can't compete with that. And I'm like, Oh, sweet. So I made my husband get up and we drove. I was probably 25 minutes or so to get him. He was in really good shape. And I listed him that night and he sold for 999 plus shipping. That really Yes. $1,000 basically is in dollars. Yeah. So that was a great that was that was really
fun. It's always extra exciting when you can do it all in like a day or this really short time period. And you're like, wow, that wait, how long did it take to sell that day? So I got I found him bottom, listed them and sold them all in Saturday. Oh my gosh, that Monday? Yeah, that's fantastic. I love those days. Yeah, that's why I'm always so motivated to list because it could sell that day. Yeah. And I went shopping the other day, and I found a bunch of leather boots, which is kind
of unusual for here. Yeah. And all of them were going to sell for over 100. And so last night, I'm like, so tired. I'm like, I really want to get these listed, but I'm just gonna have to wait till tomorrow. But you just know, it just eats away at you like list me list me because I could sell in five minutes. Yeah, I'm not always that great at listing right away, but for certain items that you know, are big, Ben the motivations even more?
Well, and that's like the Holy Grail of plush or into any other listed either. So that made it even more. Yeah. And so when you find those things, you're absolutely motivated to get them listed right away because they are rare. They're very scarce. What kinds of items do you gravitate towards when you're shopping for inventory? You know, I have certain items that make me a little bit more excited. Like I'm like, Oh, I'm gonna go into the toy aisle now and I get
more excited. But honestly, my my I don't know if you want to say motto. But what I've decided to do is just to try to learn something about every aisle. And that's why I just I watched videos, I watched things I watch a lot of bolo videos, I try to find things in every single aisle because I wanted to go into a goodwill and be able to go up and down each aisle and have something that I knew about
or something to look for. And granted most of the time I still find things that I had no idea existed five minutes before that, but you know, and so I keep trying to expand I don't want to get stuck I don't really think I have a specific category even though I will say plush has been very good to me. I and I do enjoy plush I actually kind of first went from like not wanting to touch them and dig through them to like I'm all in there like a pig in mud. And I have made some good money
on plush and I like toys. I don't know toys just make me happy. And I I'll find bags of things and I'll take a picture and I'll send it to my daughter and I'll be like what are these and she'll know like some dollar some. And I've had a few good sales where I'll come home and like I bought a Playmobil Victorian house, and it was just in a box just not together at
all. And my 12 year old and I sat there for a few hours and she researched everything and put the pieces together and the sets and we built the house and I oh I loved that. That was fun. Well, I love your 12 year old Because, yeah. When we were talking about doing this podcast, you're like, Well, I don't know. Um, you were kind of on the fence and then your daughters were like, pushing you to do it. Yeah, absolutely. You're like you have. They're like, why are you even asking?
Like, it's not a choice? Yeah. The thing with toys, as parents or some listeners or grandparents, you don't really know what the end thing is, unless you have kids in your house, or your grandkids playing with the stuff because it changes so much. Yeah. So my kids are now 25 and 28. And their go to things were Blue's Clues bear in the Big Blue House. Arthur, Barney, you know, all the stuff from those years. And so now that stuff is vintage. So that's kind of what
I look for. But I don't know what the end thing is right now. I have no clue. Yeah, other than squish mallows I do know about that. Yes. My 12 year old was shopping with me and goodwill. And she wanted to find something so she was going through plush and she found a squishy. Mellow and so she bought that with her own money. And that's listed. So has some watchers will see a big one or a small I know he's a round. He's a certain kind. I don't remember what it's called. But
he's just round. So I think you can like stack them. They're like stackable ones. Oh, okay. Yeah, I've sold some of the little like five inch for 20 to $30. And I sold a frog. Like December 19. It was a little frog. And the lady got it. And she was mad because it wasn't the one her daughter wanted for Crystal V. I was like, well, then why'd you buy it? He was like, oh, it's, it's different than these other ones she wanted and like, why are you waiting till December 19 to get
it anyway. And she's like, Well, I'm just gonna give it to her anyway, and just see what she thinks. And I may be returning it and never heard from her again. So the kid was probably just happy to get it. And then I found one that was a justice store collaboration, you know, justice? Well, you know, that store, and you have three. Everything has sequins on it, or a brand or for something? Yes. And it was a collaboration with
them. And it's a unicorn, it's actually called a llama corn, because it is a llama unicorn combo. And so I I saw that sitting on a couch in goodwill, like somebody had it. And they just say I don't want this. They throw it over there. So I was like, oh, and put it in my cart. That was right when I walked in that goodwill. So I had, you know, two and a half hours of shopping ahead of me. And I can't even tell you how many people saw that in my cart. They're like, Oh, you found one.
