Scavenger Life Podcast
500 episodes - English - Latest episode: 8 days ago - ★★★★★ - 425 ratingsTrash to Cash. A podcast about making a living on eBay.
http://www.scavengerlife.com/
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Episodes
The Numbers: Week April 7-13, 2024
April 17, 2024 15:17Sales continue to roll in. Coolest sale? We sold a digital still camera that we found in the trash still in the box. It’s one of those early digital cameras from 2008 before everyone has iPhones. I guess kids love them these days because they’re “retro”: $110. We’ll take it. Hope you guys are having […] The post The Numbers: Week April 7-13, 2024 appeared first on Scavenger Life.
The Numbers: Week March 31 – April 6, 2024
April 10, 2024 14:34We’re in a period where we’re not listing because life has gotten very busy. Other projects are needing our immediate attention. It’s nice that our eBay store hums along without constant supervision. Getting our time is what we value most. Check out our coffee! ► broadporch.coffee Join the conversation in the forum>> HERE Our Store […] The post The Numbers: Week March 31 – April 6, 2024 appeared first on Scavenger Life.
The Numbers: Week March 24-30, 2024
April 01, 2024 13:24I mentioned our big sale last Sunday. Turned out to be $675 for a set of Tiffany dishes. One of those finds on a big table lot at an auction that we had no idea was worth so much. Took a while to sell. But patience can sometimes be a virtue? Otherwise we sold some […] The post The Numbers: Week March 24-30, 2024 appeared first on Scavenger Life.
The Numbers: Week March 17-23, 2024
March 28, 2024 12:38Normal week for us on eBay. On Sunday (not reflected in these numbers), we sold $400 of some fancy plates. Dishes and china are difficult to store and slow to sell, but we find they can sell for high profit. Usually no one wants the fragile dishes so we get them cheap. Ryanne has gotten […] The post The Numbers: Week March 17-23, 2024 appeared first on Scavenger Life.
The Numbers: Week March 10-16, 2024
March 19, 2024 15:20eBay sales have been coming in weird spurts of sales. Slow/dead on one day. Then lots of sales the next. We’d drive ourselves crazy trying to figure out why. All we do is keep listing 🙂 Maybe it’s old, but I just noticed that when I click on someone’s eBay item that I see their […] The post The Numbers: Week March 10-16, 2024 appeared first on Scavenger Life.
The Numbers: Week February 25 – March 2, 2024
March 05, 2024 16:59We had some good sales on eBay, even though it was slower than last week. Our new cafe is busy and fun to hang out in. Otherwise, we’re focusing on just strengthening what we have and taking on no new projects. Check out our coffee! ► broadporch.coffee Join the conversation in the forum>> HERE Our […] The post The Numbers: Week February 25 – March 2, 2024 appeared first on Scavenger Life.
The Numbers: Week February 18-24, 2024
February 26, 2024 20:58Our new cafe has now been opened for a week. Since it’s a college town, it was very busy right out of the gate. Good! If you’re ever in Harrisonburg VA (off I-81), our place is right in the middle of downtown. We purchased the building and are super excited with how it came out. […] The post The Numbers: Week February 18-24, 2024 appeared first on Scavenger Life.
The Numbers: Week of February 4-10, 2024
February 12, 2024 20:47It was interesting to hear everyone’s experience/opinion selling clothes in 2024. It’s a whole new world for those of us who started years ago. So many sellers selling so many clothes on so many different platformsI hear everyone’s argument that clothes are easy to store and ship. True! That being said, we love selling our […] The post The Numbers: Week of February 4-10, 2024 appeared first on Scavenger Life.
The Numbers: Week of January 28-February 3, 2024
February 05, 2024 21:52Ever year we think we’ll phase out selling clothes since competition has grown tremendously for used clothing. There are more sellers scavenging for pieces so thrift stores charge higher prices + there’s more pieces online on more platforms so clothes sell for less. That being said, 15 of the 35 items we sold this week […] The post The Numbers: Week of January 28-February 3, 2024 appeared first on Scavenger Life.
