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Hello listener, it's Suzanne a wells and welcome back to another episode of eBay the right way. And yes, I stoled that Hello listener from Jason Bateman's podcast. He's so funny. He does this podcast with Will Arnett and somebody else I can't remember. But they started off with Hello listener like they only have one. So it's not very original. I totally stole that. But anyway, welcome back. This episode is just a potpourri of things. Some casual chitchat about my eBay world. And the main topic is a new series about the most unusual and interesting things I've ever sold on eBay in my entire career that spans almost 20 years. So when you Google weirdest things sold on eBay, you find like the Cheeto that was shaped like a Jesus face and all these weird things. It's nothing like that. It's just unusual items that a lot of them I just threw out there to see would anybody buy this And sure enough, they did. So I started looking back at different items I could discuss and thought, you know, this is a lot of information. So it needs to be a series. So let's go through the format and touch on a few different areas of my eBay world. First is a YouTube update. I tried a new format for the supersize $100 sales. That is a thread on my Facebook group. And thanks to everybody who commented on that, it looks like we are a okay with that format. I'm just trying to figure out how to do things faster, without sacrificing quality. Everybody loves the supersize$100 sales videos. So my commitment is to give you more of what you want. And they are educational. But they're also very long on the Facebook group. The dedicated $100 sales thread is already up to 150 something posts and we're only on June 14. So I don't think every single sale is going to make it into the video because that would be really long. But I understand that you guys don't have time to just sit there and scroll through all that. So I tried to be your personal researcher, and the reporter and bring that information to you. So thanks to everybody who commented on that on YouTube and said you liked that format, and it would work. So we will move forward with that. Okay, under the heading of something new I learned this week. Well, I don't have an eBay item that's new, or an eBay thing that's new. But I did learn how Pringles were made. I've gotten into watching this series on the History Channel, which you can get free, either on your computer or streaming, you just sign up for the channel, and it's totally free. But they're doing this series called the food that built America. And it's really interesting, if you like that kind of stuff. There was one a few years ago, gosh, is probably 10 years old by now called the men who built America. And I watched that about once a year because it's it's a very high quality production. And it's all about Vanderbilt and Rockefeller and JP Morgan and Andrew Carnegie and it's just very interesting. So this is kind of like that, where it's, it's historical, but the latest episode was called chip wars or something like that about potato chips and so on. Procter and Gamble actually invented Pringles because they wanted to get into the potato chip market. So that was a lot of information about potato chips. But anyway, if you like that kind of thing, check that out on the History Channel. It's free. And I learned everything I ever wanted to know and more about how Pringles potato chips are made. And did you know there are over 100 flavors all over the world. And some of them are cultural or regional. But anyway, that was just very interesting. So that was under the something new I learned this week heading. Okay, what happened in my eBay store this week, things were pretty steady. I cannot complain. However, I made a giant booboo. And I'm sure that some of you have done this too. But I am throwing myself to the wolves. And admitting to all of you that I totally did this. So no more sending offers in the middle of the night. I sent an offer for an item that I intended to offer$30 it was one of those Franklin Covey leather planners. And either I didn't have my reading glasses on, I mean, because who sleeps in there reading glasses. But you know, sometimes you wake up in the night, you can't go back to sleep, let's send out some offers. Let's make money in the middle of the night, right? Well, yeah, I sent an offer for $3. And of course, they took it. So I get up the next morning. And I'm like, looking at my items to ship and it's like $3. How did that sell for $3? And then I was like, Oh, right, I did that wrong. That was a huge fail. But oh, well, I just had to laugh. I was not even upset. I was like, Well, you know, I only paid $1 for it. So somebody got a really nice planner for $3. And, you know, I pretty much broke even on it. And it's like, well, I mean, that's kind of like a return, you know, if you got something back you had to refund their money. But I was trying to find all kinds of ways to justify my error. But the new rule for Suzanne is don't send offers in