eBay the Right Way

eBay Seller Chat with Nick in Indiana: Pez Head, Ikea Visual Merchandiser, Graphic Design Major - He has a Keen Eye 🧐

• Suzanne A. Wells • Episode 226

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Suzanne Wells:

Foreign, hi, resellers. Welcome to episode number 226 of eBay the right way. Today's date is Wednesday, July 16. 2025 my guest is nick in Indiana. No announcements this week, so we will get started. Welcome back, listeners. I have very enthusiastic eBay seller with us today. How

Unknown:

are you doing this morning? Nick, I'm doing good. How are you

Suzanne Wells:

I'm great and tell us your location.

Unknown:

So I'm actually from Noblesville, Indiana. I've been here now for eight years, originally from Scranton. Pa,

Suzanne Wells:

okay, all right, so whenever I hear Indiana, I think of

Unknown:

Indiana glass, Yes, yep. And I remember hearing one of your guests from Indiana, I believe, from Fort Wayne,

Suzanne Wells:

okay, yeah, there's been several there's a lot of reselling going on up there.

Unknown:

So yes, there's plenty of inventory around here. So, right.

Suzanne Wells:

Okay, well, just a little back story on how we connected. You reached out to me via email and said, Hey, I'd love to come on the podcast. So yay, here we are. Yay. Do you want to tell us a little bit about how you got involved in eBay selling and when that

Unknown:

was, yeah, of course. So probably like 1997 early when I was a kid, I remember getting peasant off of eBay. And my mom was, must have been nuts or something, but she would let me go on eBay, bid on PEZ and then resell them on eBay. Ah, and yeah. And I don't know how I got into Pez candy, but I just remember buying them off of eBay. My mom would get me the money gram or the money order, and then I would send it, and then a couple weeks later, the Pez would show up, and then later in life, I kind of got into selling. My family had always been into thrifting and antiques, so that's kind of how I got into eBay.

Suzanne Wells:

Okay, so you have that rich history of reselling and maybe some knowledge of vintage and antique items.

Unknown:

Yeah. So my parents definitely love the antiques, or oriental rugs, things like that, and I kind of grew up with that, so I appreciated antiques, but then I also appreciated collectibles. So that's again, how I got into the whole eBay because community things like that.

Suzanne Wells:

Do you have moments where you're like, Oh, I saw this in my parents store or whatever.

Unknown:

Yeah, I see it now, and I'm I actually, I will text my mom and I'll be like, Hey, I just found something you had I remember it sitting on in the China cupboard or something. So, yeah,

Suzanne Wells:

yeah. And for the listeners, I used to be very jealous of that, like, Oh, you have a history of of antiques and vintage items. But really, the older you get, the more you you realize everybody has that from things they that were in their own home, their grandparents home. So, you know, it's all how you look at it. We all pick up knowledge and experience from everywhere. So yeah, I think it does give you a little bit of an added bonus of the knowledge part, if your parents or grandparents actually had a store. But hey, you know, anybody can go wander around those stores now and take pictures and research things, and so it's not too late, yeah,

Unknown:

of course. I mean, they didn't have a store, but they just appreciated, okay, antiques, paintings, you know, like the watercolor, the old fashioned stuff. So I kind of grew up learning that kind of style, of course. Now I prefer modern and that kind of stuff, yeah.

Suzanne Wells:

And so, what year were you born? 1988 oh, okay, so are you considered a millennial?

Unknown:

I think so. I guess you are, okay, so I still know dial up internet and the AOL, yeah,

Suzanne Wells:

oh, that's what was going on when you were old enough to realize technology. Okay, okay, well, that's good to get a perspective from your age group, because. Because, you know, a lot of my audience is in my age group, Gen Xers, pre retirement, or even retire baby boomers, that kind of thing. So I'm interested to get your perspective on things that you sell and what you look for and that kind of thing. So tell us a little bit about your regular job and some of the things that you put in your email to me,

Unknown:

yeah. So I'm actually a visual merchandiser. And what a visual merchandiser is is basically somebody who designs a store. So I actually work over at IKEA. I've been there with them for eight years. Okay, so having a visual merchandising background definitely helps me in the eBay business, but it's two separate things, but I have a passion for design and architecture and stuff like that, so I can definitely spot those things when I'm at the Goodwill or wherever I'm going. So that definitely helps you're up on ladders at IKEA. You're down on ladders you're fixing spotlights or painting walls. So definitely very fast paced. I love it, yeah.

Suzanne Wells:

Okay, and it's just a regular IKEA store. I overheard some people talking about a different kind of IKEA store in Charlotte, North Carolina, where it's returns. Maybe

Unknown:

they are doing a, like, a pickup point or something like that. So these are going to be like, stand alone little IKEA. Is that they're going to have some inspiration in them, but they're mainly for pickup or, like, buying a kitchen and then getting it delivered to your

Suzanne Wells:

house. Okay? Well, this person was talking about, it's a, maybe it's in the regular IKEA store. It's a Clearance Center or something, and they have certain days where they will sell returns. And she was like, Yeah, well, you gotta, you gotta get there early, be first in line if you want to get anything, because it's a very popular way of people to get the IKEA items at a lower price.

