eBay Chat with Suzanne in Texas: Her Mom's House is Like an Archaeological Dig

name the same way. And we were both Alpha Chi Omega is at different colleges around the same time. So those were some fun coincidences. But she has a thriving eBay business and has a lot of wisdom to share. So we will go ahead and get into that interview now. Okay, we have Suzanne Kane, who is in Texas, tell us how you started eBay what happened and why you got into it. I am have been selling online since 2008. I started just trying to reduce my book

collection. And it was a way for me to just earn a little bit of money for my family for vacations and little extras and things like that. So it was just a fun little hobby. I was working full time in the corporate world. I've worked in corporate communications for about 26 years long career in the corporate world. And in 2015, the company that I was working for was undergoing bankruptcy proceedings, and I took a voluntary severance package to step away. At that time, my father had suffered a

stroke. And my plan was to take a few months off and help my mother care for my father. The plans kind of took a turn when we lost our oldest daughter that December and it was devastating for our family. And so I knew that I couldn't go back to full time work and I needed some time to grieve to serve my family. And so I decided to jump into eBay full time, it had been a fun hobby for me and my husband and I had been on eBay as buyers

since 1997. When it first started, really, we always loved eBay and bought a lot of things for our home and just enjoyed the whole process of buying and the auction process back in the day. So I jumped into reselling full time after the loss of my daughter and it was, um, it was wonderful for me just those repetitive tasks that we all do as as resellers finding items to sell cleaning them, taking the pictures, doing the listing, that was really good for me in

my healing time. It was just something I could do and be productive. I say with tears in my eyes, I don't know of any other employer who would let you just be a mess every day with tears streaming down your face. But it made me feel better and helped me heal to just take those steps forward. And some days I got two listings done and some days I got 25 but slowly, you know, I built it up and now I have an eBay store that's got 3600 listings and 1000s good

though. And that's where I am and I and I just love it every day the learning and the research and the that's probably my favorite part is just the learning and the build building on it every single day slowly but surely it never gets boring. It never gets boring and I love that. Well and you know last year I suffered a loss to and although losing a child is that's a different category

completely. But you know, I hear this a lot and I experienced it last year was just, you know, even if you just sit down for 30 minutes, you're thinking about something else. You're doing something else. And I would just say, you know, I'm going to, I'm going to do something for 30 minutes. And because when you're when you're grieving and it's, it's new, you almost feel guilty if you're not grieving, like you don't feel like you deserve to do

something enjoyable. You, you feel like you have to be loyal to the person and be thinking about them and grieving, and it's, it takes a long time to let that go, you know, everybody's timeframe is different, but you know, to where you can actually get back to doing things you enjoy, because you feel so guilty about it. Yes. And I think, you know, a lot of people listening, I'm sure can relate. grief, we talk a lot about the emotional parts of grief. But it's it's physical, and it's physical,

it's emotional, it's mental. And it affects you in so many ways. And I had no idea about that. And I'm sure that you experienced that too. With your sudden and traumatic, it's flooding, it's traumatic loss. But it would be very difficult. And my my heart goes out to all the people that have returned to work right after a major loss of a parent or even you know, people lose a pet and that that

can be devastating to them. And so having to we all we all bring something our hearts and are, you know, our experiences throughout our life to our eBay jobs. I think it makes us better resellers. Because you're more human, you realize that, right? Yeah, we're all dealing with something. Yeah. And it's like, I've gotten email messages in the past from people that have bought things. The one that stands out is this lady who bought some men's cologne or

aftershave. And she said that she bought it for her husband who was in in stage cancer, and he just didn't want to smell that he wanted to smell good for visitors. And, you know, things like that, that it may be such a small thing to you, I found this for $3 at Goodwill and Rite Aid somebody and but it just means

the world to them. And until you go through something like that you don't realize what an important part we play, especially if you're selling you know, vintage items for nostalgia, or something that is a, you know, a memory. My, my loved one gave me these books that I couldn't find I moved a couple times, and I couldn't find them. And they're Robert Sexton your poems, and they're just beautiful. And I went on eBay, and I bought them again.

And I'm like, I just want to have these to remember, gave this to me, even though I can't find them right now. And you know, there were just a couple of dollars. But, you know, it's just stuff like that. And you have a double whammy, because you were also a caregiver. Yeah, help, you know, even if it's just helping out your mom. Yes, that's an eBay provides just a welcome distraction from all of that, you know, heaviness of all the serious stuff you're dealing

with. Right. And it was, you know, the other, there's so many great things about selling on eBay. But one of the other things that I loved was that I could sit by my father's bedside, and he was at home for a long time. But then he got to where my mother couldn't care for him completely alone, she needed some more help. So he was in a nursing home for about a year. And I could sit by his

bedside and listings on eBay. So while he was sleeping, or, you know, in there, you know, going to physical therapy or whatever, I would sit in the chair next to his bed and listings on eBay, take all my pictures, do my research, and then sit and create listings and answer, you know, questions from buyers, people, you could be anywhere in the world, I'm my youngest daughter is out, went to college away on a date from us. And I would see go and visit her often or just when she needed me. And