You found a squishy smell. And I was like, Yeah, and it was a big one. It's like the 20 Something inch. So I have sold it yet. But that's the thing now people know. And everyone was so jealous that that was in my cart. And what I should have done was said, You know what? I wouldn't buy it. Let's go out to the parking lot. And let's make a deal. And I'll sell it to you right now. Yeah, but I thought now my chances of getting a higher price on eBay are better. Yeah, yeah. Yeah, they do. They?
My my 12 year old still loves toys and dolls that she plays with my seven year old a lot and, and LOL dolls. That's the big thing in our house. The I don't know if you know what those are the MGA a little. They're called LOL dolls. And they have the little you can get there you have a ball and you can open them they have the stuff or the bigger dolls. Okay, no, I didn't know about that. Yeah, there. They can be if you find the older ones. They you know, they let them out in generations. So just
to look that up. Yeah, if you can find if you ever seen I think more so in like a garage sale. Like a lot of them. You could put them together and they'd be worth a lot of I told my girls this is something they have to keep because they will be when they are older. For sure at wit's end gently Yes. That these days, keep the boxes No.
Well, when I sold on Amazon, I knew toys and that was 2009 to about 2013 Because every Christmas something would be popular and we'd all rush out to the stores to buy some to put on Amazon and sell for three or four times the shelf price that was just a business model that I did at the time. And I remember shoes, you pets, those little motorized hamsters. And what's the doll? It's an L word. It's a funny name. And they look weird. They have long, Lucy. Yes, Lalaloopsy dolls, and Doc
McStuffins. And all these action figures. And I knew all that stuff at the time. But that business model is really exhausting, because you're just constantly chasing down the next hot thing. And you never know when it's going to turn. And that thing isn't going to be popular anymore. Or there's too many people selling it. So the price drops. Yep. So now I'm seeing all those things in goodwill, those Lalaloopsy dolls. I'm like, Oh, really? It's been 10 years since I sold?
Yeah, yeah, I've done I don't do a lot of retail arbitrage. But I've actually have done it with those LOL dolls. Because you know, right before Christmas, when they put their stock out, they'll they'll kind of clearance some out or right after and I bought those before, and then sold them. And it's weird, because I think almost all of them may be bad, like for big boxes of the set of dolls. And I think all of them went to like Mexico. And so I don't know if they just don't have access
to them. They're like they do here or what? But yeah, almost every single one of them went to Puerto Rico or Mexico. got yours. Yeah, South America somewhere. Yeah. You never know. It's it's odd. So many collectible plush go to Japan. Hmm, I can't explain that. But it's a fact. I've sold Yeah. Japan and China. Yeah. Yeah. global shipping is a good thing. So you do the actual global shipping program? I do. Yeah. I've been too lazy to kind of look into I know you've talked about another?
Well, I'll go ahead and say it for you. And the listeners, the eBay standard International, is eBay's version of first class International, it goes up to 66 pounds. And it comes with $100 worth of insurance. And it's under the eBay umbrella. So if anything goes wrong, it's just like global shipping. They step in and take care of it. The issue with global shipping is everything's priority. So it starts at a much higher price. So you can offer both and let
the buyer pick. And a lot of times, they're gonna pick that eBay standard international because it's cheaper by a significant dollar amount. Okay, yeah, I should really look into that and go through your listings and just bulk edit and add that to all your listings and just see what happens. But it does have that insurance on it. And you can always add more. Right? It's a very expensive item. But I feel like only using global shipping is restricting who's going to buy your item?
