Anyone else sourcing items right now?

[sin-n-dex]

Just wondering if anyone is sourcing... from what I can see, there are deals to be had, but a lot of what I want to buy comes from Europe and shipping is a little sketchy at the moment. (My stamp albums took 6 weeks to come from the UK. They did eventually show up, but it was past the last date).

So my B&M store (which is closed except mail order), has boxes of militaria stuff in the backroom. I have a bit more time working from home (saving 1 hour of driving, being able to take a 3 hour lunch by starting earlier and finishing later, it's a good time of day to take pictures of new items). I grabbed two giant binders packed with items 3x3 pages, along with some ziplock bags of random militaria (and other historical stuff).

I had to return everything that wasn't identified to the store (I don't make enough on the sale to waste 30 minutes researching each piece, the ones that are identified get listed for usually $10-15, and I get half... so I'm applying $5-$7 worth of effort into each listing). There are also some pretty cool things (foreign items, not just Canadian), but there's British, Australian, New Zealand, Ceylon, British India, and South Africa... there's some random European things. Lots of patches, collar and cap insignias. I sold two Traffic Enforcement vintage patches from South Africa for $27 last week. Most items are more than 50 years old. And let's not forget the hundreds of buttons I have from all sorts of uniforms.

I'm not sourcing stamps anymore now that I have a dozen albums that need attention (they got set aside when I turned sourcing stamps into collecting stamps). I did manage to take apart a few albums and make up pages of stamps to sell. They are selling.

For anyone following the stamp debacle, I've recovered 21% of what I spent so far, and I haven't sold significant numbers of items yet, but a few are going every week. (And the shop's stamps are still selling as well). I'm getting more attention from the stamps and picking up new regular buyers. In my 21% calculation, the albums that are set aside for me to pick stuff for myself are not included yet. With those albums I want a bunch of stamps for me, and to recover what I spent on the albums (or most of it) to basically obtain a stamp collection by only putting in some effort.

C.

[mam98031]

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@cynthealee2 wrote:

@mam98031 

Did you see that pic of the basement I posted in one of these threads a few weeks ago?  I got stuff to list for years lol if I can just stay out of MP long enough to get em sold 😉

A large chunk of it is things I had listed when my mom died and I pulled it all while I was dealing with that, then Photobucket blew up on me, and so did this house LOL (cram 9-13 people in a 4 bedroom house with all their 'stuff'), then bro had his brilliant idea to pay the estate back with his collections and all that stuff down there got pushed to the back of the queue.

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I thought you got the email that you will enter MP by late July?  I don't think MP is going to be as bad as some seem to think it is.  

[mam98031]

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@cynthealee2 wrote:

@gamersbaystore 

Side question:

How old does a book need to be to considered vintage?

My mom has a bookcase full of 70's and early 80's christian self help (for lack of a better term) books... are those 'vintage' or just old books?

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What classifies something as vintage?

An item should be at least 100 years old to be defined as an antique. Generally speaking if the item is no older than an antique but not less than 20 years, it falls under the term vintage. ... It generally implies a vintage of at least fifteen or twenty years. For example, clothing from the 1980s or 1990s could be retro.

[cynthealee2]

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@mam98031 wrote:

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@cynthealee2 wrote:

@mam98031 

Did you see that pic of the basement I posted in one of these threads a few weeks ago?  I got stuff to list for years lol if I can just stay out of MP long enough to get em sold 😉

A large chunk of it is things I had listed when my mom died and I pulled it all while I was dealing with that, then Photobucket blew up on me, and so did this house LOL (cram 9-13 people in a 4 bedroom house with all their 'stuff'), then bro had his brilliant idea to pay the estate back with his collections and all that stuff down there got pushed to the back of the queue.

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I thought you got the email that you will enter MP by late July?  I don't think MP is going to be as bad as some seem to think it is.  

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Nope not me... I get the email trust me the boards will know...

My ONLY problem with MP is the lack of a tiered payment system.  I really really don't care who handles the money only what they charge me for it.