The Numbers: Week of January 21-27, 2024
January 31, 2024 15:01Quieter week on eBay but sales continue. That’s all we ask for! Steady sales. Haven’t had time to list recently so our large inventory will likely carry us for the next month. Here’s a sneak peak at our new cafe. Renovation is done and now we’re raining a new staff. We’re excited about how it’s […] The post The Numbers: Week of January 21-27, 2024 appeared first on Scavenger Life.
The Numbers: Week of January 14-20, 2024
January 24, 2024 14:27For the next several weeks it’s still all-hands-on-deck trying to get our new cafe open. All the details feel endless. In smaller towns/cities, it feels like all eyes are on us. Each day we’re waking up and getting more details done, pushing as hard as we can to open. Until we open, it’s costing us […] The post The Numbers: Week of January 14-20, 2024 appeared first on Scavenger Life.
The Numbers: Week of January 7-13, 2024
January 17, 2024 19:56Our new cafe opens in the next two weeks so we are completely slammed. Renovations are being finished, inspections being scheduled, supplies being ordered, staff being hired and trained, nuts. It’s like big production being put on! Its very stressful but we hope/know its a great emotional/financial pay off 🙂 eBay sales are going well. […] The post The Numbers: Week of January 7-13, 2024 appeared first on Scavenger Life.
The Numbers: Week of December 31-January 6, 2023/24
January 10, 2024 15:55We ended the year with strong sales and are happy with how are store is working. When you sell stuff you scavenge randomly, you just never know how it’ll do. It’s a much different business model from a store that does market research and stocks items that are popular for resell. As scavengers, we’re always […] The post The Numbers: Week of December 31-January 6, 2023/24 appeared first on Scavenger Life.
The Numbers: Week of December 24-30, 2023
January 01, 2024 18:03Happy New Year 🙂 The last week of 2023 was pretty solid for our eBay store. We sold a number of items that we got for free from a clean-out we did of someone’s garage. We love free. The woman was happy to load up our truck with stuff that was cluttering her place, but […] The post The Numbers: Week of December 24-30, 2023 appeared first on Scavenger Life.
The Numbers: Week of December 17-23, 2023
December 27, 2023 12:44We noticed that eBay seems to be trying to solve the issue of unpaid items on offers. The issue is when a buyer makes an offer, doesn’t pay, and keeps an item tied up in limbo. After a week or so, seller has to relist. A big waste of time and lost income. Over the […] The post The Numbers: Week of December 17-23, 2023 appeared first on Scavenger Life.
The Numbers: Week of December 10-16, 2023
December 18, 2023 19:41It feels like holiday season in our store. We sold almost six items a day this week, which is a lot for us. People wanted all our weird stuff. Old toy cars. Old pottery. Several pieces of artwork. Lamps. Drawer pulls. Sold a pair of sweat pants for $85. What? Good feeling of accomplishment. We’ve […] The post The Numbers: Week of December 10-16, 2023 appeared first on Scavenger Life.
The Numbers: Week of December 3-9, 2023
December 11, 2023 18:48We’re very happy about life in general, including our eBay business. Important to recognize when it feels like things are clicking and all our work is paying off. This isn’t always true 🙂 Our best sale of the week was a vintage doorknob from the NY public schools for $150. If you google it, the […] The post The Numbers: Week of December 3-9, 2023 appeared first on Scavenger Life.
The Numbers: Week of November 26-December 2, 2023
December 04, 2023 20:34Feels like people are buying which is good because we have a lot to sell! We’ve found a consistent source of inventory that’s been keeping our store full of cool items. Because competition is so fierce, we’re keeping it a secret. Good honey holes don’t seem to last long these days. When we renovate properties, […] The post The Numbers: Week of November 26-December 2, 2023 appeared first on Scavenger Life.
The Numbers: Week of November 19-25, 2023
November 27, 2023 18:51When things consistently sell in our eBay store, I have a noticeable spring in my step. Such a great feeling to be living our life doing fun projects and money is being made. It’s all the same stuff we’ve always been selling but this week people are buying. Our best sale this week was a […] The post The Numbers: Week of November 19-25, 2023 appeared first on Scavenger Life.