Because, yes, a lot of things do sell and they pay that high shipping costs. But if you have both of those on there, they may pick the lower price one and you might get the sale whereas you wouldn't have if you only offered global shipping. Yeah, that's good to know. I think I had posted it's kind of a sad story I had posted on that lantern. Um, recently that woman ran. Yes, that was crazy. Because I found that in goodwill, and it was in such
amazing condition. I did research it and even in the condition it was it sold for what it is, but it's sold to a guy in China. And I packaged it so good. I was very proud of myself and I shipped it off. And that was another thing it just the history behind it. It was from the 60s it still had the stamp on the box of the store that it was bought at and in which was right no longer there. Right and right where I grew up kind of in Minnesota. And it was
just really cool. And I we got a message from eBay that said that you cannot ship that item to China, they you can't do a link me obviously there was no gas or anything oil with it. But you couldn't ship that item to China anymore. And so they're going to let me keep my money and they're going to refund the buyer but we don't get the lantern back. Oh, I know. I mean, it was nice how it was handled. But I was so
sad. I'm like, I hope they don't just throw that away or they'll probably sell it themselves or something. I don't know. But it's gone into the black hole of the eBay thing. And like that was way too cool of a piece to just not somebody have it. You know, I know I feel like I have a job to rehome things and get them in the hands of people who
appreciate them. Yes. And Sherry, who was on a previous podcast was talking about that Sherry was talking about how she loves vintage items and loves pretty things and feels like a custodian of these items, getting them to the next point in their journey to someone who will appreciate them well, and then after years of that person having them, they're going to move on to somebody else, hopefully. So it's, there's like
a chain of custody. And we're an important part of that to move that item along to somebody else who appreciates it. Yeah, exactly. Everything that's cool and fine and nostalgic, you want to move those along to other people who can share the joy. Yeah, there's a lot of things I find that aren't necessarily my style, or something that I would have in my home. But I appreciate it very much either for its history, or because somebody made it, I am trying to learn more right now about
linens. So in going through and finding and pay more attention to that section. And I decided to sell it was an Afghan somebody made, and it was kind of the zigzag shape all different colors, and was really big, and it was in very good condition. And I was it just kind of made me sad that somebody had made that and it ended up in a Goodwill for, I don't know, 599 or something and, and I brought that home and listed it and it sold wasn't like huge amount. I think it was
like $40 plus shipping. But it just made me so happy that that person's work was going somewhere that that person, you know that they would really appreciate it and like it and use it. Yeah, I also sold a electricians. It's like a briefcase leather. It had all these loops inside. And I found it I'm like, What is this, and it had a little metal placard thing on the inside Jensen tools, electricians case or
something like that. So all those loops for for all these tools and fuses and all this stuff, electrician reviews, and I had that thing I know at least six months, and just every few months, I would end it and restart it and somebody is gonna love this, somebody is gonna love this. This is very unique. It was from 1982. And sure enough, somebody bought it for full price $110. And he loved feedback that he just loves it. It's in such great shape. And he
was very happy to have it. He didn't say if it was an estate agent piece for him, like, Oh, my dad had one of these or anything like that. But he was just thrilled with it. And that's what keeps us doing this is Oh, that thing was five bucks. And I didn't even know what it was. And I made money selling it. And this guy is totally happy. And it's just like it's gone full circle. Yeah, no, I think that's just what keeps us doing this is feedback is so important from
buyers. Especially if it's emotional and the style that gets replaced something they're very Yeah. Yeah, I try to stick to a specific price point in my mind of you know what, I can make an item but every once in a while, just because I immediately get attached to an item. So I found this bowl. And it was it's so pretty and it's it's Opal and the inside and an outside. It's painted and it's hand painted. And it's signed on the bottom and then it's dated 1924 And I'm like how can I not? How can I
not pick this up? Wait, this is almost an antique like it right? I'm somebody painted this and it is and it's beautiful shape like perfect. Like no chips or cracks or not even crazy, like nothing. And I don't know, I just It blows my mind that it's first even there. And second. I can't let that go to a dump. gonna sell for imagine, like, what has gone to the landfill? Yeah, like I know, eBay sellers that would put on a mask and gloves and a hazmat suit and go dig through there.
Just see like what's in here, you know, under, under all the dirty diapers and everything that's gross in a landfill. There's just got to be so many treasures that are gone forever. And it's sad. It is. It does like kind of, especially those really old items that have made it through for so many years and yeah, right. Now back to the linens because that is often an overlooked category. Yeah, and things don't have to be perfect. Um, have you ever found a Pendleton blanket?