Unknown:

She might be talking about the AVID department, which is kind of like the floor models or customer returns. They do do, like a buy up buyback program on some products. So, um, obviously, because I work there, I don't buy anything, you know, because that would be a conflict of interest, but, yeah, so that's a great place for people to get stuff. Well,

Suzanne Wells:

she was talking about IKEA's return policy that they don't put opened items or anything back out on the floor. Is that correct?

Unknown:

That is correct. Yeah, if the package is damaged anyway, it goes to as is. So you can get some great stuff. Uh, that's great for sellers and buyers who want that kind of stuff.

Suzanne Wells:

Okay, well, and I've had good experiences with finding the IKEA hardware to things because it's so specialized. You can't just go to Home Depot and and buy a a thing that you know to hang your curtain rod, or whatever it is, those hooks. And what do you call it? Mounting equipment?

Unknown:

Is a finial. Yeah, it's so specialized.

Suzanne Wells:

There's something for the kitchen. It's like a bar that goes on the wall with these hooks that hang down. And people like to buy extra of those and and I've also done well with linens, curtain panels, that kind of thing.

Unknown:

So they did bring back fabric for a little bit. So yeah, they don't have it now. They brought it back. So the pre cut. So anybody who likes fabrics, they know a lot of fabric, okay, yeah, they're pre cut fabric panels. So if any of your listeners love that fabric stuff, yeah,

Suzanne Wells:

okay, okay, well, this, I didn't intend for this become a pick your brain about IKEA episode, but hey you, you put it out there. So anyway, so you got started with Pez dispensers. And I will say I was looking through an online auction a couple weeks ago. Oh my gosh, this guy had hundreds of them just, and it's not just, oh, the Santa Claus Pez, it's, it's the special one with this or that on it. And can you talk a little bit about that product line, because it is very specialized. It's like coins and stamps,

Unknown:

yes. So Pez collectors are very they call them Pez heads. The last time I checked, I kind of stopped for a while, and then I got back into it. My husband actually said, get back into pets collecting again, so I got back into it. I actually sold the entire collection a few years ago to pay for some college and some other stuff in life. So that was really great. But yeah, with the dispensers, ones without feet are worth more. There are certain patents. Numbers like 2.4 3.9 the collectors really want certain numbers because they kind of refer to certain years that they were produced. Okay? And then also the condition of the dispenser is important. If the head kind of flops back, those are very important things. Is it clean? Is the spring inside rusted? Um, some of the older ones actually had, like, metal springs in them.

Suzanne Wells:

What about the one that Jerry Seinfeld used in that episode where he put the Pez dispenser on Elaine's leg?

Unknown:

Did you think it was? Yeah, I think it was like a dark cell or something, or I'll have to look

Suzanne Wells:

that up and but yeah, Seinfeld is, like, I just watch him. I listen to him over and over again. Just funny. But yeah, the Pez dispensary episode. I mean, it's totally in pop culture. So when I was looking at that estate sale, all of the Pez dispensers were one item in the listing. So I'm thinking, yeah, the collectors are going to be all over this. And, you know, give me the the box of, like, 50 of them all mixed together. And, like, I'll get it and go through it and see if there's anything valuable in there, but if they're one by one like that, I feel like, okay, this is an auction for collectors that really know this product. And I, I felt very out of my element, because, I mean, there must have been 300 of them on there. Wow, that was a lot. So do you still have a Pez collection?

Unknown:

I do have a pets collection. It's actually kind of right behind

Suzanne Wells:

me. Oh, there it is. Very nice,

Unknown:

okay, but yeah, mostly new ones. Now, the older ones I kind of sold off, but I've been kind of finding some vintage ones. I actually recently went on an app called whatnot to source, to source some items and auto coincidence, somebody's showing on a lot of random junk, and I see a Pez dispenser in the middle of it. And he's like, I'm not I'm just gonna throw this box lot away. And I'm like, No, I'm typing in there. No, I will bid on it, okay? And sure enough, there was a Pez that was actually worth. Something in that box, about 150 bucks.

Suzanne Wells:

Okay? And

Unknown:

what you box $2 plus $4 and something shipping. I love that, and now I kept it for myself. But the other stuff that was in that lot. I might have got 10 bucks out of it so it didn't cost me anything.

Suzanne Wells:

Yeah. Okay, well, good for you. I was going to ask if you're actively buying and reselling.

Unknown:

I'm actively buying. I should be selling. But

Suzanne Wells:

is eBay the best place to sell them?

Unknown:

Yes. And then I've also discovered this whatnot app, more for sourcing, but then I realized there's a community on there that's, you know, really trying to sell their collection and talking about such stuff. So it's really interesting. I even watch what not just to learn about products. So it's a great way to learn about stuff that I'm not really comfortable with, like Corel, dishware, things like that, or Pyrex, you know, the ladies showing stuff on the TV or the app screen. Really interesting to learn what them buyers are looking for. Yes,

Suzanne Wells:

I've had several guests that talk about that, more for buying than for selling, but it's live, isn't

Unknown:

it? It is live. There's a lot of like liquidation, things going on on there and stuff, not my exact cup of tea. I prefer eBay, but it was just something I thought, let me get outside of my comfort zone, see kind of what's going on there.

