Buying Junk 90% Coins on eBay

Educate yourself on terms so you do not get scammed

There are many deceptive sellers on eBay and that is unfortunate.  They use different terms to confuse you.  You need to know the difference between Troy Ounces and a regular Ounce.  Please see the notes below:

•  1 Troy Ounce = 1.09714 Ounces
•  1 Troy Pound = 0.822857 Pounds
•  1 Troy Pound = 12 Troy Ounces
•  1 Pound = 16 Ounces
•  1 Pound = 14.5833 Troy Ounces
•  1 Ounce = 0.911458 Troy Ounces

As you can see above there is a big difference between a Troy Pound and regular Pound.

Scouting out eBay auctions

Read the auction listing carefully.  Some sellers will use "Regular Ounces" to confuse people.  They will also us the term "Troy Pound" hoping people are uninformed and will think there are 16 ounces instead of 12 Troy Ounces.  Use the following tools:

• Download the Coinflation App for your smart phone.
• Use a calculator

With the Coinflation App you have an easy calculator to determine melt values.  It automatically downloads the current Silver Spot Price and calculates how much silver is in the 90% coin silver.  Your buying price should be as close to this as possible.  If you don't have a smart phone use a calculator.

Do your research, if a auction seems like too good of deal re-read the description and use caution.  Secondly when you receive a winning auctions coins double check them.  Ronald Reagan said "Trust but verify", words to live buy.  Make sure the weight matches what was described.  If not open a case against he seller and get a refund.  Don't be afraid or embarrassed to do this, BUSINESS IS BUSINESS.

Decluttr - Part 2 Conclusion

Got Paid!
So it took about 2 weeks from sending in the DVDs to receiving a check in my mailbox.  Decluttr kept me informed of my shipment during each step.  E-mail was received when they got my shipment in their warehouse.  Then one informing me they were processing my discs.  Then finally one stating my payment was in the mail.  My check was for the exact amount they stated when I scanned in my items.

Conclusion
Decluttr is trustworthy site to get rid of DVDs, books, electronics and etc.  They have excellent communications and pay promptly.  I recommend this service.

Decluttr - Part 1 the Pre-Review Review

So this is not me reselling it is me getting rid of DVDs I don't watch anymore.  I have about 3-400 DVDs in my collection.  Time for a lot of them to go.  Changes in my personal life dictate downsizing.   After reviewing quite a few  different sites to sell these I chose this one.

What Decluttr does:
They purchase used DVD, BluRay, Music CDs, Video Games and some electronics. 

How it works:

• You input the UPC code into the website and they place a value on the item.  DVDs for me ranged from 5 cents to almost $4.  A three DVD boxed set got me $10.72.    To input them I used the iPhone app.  They have one for Android users as well.  It uses the camera to scan the barcode.  
• The items all go into a virtual basket.  You can review it and see the total.
• Once done I switched over to my PC and logged into the Decluttr website and reviewed my basket.  Once you agree to the terms they send you an e-mail with shipping label and manifest.  Print both of these out, it actually comes as a PDF so just print the whole document.
• Next box up your items into one box, they prefer it this way.  Otherwise you need to e-mail them so they can send another shipping label.  Place the manifest in the box before you seal it.
• Affix the label to the box and drop off at UPS. 

What next?
Wait for them to receive it and send payment.  They offer direct deposit or they will mail a check.

What I found so far.  I made my first shipment of 79 Anime DVDs.  On I received a little over a dollar a DVD average.  Values where all over the place.  Neon Genesis Evangelion went from 30 cents to $3, Ghost in the Shell TV series went from 7 cents to under $3.  I will be waiting to see how fast they send a check and how fussy they are before I post part 2 of this review.  With the review I have seen so far I am optimistic.  

FOCUS, FOCUS, FOCUS!

So as the title says FOCUS!.  What do I mean by this?  Figure out what you are interested in and excites you and go for it.

Why am I writing this?  Well I got into this and checked out the videos on YouTube.  There are a lot of them and it can be too much.  So much it gave me a temporary case of ADD.  Clothing, electronics, video games, glassware, LEGOs, VCRs, printers, coffee makers, puzzles, and every other form of low hanging fruit.

Basically my mind was in a free for all.  I was going after everything.  Now I have all this stuff and crossed the line between reseller and horder.  Time to refine my game and FOCUS.

Here is my plan:

• 30% Retail Arbitage.  Why so low?  It bores me.  Scanning is just no fun to me.
• 10% Books.  Why so low?  Same as above.  Will scan for cash.
• 55% used Amazon and eBay items.  Used is my bag.  It is like a treasure hunt and never boring.  I don't need "quick flip" or "turn and burn" type sales.  Yeah I want income and profit but it does not rule my life.
• 5% take a chance, gamble on a item

How am I going to get there?

• Figure out 5-10 fields I will specialize in.  Stop the free for all and FOCUS on certain items.
• No longer than a 7 day period from buy to list.  Preferably buy and list the same day.