I have not. I actually okay, I do have one listed in my store. But I bought it My husband was in thrift store into a thrift store in the cities. And he kept sending me pictures of things. And there was a Pendleton blanket. And it's, it's more unusual. It has a picture of a run. It's made for like an event. So they put like a picture of a runner on there. And I did get that and it's listed, but I did not find it in the thrift store. And it had sat
for a while. So I think I'm probably asking too much for it. But it's more unique because it has it was made for that event. And yeah, but I did find an I like to think that I willed this into existence because this was another bolo item that I share I probably heard from again, you or one of your Facebook members. But one long time ago about the baby Morgan blanket. Oh yeah, always kind of looked just out of the corner by and I finally did find one like
oh, you do? So Madson the bolo books and look at you found some things that are in there. So that that proves that the information is valid, if yes, or finding stuff that's in there. And that was my goal is there's all kinds of bolo lists out there. And it's not really a bolo, unless you can actually find it, ya know, those antique World War Two bullets or whatever, you know, like, you're not going to find that you're not going to find a thing from the Ming Dynasty or whatever.
But these things that keep popping up that people are actually finding. So I'm so happy you found that. Yeah, the one with the balloons on it. It was and it's got the satin trim. So it's funny because I went and I looked through and I passed it the first time. And I don't know why. But I came back through a second time. And I'm like, I looked at it. And I was like, How is this not a baby Morgan because I looked at the tag and the tag actually doesn't say baby Morgan. It says
something else on it. But then when I decided to just look it up anyway. And then I realized that it was that that's more of like a just, I don't know what you want to call it like a slang name. Or you know what I mean? The outer packaging has baby Morgan on it. But the blanket itself just says, manufacture buy whatever it
threw me actually. And I was just like, I thought maybe this was just a copy of a baby Morgan blanket until I looked it up and realize that no, this was what they you know, part of the company's name and what they call it. So then I got very excited. Yeah, I look for that every time I have not found one. But I found other things that were surprisingly expensive. There's a Christian Dior line that was out in the 90s. And those will
sell for 30 to $40. It's just a very soft baby blanket with the little Dior logo and like flowers. So there's all kinds of things in those baby in the baby linen section, and in the regular linen section, the Ralph Lauren black with the flowers and all that really, I want to say it's gaudy, 90 stuff like yeah, really prints that would be gaudy by today's standards, but everybody had that stuff. Yeah. And they use a Ralph Lauren to really sells for a lot. And in a lot of their stuff, their home
stuff. I have found I have done Ralph Lauren, like dishes. And that was one of my first big for me bigger sales. when I very first started is I saw a plate that had a clock on it, like painted on it. And I turned it over and it was called the pocket watch by Ralph Lauren. And I remember I put it back and then I picked it back up. And I looked it up. And I was shocked. And I sold I think there was two of them. I sold one for 80 and one for 100. And yeah, and they were just like in the tonight.
So then that put Ralph Lauren dishes and stuff on my radar. So every once in a while, I'll go on marketplace and I'll google for Ralph Lauren. And I have found things that way. I've noticed with Facebook marketplace. It is much better to Google or look for a certain item than to just scroll.
Yes. And when you were talking about that earlier, what I used to do when it just started I would keep a list of things to look for a couple times a week, and I was did buy some Lucilla stocking kits for $10 I bought several of them from one person and every single one sold for 80 to 100 So I went look for bucilla I would look for Ferragamo shoes, I would look for any of those things that I knew about that were high dollar bolos like what I would look for
in a thrift store. I just started looking for on marketplace and you can ask Search. So it's very efficient if you can keep a list of what you want to look for. Yeah, I've actually been known to I'll sit and watch your bolo videos or others. And I'll pause it. And I'll just sit there. And I'll look right there if it's something I've never heard of, and I have actually found quite a few things doing. I just did that this week. I, I had never heard of Daisy Kingdom dresses.