[penguins_dont_fly]

I have seen a LOT of coin and stamp auctions on the online live auction sites

I've been doing my sourcing (of my own niche items) from those sites 🙂  Shipping is the biggest added expense, but I'm getting great deals on large lots of stuff that nobody else seems to be interested in because of the shipping or just because of the same reason nobody wants service for 12 place settings with all the serving pieces LOL … piecing those lots out is what I do anyway.

So my COGS is a bit up … but I'm getting higher quality/more desirable pieces that sell for a bit higher end price … so its ending up being the same (or higher) GPM

I'm also digging through my death pile 🙂

[bar-29368]

You only have ONE death pile?

[sin-n-dex]

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@cynthealee2 wrote:

Does it count for sourcing if I'm digging in my basement? 😉

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I wouldn't call that sourcing so much as eliminating... I need to do some eliminating too... I have a binder of pins from towns in Ontario. Nothing special, just a $5 collectible item. But I don't think they'll be great sellers.

C.

[earlyant-77]

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@bar-29368 wrote:
You only have ONE death pile?

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I have so much in my live file that I'd never get to my death pile until years after I die.

And adding more from online live auctions.

[sin-n-dex]

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@reallynicestamps wrote:

DH has been working on lotting for the public auction in Ottawa.

But they had to put off the May auction which was almost ready to go.

As an aside, Canadian to Canadian, has your shop applied for the $40K small business loan yet? The first 30K is repayable at some derisory amount like 1% in 2021 and $10K is a grant not a loan.

That's my understanding anyway. The auction went for it, because they have no income when they can't hold auctions, but the rent is still due.

DD's godfather applied for the CERB allowance on Thursday and it was in his bank account on Tuesday, again, his freelance income has disappeared. So keep that in mind it things get tough. I believe it's 14 days without income.

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I'm pretty sure the B&M store will take advantage of every program (like the 75% wage subsidy, that will keep everyone on payroll). But as far as the loan goes, I'm not privy to that information unless it randomly comes up while I'm in the store.

C.

[cream_couture]

I am definitely sourcing right now. I think I am done though because I have way too many boxes everywhere lol. I bought shelving and some storage containers and have been slowly organizing. 

[sin-n-dex]

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@gamersbaystore wrote:

Yes, there are definitely deals to be had on ebay right now, a very good time to source. I take it I am not the only one struggling with slow sales, as I've been nailed with tons of offers on wholesale lots of movies, cd's, games, etc over the last few days. Sellers are so desperate they're practically giving everything away for free right now.

Other products remain difficult if not impossible to source right now with all the brick and mortar stores closed. I typically purchase stock such as vintage books and other items from a local antique mall, but that's just not an option right now.

Sales for me are totally dead too, and I'm fearful its going to remain this way given the dire state of the economy. Let's hope things improve once those stimulus checks start going out.

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I think entertainment will be a big seller for DVD/Book/CD sellers. I bought a bunch of these things this past week so that we'll have Saturday night movies for a little while. (We usually stay in and watch a movie now that we can't go out anymore).

The coin sales is sometimes very busy, and then nothing for a period of time... (When I say nothing, I mean nothing even coming up on the list for offers, so I have no chances to solicit and make a sale). I think my sales surround times of the month where people have disposable income.

C.

[sin-n-dex]

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@mam98031 wrote:

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@cynthealee2 wrote:

@gamersbaystore 

Side question:

How old does a book need to be to considered vintage?

My mom has a bookcase full of 70's and early 80's christian self help (for lack of a better term) books... are those 'vintage' or just old books?

---

What classifies something as vintage?

An item should be at least 100 years old to be defined as an antique. Generally speaking if the item is no older than an antique but not less than 20 years, it falls under the term vintage. ... It generally implies a vintage of at least fifteen or twenty years. For example, clothing from the 1980s or 1990s could be retro.