The Numbers: Week of November 12-18, 2023
November 22, 2023 16:29Sales felt good this week. Selling and average of about 4 items a day. Shipping is almost annoying. Always fun to wake up to see sales. Running a brick and mortar business (our cafe) is definitely so much very different than running an online store (eBay). We have set hours where someone has to be […] The post The Numbers: Week of November 12-18, 2023 appeared first on Scavenger Life.
The Numbers: Week of November 5-11, 2023
November 13, 2023 16:03We had another solid week on eBay. Selling random things we find is always so much fun. We still love it so much after all these years. That hit of dopamine when an item sells feels just as good as when we started. I’m quietly freaking out about a coming recession which is scary as […] The post The Numbers: Week of November 5-11, 2023 appeared first on Scavenger Life.
The Numbers: Week October 22-28, 2023
October 30, 2023 22:21October is our busiest month at the cafe because everyone comes to our area to see the leaves change. Every weekend in October has broken our previous best weekends. The winter is coming so things will get slow till the Spring, but we hope we can give locals a reason to hang out with us […] The post The Numbers: Week October 22-28, 2023 appeared first on Scavenger Life.
The Numbers: Week October 15-21, 2023
October 27, 2023 22:23We spent last week in NYC for a mini-vacation. It’s really a city where we feel so at home and love to wander. Ryanne and I met in Manhattan when we lived and worked there as young adults. We stay outside the tourist areas, have friends there, and love to explore the almost limitless places […] The post The Numbers: Week October 15-21, 2023 appeared first on Scavenger Life.
The Numbers: Week of October 8-14, 2023
October 17, 2023 20:11This week we had a dress returned for the second time in as many months. It’s a “mother of the bride” dress and we are suspicious people are “renting” it from us since it is wedding season We relisted it with “no refunds”. It’s interesting to read everyone’s comments on their end-and-relist habits + paying […] The post The Numbers: Week of October 8-14, 2023 appeared first on Scavenger Life.
The Numbers: Week of October 1-7, 2023
October 11, 2023 14:23Quiet week in our eBay store. We’re definitely in our reseller phase of “how passive can our eBay store be and still make money”. We are still scavenging, listing, selling, shipping, but with less time invested. Experiments are good and in our case necessary. The big project we’re working on now is trying to open […] The post The Numbers: Week of October 1-7, 2023 appeared first on Scavenger Life.
The Numbers: Week of September 24-30, 2023
October 04, 2023 14:34Quiet week for us with only twelve items selling. Our favorite sale was a magazine we found on the street that sold for $35. We’ve been enjoying the recent conversations in the forum. A successful seller really does have to find their own balance between efficiency and sustainability. As we’ve seen from other popular sellers, […] The post The Numbers: Week of September 24-30, 2023 appeared first on Scavenger Life.
What sells on eBay; Surveyor transit, Convertible boot, MCM Bar Cart, 10 band radio, Schlitz trash can, Mephistos
September 27, 2023 19:54The post What sells on eBay; Surveyor transit, Convertible boot, MCM Bar Cart, 10 band radio, Schlitz trash can, Mephistos appeared first on Scavenger Life.
The Numbers: Week of September 17-23, 2023
September 25, 2023 17:59Felt like a normal week of steady sales. Lots of fun weird items. Today we sold a magazine for $25 that we found in the trash. This is the most exciting thing to us! We’ve been having fun reading people’s posts in the forum. I know its a small group of us, but we like […] The post The Numbers: Week of September 17-23, 2023 appeared first on Scavenger Life.
The Numbers: Week of September 10-16, 2023
September 19, 2023 15:36Just when we start buying into all the conspiracy theories that our eBay store is being hidden, we had a surprisingly busy week of sales. No rhyme or reason to it. Maybe eBay can hear our conversations? We want to believe. We bought a used washing machine for $200 on Craigslist from a guy who […] The post The Numbers: Week of September 10-16, 2023 appeared first on Scavenger Life.
What Sells On eBay: Gatherette collator, RCA Stereo, Cat switch cover, Sony boombox, Mirro cream sugar set
September 17, 2023 16:28Post your What Sold video in the forum>> The post What Sells On eBay: Gatherette collator, RCA Stereo, Cat switch cover, Sony boombox, Mirro cream sugar set appeared first on Scavenger Life.