I can I can work anywhere. And I love that. And so I don't know, of any employer who would, of course, a lot. I've worked for some great companies and some wonderful people and I know that there would be understanding of that situation. But of all the times I had to drop everything and go be with my parents or go be with my daughter. I don't know that an employer would be patient for so many years. Exactly went on for several

years. And it's like if you're having a day where it's just It's just very heavy, and you're just, you know, I just got to go outside and take a walk, you know, I just got up for me, it's I got to go jump in the pool, you know, it does something energetically or even just go take a shower, just to reset yourself. And you know, you can't do that at a regular job, you can't say, I need a mental break an emotional break, I need to get outside and see the sky

and walk around. And you know, you can do that with eBay, you can go back and forth and what you said about, you know, taking the pictures, I do that at home, I have do my pictures in one room. And then I write everything down, like the measurements and the weight. And then I go in the family room and I sit on the couch and do my listing while I'm watching whatever show I want to watch.

The same thing. You know, I've done that where I've, you know, taken it on vacation, I have all these listings written down what I'm going to list when I get in 30 minutes a day. So you can jump on and do that. But you can do the prep work ahead of time. And you know, I have to carry all this with me and how am I going to take pictures when I'm, you know, stay in this log cabin for a week? No, you just write it all down and take it with you.

Right? I did that I have piles of those, just those cheap spiral notebooks and like the kids use in school, and I'll buy those when they're on sale at that school time. And just write all my notes down and take that with me in a bag with my iPad or my laptop to my father's nursing home and sit there and do lists all day. And it was it was great. So love that on many you don't feel like you're just sitting there doing nothing. I mean, exactly. You're being supportive, and holding his hand

and talking with him. And you know, there's times that is just dead time and you just like you could read a book. You know, it's whatever you want to do during that time, but that's very industrious to do something that you're focused on that sort of shifts everything. Exactly. Yeah, exactly. Welcome distraction. So you said something funny about your mom a few weeks ago? Yes. You bought her a her own bolo books so that she could you find

things. And I mean, I just laughed so hard when you said that your mom's house is like an archeological dig. Absolutely. And I, you know, my mother, and comes from a long line of pickers, I think I shared that too. She's her, both of her brothers were auctioneers. And her mother was an antique dealer. My grandmother and her sister had an antique store for

a time. So and I remember as a kid, just when we would go to visit relatives, and that we'd be in some dusty warehouse, you know, full of stuff that my uncle was going to sell and, or in my grandmother's antique store, and it was, you know, as a child, you think all of that is so boring. It's just we laugh all the time. My mother and I that that now I'm so I'm the one selling junk. And so I'm with my friend that I travel with and

hang out with a lot. My friend from high school, she grew up around what I called artifacts, everything was old, it was the old, you know, it's a stack of old books with old glasses on top, and just all these these things. And she's like, yeah, I grew up in a museum. You sound kind of like that. Yes, they have. So there's a lot of interesting. My mother is, you know, she loves to shop, she's been a bargain shopper her whole life and just enjoys it.

And she has a lot of interesting things and a really amazing eye for unusual, but valuable things. So she has a lot of great stuff in her house. And will will give me things to sell. And she loves to hear what they sold for or what other people are selling, you know, the different bolos that people share. She loves to hear about that. So that's why I bought her the books, because the pictures are really big. And the print is big. So my mom's 85 so she needs, you know, something she

can read and look at. And she immediately found stuff, you know, hey, I've got something on this page. And I think I've got this other thing in the closet. And I never even thought about that angle of like people could use this to jog their memory about what they already have. If you just you know go and shopping in your own house. Yeah, exactly. She's, you know, years and years of accumulation there that we need to continue to downsize for her. But she enjoys, she enjoys shopping with

me too. So we've taken trips together and gone to thrift stores or just when I go, she lives about an hour away from me. And when I go and spend the day with her, a lot of the time, we will go shopping together and she'll find stuff in the thrift store. And she'll say, you know, what about this? And I'll look at it and I'll be like, you know, Mom, like, I don't even know what it is, you know, and I'm looking at it going home.

No, and then then I'll do a quick Google search, you know, I'll find a sticker on it or a brand name. And I'll look at it. I'll go Oh, yeah, I get that. You know, so, sometimes mom knows things that I don't know. Absolutely. Yeah. And you know, bless her because she is okay with letting some things go. She's letting it sell some things. So I mean, but if she's still shopping, and it's just getting replaced, but but you know, a lot of people that age they just don't want to let

anything go. And it's, it's really difficult in later years when you have so much accumulation to to deal with later. We do we have that that problem, too. But we just we focus on the things that she does want to let go. So yeah, absolutely. is absolutely she's ready to film her collection of something, then I'm more than happy to help her out with that and, and sell it so you have any like right off the top of your head things that you found just buried away in her house that

that were surprising sales. Yes. And one of the things that stands out, which is one of my highest selling items ever on eBay was a pair of vintage Levi's that we found in her house, and they were from a relative who had passed away. And we knew there were his because his name was written in the waistband. And his wife used to he was wore starched Levi's, you know, they'd send them to the cleaners and have them stored down there.