Oh, yeah, that's a good one. I had never had heard of that. And so I was watching something and somebody had sold one for a ridiculous amount of money. And so when on Facebook marketplace, and I Googled it, or I keep saying Google, but I looked it up. And right. Yeah. And there was one that I thought was a potential big seller, maybe. And it's I'm taking a chance, I do take chances more. But I paid $125 for Nick got shipped to me, and I just got it yesterday. So we'll see what happens with
that. But yeah, I've done that quite a bit. Where Yeah, and for the listeners, you could actually just take the bolo book, and go on Facebook marketplace and just look for these things. Because not everybody knows everything, or they don't care. They just want to get rid of it. They're trying to downsize, they have to move, whatever, I've been that person where it's just, I got to get out of here, I got to get
rid of this stuff. And you could just take that bolo book and just look those things up, save those searches. And that could be just an easy way to find things without even leaving home. Yes, abled, or your caregiver, or you live where it's bad weather or you have a bunch of kids or it's not easy for everybody to get out and go shopping. There's all kinds of things that prevent that. So yeah, that's a great idea for Yeah. And it's worked. It's worked
well. But back to that row floor and I found a woman, she was selling three items of the Wedgwood, and it was a specific pattern. And it was a bowl of I think, a platter. And how am I gonna say it right cache pot? Is that right? Ca, ch, E. Cache pot? Yeah, it's kind of like a flower pot, but in this Wedgwood pattern, so I got all three of them for $90. And I think they sold if I added it all together, it was about $605 worth of things that sold those. Yeah,
they sold for hundreds. I actually got another one because I like you said, I save that search. So I'll go in and look things up. When I have a moment and person was selling that same pattern, the Wedgwood in the teapot. So I have that listed now too. And that was, that's like a $400 teapot. In that pattern. You're good at finding that expensive stuff. I'm willing to pay up though, so that they look for a ladder, you've got to have there's an element of
risk when you pay more. And it's just, you have to be comfortable with that level of risk. And everybody's comfort level is different. Yes. Or your financial situation is different. I've been that person, the mom struggling to pay for everything like, oh, the kid needs new shoes. Do I buy that? Or do I go to Goodwill and buy inventory? And it's like, yeah, the inventory is going to create more money. But you know, sometimes money's tight, and you can't buy that $50 item. I only get that.
So yeah, and I'm kind of fortunate in our situation. My This is, I mean, we use the money I make, but it's not necessary for our immediate bills and stuff. So I have a little bit more play room and stuff to be able to do that. But I completely. I know a lot of people they love when they get the 25 cent thing at garage
sales or the dollar. And I just, it's just not in the cards for me right now because of what I can timewise what I can do, which is really goodwill, and I really, I've never done an estate sale, I've never gone to the bins I've never I've done some garage saleing and Facebook marketplace since you can save your searches.
That's the kind of thing you can do when you're at the orthodontist waiting for your child or at the soccer game or picking them up from wherever and you've got 15 minutes where you have to sit there or sitting at their basketball practice or
whatever it is. You could be on your phone looking for things during those times where you're just kind of stuck somewhere for a while and yeah, you know, when you when you're waiting for your child at swimming lessons, there's only it's only exciting for so long and then 30 more minutes of this So you can take advantage of those times where you're idle, and look for stuff to sell on your phone. I mean, that's technology's great. You should use it to your advantage.
Definitely. And one thing I forgot to ask you was What is your professional history before you became a mom homeschooling three kids? I went to school and was an aesthetician. Oh, really? Okay. So I did the facials. I worked in a med spa for a little bit. I did. I didn't make up. I loved doing makeup. I didn't wedding makeup and stuff for a while, too. That's what I did. Yeah, I did odd men things too, cuz my husband owned his own business. We just celebrated our 20 years
anniversary. And you know, for 19 of those 20 years, he's worked from home. So I've helped him with that. And there's been sales involved with that, and kind of work does he do? Oh, it's well. So he's technically he's a graphic designer. So he, he does the computer part of it? Yes. And he also he does Amazon though now too. So he's kind of really gotten into the Amazon side of things, with being reps for different tool companies and generators. And yeah, he doesn't
sell generators on Amazon. But the tools he dropped ships in does. Oh, last question I asked all of my guests is, what is your advice for somebody just getting started or who's struggling? Hmm. I think maybe don't pigeonhole yourself. Be like willing to try new things and really take advantage of YouTube. Like, honestly, it's it really is, like an education that's just sitting out there. And I don't know I just I really tried to
diversify with YouTube. And there will be certain people who really my favorite either bolo ones, because it's clean and easy, right? To the point, you know, but there are people who are on there, that's our specialty in plush or specialty in whatever, and you can watch them and take their knowledge. But then you can also learn more than that. And any items do you have in your store? i Right now I have the most I've
ever had, and it's 303. And that's the most I've that's the highest I've ever had I normally from around like the 250 to 275. Mark. So you're trying to get to a certain level? Are you just looking at the income it provides? Yeah, no, I don't I don't have a certain level. I think part of why I have more right now to is my husband has put a few like probably 10 to 12 listings or his my daughter's now want to do it. So they have a couple listings. So that's probably why
it's higher. I just, it's this is what I can keep up with. Right now. In the summer, it maybe changes a little bit because I have a little more time to dedicate to it. But this is the level of listing and shipping that I can handle. you're juggling a lot with homeschooling three kids, a husband home, yourself. Just yeah, just life. Yeah, it's just you're you're in those years now where it's just so busy. And the day just flies by and all of a sudden it's time to cook dinner. You're like, yes,
you just get up. Yes, I know. It is true. And I want I have the goal to list a little bit every day. And I'd like to think I hit that but I don't not every I mean, maybe four days a week I do it. I go in, I'd like to be my personality is to be consistent, you know, but my my reality isn't necessarily that so far. So that's, that's a great way to put it.