What Sells On eBay: Spectacles, Travel Chess, Hitachi stereo, Mishka 1980 Olympics Mascot, Fender amplifier
September 17, 2023 16:26Post your What Sold video in the forum>> The post What Sells On eBay: Spectacles, Travel Chess, Hitachi stereo, Mishka 1980 Olympics Mascot, Fender amplifier appeared first on Scavenger Life.
What Sells On eBay: Panabrator massager, Tension pole lamp, Mercury gas tank, Boat anchor, Fender Bassman amp
September 17, 2023 16:13Post your What Sold video in the forum>> The post What Sells On eBay: Panabrator massager, Tension pole lamp, Mercury gas tank, Boat anchor, Fender Bassman amp appeared first on Scavenger Life.
The Numbers: Week of September 3-9, 2023
September 12, 2023 20:20Our big sale this week was a commercial dishwasher. We purchased it used, had it in our cafe the last two years, and then sold it for a profit after the cafe needed an upgrade. Nice! Otherwise, we still had some nice steady sales. Curious see if Fall and holiday season bring more sales this […] The post The Numbers: Week of September 3-9, 2023 appeared first on Scavenger Life.
The Numbers: Week of August 27-September 2, 2023
September 06, 2023 13:26It happened about 6pm. “Uh oh, ” I said “We just sold a $1500 purse.” This should be great news. Why shouldn’t we be over the moon to sell a vintage Chanel purse? Because if you’ve sold on eBay long enough, you know that large purchases are fraught with “problems”. The buyer had sent an […] The post The Numbers: Week of August 27-September 2, 2023 appeared first on Scavenger Life.
The Numbers: Week August 20-26, 2023
August 30, 2023 21:45An incredibly slow week for us on eBay. Our favorite sale was a washing machine part that Ryanne pulled out of a broken washer. Otherwise, mainly low dollar items and clothes. Good news is this inventory cost us almost nothing. Running a brick and mortar is different than eBay in many ways…but we do get […] The post The Numbers: Week August 20-26, 2023 appeared first on Scavenger Life.
The Numbers: Week August 13-19, 2023
August 23, 2023 23:02Did you know that Costco branded clothes is popular among the youth? I guess you’d call it normcore? We found a pair of Costco sweatpants that we sold for over $55. I can’t remember something we’ve scavenged that has surprised us like this. We do like the $1.50 hotdog drink combo. Otherwise we’re cranking along. […] The post The Numbers: Week August 13-19, 2023 appeared first on Scavenger Life.
The Numbers: Week August 6-12, 2023
August 14, 2023 15:37Our highest sold item was a sink faucet we recently scavenged for free. A woman posted locally about needing to do a clean out and willing to give away stuff if we picked it up. We arrived in our truck and loaded furniture, home goods, ladder tools, etc. We’ve sold almost $1000 of items in […] The post The Numbers: Week August 6-12, 2023 appeared first on Scavenger Life.
What Sells On eBay: July edition!
August 10, 2023 13:39Post your What Sold video in the forum>> The post What Sells On eBay: July edition! appeared first on Scavenger Life.
The Numbers: Week July 30 – August 5, 2023
August 07, 2023 16:42Our big sale experiment is over. With a 50% sale, we doubled our normal transactions for one week…but then quickly came back down to earth this week. What did we take from the experiment? –In a 10,000 item store, some items are price sensitive. –Running a deep sale is like doing steroids. The juicing gives […] The post The Numbers: Week July 30 – August 5, 2023 appeared first on Scavenger Life.
The Numbers: Week July 23-29, 2023
July 31, 2023 11:40 application/octet-streamA couple weeks ago, Craig suggested an experiment. We really love his contributions here and appreciate his insight on how he runs he store. His suggestion? Run a 50% sale. I’m always skeptical of big sales since we don’t think our weird, vintage items are very price sensitive. Either someone wants them or they don’t. […] The post The Numbers: Week July 23-29, 2023 appeared first on Scavenger Life.
