Trash to Cash- Buy cheap, sell high. A podcast about making a living on eBay. http://ebayscavengers.com We are two couples who live in different rural parts of the US. We are scavengers, especially when it comes to making money on eBay by selling items we find in or near the waste stream, at auctions, yard sales, and thrift stores. This allows us to avoid full-time jobs, which gives us more time to scavenge and enjoy our lives. It's a positive reinforcing cycle.

Trash to Cash- Buy cheap, sell high. A podcast about making a living on eBay. http://ebayscavengers.com We are two couples who live in different rural parts of the US. We are scavengers, especially when it comes to making money on eBay by selling items we find in or near the waste stream, at auctions, yard sales, and thrift stores. This allows us to avoid full-time jobs, which gives us more time to scavenge and enjoy our lives. It's a positive reinforcing cycle.

Trash to Cash- Buy cheap, sell high. A podcast about making a living on eBay. http://ebayscavengers.com We are two couples who live in different rural parts of the US. We are scavengers, especially when it comes to making money on eBay by selling items we find in or near the waste stream, at auctions, yard sales, and thrift stores. This allows us to avoid full-time jobs, which gives us more time to scavenge and enjoy our lives. It's a positive reinforcing cycle.

Trash to Cash- Buy cheap, sell high. A podcast about making a living on eBay. http://ebayscavengers.com We are two couples who live in different rural parts of the US. We are scavengers, especially when it comes to making money on eBay by selling items we find in or near the waste stream, at auctions, yard sales, and thrift stores. This allows us to avoid full-time jobs, which gives us more time to scavenge and enjoy our lives. It's a positive reinforcing cycle.

Trash to Cash- Buy cheap, sell high. A podcast about making a living on eBay. http://ebayscavengers.com We are two couples who live in different rural parts of the US. We are scavengers, especially when it comes to making money on eBay by selling items we find in or near the waste stream, at auctions, yard sales, and thrift stores. This allows us to avoid full-time jobs, which gives us more time to scavenge and enjoy our lives. It's a positive reinforcing cycle.

iTunes   YouTube   Download .mp3  Download .ogg Oh New York. We just finished our first week in the city that we love. We slept, watched movies, walked the streets, ate with friends and of course scavenged. Basically, we just unwound. Everything we did was fun. I'm sure we all forget how hard each of us works to run our businesses. Since we don't have bosses, we have to tell ourselves to take a break. Our eBay stores actually picked up even though we did no real listing. Had some big sales. Past hard work paid off. A listener has put together a meet up on the Upper West Side (near Colombia) this Thursday at 7pm-9pm. Click here for more info. The organizer is charging $8 to pay for pizza and drinks at the restaurant. We'd love to meet and talk to you if you're in the area. We love hearing how New Yorkers scavenge. This week we talked about these links: --Ryanne actually sat through most of eBay’s promoted listings webinar. It was informative, but unclear if it'll help with sales. --And as always, you can rent our rent our Vacation Farmhouse if you ever need to hide out in the mountains this Fall to see the leaves changes color. Scavenger discounts are in full effect. Meeting us is optional! The Weekly Scavenger Numbers  Our Store Week August 9-15, 2015 Store #1Total Items in Store: 3964 Items Sold: 25 Cost of Items Sold: $1075Total Sales: $3,011.75 Highest Price Sold: $2000 (Louis Vuitton briefcase)Average Price Sold: $42.12 (if you take out the big sale) International Sales: 4 (3 GSP)Returns: 0Money Spent on New Inventory This Week: $180Number of items listed this week: 8  Store #2Total Items in Store: 458 Items Sold: 9 Cost of Items Sold: $45Total Sales: $485.93 Highest Price Sold: $210 (vintage painting)Average Price Sold: $53.99 International Sales: 0 (0 GSP)Returns: 0Number of items listed this week: 0