But I yeah, I don't know, I just think take risks to like be if you can, if you're able to I think pigeonholing yourself doesn't just go for categories, but it also goes for maybe business model, like, you know, try different things and maybe buy the $20 thing and sell it for 100. If If it works, you know, it works. And I think you have to do that a few times to be confident about it. Because yeah, Sherry was talking about she found a tea
pot on an online auction. I did as much research as she could. She paid $125 for it. I think it sold for over 500 But she was like yeah, I might be out that $100 And if that's the worst thing, then we'll just keep going. Because you can always get more money. You know, if you look back at your life, money's it's just there. It keeps coming in you work you make money. It's not the end of the world if you lose money on something. That's an education, you're paying for knowledge.
Yes, I remember you said that in one of your videos. And that is always stuck with me like, rarely, but I mean, I will like think I have something good, I'll bring it home. And it's not even worth my time to list it. And I'll read donate it, it doesn't. I try not to obviously have that happen often, but I just told myself that it's just part of my education and just let it you know, let it go. Not everything comes up on the app. If something sold on offer, it doesn't show the offer price.
If it was a seller initiated offer, it shows the full price. So you might look something up. Oh, it's sold for $100. And then you get home and you check Terapeak? No, it didn't they accepted a $50 offer. So it's not 100% accurate. It's all we have. And I am waiting for the day that eBay puts Terapeak on somehow on the app, like where you don't have to go out onto the internet and look it up and
do it that way. Like integrate it with the app somehow so that the pricing information is more accurate, when we're out there. But you know, hey, this thing was $1. I'm going to take a chance. Go home research it. Yeah, education. If it doesn't pan out, that's okay. I'll read donate it to a store that I don't go to. Anyway, I can't be myself. It's just it's a learning curve. It's so it's very true. And I do try to ask myself to like, even with that dress that I bought,
that's a risk. I paid 125 for it. But I I do ask myself, could I sell it for 125? Yes, I'm almost positive, I could sell it for that. And so at least I can make my money back. Right. But I'm so I'm taking the risk. I'm making more than that, you know, but if I can at least sell it for that, then it's not a loss really, you know, might be frustrating, but it's not a loss. Yeah. And that's, that's what I asked myself too is Can I at least sell it for cost plus 20%.
Nice. And yeah, even if you take a loss, it's not the end of the world. You just pass on? Like, I can't remember five years ago what I took a loss on. I'm sure I did take losses, but I just just move on and keep going. Yeah, yeah. But Facebook marketplace does give you that. It's less stressful than finding something in person for a lot of money. Because you do have the time to research and right. You have the time and the technology at your fingertips at home to research everything
before you buy something. Yeah. So it is it's not as anxiety producing maybe as being right there in a thrift store or garage sale. Like I got to make a decision. Right. The second. Yeah. So I like that time and space to exactly. Okay, well, that has been most educational. Thank you for sharing all of your tips. And we will see you on the Facebook group. Yes. Thank you so much. It's been a pleasure. Have a fun, snowy day.
Just know today. Okay. Bye. Bye. Thanks again, Jennifer, for being brave enough to come on the podcast and share some things about your business. Let's go over those items that Jennifer remembered later. The paper that she was talking about. The name is Aqua bar, or fiber lock, I found two different kinds on Home Depot. So you can check that out. And you might want to actually go to a home improvement store and feel this paper. Because it has
fibers in it. It's really thick to see if that'll work with items that you regularly ship. Also, Jennifer mentioned three items she found from the bolo book. Those are on pages 96 101 129. And I love to hear when sellers find items in the bolo book, because it means I've done my job of providing useful information that helps everybody make more money. Thanks so much for tuning in this week and every week, I'm going to end with a different quote. All things are difficult before they
are easy. Isn't that the truth? So just keep going. You'll get there. And I will talk to you next week. Have a great week on eBay. Bye