Suzanne Wells:

Yeah, and the shipping, is it flat rate? Or how does that work?

Unknown:

They had, like, a flat rate, like a 995, I'm not sure how they're doing that, because I got a large box with, like three little things in this huge box. So I'm not sure how that's working, because when I'm doing it on eBay, it's a little bit different. Bit different. So,

Suzanne Wells:

right, okay, okay, but good for sourcing for you. Yeah, that's something I have not checked out yet, and I I need to, because I keep hearing all the opportunities that maybe it's some reseller, eBay, Amazon, whatever, and they're trying to downsize their inventory, and they're just letting things go. And, like, in your case, your example, there was something valuable in there that then they either didn't know or didn't care,

Unknown:

correct? Yeah, yeah. And it's like, a lot of, like, liquidation going on. I have noticed these. Very careful, because there's a lot of knock offs going on on there. So you know, and I know with eBay, you have to have authentic items and get it authenticated, because you don't want to run into problems. But yeah, especially with electronics, because I typically sell electronics, I want to make sure it's real. The serial numbers match things like that,

Suzanne Wells:

right, right? Well, gold star for you for doing eBay the right way. Okay, well, let me just ask you as far as Pez, and then we'll move on to something else. What have you sold? What Pez, have you sold for the most money?

Unknown:

I did sell some space guns. It was a collection of them, and it probably sold for about $2,000 ish. And I actually found out later that it actually went to the Pez candy factory. They were doing a display, and this person who bought it was using, you know, different accounts of that, I wouldn't know that, but I did find out later, because the address said, has candy ink on it.

Suzanne Wells:

Okay, when I shipped it. Who? Who would

Unknown:

have guessed that? I would have never guessed it. Yeah,

Suzanne Wells:

and I had an offer. Well, it wasn't even an offer. It was a message. The other day on some vintage photographs I have, and it wasn't, it was a scrapbook. So it was a whole bunch of stuff from a high school in Iowa, from the 50s, and their historical society contacted me and and they wanted it for free. Would you? Would you be willing to donate this? And I was like, Well, no, I mean, I paid for it. And okay, so maybe if I still have it in a year, we'll talk about that. But I was like, No, not at this time. And so yeah, the museums and historical societies, they'll pay for stuff. And yes, they should, if it's highly sought after. And you know, they get funding, they get donations. And I understand a nonprofit asking for free stuff, but you know, I'm running a business here. And I don't mean to sound, you know, what's the word I'm looking for a cold Well, I know the word I want to use, but I'm not going to, you know, I'm running a business, and I paid for that. So let's see where it goes and how much it sells for, or if it, if it just sits there for a really long time, maybe I'll donate it. So for the listeners, that can happen, but I've heard so many examples of museums paying for these things as they should. You know, I didn't

Unknown:

get any rights for it, but it just feels kind of good to know, hey, at least other people can enjoy this. They end up getting a couple of them. So I don't know which one is which anymore, but I would like to travel and actually go see it, so that would be cool.

Suzanne Wells:

Okay, right? So your stuff is in a display case for the world to enjoy. Yeah, that's going to make you feel good. Yes, it does. Do you remember where those came from? Were they, like, a garage?

Unknown:

I got them on eBay, like one by one, okay? And I did, like, a lot of them, and at that time, you know, of course, I'm a young teenager, I wanted money, so I sold them.

Suzanne Wells:

Okay, that makes sense. And I love that you're selling off your collection as needed to pay for things, because these collectibles, the investment, is more reliable and more lucrative than regular financial investments. Sometimes, you know, yeah, yeah, we risk losing money, but something like a Pez collection that you can just let it sit, and the older it gets, the more valuable it's going to get, because, you know, they're not making the ones from the 1960s anymore. So I think that's really smart to use that to, you know, pay for your education or whatever you're doing. Did you use your eBay money to pay for your cruise that you just got back from?

Unknown:

Car payment extra, you know, money for the family. It probably we spending money for the cruise too. Yeah. So our money, we like eBay money, goes into a separate account, just to keep finances, finances simple for tax purposes, etc, and then it's basically, I'm paying myself after the fact, like a salary, right?

Suzanne Wells:

So you're basically, it's your living expenses. One has dispenser at a time, good for you. Okay, well, let's talk about some other things you sell and where you. At them, and just your your basic eBay business?

Unknown:

Yeah, so my basic eBay business is basically electronics, and I was kind of looking through kind of my eBay stuff. I don't have an eBay store. And I know you said that before, like, I do pretty well without an eBay store. It just doesn't justify it right now, right? Literally, like the other day, I sold a Toyota dash camera thing from a Toyota car that we had. We have a Toyota, and it had some kind of dash cam in it. It was annoying. It turns on, turns off. Found out, hey, somebody wants this thing. So I removed it, and it sold for $226 yeah, 61 cents, printers, inkjet printers. I'll source them at Goodwill. I'll try to plug them in there to see if they work. I'll try to pair it with my phone and see if it even connects. Because I have all the apps, all the printers, brands that I know, that I look for, like Canon, Epson, etc, and I'll see if I can connect to the printer. And then I can even find out the ink level, and I can find out if it's not working usually. So I'm gonna embarrass them plugging it in. I'm gonna test it there, right?