the middle of the night. And I guarantee I am 100% sure that some of you out there have done this. And you have never told anybody it's like, you know, the secret of eBay, those back alley secrets that we don't share. But if you think about it, I mean, I probably send at least 10 offers a day. So that's 300 offers a month. And you know, sometimes you're just gonna screw up and do it wrong and do it too fast or be asleep when you're doing it. It's you know, it's kind of like taking Ambien. You just don't know what you're doing, which I've never taken that. And I won't ever take that because I've heard some serious stories about like, Oh, I woke up and I was driving a car and I was naked. Or my brother actually took it at one time. And he quit taking it because he was he woke up in the kitchen making a sandwich. And he didn't even know how he got there. And there were all these knives on the counter. And he was like, yeah, that's just not a great idea. So anyway, giant goof, send an offer for $3 meant to send an offer for $30. But you know, occupational hazard. Okay, the next thing that happened that is worth sharing was I have several vintage men's Fedora hats for sale. And I got a message from a buyer who says, Do you think this will fit me? And I just have to laugh to myself when I get those questions because I'm like, How the heck am I supposed to do I don't know how big your head is. So I didn't reply like that, obviously. But I was like, Hello, thank you for your interest in this item. We really have no way of knowing if this will fit you we have included the measurements. We have a 30 day return policy. If this does not work out, you can return it. But I get those questions all the time. Like it'll be some guy trying to buy something for his girlfriend and bless their hearts. They're trying to buy something thing and do the right thing, but they have no idea how to do it. And they'll be like, do you think this nightgown will fit my girlfriend? And you're like, Yo, dude, I don't know you or your girlfriend, I have no idea. But you can definitely return it if it doesn't work out. So I know all clothing sellers get those kind of questions and you just have to laugh and do your best to answer in a professional way. Okay, speaking of clothing, we're going to move on to the vocabulary builder. This week's word is racerback. And it is spelled are a CERBACK. There is a misconception that this word is Razorback, as in Arkansas. And the origin of the word comes from swimming from swimsuits. Back in the day, competitive swimsuits had a u back where it was just a very low U shape. And the straps went over the shoulders. The problem with that is the straps would come off the shoulders. So they invented a y back where the straps come together and merge and merge into one strap and then come down the back. So that terminology is also used in athletic tops and dresses. It's called a racer back be cuz it is similar to the swimsuit with the racer back as in swimming races. So it's not Razorback. It's not, you know, a wild pig. So that is your vocabulary builder word. Now, you know, the rest of the story behind what a racerback. Top is, and the correct usage of the word. Okay, moving on to the premium library. The big news here is that I posted the 400th video. Yay, me. This has been quite the project. I started this resource for eBay sellers in May of 2018. And I've added new content every single week. Since then, it may be a document, it may be a download a flowchart, but mostly videos. So that's a lot of content. And maybe 10 of the videos are on YouTube, I shared some premium library samples. So most of it is not anywhere else. It's only in the premium library. And there are courses, how to use all kinds of great information based on what sellers want to know what their pain points are, and a lot of what to sell videos to help you learn what to look for. So if you are bored with what's on YouTube, or you just need something different, or you want to dive in to educational videos, and really learn more about eBay and how to do things, and the policies and the courses on things to sell what to buy for resale cleaning hacks. There's just so much in there that is there for you. And it's$20 a month, unlimited access, you can download every single thing in the library in the first month and never come back. And that's totally fine. And it's actually designed for sellers to come and go. If you need to take a break, come back a few months later, you can catch up on what you've missed. There is a page where everything's in chronological order of when it was added so you can leave if you have to. And that's the thing about eBay is we come and go from it. You know life happens. You have to take care of your ailing parents or your husband gets sick and you've got to take care of him or you move or you have to take care of grandkids all of a sudden or You have a medical issue or you have to have surgery or you know, all these things that happen that pull us away from our eBay business, but you come back to it when you