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In Canada we say 75 years is antique and 25 years for vintage. (I won't argue with eBay's definition of 20 years. My newest military stuff is in a range that ends in 1999, so everything is vintage or antique). I haven't been advertising my military stuff as antique, but I use vintage in the title of some things to identify it as old and obsolete.

C.

[sin-n-dex]

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@penguins_dont_fly wrote:

I have seen a LOT of coin and stamp auctions on the online live auction sites

I've been doing my sourcing (of my own niche items) from those sites 🙂  Shipping is the biggest added expense, but I'm getting great deals on large lots of stuff that nobody else seems to be interested in because of the shipping or just because of the same reason nobody wants service for 12 place settings with all the serving pieces LOL … piecing those lots out is what I do anyway.

So my COGS is a bit up … but I'm getting higher quality/more desirable pieces that sell for a bit higher end price … so its ending up being the same (or higher) GPM

I'm also digging through my death pile 🙂

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I've done coin/stamp auctions and I find that I do better with the fixed price if I can "patiently wait" (as the B&M store calls it). Generally when I auction I get around 30% what I think it should sell for, but if I patiently wait, I often get 75-85% (because of offers I send with a discount, but on lower priced stuff people just buy it instead of watching it).

C.

[sin-n-dex]

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@cream_couture wrote:

I am definitely sourcing right now. I think I am done though because I have way too many boxes everywhere lol. I bought shelving and some storage containers and have been slowly organizing. 

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That's kind of how I feel about the stamps... I'm not motivated to look online because I can see seven albums stacked in my living room (which BTW is not a place for coins and stamps under usual circumstances), and realize I have to deal with those albums. I have a closet in the basement that has albums in it as well, but I ran out of room there because it's also filled with recycled boxes from work, eBay boxes and envelopes of all sizes, and milk crates with graveyard computer parts that I acquired 3 years ago, and this is the stuff that never sold.

If there's somewhere I need to clean up and organize, I'd have to say it's the closest downstairs. My roommate/tenant uses the basement for his living room area (to leave my area alone), but I wouldn't let him have the closets. There's a bunch of bins of display materials from when my jewellery was in the consignment shop (before they went bankrupt), and some of the boxes have inventory, purses and what not. (I'd like to sew new purses, I have new ideas, but my sewing desk is now a work desk for issuing payments for my job).

C.

[mam98031]

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@cynthealee2 wrote:

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@mam98031 wrote:

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@cynthealee2 wrote:

@mam98031 

Did you see that pic of the basement I posted in one of these threads a few weeks ago?  I got stuff to list for years lol if I can just stay out of MP long enough to get em sold 😉

A large chunk of it is things I had listed when my mom died and I pulled it all while I was dealing with that, then Photobucket blew up on me, and so did this house LOL (cram 9-13 people in a 4 bedroom house with all their 'stuff'), then bro had his brilliant idea to pay the estate back with his collections and all that stuff down there got pushed to the back of the queue.

---

I thought you got the email that you will enter MP by late July?  I don't think MP is going to be as bad as some seem to think it is.  

---

Nope not me... I get the email trust me the boards will know...

My ONLY problem with MP is the lack of a tiered payment system.  I really really don't care who handles the money only what they charge me for it.

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You may just be stuck with making the change when it happens.  Unless you move to a site that doesn't have near the traffic as Ebay does which of course means your sales will likely drop.  You'll have to figure out if the drop in sales is worth the move so you can keep micro payments.  You won't be able to move to Etsy or Amazon as both have their own payment processes too.

[silverstatetreasureboxes]

Get your items together like the stamps, purses, pins, jewelry and set up a nice display for the "junk drawer" category in collectable wholesale lots, Take very good pictures and use all 12, write everything on an index card with any interesting facts and list it, you would be surprised at bids you will receive at $15-$20 starting and make sure it fits in box before listing, I personally use Med flat rate squares. When its posted put the index card inside of box so no confusion arrives after putting on your 12th listing! This is a great way to clear out inventory and remember "it's OLD MONEY" when its been sitting in your basement for 3 years.