Suzanne Wells:

So I'm so busy right in the in the store.

Unknown:

Oh, plug it in. They have plugs there. And Excellent.

Suzanne Wells:

Yeah, you should, do you consider yourself a tech guy?

Unknown:

I do. I love technology, okay, but I also like art and stuff. So just for my eBay sales, I found out that I'm doing better with techie stuff in the last year. So I've kind of moved away from other kind of things, like PES or whatever, just because the data and the KPIs were showing that's where the money is coming from. So stick with what's sort of working.

Suzanne Wells:

Well, I wish I had known this before I got rid of my Rollo printer that quit working. Did you hear that I put it in one of my videos, I think. But I mean, I couldn't, I couldn't get it to work, and the the green light was coming on, and it just didn't recognize that the the labels were in there. And I want to send it to you and see if you could fix it

Unknown:

or sell it for parts, if you're honest, I did,

Suzanne Wells:

yeah, I sold it parts, and it was four years old, and, you know, using it every day for shipping, but according to the research I did, the lifespan should have been like 50,000 labels, and I was nowhere that. So I don't know. I haven't reached out to the person that bought it to see what they were going to do with it, but I know that people that have these repair shops, and whether it's printers or all kinds of electronics, they're always looking for parts. So they just buy these things and have them on hand to use for parts whenever needed, so they may not have even tried to fix it.

Unknown:

Yeah. Speaking of parts like I'll, literally, when I'm going to Goodwill, look for the transformer for a particular brand, like a Sony thing, and I'll hold it until I find the rest of the pieces. Okay, now, I don't hold it forever, like, I don't want to have a, you know, I don't like stuff everywhere in my house, but if I eventually find it within a year, great. I'll sell it with the whole parts. If not, then I just sell the transformer that I found.

Suzanne Wells:

Yeah, that business model takes a lot of patience, like Eileen, the book lady that she'll pick up books and then wait till she has a set, and she's out there all the time looking for books so she knows what's findable and what's not, but I just don't have the patience to wait for the rest of the pieces to come along.

Unknown:

Right? I found my goodwill. It seems like there's two different people doing stuff, because they'll put the transformer in one spot, and then they'll put the speaker in another spot, and then I'll find the transformer or the little power brick, you know, over there for 99 cents, and then I'll put it together and whatever I had the whole set now, yeah, so I'm not sure who's doing the pricing or who's organizing stuff there, but,

Suzanne Wells:

but you're doing an advanced adult matching game. Yeah, yes. Gotta find the rest of this, and maybe it's a challenge for some personalities to find all the rest of the parts.

Unknown:

I've come back the next day, yeah,

Suzanne Wells:

the next day you find stuff, yeah, and it'll be

Unknown:

like, it's like, somebody put it out the next day, and I'll find it.

Suzanne Wells:

Yeah, yeah. You wonder. Things get donated in pieces, and then they, they don't all hit the sales floor at the same time. So you're, you're kind of, your mindset is okay, I'm going to wait for the rest of this to show up. Yes, okay, good for you. Um, what are some of your best electronic sales? Um,

Unknown:

I did sell this, like, office. It was called. An owl lab, 360 camera, and that was just sitting on a shelf, just there. I thought it was a Bluetooth speaker, and it sold for $216 Oh, yeah. And I paid$10 for it. Okay? I tested it, I brought it home. I plugged it in. If I can't test it, I will write on the thing not test it right, and people will still take the chance. But yeah,

Suzanne Wells:

because they could purchase an item that works perfectly fine. I know I told the story about my little Professor calculators. Thought they didn't work, and I kept trying to turn them on, and, like, a couple of the lights came on, and I bought three of them in a lot. And I was like, they said they worked on the online auction. So I went on YouTube, and you had to press the certain buttons in certain order, because it it's like a reverse calculator. It gives you the problem, and you put in the answer. So I spent an afternoon like, what's wrong with these? I kept changing the batteries. I made sure all the you know, connections were right and everything, and the battery compartment wasn't corroded or anything, and just took two minutes on YouTube to realize find it, yeah, Operator error. You didn't push the buttons in the right order. So yeah, it happens to everybody, but I bet you get into a lot of a lot of that when you're testing or figuring out electronics you haven't sold before. We'll

Unknown:

even scan it with the Google lens at Goodwill, and I'll just scan it, and then that sometimes reveals to me what parts might be missing. Oh, okay, like, I've done that with like Corel to see. Oh, this is the lid that goes with it, or review where, just because I was learning that category, that's how I learned. Oh, this part goes with this.

Suzanne Wells:

Okay, do you ever use that chat? GPT

Unknown:

I have, but I like to just type up my own descriptions.

Suzanne Wells:

I mean, for researching when you're out looking for

Unknown:

stuff? No, I just use Google lens. Yeah, I haven't

Suzanne Wells:

gotten into that either. And if anybody out there has come on the podcast and tell us, I just I was like, what was this that everybody's using? And I was like, I don't need somebody talking to me. I just want to look at pictures and figure out what I need to know for my listing or if I want to buy this item. So that is the trending thing. I see ads for that all the time. Get the chat GPT app and, yeah, I'm pretty much in the dark on that one.