Yeah, but they were old. And my mom and my sister brought them to me and said do you think these would sell we think these are old? And I started looking at them. And they're the biggie, Levi's. And they had just they had the hidden rivets on the inside. And they were in great shape. You could they were faded a little bit, but no holes or

anything like that. And I did all my research every website that I could find about old Big E Levi's, and how to tell where they were from, and was able to figure out that they were from the early 60s. And I did an auction on those Levi's. I hardly ever do auctions. But I thought, well, this is the time, you know. And I think that I only had one or two people that were interested in them. But they did sell for almost $1,000.

And the person that bought them is in San Francisco, and I told him of course, and he is a vintage clothing reseller. So I'm sure that he had a buyer in Asia or something like that, that was going to buy them from him. But that free pair of Levi's I sold for about $1,000. And then I'm sure he's going to turn around and sell them to somebody, some contacts that he has overseas, in Japan or somewhere else that will that

will buy those. So that was a lot of fun to to find those and to figure out what they were. And I really took my time. I think it took me about two weeks to fully research them and and find all the different markers of when they were made and where they were made. But that was that was tons of fun. That's an amazing sale isn't isn't Levi's out of San Francisco, isn't that

where they are? I came across a documentary, like on PBS or YouTube and you know how things get suggested, oh, you might like this. Yes, it's all about the beginnings of Levi's. And it was very interesting as far as you know, what, what they were trying to do and the need for that type of product. And it was really interesting. So I hear you on the research part. It sometimes it's like, oh, I'm just a research geek, because I want to know, way more than I need to know to sell this item. But you

know, you're already in it. So you might as well learn what you can learn. Yes, that's my favorite part. And the shopping and all of that is of course, it's fun. And but the the research is truly my number one favorite part of the job. So I love that because it's just it's like a discovery. You just get the item. You bring it home and then you start digging in and you're like, oh, oh, that's fascinating. That's so interesting. Yeah, the history.

So you started off with books, because isn't your eBay Name something oh p books it is. And that was, you know, I, when I started selling books, and I started to make enough income that I needed to, you know, when when you're just selling your own stuff, you know, for a while you can. And I don't give tax advice either. But you can sort of get away with not really worrying about what's right, but but it got to be a real income, you know. So I had to my accountant, and I sat down and

talked about it. And then I registered as a business. And I still operate as a sole proprietor, but I registered as a business and I had to come up with a name. So op books, the little town I live in is oak point. So I just did Opie books. And and then when I started selling other things, it's like, oh, no, now what do I do, so I just added and treasures. And one of the things I've been thinking a lot about is

rebranding my business. So I may do that in the next year or so I may come up with another name, I don't think it makes all that much difference to to the buyer, and your proof of that, you know, Atlanta golf shop, and you sell all kinds of stuff. So after you've been in it for a while, and and your name is out there for SEO and stuff, you don't really want to change it, you know, write it, you know, and that happens to a lot of

people. So and I'm trying to remember when we crossed paths at first, because you saw on Amazon too, right? Yes, that's where I started. And I am I think it was around. I started selling books around 22,008. And I think it was 2009 or 2010 when I started to get curious about selling other things. And I actually bought some of your courses and some of your books. Yeah, I kept seeing your your email pop up. I wasn't Yeti books, you know, because I know

people buy their email. Yes. And so I bought quite a few of your courses. And I appreciate that. You don't want first people to buy something when I would come up with something new. And oh, you are is like a handful of people were would just be right on it. As soon as I did a course or a new thing. So I was like, you know, they're very interested in learning the new stuff. Yes. And that was back, you know, that was back then. There wasn't a whole lot out there about

learning how to do eBay. And, um, that was long before everybody was on YouTube and had podcasts, you know, this was just you had to order the course. And breno download it and read it at home, which was fine. Yeah, yeah. And that was the thing was, um, I never set out to be like a mentor or anything. It's just, you know, I would learn something people ask me, Well, how do you do that?

Well, what's that all about? And many people would ask, and it was just easier to put it all together than to just keep answering emails all the time. It's like, I just need to make a course on this. So you know, that's, that's how it evolved. I never set out like some of these people these days, that just, they go on YouTube, and they've been selling for a month, and they're gonna give you all this advice. And it's like, Yeah, but you haven't been in the game long enough really to be giving

advice yet, right? That's true. Oh, but and then I modeled my business after this girl on YouTube her. Her channel is called cherry vintage. And she would do lessons. Do you remember her? No, I don't know. And then mad Maine is this girl with Lady up in May Yeah, stop doing videos, but she would do like a lesson. Like, here's this glass thing. And I think she was from like Sweden or Norway or

somewhere like that. And she had all this knowledge of very specific collectibles, because from and I just loved those channels because you you learn something, you know, they would take an item and teach you about it. And here's what to look for. And it has this gold thing right here. And they got very into it. Almost like Antiques Roadshow, where they talk about the items. And so I was like, yeah, we need more of that. You know? Absolutely.