can. And that's one reason we all love it so much is because it is flexible, and we can build our lives around it, it's very convenient to, you know, put on the back burner, go handle your life, and then come back. So anyway, I designed the membership. With that in mind. So anyway, just wanted to update you on that 400th video that was such a milestone. And so three years now over three years of adding content, and nothing is more than six months old, I go through the videos, every month, I go through a certain number of videos and make sure that everything is still correct, and up to date. And I remove things that are no longer valid, and, you know, correct things based on eBay policy changes. So that is the biggest challenge with creating content about eBay is that it just keeps changing. And it's it's very challenging to keep it all up to date, because nobody goes back to their YouTube videos, you know, from a year ago and says, Oh, wait, this changed. It's just out there. And it's, it's not correct anymore. So all that's there for you. Okay, now, what you've been waiting for the main topic, and I thought this would be a really fun topic. Because I've sold a lot of different kinds of things during my career on eBay that started in 2003. You can always go visit my eBay store Atlanta golf shop, there is a link below the podcast and see what I sell now. And check out my sold listings. Because I'm a real person that sells on eBay, just like you. But in this series, I wanted to share with you some of the most unusual and interesting things I have sold on eBay over the years. Why? Well, because you might not know that such things could even sell. And the stories are kind of fun. And because sometimes what is selling only has a short window and may not work anymore. So I'm always working to overcome the problem of incorrect or outdated information on the internet. So I'll share which of these items do and don't work anymore, and why. But I really want you to come away from this series, thinking Wow, I didn't know that I learned some new stuff, because that is my mission. So I'm getting this information out of my memory. Out of my blog. I also started a Pinterest board back in 2012. called Yep, this sold on eBay. And I just started posting stuff there as a virtual bulletin board. And I really don't add to it anymore because Pinterest is kind of fizzled out. But there's about five years worth of interesting sales on that Pinterest board. Because I wanted to catalog these items and keep a record of them so I could go back and refer to them in the future. So all these stories are real, these things are real. And they all happen to me. So we're going to start off with one of the most unusual and interesting and fun items I've ever sold on eBay. The today sponges back in 2009. So here's what happened. One night on NBC News they were talking about. There was a shortage of today sponges. And if you remember back to the Seinfeld episode, where Elaine was hoarding sponges, and her boyfriend's had to be sponge worthy in order for her to use one with one of her boyfriends or any boyfriend so she became very protective of her stash because she didn't want to run out. So this was kind of that but in real life because what happened was either one of the ingredients they use to make The sponges was not available temporarily or they moved the plant. I can't remember which one it was. But either way, these things started selling at three times the shelf price. So what happened at the time I was selling on eBay, UK and I had this virtual, basically drugstore, where I sold all kinds of products that I got from Walmart, and Costco and Sam's Club, and I just put them on eBay and they were getting shipped overseas. This doesn't work anymore, that business fizzled out, Amazon came along, there's a lot of factors that were involved in that business fizzling out. But all of a sudden, the sponges I had in stock just started selling like crazy. to people in the United States, they weren't even going overseas. The reason for that overseas business was that they didn't have a lot of the products that we had here, or because of their health care system, especially in the UK, you had to have a prescription to get certain things. And which meant you had to get an appointment with a doctor, which meant it may be a month before you got any kind of relief for your problem. So one of the main items was dessutom diaper ointment. So that's how I got into that business. But anyway, the sponges started selling like crazy to people in the United States. And then I saw that news report on NBC that nobody could find them anywhere, like they're out of stock everywhere and what's going on. And so the way my brain works was like, you know, on the prices, right Ding, ding, ding, ding, opportunity opportunity way to make money, what can I do to get my hands on some of these sponges. So my daughter went with me, I think she was in ninth grade at the time. And we drove around to every Walgreens, CVS, grocery store, pharmacy, anywhere that sold these