Unknown:

Yeah, I kind of played with a little bit, but I the Google lens just tells me enough that I can see, this is the lid. This is the this part, and then I can research it on the app, on the eBay app, and kind of make my own call. I'm not going to trust some GBT thing to tell me if I should buy it.

Suzanne Wells:

Oh, yeah, absolutely. I was just referring to that for informational purposes. You should never use, like those book scanners. You know, all it's telling you is the information. It doesn't tell you whether to buy or not. That's, that's a human brain thing. You got to figure that out, because there's, there's too much human this in reselling. How long you want to keep it? Yep. Have you sold this before? Do you know about it? Even though the comps are low, maybe you've sold it before. No, oh no, it's going to sell for more than that. All that kind of stuff that's in your brain that I don't think any app or tool or device is smarter than the brain. I just don't you just have to go buy your own experience. And you're nodding your head like, yeah, yeah,

Unknown:

yeah, no, because I've learned, like, I bought stuff that was a bad buy. And what I'll do is, you know, on eBay, on this few part of it, I'll put notes that says, this is a bad buy for future. When I print out the, you know, the information for tax purposes, for record keeping, I kind of review that and go, oh yeah, I remember buying that product that was a bad just so I can learn it from my own. I make mistakes, just like anybody else, and it's okay. It's like, you know what? It didn't work out. I'll just donate it back, or I'll put it out for to the curb, and somebody will grab it.

Suzanne Wells:

And I hate to call them mistakes, because you learn something, yes, and maybe it, it did work years ago, and now it just doesn't work anymore. People don't want it anymore. Something different has come along, that market is has changed. Um. Um, like, books are a great example. I was working on my my bolo book, and there's a there's one that's Anthony Bourdain cookbook, first cookbooks, and if they're autographed, and those have gone up in value, I put this together right after he died, and then here we are a couple years later, and they've doubled in value because it's his signature and and all of that. So if it's tied to a celebrity that's not with us anymore, or something has changed with trends or esthetics, and, yeah, it doesn't work anymore. So I think it's, it's wise just to recheck things when you're when you're buying, if it's not actively selling in your store or, you know, on your eBay account, like swimwear for me, is great. I just pick it up all the time. That is a steady seller all year, not super high profit, but it's some it's like a bread and butter for me, yep. And I just don't think that's going to change, because it's been that way for years. And we all have things like that that just those are reliable. But then it's the the more obscure items you're like, Oh, I sold this a few years ago, and then you look it up, and it's nothing,

Unknown:

okay, yep,

Suzanne Wells:

it changes, well, um, you want to talk to us about art and what you're learning there, and what kind of things you sell? Yeah,

Unknown:

I've been kind of learning a little bit more about like when I talk about art, like Corel stuff and out even some of the artwork at the store, and I'm finding out, like a lot of it's worth nothing, but I'm also finding out that there's certain Corel plates with the certain designs that are worth more. So having that background in art, kind of like when I see a weird statue or vase, i i quickly flip it over and go well made in China. But,

Suzanne Wells:

yeah, that's a big giveaway. So you went art major in college.

Unknown:

I did. I went to school for graphic design and advertising. Okay, alright,

Suzanne Wells:

so you have a little you got a head start on us on that. And when was that, that you were in college?

Unknown:

That was 2000 10s. Okay, so not too long

Suzanne Wells:

ago. So some of the trends are probably still out there. What do you find is the most profitable

Unknown:

weird things? It's the weirdest stuff, weird vases, weird plates. We sold the Americana plates again, made it. It was made in the US. I can't recall the name that sold for like, 150 bucks. And the lot was 20 bucks at Goodwill, okay, I was shocked. Just had and it was around the Fourth of July, the right season, so it sold. I found things like that sell really well,

Suzanne Wells:

okay, just you doing the eBay or it's

Unknown:

just me, but my husband, he'll sometimes come with me to Goodwill, and you go, like, is this worth anything? And I'll be like, yeah, no, but, and he's really he means well, and I appreciate he's been supporting me so well on this. And he'll find some stuff that I would have overlooked, uh huh, which kind of got me outside of my comfort zone to kind of look at some products in a different way. It was the plates that he found he's like, You go ugly they might do or something, right joking around in the store. And I scanned like those in the cart now.

Suzanne Wells:

And it is difficult when you have someone shopping with you that doesn't know as much, or they just my problem is people don't like to go shopping with me because I say no too much. Yes, I do too and something they really like, and they think is great, and I'm like, No, that doesn't work for me. And so they just feel rejected the whole time. Like,

Unknown:

well, he does. He helps me, like, set like goals, which is great, like, and it's kind of like a motivation. He's like, you're going to find five things today at Goodwill, when you go out, right? I know you will. And that's like, my motivation is, now I'm going to come home with eight things, uh huh. So that's, you know, so He supports me in that way of, kind of like setting, kind of like goals. But then I try to, you know, I'll do him, because I have to do that. But,

Suzanne Wells:

yeah, yeah. My kids tried to help me. My mom went with me a few times for the senior discount. So and it's I hate hurting people's feelings when I say no, or I don't want to sell that. That's a great item, but I really don't want to ship that lamp. Or whatever, like the big hanging light fixtures that are all glass, I just don't

Unknown:

know. And

Suzanne Wells:

unless you know, even if it's a Tiffany or something like that, then I'm thinking, Oh, what if it breaks? And I just don't I'm not drawn to that. I know some people are, and I'm just not

Unknown:

I've sold Dyson vacuums, but then the box is huge, and I'm trying to shove it in the box, and, you know, make my own box and that kind of stuff. And here I am in the kitchen.