We still there know how to see, you know, cuz you're out there looking at this stuff all day. But even me, I get overwhelmed. I don't look everything up. I would just like I have a huge knowledge base. Yes. And those are still my

favorite videos. There's just a few people who do that, you know so much of what's on YouTube, and I'm sure there are obviously there are tons of people who love it or the shopping videos or the haul videos or people who are just driving around in their car and talking to you and they get a lot of viewers so obviously There's a need for

that too. And but for me, I enjoy the people who are going to show and tell and kind of teach you something about the item and, and give you some reasons why you should be looking for it, why you should be selling it. You know, and people, people who actually read the rules on eBay, and you teach eBay the right way, which I appreciate because you've actually done your homework and looked it up. Whereas a lot of people will just off the top of their head, here's how you deal

with this situation. But they don't do the research to see if that's actually a policy or the proper procedure. It's just, they're just talking off the top of their head, you know, well, and you got me started on eyeglasses, because, yeah, we're posting those on the money making Mondays and I'm like, Why is she selling eyeglasses? So I started looking into it. And I'm like, I need to make a course on

this. Because there's so much to talk about, like, the numbers like what they mean, and you know, all that kind of stuff. And how did you get started with that? Did you just say, Oh, I'm gonna throw these on there and see what happens. Well, like, like everybody, and I think we all as resellers, we all want to sell things that are small and easy to ship and easy to store. Right? We'll sell big, big stuff, too, and break balls and all kinds of things. But I'm in

my quest to find small things. I had done some research and found a few resellers who were selling eyeglasses, and I thought, you know, there's always that bucket eyeglasses at the thrift store. And nobody. They're always like, $1 $1.99, you know, at the most. And so I started looking into it, doing my research and finding a few people who were selling it and figuring out, well, how can they sell those? Because they have the

prescription lens? Yeah, so what do you do, but they're selling the frame, they're not selling the prescription, because you number one, you're you're not an ophthalmologist, and you don't know what the prescription is, I couldn't tell you couldn't tell somebody what it was even if you could figure it out. But um, they're small, and they're lightweight, and I've worn glasses since I was in kindergarten, so they're expensive to buy. Mm hmm. So people are looking for a way to

save money. And that's a great way to do it. And glasses are so fashionable. Now people like to have two or three payer different colors and different shapes. And so if they can have a pair that's that they got inexpensively and just put their own lenses, and then that's a great service to people. Well, and I know I've sold some for, like props, you know, wardrobe, whatever you want to call it, because yes, the the ones that are like Napoleon Dynamite The

Aviator. Yeah, all the time. And I'm like, two, or maybe they're just doing like a throwback, or, you know, for a cost, like a Halloween costume or something, you know, all these various styles that, you know, you think, well, nobody's gonna wear that now, it doesn't matter. You know, people wear for all kinds of reasons. They do. And it's, it's just a fun, and I've got a filing cabinet next to me. And that's like a card catalog. And that's where I store all of my flatware and all my eyeglasses.

And they're the easiest thing in the world to, to ship into. You know, they're so lightweight. I mean, I don't think I think the package is always less than three ounces. Yes, about three. And you can get the the hardshell cases at the dollar store. I pick them up at Goodwill too, but they're cheaper at the dollar store. And I just put them in that case and then put them in a padded mailer just for a little extra layer. And I've never had a problem.

never had a problem either. I think I've had one return on eyeglasses over the years, somebody just didn't want them. But they came back just pristine. So no problems. And it's not like clothing. It's you know, you worry about somebody wearing it to event an event or something. So even if they tried the glasses on didn't like them and then send them back or you just wipe them off and put them

back in your inventory set. And I think some people are like replacing, you know, their favorite ones that broke and they can't find them new. So they just go and get that same frame. I also think that it's one of those items like you know, you're doing a house clean out and a state sale thing and it's just all the junk in the office desk that they don't know what to do with and they just dump it in the bag and it goes

to the thrift store. And you know, yeah, you can donate them to the Lions Club and all that kind of stuff. But I think people I've helped with house clean outs and I think people just get like, they just want it to be over and they're just dumping stuff. stuff in bags just to get finished. Not as lately. It's a long process. And there's so many little itty bitty things that, you know, after days of doing it, or weeks, it's like, okay, let's, let's just dump all this. So,

exactly. And that's what ends up in the thrift stores. And, you know, maybe this, they didn't know what it was worth, or they don't care. They just want their job to be over and get back to their life. Yes, that's true. It's that's how it all ends up there. Yeah. So you started off with books? Do you have an outstanding book sales, memorable ones, just to share? One of the funniest ones was when I first started selling books, my husband was laughing about it with some co workers.

