With the auctions that ended last Sunday the 2008 Garage Sale Challenge has reached it’s halfway point and I thought it would be interesting to take a look at how this year’s Challenge compares to last year’s at this time. It’s also time to check on how this year’s Challenge is progressing toward my goals.

This year’s net profit of $5132.44 at the halfway point is higher than the $3785.21 at the same time last year. However, that increase is likely almost all attributable to the fact that I’m including my Amazon sales this year. Last year I didn’t include them. Amazon has accounted for $1783.59 in gross sales this year.

My actual sales from eBay seem to be very similar to last year. In fact, they are probably slightly less than last year.
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The auctions for the items purchased during the first week of The 2008 Garage Sale Challenge ended Sunday evening with less than stellar results.

Of the 20 items listed on eBay, only 8 sold for a dismal sell-through rate of 40%. This represents the first time in many months that my weekly sell-through rate on eBay has been below 60%. There are still 4 of the 20 items still live because I made an error listing them on Tuesday for 7 days instead of just 5. One of these has an opening bid, but even when these close, the rate won’t increase by much.

One of my Challenge book purchases (The Second World War by Winston Churchill ) sold on Amazon for $59.99. Total sales from eBay amounted to $183.47.

After the first weeks sales, here’s what things look like. The final figures may change a little because it’s likely I will receive a few more PayPal payments before everything is paid for.

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The first weekend of the Garage Sale Challenge is over. I visited a total of 45 garage sales and one Friends Of The Library book sale between Thursday, Friday, and Saturday. Maybe it was just my imagination, but an awful lot of the sales seemed to be almost entirely infant and baby clothing.

While I bought a few things, none of them were spectacular finds. Mostly pretty humdrum stuff.

Here’s what my expenses look like for this first week.

The following items will go live on eBay starting Sunday evening and run for seven days:

• 31 Elizabeth Hiddleson crochet pattern booklets - I paid $.10 each for these
• A boxed set of 6 Transformers Find Your Fate Juniors books - I paid $1.00 for this
• A boxed set of Anne Rice’s Sleeping Beauty Novels - I paid $3.00 for these at the FOL sale. They are paperbacks which should have been $.50 each, but when I checked out the lady behind the table, who had to be at least 65, said, “I’m going to have to charge you $3.00 for these. They’re kind of nasty you know.” I asked if she had read them and she just got a big grin on her face.
• Faery Wicca books I & II - I paid $1.00 and probably should have walked away and left them on the table
• Boxed sets of the first and second season of The Sopranos TV series - I paid $6.00 thinking they had to be worth buying due to the popularity of the show. Was I ever mistaken. Being VHS doesn’t help either. I’ll be happy to get the opening bid for them
• Designing Tessellations quilting book - I paid $1.00 for this
• Uncommon Heroes & Behind The Scenes - two books about the 1997 flood here in Grand Forks. I paid $.50 each for them. Although I listed them in auction format, I’ll probably have to put them in my store and wait for someone to come along who is interested in them
• 4 Pyrex Nesting Cinderella bowls - I paid $1.00 for them. Definitely not the most popular colors or pattern, but I hadn’t bought much that day, so I succumbed
• The History Of Grand Forks County - I paid $.25 for this
• The first season of Brothers And Sisters TV series on DVD - I paid $5.00 for this
• 2 large talking Teletubbies - I paid $1.00 each for them
• 8 Haviland Pompadour floral dinner plates - I paid $3.00 for all 8 of them

In addition, the following books were purchased and put on Amazon:

• Introduction To Maternity & Pediatric Nursing textbook - paid $1.00
• The Second World War by Winston Churchill - a boxed set of soft covers - I paid $5.00
• Secrets Of A Jewish Baker cookbook - I paid $.50
• John Hopkins White Papers, 2006 Vol. I - I paid $1.00
• Effective Appellate Advocacy - I paid $.50
• The Ancient & Shining Ones - I paid $.50
• Gilbert Law Summaries - I paid $.50.

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The 2008 Garage Sale Challenge began yesterday, May 1, with 17 new garage sales in Grand Forks, and there were another 21 additional sales today. Since it sounds as though all the snow for the weekend is going to stay well south of us, there should be another 15 to 20 new sales tomorrow to finish off the first weekend.

There are currently fifteen adventuresome readers who have completed the registration process to participate. If you’ve thought about taking part, I encourage you to join us. Current participants’ experience ranges from at least beginner to full-time sellers and their goals range from $1000 up to $15,000.

If you haven’t yet registered, and would like to join us, you have until May 10 to complete the registration process. If you need any help doing so, just let me know and I’ll be glad to help you through the process.

My efforts for the first two days haven’t exactly been earth shattering. I’m guessing my best purchase so far is a group of vintage crochet pattern booklets. Other than that, most of what I’ve bought has been books - a few for eBay, but mostly for Amazon.

Starting next Tuesday, I’ll begin posting a weekly update here as to how I’m doing both here and, along with the other participants, on The 2008 Garage Sale Challenge blog.

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Based on the response to two recent reader polls The 2008 Garage Sale Challenge will begin on May 1, 2008. This year’s Challenge will be similar to The $10.000 eBay Garage Sale Challenge from last summer, but will include a few twists including the opportunity for you to take part if you choose.

What’s Different This Year?

1. Amazon is being added as an additional sales venue. While I talked some last year about books I’d purchased at garage sales being put on Amazon, my sales from Amazon were not included in the actual Challenge. This year they will be. I’m doing for two reasons. One, Amazon can provide a viable income source for many of you and there are no real additional acquisition costs. Two, quite a few readers wrote saying they would like to see them included.

2. The 2008 Garage Sale Challenge will include inventory purchased at thrift stores. This change is being made primarily based on the number of poll responses requesting a thrift shop challenge.

3. Interested readers will have the opportunity to actively take part in The 2008 Garage Sale Challenge on weekly basis by challenging themselves, setting their own goals, and sharing their results with other readers.

My primary reason for doing last year’s Challenge was to show that anyone can start with a small amount of money and build a successful part-time, or full-time, eBay business. My goal for this year’s Challenge remains the same. The changes to this year’s Challenge fit right into that goal.
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