Suzanne Wells:

My mom's auric floor cleaner. It was worth like, $500 I think we got 250 for it. She lived with me back in the early 2000s she had had hip surgery. I had just been divorced, so it was a good partnership, but I learned on a lot of her things, because she had so much stuff, and I thought, you know, I'm going to end up downsizing this one day, so let's just do it now. And so we did, and I remember shipping that vacuum, and I just took a whole bunch of those, like 12 by 12 by eight, yes, 30 boxes. And I just made this huge column. I just kept adding until it was totally covered. You know, early Franken boxing when it came. And so I've done some of these things, and I can do it. It's just as you go along in this business, you keep refining what, yes, what you want to work with. Like printers, it's easier to ship the parts than the whole thing. I think,

Unknown:

yeah, it's very fragile, too. So I've learned, you know, how to put the bubble wrap kind of, I'll use painters tape to hold the mechanism from not sliding, because that can slide in a box and then cause damage, right? Which was a learning where something broke. And, you know, I wasn't mad. I was like, okay, you know, it broke. It happens. Um, here's your money back. That was a great learning. And I said, Could you send pictures of how it broke so I can learn from this?

Suzanne Wells:

Yeah, what parts broke? Excellent. That's good. Either I'll never do that again or I'll do that better next time.

Unknown:

Yeah, and the buyer sent me pictures. And very nice. She said, hey, it happens, no problem.

Suzanne Wells:

So speaking of things that break, I keep coming across these on the online auctions. And you might not know what this is, because you're young, but vintage popcorn art, it's the the plastic popcorn. It's very bumpy, and it's, it's like a flat thing. It's like Santa Claus head, or, you know, Easter Bunny. And that used to be the big home decor thing, like 60s and 70s, was it's called popcorn art. And they're, they're valuable, but shipping, they're very fragile. And I don't know that I want to deal with that. I keep seeing people on the group talking about how they sold it and it broke, and so it's got to come to me from the online auction, and then I've got to ship it to the eventual buyer on eBay. So it's going to be shipped twice,

Unknown:

right?

Suzanne Wells:

I just, I'm just, like, no common sense. It's like, don't do that. Sell old letters. Sell things that don't break, that are unique, that people want. So just for the listeners, if you're if you're looking at that, or if you see them in estate sales, just realize they're very fragile. And I guess you would put them between two pieces of cardboard, you know, bubble wrap it. And there's probably a way to do it. I just haven't gone that down that rabbit hole to figure it out. But thinking about how you're going to ship something before you buy it is something you learn as you go along.

Unknown:

Yes, and I'm always looking for boxes. I try not to buy my boxes. Literally, my neighbors know that I need boxes. So, you know, getting a couple boxes, or

Suzanne Wells:

pick the neighbor that always has Amazon packages, and you approach them about, hey, what do you do with those boxes in, you know, offer to go get them and all that stuff, because with Amazon, I mean, I'm in an apartment complex. They're in here three or four times a day. And so I've got several neighbors that are super duper online shoppers that like, hey, I'll take your boxes. And I haven't bought a box in years.

Unknown:

Yeah, don't buy a box, yeah, that's and I'll stash. That's something I will break down. You know, I have a kind of a in my mind of what I have and box wise. And if I see a box, like on Facebook saying, hey, moving boxes, I'm over right, coming over, and I'm grabbing them,

Suzanne Wells:

yeah? Yeah. So. So good for recycling. I think resellers contribute a lot to recycling and preserving the environment with like the stuff you sell, you know, broken printers or whatever, the parts and then the shipping supplies. I recycle everything. I don't use food boxes, but ordering online, you get bubble wrap, you get that brown craft paper clearance after summer for pool noodles, although those are going up in price, they're yes, these stores are on to us. I'm seeing them at Walmart for $4 and they're skimpy and thin and wimpy, and I'm like, what happened here? And they're on to us all these uses for pool noodles and things people are making with them, not just for shipping, but all kinds of crafts and cool floaty like, here's how to make a floating bar for your pool, pool noodles and a little baby tent or something and, yeah. So that market is they're onto us.

Unknown:

They're on to

Suzanne Wells:

Yeah, okay, well, what other kinds of things have you sold that you can share with us? Um,

Unknown:

I've sold. Out pad cases. Back in the day, I've also sold keyboards. That's a really, you know, I'll look for, obviously Apple branded keyboards, but the ones that are curved, the ones that are like Microsoft Surface or particular branded ones, those sell really well. For me, again, that's I need a weird box for that. So I start keeping boxes in mind for things like that. But

Suzanne Wells:

yeah, if you don't have the computer, they would go with Is it just to see that the that it turns on and that the the electrical part works. So

Unknown:

if they're like within the last 10 years, they're either Bluetooth, USB or something like that. So I will plug it into my computer and see if I can start typing. Okay, if it works, it works. If it doesn't, it goes to the trash or recycling.