And he works for a large defense contractor here in Texas. And so he's an engineer, and all of his co workers are engineers. And he's laughing with someone about me selling books online. And Haha, she made $40 off of this books, isn't that cute. And he has a friend who was packed, who was retiring and was packaging up his office, and he reaches over to his bookshelf and says, maybe she can sell this and it gives them this big book. So my husband brings the book home,

and I look it up. And this book is worth, you know, $150. So I hurriedly Go on, throw it on Amazon, and it sold overnight, I think $440 or something like that. And I told my husband, he, he actually felt guilty about that, because the guy had given it to him. And I said, we'll take him to lunch. If you you know, if you want to do something for him, take him to lunch. But obviously, he didn't want it anymore. And he just freely gave it to you. He didn't ask for anything in return. So

that was really funny. And that's what got me hooked on looking at books. And we had always gone to estate sales and garage sales and things like that. So I would take a minute to look over the books and see what I can find that was unusual or valuable. And I still saw a lot of books, but mostly Bibles and religious books in cookbooks is a favorite of mine, too. So I still do that. And they sell very well on eBay and Facebook and Macari all the different places that I sell on Etsy,

especially. So you're not scanning them within, you're just using your own knowledge. And to scan if they're if they're modern. And most, you know, the vast majority of books you're going to find in a thrift store or anywhere else are not going to be worth anything at all. Right. And I do, I have done a little bit of consignment. And one of my consignment clients was a huge collection of books, but they're all art, alternative medicine,

and Eastern medicine. So on topics like you know, acupuncture, and different herbs for healing and things like that. And then all kinds of alternative healing practices like Reiki and massage and just all kinds of stuff. And she had some very unusual books that were hard to find. And so just from doing her huge collection have gained a little bit of knowledge in that area, too. So I will look at the spiritual and alternative healing books if I

see them. Yeah, I think the more out of the mainstream it is, the better your chances of selling it for a good price. It's absolutely the stuff that stack 15 high at Costco and Walmart isn't going to be worth anything. It's exactly and that was my experience too. Because I did books. For two years. I partnered with a thrift store. Yeah, got when borders went out of business borders, donated 1000s it was 10,000 books to

this thrift store. And I I partnered with them and I had all these books in my basement. That's how I learned. So it took two or three years to get all those sold. But you know, the more unusual like, you know how to build your own canoe or you know, anything that had to do with like, living off the grid. That's yourself those What are they foxfire or Firefox book? Yeah. Just you know, it wasn't like what I thought it would be.

It was completely like, you know 101 blueberry recipe He's for diabetics, you know, very specific, very specific. Yes. Like, it wasn't the mainstream stuff. No, I just in talking about that unusual, just this morning sold a book on horse massage. Okay. My first pop up book last week. And that's something that I've started to look at because the children's books are $1.

hardback or soft back. Yes. And you can tell when you're looking at them, they're thicker, and you can look down from the top and see the paid the folded things that pop up. And I sold it for 30 bucks, it went to New Zealand, and she paid 24 to have it shipped there. Yes, so the pop up book to same thing, I was at the bookstore, noticed one because I, I do also sell collections of children's books. And there's a few that I have sold over and over again, that

always bring good money. But I found a pop up book on how babies are born, you know, and how a baby develops in the womb, and it had all these gorgeous pop ups of, you know, the fetus in the, in the uterus, and all of that stuff. And that very detailed, very elaborate book. And I can't remember how much that sold for I want to say $75 or something crazy like that. But the the pop ups can be really amazing to look for. Yeah, I mean, they're there because they're so expensive to

make. Yes, they're not as common as just regular books, but I sold one, it was $30. So it cost me $1. So that that was the collections. Do you find them all together? Or do you kind of put them aside and wait till you find a whole set? Typically, no, I every once in a while I will

find the entire collection. I think one of the authors that I saw all the time, I did find the entire collection at the thrift store and was like what's this and it was in a tub and it had the whole series of books and the whole tub they were only asking 599 for but the series if you if you have the whole collection, you can sell for over $100. So of course I scooped that up and then started learning more about that author and the book series. And it's

Jain belt, mon cure. And if anybody wants to look it up, she did an alphabet series. So it's my a book, my B book, and it goes all the way from A to Z. And then she also has a number series. But she's done a bunch of different series for children and the great sellers and people look for them. So I started looking for those books everywhere I went because like you said, the kids books are

always really cheap. But you do have to look them over because they might be scribbled in and you know, might have juice spilled on them or to make sure the pop ups work because like they're torn or they're like, yeah, this one's I saw on the other day, I was like, yeah, this one's too far gone. This some kid really loved this book, because it was Yes, it was really in used condition. But now I find them I have tubs of the different book series that I

sell. And I will just keep that tab, waiting until I find all of the volumes. So it does take time and patience. But eventually, you know, I found them over and over again. So I already have those listings created. I just have to take sometimes I just have to take a few new pictures to add to the listing, right and then throw it back up on eBay and sell it again. So yeah, that's that's great about this business is once you've done it long enough, you start seeing the same things