The Numbers: Week July 16-22, 2023
July 27, 2023 10:25Things are selling. That’s good news. Shoes and cooking pots and wooden drawer knobs and old software and vintage xmas cards and weird folk art and used t-shirts and camo gift wrapping paper. It’s wild. No one but you and us would believe you can make money off this stuff. Most people would have just […] The post The Numbers: Week July 16-22, 2023 appeared first on Scavenger Life.
The Numbers: Week July 9-15, 2023
July 18, 2023 12:52For anyone still keeping up on this adventure, we’re currently in the “passive selling” mode of our eBay store. For the past two or three months, we’ve been busy working on other projects. Haven’t been listing much and very little active scavenging. Good news is that things keep selling. Over the fifteen years of selling […] The post The Numbers: Week July 9-15, 2023 appeared first on Scavenger Life.
The Numbers: Week July 2-8, 2023
July 13, 2023 10:30We’ve been enjoying reading the “Scavenge of the Week” that Craig started. Going out and never knowing what you’ll find really is then lifeblood of this lifestyle. Retro Treasures is still at the top of his game when it comes to finding caches of treasures. I know when we go out flea market, thrift store, […] The post The Numbers: Week July 2-8, 2023 appeared first on Scavenger Life.
What Sells On eBay: Ninja coffee lid, Treasure chest, Bronze Sun face thermometer, Zenith Cobra record player
July 04, 2023 14:35Post your What Sold video in the forum>> The post What Sells On eBay: Ninja coffee lid, Treasure chest, Bronze Sun face thermometer, Zenith Cobra record player appeared first on Scavenger Life.
The Numbers: Week June 25 – July 1, 2023
July 04, 2023 14:25Boy was eBay slow for us last week. Sloooooooow. Probably our slowest week since we started selling in 2008. Very few items sold and most low dollar. Good news is we already surpassed last week yesterday. Ups and downs. Ryanne has now trained two roasters to handle daily coffee roasting for our business. We’ve quintupled […] The post The Numbers: Week June 25 – July 1, 2023 appeared first on Scavenger Life.
The Numbers: Week June 18-24, 2023
June 28, 2023 12:47Last week was good for us on eBay. This week (so far) is deadly slow. We’ve been very busy on a couple non-eBay projects that we may post here soon enough. Good news is our cafe is having a phenomenal summer, likely because we’re a known quantity now in our town. Locals know we’re open […] The post The Numbers: Week June 18-24, 2023 appeared first on Scavenger Life.
What Sells On eBay: Seiko clock, Sewing Cabinet Drawers, Fender Strat, Vintage TV Antenna, CB microphone
June 27, 2023 13:13Post your What Sold video in the forum>> The post What Sells On eBay: Seiko clock, Sewing Cabinet Drawers, Fender Strat, Vintage TV Antenna, CB microphone appeared first on Scavenger Life.
The Numbers: Week June 11-17, 2023
June 20, 2023 23:01This past weekend was Ryanne’s bday! We spent a couple nights in Richmond, VA which is only a couple hours from us, but a city we’ve never explored. It’s definitely a cool little city. Met a scavenger who dropped by our cafe to say hi. Nice to see people in real life after doing the […] The post The Numbers: Week June 11-17, 2023 appeared first on Scavenger Life.
What Sells On eBay: Mail slot door, Chord buddy, Turntable, Polaroid camera, Counter checks, Pencil sharpeners
June 19, 2023 11:01Post your What Sold video in the forum>> The post What Sells On eBay: Mail slot door, Chord buddy, Turntable, Polaroid camera, Counter checks, Pencil sharpeners appeared first on Scavenger Life.
The Numbers: Week June 4-10, 2023
June 12, 2023 16:15Super slow week. We sold mainly low dollar clothes. No idea why. But as always, grateful for everything we did sell. Ryanne and I both have a birthday this month. Happy bday to us! Check out our coffee! ► broadporch.coffee Join the conversation in the forum>> HERE Our Store Week June 4-10, 2023 Total Items […] The post The Numbers: Week June 4-10, 2023 appeared first on Scavenger Life.