today, sponges. And in about a week, we, we hit maybe 60 stores, and we just bought all they had, you know, she was with me. So they were about $10 in the store. And we were selling them for 30 to 40 per box on eBay, I made 1000s of dollars on that product. So what happened was whatever the issue was, that interrupted, the production of these was solved. And then they came back, they were on the store shelves and then supply matched with demand. And it didn't work anymore. But there was about a three month period where I just couldn't get my hands on those sponges fast enough to resell them because it was just a gold mine. It was like, you know, at some point, this is going to end but we got to hustle it now and run around and get all of these as many as we can. And each store only maybe had three or four boxes. But that's when I got a really thick skin and learned how to be very sarcastic when people would ask like the cashier would, you know, be like wow, what what do you need all these four? Or Oh, are you on are on your honeymoon or, you know, whatever. People were very curious about why would be buying so many at one time. And I didn't dare want to say because I'm reselling them because I didn't want to give anybody that idea. So if you Google, eBay selling coach blog, which that's the blog I wrote for many years. And today's sponges, you will find the post from 2009 where I explained what was going on. And I shared this information with other people who ever wanted to do this. Because I mean, I couldn't go all over the whole country and get them I could only really source them in my local area. So that one was the first item that came to mind. As far as the most interesting and unusual. Item well one of the most unusual that I've ever sold on eBay. Okay, the next story I want to share with you is about some pennies that I sold. I was at in the states I think it was around 2015. And sometimes they have free boxes. So I always check those out, because you just never know. So I saw one of those booklets where kids used to collect pennies, and there's all these different slots. And the objective is to try to fill the book up with pennies from all these different years. And they went back pretty far, like 50s and 40s. And there was quite a few in there. So I thought, well, it's free, I'm just gonna grab this, take it home and research it. Worst case scenario, nothing's worth anything, I'm not out any money. So there must have been 100 pennies in there. And I started researching them thinking, you know, there could just be one in here that's worth something. And that would make it worth my time. So I'm researching most of them aren't worth anything. But then I stumbled on an 1887 Indian Head, Penny. And I'm like, Oh, this looks interesting. So I looked that up. And sure enough, it was worth around $125. So I put that one up for sale on eBay on an auction, because that was definitely something limited in number, they're not going to make them anymore. And it was in pretty good condition. Used coins can often be rubbed down where you can't even read the date, just because they've been in circulation so long. So I am by no means a coin expert, but I learned enough to be able to sell this item. So it wasn't rubbed down the way some others were that had even sold for more, it was in pretty good condition. And it wasn't in you know, one of those sleeves were coin collectors like to have all their coins in the sleeves, and it protects them. It was just Hey, I found this at an estate sale for free. Let's see what I can get for it. So put it on auction, and it sold for like$105. And I was shocked, I could not believe it. Then I put the booklet with that one missing on auction the next week. And that sold for just under $100. And I thought, you know, where else in the world can this happen? You basically pull something out of the trash. And it ends up being collectible and valuable. And it's stories like that, that just keep me selling on ebay because some of the most expensive things I've ever sold, were just thrown aside. They were in a trash box, they were left at the dump like at you know, the recycling center or left out on the curb. And it's just, it's just amazing to me, that's what keeps me motivated and passionate about this business is you just never know what you're going to find. Anything can be hiding anywhere. So that is my $200 Penny story, which is 100% true. And check out those free boxes because you just never know. Okay, I'm going to wrap it up now. Two stories is enough for one day. But there are many more coming because I have almost two decades worth of stories to tell. So hopefully, they'll help you make more money on eBay. This is Suzanne a wells teaching you how to do eBay the right way. You can find me on YouTube and Facebook under the same name. Be sure to follow me as new episodes are added every Tuesday. Be nice to each other. Make sure you are living the life you want and have a profitable, productive and fun day on eBay. Thanks for listening, and I will talk to you next week. Bye