like oh, yeah, I sold that. You know, and you just already know that it's gonna sell you don't have to look anything up. Exactly. So I enjoy that. And it does take patience and time and floor space because I've got tabs with books in them, but it's fun to find those and to sell them. So back in the day when all this bookselling started, did you use a scanning app then? I did, but just on my phone. Yeah, yeah. Remember the one that I used to use? The the tool that was it wasn't on your

phone. It was a separate like a gun looking thing. That was a barcode scanner. And I ended up here. And it's funny because, you know, that was probably 10 years ago, that 2010 ish, right? 2011 and so, you know, I would go in there and scan every single thing and there was other book scanners because you know,

that's how you learn. But now I see people scanning like every single book and it's like, you know, the technology is only as good As the person using it, because, like, I know to look for pop up books I know to look for metaphysical books, I know what to look for. So I don't have to do that anymore. And even though you scan it, and, you know, you have to know how to interpret the information, and it can change in five seconds, you know, yes, right,

that book can change. So if you can talk to that, as a bookseller, about people relying on all of these tools that quote, tell you what to do, because it's, that's not really the way it is. Yeah, and you have to remember that that little scanner in your hand that there are 1000s of other people that have the same scanner, and they're scanning all the same

stuff you are. So it's the same with, you know, the Amazon sellers who are scanning stuff in Walmart, and I, I do sell some things from the clearance aisle at Walmart, or Walgreens, or wherever I happen to be shopping, you know, I'll go take a swing through clearance and see what but it's not a huge part of my business. It's it's $1 here or there that I've spent to make $1 here or there. Yeah,

it's never big money. And it's because that stuff is so easy to find everybody's got Walgreens and Walmart in their area, and they're scamming the same stuff you are, and the same with books, and everybody's scanning the same stuff. And I think it does serve you well to learn a few categories that are that are good sellers. And for me, those are books in the religious aisle, you know, religious, reference books, concordances and Bible study books that take you through a specific book of

the Bible. There's a lot of series that people look for. Bibles are consistently a great seller for me and I think that's controversial for some people. But I am a religious person. I'm a I'm a Christian and I am I'm an avid churchgoer. Bibles are expensive. Yeah, we are. And so by selling them in the Bibles that I sell the vast majority on selling well below the retail price. So if you were going to go buy a leather bound Bible brand new, you're going to pay

$100. For that, if I sell it on eBay to you for 40, then I've done a service for someone who wants to read the Bible, study the Bible, I've actually done done them a service by selling them the Bible that they want need at a bargain. So it's not really on the shelf, because they're the leather bound ones that are tooled with like the red with the gold letters. I mean, they're easy to see you don't have to look through every single book to find them.

Exactly. And when you're in a state sale, there's usually several. So they're a great thing to pick up and to sell. And you know, I sold the collectible one a couple of weeks ago, signed by Jimmy Swaggart. Oh, wow. And so that is more of a collector, I think, who either follows Jimmy Swaggart, or is interested in Jimmy Swaggart, for some reason, and then and wanted that particular Bible. So that one went for more money than I would

normally sell a Bible for. But I enjoy I enjoy selling them and people are usually very thankful and very grateful to get them and happy with their purchase. So yeah, have you ever found anything interesting in a book? Oh, all kinds of stuff. It's hilarious because I'm kinda airline ticket, like somebody was really big on their, their flight and it was like, from 1960 something and I sold that. I was like, Oh, this is

ephemera. Somebody might want this, you know, Pan Am since they don't even exist anymore. So I sometimes will flip through the books just to see if there's anything it's stuck in there.

Absolutely. And all the all the I think my, my client that I've sold this huge book collection for and there were a lot of things in her books, and I actually had a whole box of stuff because some of them were personal and family photos and things that she had used as a bookmarker and I just made her a little box and said you know, I'll I'll bring these to you because I you know, these were

all inside your books. And but I found gift cards I found Bibles usually have a lot of prayer cards, and a Bible that I just bought last week and an estate sale has a lot of old Billy Graham ephemera. So I saved all of that. I may sell it to you, but it's all they can you can tell that it's from the 40s or 50s. So some of that may be valuable. And you may see seeing my eBay store but book You know, interesting things people are using as bookmarks and concert tickets and gift cards. Cash,

some cash. Yeah. A lot of cash. But you know, sometimes it'll be a $5 bill or something like that. Gum wrappers? Yeah, I find those a lot too. Yeah. So yeah, that's interesting when when I was doing all those books, not all of them were new from borders. They were, you know, and then I had my own business, but it was like, it was like, a second treasure hunt. When you get home, you know, the gift that keeps on giving what's in here, like, you know, pockets of again, we're mostly in shoes and

gum wrappers. But sometimes there's, you know, some jewelry in there, you know, you just never know what you're gonna find. Right? Yeah. The treasure hunt continues. Yeah, it never stops. So, do you routinely go over to your mom's house and kind of shop around? Or you do do you wait for her to give you stuff? We do. And she's funny, she will send me my mom just has a little flip phone. But she'll take a picture, often a fuzzy little picture and send