Suzanne Wells:

Yeah, and it was probably only a couple dollars anyway, yeah, yeah. Okay. That works. Yeah. Maybe that's something I should start looking at that wouldn't be too hard to ship. I keep

Unknown:

about five bucks to ship. Yeah, and then I've sold a having a background in graphic design, I saw a drawing board, like a tablet and drawing board, and they had it with the monitors. And I'm thinking, Wait a minute. Please have the pen in there. It's so of course, the goodwill people know me by now. They definitely, probably know I'm a seller. And I asked one of them, and I said, Is it okay if I open this box, you mind? Do they go ahead and grab the knife from the knife file?

Suzanne Wells:

Okay, maybe the knife and I can sell that too.

Unknown:

So I opened it, and I'm like, please be the pen in there. And the pen, the rolling pen, was in the box. So lucky. So it was in there, and it sold for $117 and I paid $14 for it. Oh, very good. But again, I brought it home, I plugged it in, and I tested it, and I put pictures showing that it lights up and works.

Suzanne Wells:

So does your goodwill have a return policy on electronics? And have you ever used it?

Unknown:

Um, they do some things, I have to be honest, and then some things, I just take the loss. I'm like, I'm not bringing this VHS player back. It's not worth my time. But if it was like that monitor, I'm going to bring it back and be like, hey. Doesn't really work. Can I have store credit? And by now they know who I am. So

Suzanne Wells:

have you ever sold any really old Apple stuff, like back in the day, 80s Apple, I know the the complete systems can go for a lot.

Unknown:

I haven't sold any old Apple stuff, um, mainly, like the power bricks I've sold in the past. But I feel like they know to pull that stuff out of the pollen. I've even asked, yeah, I've even asked them there, like, because now I just kind of friends with them, and they've like, yeah, there's a person back there, and her job is to pull out anything and we put it online. So it is

Suzanne Wells:

love to be that person for a day. And just, well, I kind of did that for a humane society thrift store that I had been there. They called me the board administrator, and I did like all the paperwork, and checked the PO Box for donations, did the bank deposits, did the newsletter, all that administrative stuff, and so I knew the people, and I went into their thrift store. To find stuff for eBay. And it just hurt my heart, the the things that were donated, because people love their pets and they want, you know, money to go the Humane Society to help other pets. And so I offered to help them price their stuff better. I said resellers will still pay for it, but that I'm getting so much stuff in here, I just this hurts. So I did that. I kind of went through their intake and just the stuff. It was mind blowing. What got donated. And so I was glad to help them with sorting. But it's funny how people donate things, because some people just, yes, it's just a box of cords and remotes and all this random stuff, like, let's just throw all this. Other people are so meticulous. They have every every part, like that pen, the the drawing stylus that went with that. They have every part that goes with it. And I know people like this, they're like, Well, I want to donate this, but I'm still looking for the cord, because I want the person who who gets it to have the complete thing. And I don't care, just take us up there and get it out of my face, you know? So we like the people who are meticulous and make sure all the parts are with it, because, you know, they want to donate it the right way. Yeah, I bet you different stuff, like electronics, like that. You know, different personalities who donated it. But what about cords? Do you just look through the cords for valuable stuff?

Unknown:

Um, I do they sometimes they've kind of caught on to it. So they'll start putting them in these bag lots, and then they'll start going Bose cord, $20 like, yeah, unless you have that Bose speaker, it ain't, you know, or that particular model range, it probably won't work,

Suzanne Wells:

but you know, if it's it can go either way. If it's very specific, there's a person looking for it. Yes, those guitar tuner things I sold a few months back, and I don't even know what they were called. They were just in a box of stuff I bought. And I was like, What are these? And somebody I asked, who played the guitar. I said, do you think about these? And he's like, Oh, those are really specialized. That's going to take a long time to sell. And I said, You just said the magic word for specialized because I'll bet you, somebody's looking for these, and sure enough, I put them up there for $100 they're the cover slide on one of my $100 videos, or my sales update or something, and they sold in less than a week full Ask guy didn't try to negotiate. Didn't leave feedback, but that's okay, he got it and he was happy. So yeah, I can go either way, if it's specialized, and I'll spend on my printer that died. I looked up the cord and just the cord was worth $25 so I'm like, I sell it in parts, and then some kind of feeding mechanism on the inside was expected to and I'm like, No, I'm just not a techie person. I just put it all together and somebody else can figure it out. Yeah, so I didn't realize they were onto the expensive cords. I guess it depends on your thrift store. I think

Unknown:

it's just mine, but, oh, I am like, I'll look it up. And, you know, I'm not, I'm willing to spend that kind of money if I know I can get enough margin back. It's once in a while they do that. They'll pull their branded cords out, but there'll be, like, a bag of stuff, and I can look through that, and you know, if there's something worth something in there. I'll buy the bag and take a chance on everything else.