So why am I doing this?

• Need to pay off some high interest debt.
• Need to fix my house and sell it.
• Need to propose to my girlfriend.  She deserves better than me but I am going for it!!

So there it is.  FOCUS, FOCUS, FOCUS.  Do not spread yourself too thin.  Make time for your business and personal life.  Both are very important.  FOCUS on your family and relationships.  Without those two you have an empty life.

Reason I have not been posting

I don't think I have any followers on this blog.  But to those who do stumble upon it, posting to this will be sparse.  I need to rethink what I want to do with this blog.  My intentions were to post my experiences with reselling on eBay and Amazon.  But I have joined the Green Room, a paid Facebook group.  Since that is a paid group they expect you to keep the knowledge learned in the room.  So tips, BOLOs, and information like that I cannot share.  I am also a member of The Reseller Society and FBA Rockstars on Facebook.  Those are open groups and I can share that info here.  But trying to keep the source of what info I learned where strait may be hard.  So going forward I will have to figure out what I want this blog to be. 

Thanks to everyone who has checked this blog out and hopefully I will do something with it in the future.

Brian.

All I want is $1000.00 a month.

All I really want is $1000.00 a month extra past what I earn at my day job.  This is my current goal.  At the beginning of 2016 when I started this I thought it was never going to happen.  eBay was the platform of choice to start out with.  In the middle of quarter 2 I started with Amazon.  My second month on Amazon I kinda changed my business model.

My original business goal was to sell on eBay and have the sales generate income to buy more items and pay for shipping supplies.  It was to be self sustaining.  It took about 4-5 months to happen.

eBay is hit and miss for selling.  For used stuff it is great.  It is the online yard sale and has been for years.  Not that it is not great for new stuff.  The first part of my adventure into reselling was with garage sales and thrift stores.  Looking up sold listings on eBay.  Made some killer profit on some items.  But honestly it was not consistent.  Nowadays I use it for selling my huge Star Wars action figure collection.  And let me tell you what that is good.  Right now it is my default niche. Along the way I learned you have to research a lot.  You cannot just go to yard sales, buy things, get money and ship it.  You have to have a real plan.  You need to research yard sales with craiglist or a smartphone app to find the best sales.  You need to know the products, you need to find several things you are good at.  You cannot just buy stuff and expect it to sell.

You must research, enter YouTube...  There are endless amount of resellers on this site.  Some are crap, some are excellent and want to help.  Here is a short list of those people, the helpful ones:

• Golden Finger Picker
• Bonafide Hustler
• Raiken Profit
• Book Bandit
• Reezy Resells
• Harts Pickers
• Craigslist Hunter

This is just a short list.  Avoid people who just are full of hype and want to sell you stuff.  The above listed have great information.  They offer it freely to help others out.  Some are part of paid FaceBook groups like "The Green Room" and others have free groups like "The Reseller Society".  Both have helpful and friendly people.

So what have the past 31 days on eBay been like?

Not great but better than nothing.

You only get out of eBay of what you put into eBay, I am paraphrasing what the Golden Finger picker constantly says.  If you don't list a lot don't expect a lot.  List stuff people won't buy, don't expect sales.

So eBay earned me some capital.  Do I invest in more thrift store and garage sales items or do something else.  Enter Amazon FBA, fulfilled by Amazon.  I decided to change my business plan.  Sell on eBay and use the capital to sell on Amazon FBA.

What is Amazon FBA.  Basically you purchase a product, ship to Amazon then they list it on their site, collect the money and ship it.  Amazon FBA fees are higher than eBay but there is a trade off.

Pros:

• Items are stored at a Amazon warehouse.
• Items are listed on Amazons site and can be sent next day by Amazon Prime.
• Sales rank can indicate how fast and when an item can sell.
• Third party seller apps can help with buying decisions.  FBA Scan... 
• Don't have to make daily trips to the post office.
• Don't need a lot of shipping supplies.

Cons:

• Fees are higher.  Expect to make about 1/3rd profit of the final sale on average.
• Getting paid every two weeks, like a paycheck.
• Sometimes having to ship to multiple warehouses.
• Professional account costs $40 a month.
• Third party seller apps are $10-40 a month, maybe higher.
• Repricing by other sellers can create a "race to the bottom" 

In the end I like Amazon FBA.

This is my past 30 days.  It has been outta sight.  I take all my eBay profits and spend them on retail arbitage for Amazon FBA.  Do yourself a favor and get FBA Scan for your smart phone.  It makes getting up to speed on FBA really quick.

Bonafide Hustler in the area, I tag along!

So Chris the Bonafide Hustler was in town and sent out an open invite to go garage sales.  I am still very new at this and jumped at the opportunity to tag along and learn.  Several members of the Green Room also were there.  If you are new to this and Chris is in the area and sends an invite, GO.  You will pick up a hell of lot of knowledge by observing a real pro in action.


Check out the Green Room and learn from experts about selling on eBay, Amazon and Craigslist.