it to me is this any good. But she she's cleaning out a closet, or she's um, she's at a thrift store and is looking for entertainment. So she'll send me pictures of things she's found. But she does every time I go over, she usually has a few Bad's or a little pile of things that she wants me to go through and see if it's stuff I can sell. I generally take everything she gives to me to help her you know, to get it out of her way. And there's always

some good stuff in there. The last pile that I got from her had three quilts, and then some old blankets, you know, old acrylic blankets with the satin trim are very sought after on eBay and on Etsy. People love them that just those old and I think they're gross, I don't like but people love to buy them. And so I've sold those. And she she had several in her house and then the quilts. And I just sold one of the quilts over the weekend on Etsy. So it's it's fun. You never know what

you're gonna have. It's just, it's just like a store over there. So yeah, yeah, well, I think I'm gonna title this podcast. My mom's house is like an archeological dig. Because if you don't mind, because just think that that would apply to so many people. And when you look at it like that, you know that the junk is it just looks like junk To the untrained eye. But, you know, we were trained, we know what to look for. And if you kind of approach it that way, instead of just, you know,

this house is full of junk. No, it's treasures. Yes. She absolutely has a lot of treasure. And it's it's super fun to go through. And sometimes you'll unearth something from your childhood and that's fun, too. Yeah. Oh, gosh, I bet. Well, I'm so glad that she's on board with you know, contributing to your business and supporting you on that because so many family members just don't get it Friday, they're like why are you doing that? And you said you have 3600 items? Yes lifted.

So is that all in one place like all in your basement or is it kind of everywhere, I most of my inventory is in my garage, we have a large garage and um, but I also have things in the house and a lot of my fragile things were in the house and we have a lot of built in in our house. So one extra bedroom has a lot of inventory in it from my consignment clients I like to keep their stuff completely

separate from land. And a lot of the smaller things that I sell are here in my office all around me I've got shelving and I like my things to be to be put up and and sort of hidden said they're in drawers and cabinets and things like that. So I get the thing by my CPA told me she said, You know store stuff in every room then you can write that square footage off on your home

business sense. And so I have like the tall kitchen cabinets the ones way at the top that you never put anything in any way I've got my some breakables up there and you know, I've got some under bed storage and so it's like you're not lying. You know you do have your business in every room, but you don't have to see it. It's true.

That's a good accountant. My mind is the same way and I free Yours was not taking all the home office deductions that I could have been taking until he started talking to me about, you know, the square footage in the garage, you know, in that the garage is. Now we have air conditioning out there because it's hot. Right. But I do my packing in the garage too. And, you know, we're paying to heat and cool and have lights out there. So we claim that the garage too. So it's, it's

wonderful. That was my next question, knowing that you're in Texas, and how hot it gets in the garage. I had a student one time that coaching client that was in Florida, and he bought all this either wholesale or some something about makeup, it was all this lipstick, and just all this cosmetic stuff that and he put it in his garage, and then we got on our session one week. And he's like, yeah, you know, it was 100 and something degrees

and all that stuff melted. And it's just was a complete waste. Oh, that's terrible. Yeah. So you know, putting in air conditioning is a wise move, because even you know, even paper ephemera, any you know, if it gets too hot, it decomposes faster. So the grades, whatever you want to say, you know, those having a climate controlled is going to protect your inventory and extend the life of it. Because all kinds of things can happen with heat and bugs get in

it and all that, yes. And we we kind of live in the country too. So everything has to be in a sealed tub or a box with a lid, I do have some hard goods that are in boxes that don't have lids, but that's just so I can get to them easier. But you know, we have critters out in the in the country. So it's a constant battle to keep spiders and nobody else gets in there and figures it out and has babies and then it's still there. Yeah, that's just growth. So anyway, well, we have covered

a lot of ground. As we wrap it up, do you have any wise words for people just getting into this, like things maybe you wish you had done differently, or just some advice? I think my advice is just to always keep learning. That's the fun thing for me. But I think your business only gets better. The more you learn, the more you grow. Once you learn one thing and kind of master that you can

move on to the next. But don't be afraid to just take small steps, small goals, when I was deep into my darkest time in my life after losing my daughter, and my therapist had said to me, give yourself very tiny goals. And and maybe your goal one day was just to take a shower and put on real clothes and not be in your pajamas. Right? Right. But with your with your eBay business too. You can give yourself very small goals. I'm going to do two listings today. And tomorrow, I'm going to do

three listings. And you will be amazed at how accomplished you feel. Giving yourself those tiny goals and accomplishing them. I built a store that has you know 3600 listings, doing that every day saying I'm going to do 10 listings today. And pretty much without fail I do at least 10 listings a day. But during that dark time, sometimes it was one or two and that still moved me forward. I was still taking

steps forward. And I think there's so much pressure because people on YouTube or other resellers you'll see that have warehouses and all the staff and people that they're employing to do you know with virtual assistants and in person people come in over to take pictures or help them process inventory. You kind of get overwhelmed thinking, wow, I'm never going to be that big or that have a big store. But you can build it one item at a time all by yourself. I'm living proof of

that. I don't have anybody working for me. And I never have Are you in human resources and your corporate job? No remember? locations cork a occations Okay, yeah. So I've had big teams, but um, my eBay, eBay business is just me and don't you love that now it's just I love it. Just you know, I was talking to my daughter the other day and you know, I'm not an early riser, I get up. I'll say 730 to nine.