iTunes   YouTube   Download .mp3  Download .ogg First, we want to welcome any of the scavengers who came to last week's meet up in Manhattan. Anastasia did a great job bringing people together. It was a good time and hope some folks decide to stick around here and share how they make a living out of tiny apartments. We also started a second podcast to document our adventures renting our vacation Farmhouse on Airbnb since this rental has become such a big part of our monthly income. It's called Shampoo and Booze (these are the two items most renters leave behind). It's an experiment of sorts and we'll just see where it goes. This podcast covers our last week in NYC. We still have a difficult time wrapping our heads around the fact that we can travel, live in different places for up to a month at a time, keep selling on our store, and scavenge. It's a life that I wouldn't not have believed ten years ago. This journey has not been a straight line and could not really be taught. I think each of us has to figure out what we want out of this life and see if running an eBay store can help fund that lifestyle. This week we talked about the following links: Several sellers mentioned in the comments that they use Shipsaver for insuring packages. (We use it too). For sellers who choose to not use the Global Shipping Program, Shipsaver will cover any lost package including the shipping fees if you declare that amount on the customs form. Unfortunately, making an insurance claim isn't the easiest so be aware.Marci linked to this article about the stressful worklife of an Amazon employee. This was a very discussed article online. It's great to be in a competitive and innovative environment, but how much of your life do you want to give to a corporation?Marc told us about how Goodwill is opening specialized Hipster stores to attract younger customers.Last week we mentioned using boxes inside flat rate envelopes to maximize what you can ship. This video shows the box sellers are using. As always you can see our vacation farmhouse that we bought and renovated using eBay profits. You can even rent it. The Weekly Scavenger Numbers Our Store Week August 16-22, 2015 Store #1Total Items in Store: 3934 Items Sold: 36 Cost of Items Sold: $97 Total Sales: $1,316.38 Highest Price Sold: $180 (vintage laptop computer)Average Price Sold: $36.56 International Sales: 7 (7 GSP)Returns: 0Money Spent on New Inventory This Week: $500Number of items listed this week: 0  Store #2Total Items in Store: 449 Items Sold: 9 Cost of Items Sold: $45Total Sales: $394.91 Highest Price Sold: $80 (vintage motorcycle helmet)Average Price Sold: $53.88 International Sales: 3 (3 GSP)Returns: 0Number of items listed this week: 0

iTunes   YouTube   Download .mp3  Download .ogg And here it is....the late edition of Scavenger Life: The Amsterdam Files. Above shows a photo right outside the apartment we're staying in. We also posted another episode of Shampoo and Booze  for those wanting to hear details of our vacation rental. Since starting the business in March, it's become a significant part of our monthly income and another fun challenge as we barricade ourselves against the need to ever find jobs again. The Weekly Scavenger Numbers  Our Store Week August 23-29, 2015 Store #1Total Items in Store: 3906 Items Sold: 19 Cost of Items Sold: $142 Total Sales: $1,227.89 Highest Price Sold: $230 (Mid Century Tables)Average Price Sold: $64.57 International Sales: 2 GSPReturns: 0Money Spent on New Inventory This Week: $80Number of items listed this week: 0  Store #2Total Items in Store: 442 Items Sold: 4 Cost of Items Sold: $9Total Sales: $97.96 Highest Price Sold: $40 (vintage fly swatter)Average Price Sold: $24.49 International Sales: 1 GSPReturns: 0Number of items listed this week: 0

iTunes   YouTube   Download .mp4  Download .ogv Lots of stuff sold while we were in NYC, here is a bunch of it. Enjoy!

iTunes   YouTube   Download .mp3  Download .ogg Last year, we asked if there was anyone in the community who sold on eBay outside the US. Was there as much waste and excess to find for cheap? Did people in other countries buy used items on eBay? Does the idea of "thrifting" exist? Thankfully Tom the English Picker reached out to us and shared his story of scavenging in England. You can listen to our first conversation with him here. And we even got to meet him and his fiance in Amsterdam and go to the famous IJ Hallen flea market. Recently, we asked the community about Amazon FBA. We're always asking people about selling on Amazon because it sounds so tempting but so outside our comfort zone. Can we make money on Amazon without doing retail arbitrage? Can we send in vintage and weird items we find at yard sales and flea markets? Tom messaged us again and said he's jumped into Amazon FBA full force. He helped explain to us how FBA could work for eBayers. Tom's a great guy and I'm sure will gladly answer any questions you have in the comments. Enjoy!