Gary’s 2008 Garage Sale Challenge - Week 9

The auctions purchased during the eighth week of the 2008 Garage Sale Challenge ended Sunday evening with 26 items selling for a total of $701.34 and a sell-through rate of 79%. Amazon sales accounted for another $139.91.

The highest priced item for the week was Alice Starmore’s Pacific Coast Highway (280239098308) which brought $10.50. This was one of three knitting books I had on eBay this week. The other two also sold - “Knitting In The Nordic Tradition” (280239098502) selling for $40.20 and “…And A Time To Knit Stockings” (280239098700) selling for $16.49.

The surprise of the week was a book titled “American Bottles And Flasks & Their Ancestry” (280239098293) that sold for $63.56. This was between two and three times what other examples of the same book had brought on eBay over the last three months.

Here’s how things look after last week’s auctions ended.

Ended	eBay Sold	Amazon Sold	Cost	List Fees	FV Fees	PayPal Fees	Incid. Fees	Miles	Net Profit	Total
5/11	$193.46	$59.99	$35.35	$6.30	$18.04	$10.27	$0.00	$24.75	$150.37	$158.74
5/18	$923.70	$247.40	$59.55	$8.15	$109.00	$35.63	$0.00	$46.97	$911.80	$1070.54
5/26	$589.03	$298.12	$65.50	$10.40	$92.46	$15.59	$0.00	$59.09	$644.11	$1714.65
6/01	$348.10	$174.30	$30.70	$6.15	$50.69	$24.89	$0.00	$23.74	$386.25	$2100.88
6/8	No auctions - went fishing in Canada
6/15	$518.38	$57.34	$58.25	$10.25	$45.60	$27.83	$0.00	$36.87	$396.92	$2497.80
6/22	$215.92	$241.08	$21.25	$3.05	$56.44	$8.97	$0.00	$0.00	$367.29	$2865.09
6/29	$701.34	$139.91	$74.97	$12.35	$69.99	$25.42	$0.00	$49.49	$609.03	$3474.12
7/6			$41.75	$14.55				$39.90

This was somewhat of an unusual week of garage sales. While there were plenty of sales in Grand Forks, by the time I was done on Friday, I’d spent a total of $13.00 and it was looking as though this was going to be a bad week for the Challenge.

Then Saturday morning, although I didn’t make a lot of purchases, one of the things I bought was a nice partial set of Imperial Sterling flatware in the Joan Of Arc pattern for $20.00. I listed the pieces as individual 4 piece place settings and broke the remaining pieces up into auctions for individual pieces. I’ll have to wait until next Sunday evening, but the potential is there for the flatware to bring $500+ making this week’s prospects appear a lot better then they did Friday.

With the flatware broken into several auctions, I have twenty-four qualifying auctions running on eBay this week. All are fresh listings with no re-lists. Here’s what they are and what I paid for them:

• Betty Crocker’s Picture Cook Book - 1st ed. 7th pr. - paid $1.00
• Betty Crocker’s Picture Cook Book - 1st ed. 2nd pr. - paid $1.00
• Partial set of International Sterling Joan Of Arc flatware - paid $20.00
• Stampin’ Up A Wish For You set - paid $1.00
• Creative Memories 12×12 rose album - paid $1.00
• Abraham Lincoln: The War Years & The Prairie Years - paid $6.00
• 8 Dear America series children’s books - paid $2.00
• Ole Miss from Derrydale Press - paid $1.00
• Stray Shots & A Decade Of Sporting Books And Prints by Derrydale Press - paid $1.00
• Eric Clapton: Crossroads Guitar Festival DVD - paid $1.00

This was also a slow week for Amazon books. I didn’t sell anywhere near the number I usually do, nor was I able to find as many books for Amazon as I do most weeks. Here’s what I did buy this week that went on Amazon:

• Manuel de Competition Francaise - paid $.50
• Living Beyond Yourself - paid $1.00
• The Gluten Free Gourmet Makes Dessert - paid $1.00
• Principles Of Micro Economics - paid $1.00
• Miss Saigon DVD - paid $.50
• Position Yourself For Greatness CD audio book - paid $1.00
• : Fighting Malicious Code - paid $.50
• Communicating Effectively For Dummies - paid $.25
• The Religious Life Of Thomas Jefferson - paid $.50
• EGGs Made Easy - paid $.50