Suzanne Wells:

But it all depends, again, on that human element, who is sorting the stuff out, and how invested are they in this process? Did they just start last week and they don't know anything and their pricing stuff? Or are they just doing this job until they get a better job and they don't even care? It's all about how much they care.

Unknown:

I mean, I realized making, you know, just personal relationships and connections with the local employees there has helped me tremendously. Just understanding, you know, their process, you know, hey, yeah, I'm here buying stuff. But guess what? You know, they've led me on to some good stuff. You know, the one kid's like, Oh yeah, you always buy that printer stuff. There's something over there I put out today. Yeah,

Suzanne Wells:

they do. Once they know you, they do like to help. And some of the ladies at the Goodwill down the street for me, they know me and and they're like, oh well, we. Have, we have a rack of bathing suits coming out, you know, stuff like that. And I'm great. Thank you so much. Oh, wait, I did find at that goodwill, maybe 15 brand new swimsuits for women. They had 90 something dollar tags on, and they were, they were $3 and it was a good brand for the listeners. It was got text by profile, by gotex, which is a an expensive brand, and they've almost all sold for at least 30 so wow. I believe it was a retail store dump, because there were so many of them, and they were all big sizes, like big bus sizes, like E and F, and I thought, yeah, this might take a while to sell, but they all

Unknown:

did, and somebody wants

Suzanne Wells:

them. Um, one person said, you know, they returned it. They said this bathing suits terrible. The design is bad, and all this stuff. And everybody else loved them. So it all depends on, like, how it fits you, and all that kind of stuff. But there was a point in there, oh yeah, getting to know the employees, and they don't care if you're resellers, you're just gonna buy more stuff and you're gonna be in there more often, and good for us,

Unknown:

yep, because people come up to me like, when I'm looking at, oh, you're a seller. That's not fair. And I, you know, I said, you know, this helps my family. I have a job. This is my I said, this is kind of my little side hustle. It's fun to do, and I'm helping re home this item to somebody else in a different market, and the person's like, Oh, that's a good fog,

Suzanne Wells:

yeah? And it's funny, though, when you explain it, and then you're like, you know you could do it too, yeah? I was like, stopping you from do it. And they'll be like, Oh, that sounds like too much work, or that sounds too complicated, or I'm not going to spend money and not know if I want to make money, and yeah, but you'll go to a restaurant and drop 60 bucks for dinner. It's all about what you want to spend your money on. Everybody's different, but I don't really explain it anymore, yeah, to other shoppers, because I do run into other resellers, and we're all buying different stuff. No, you can have those giant, King size comforters. I'm not doing that.

Unknown:

Yep. I mean, I even seen customers in the goodwill who are trying to figure out something. I'm like, Oh, that's a revere wear or whatever it is. Um, the lid is probably over there if you want to go find the lid. Uh huh, thanks. Yeah.

Suzanne Wells:

Good for you. Well, you just really given us a lot of good information. I appreciate that. So we're getting to the end. Do you have any final words for the listeners?

Unknown:

I would say, you know, you can definitely do this. It's buy stuff that you like start from your house, sell stuff that you're passionate about. I like electronics. You know, I tried clothing. I don't like clothing. Sell stuff that you like. You're going to be successful.

Suzanne Wells:

So we could go shopping together, because I'm not going to buy what you're buying, and perfect buy what I'm buying, and we're not going to hurt each other's feelings by saying, Yeah, I'm not going to buy that. That's the best way to team up, if you want an eBay buddy, is find somebody who sells things that you don't sell, and either you can learn from them, or you just you're not competing, right? There's plenty of stuff. Yeah, absolutely. Well, thank you so much for reaching out and coming on and sharing all your information. Do you post on the group?

Unknown:

I just joined your group not too long ago, okay, but I've been listening to your podcast and my work and stuff like that. Yeah, I've been listening to the stories, but I'm going to start doing that.

Suzanne Wells:

Yeah, absolutely. So Nick from the podcast will be posting some things, because I'd like to see all these parts you're selling. You know, that's going to be helpful for people. And, yeah, you've just been giving us a real education. So thanks so much. And are you off work today? Are you going in

Unknown:

later. I'm off to work today and I'm going in tomorrow. Okay,

Suzanne Wells:

all right, what are you gonna do the rest of the day?

Unknown:

I gotta power wash the driveway.

Suzanne Wells:

Oh, that'll be fun. Is it 95 there? Like

Unknown:

it is here?

Suzanne Wells:

Oh, gosh, okay. Well, reward yourself with a cool, refreshing beverage after that's over, okay, thanks again, and we'll see you online. Okay, bye. The Seinfeld episode I mentioned is from season three, Episode 14, and it is called the Pez des. Dispenser. The actual dispenser is Tweety Bird. I looked it up on eBay and it only goes for about $15 so being on that show did not make Tweety valuable. Next week, my guest is Tina, who you may know as Gemini thrifts on YouTube. She is such a hard worker and has over 10,000 items in her store, as well as a successful YouTube channel. And she is a one woman show. She shares some tips on how she gets it all done and how she built her thriving eBay empire. Thank you, listeners for supporting this podcast. Stay positive. Keep moving forward, and I will talk to you next week. Bye, everybody. You