But one of the best part of my day is I wake up and I just kind of lay there for 10 minutes and say I am so thankful that I don't have to be anywhere, I don't like it up at a certain time, and I have to get up when it's dark. I don't have to go be around people that I don't want to be around, or that follow all these rules that make no sense to me. And I just lay in bed and I'm so comfortable. This is so wonderful. I can do whatever I

want to do today. And it's just, you know, managing people is very stressful and energetic is draining, and it's just, you know, and then you have a family on top of that, and it's just, yeah, I've had the big business with up to 12 people working for me, just in all areas, and it's just, it wasn't, it got to be where wasn't fun. You know, I just, I was busy putting out fires all day. And I have a smaller store. And that's fine, too. But do you feel that too, after having been in the

corporate world? Absolutely. That's, you know, owning your time. I think it's, you know, Ryan and Jay from scavenger life, is owning your time. And I love that my time is my own. And there may come a day when I do want to employ somebody and get some help. But right now, it's just me and that's, that's okay, that's just fine. But she's gonna do that on your terms. You can be like, yeah, it's getting, it's getting tedious to take pictures. And I'd really like to give that to

someone else Exactly. To do it in small steps. One thing with your, the size of your store, now people are gonna want to know, like, how many items do you sell a day? Do you have an average sales velocity that you see with that many items. This year has been weird. But um, I'd say typically, it's five to seven items a day on eBay. And eBay is my primary platform, but I do sell on for other platforms. And so I'll get a sprinkling of sales there as

well. But I'm five to seven items a day, and usually 35 to 45 items a week selling. So that's about what I do. And I, I sell probably between. and this year has been weird. It's been a lot slower in 2021 than it usually is. But typically, I sell about 5000 a month. And it has been a lot been as high as 10,000 a month, which has been was fantastic, but not this year. Well, and what I'm noticing, even with my store with maybe a 10th of what you have is I'm having more days

have no sales at all. Yeah, it'll rain, it'll come and then I'll have eight sales the next day. And I don't know if this is that, you know, rolling blackouts they talk about or there's another word for it. But, you know, I don't I have no explanation for that. Because, you know, people want like a number. Like if I have 1000 items, I'm gonna sell five a day, and it just just doesn't work like that. No, and it's so

unpredictable this week. In fact, Sunday, I I had a day of over almost $600 in sales on eBay on Sunday, Monday. Yesterday, I sold one item for $10. So I don't understand that. It's just weird that I don't think you can explain it because there's so many variables. It's like, Oh, well, you know, people are getting stimulus checks. That's why sales are happening. Oh, well, you know, it's because it's Labor Day weekend, and everyone's out having a barbecue

with their family. It's like, I don't think you can make these assumptions. No. Yeah, it's just, it's strange. It's very weird. That's weird and wonderful. It sounds like you're, you're moving along at a pretty good pace with, you know, at least some sales a day. I think people just get way too

caught up in the analytics. And they, a lot of them that I've worked with come from a corporate background where you have to pay attention to these reports, you know, you have to look at Oh, our first quarter sales were this and why did that happen? And, and it's just, it's just like having a garage sale. It's, you know, sometimes a whole bunch of people come and then you have two hours or there's nobody there. So it's kind of Yeah, the numbers part which has never been my

strength. So I wish I could. And, of course, I like everybody else. I want to make more money and sell more higher priced items. But I haven't perfected I don't I don't understand the science behind why you get more some days and some days. But you know, the fact that you manage that many listings and you're making money And it's been consistent over all these years. That's the piece you need to look at. Absolutely, yeah. Okay, well, wow, we've been talking a

long time. So again, the name of your store is Opie books and treasures. And Suzanne posts pretty frequently on the money making Mondays and $100 sales threads. So you can check out her sales. But this was, this was delightful. We missed fun in 2017 when my daughter and I came to Dallas for a workshop. Yes, get the day together doing that. And it was so nice to meet you in person finally. So I know. Maybe, maybe you can come to Atlanta at some time, and I can entertain Oh, that would be so fun.

I would love it. Okay, well, thanks again for spending this time with us. And we will see you on the group. Thank you. That was so fun. Thanks. That was so fun. I love having guests on my podcast. And I've got several more lined up. So make sure you tune in again. And it's not always just me droning on about eBay the right way. I'm going to spice it up with some different personalities so we can all learn from each other. Thanks again for spending your time with me during this sort of long

episode. I know you have lots of choices, lots of other podcasts to listen to, and I'm really honored that you come back every week to listen to this one. Have a profitable and productive day on eBay. Talk to you next week. Bye