Print
E-mail
Comment
Getting cash
  
|
By T.L. Hamilton
In this tough economy, people are selling just about anything to make a buck and fill their gas tanks.
Along with the classic standbys for selling goods for cash – pawn shops and garage sales – the Internet has become the place to be to connect with interested buyers on eBay or Craigslist.
Following that trend is Tammy and Hugh Neighbors, who opened an eBay store called Drop ‘N’ Sell located at 2107 W. Davis Street in Conroe.
Since they opened in Feburary 2005, the store has been successful and busy, so much so that the couple plans to open a second store in Huntsville soon, to be run by their son, Ryan.
The way the service works is a seller will drop their item off at the store and the Neighbors photograph it, calculate shipping costs and list it on eBay. Once the item has sold, the Neighbors will collect a percentage as their commission and ship it.
The commission varies by selling price, and the percentage goes down as the price goes up.
Over the past few months, as gas grocery costs rose, Tammy Neighbors said they’ve seen a spike in customers and calls of interest.
“We probably get about 20 to 30 calls a week from people just asking how the process works,” she said.
“I’d say the number of customers we have right now are up in the thousands.”
That is reflected in their store, which while orderly, is full of products to be sold – everything from an 80-gallon fish tank to an impressive collection of Life magazines, dating from 1938 to 1872.
Hulking pieces of lab machinery sat in one corner, which Tammy Neighbors said was donated to a charity.
“So, since the charity can’t do anything with it, they’re selling it and they’re going to collect the funds to support their cause,” she said.
Tammy Neighbors said her customers mention their financial hardships more often lately.
“They’ll say they want money for their mortgage or to get gas or buy food,” she said. “We’re hearing a lot more of those stories than we used to. We’re trying to work as hard as we can to get as much money for their items as we can.”
Local pawn shops have also seen an influx in customers.
Most pawn sellers are getting rid of unneeded items such as guns and musical instruments.
“We have seen an increase in people selling electronics, but I guess the biggest increase of what we’ve been is guns,” said Kavin Barringer, manager of Gallery Pawn at 817 N. Frazier in Conroe.
“We’ve had a lot of people trying to get rid of movies and video games too. With things the way they are everyone’s kind of tight.”
Barringer said the increase in the value of gold over the summer has brought jewelry to his store, but no more than usual.
“Jewelry in our business has always been a mainstay,” he said. “It’s something we see on a daily basis.”
Pancho Martinez, manager of All Pawn, located at 811 W. Montgomery St. in Willis, also said that the store’s intake of gold jewelry has stayed the same, despite the value increasing.
“When I first started five years ago we paid $3 to $5 per gram and now we’re up to $6 to $8,” he said. “So our prices have increased on the gold that comes in but our intake hasn’t increased.”
Martinez said he’s been doing more buying lately, mostly of construction tools and musical instruments. But he said now that gas prices are beginning to drop, he’s seeing a drop in sellers.
“We were really taking a lot of stuff in during May, June and July, but not so much in August,” he said. “The price of gas has gone down, jobs are opening up and people are not pawning.”
Along with the classic standbys for selling goods for cash – pawn shops and garage sales – the Internet has become the place to be to connect with interested buyers on eBay or Craigslist.
Following that trend is Tammy and Hugh Neighbors, who opened an eBay store called Drop ‘N’ Sell located at 2107 W. Davis Street in Conroe.
Since they opened in Feburary 2005, the store has been successful and busy, so much so that the couple plans to open a second store in Huntsville soon, to be run by their son, Ryan.
The way the service works is a seller will drop their item off at the store and the Neighbors photograph it, calculate shipping costs and list it on eBay. Once the item has sold, the Neighbors will collect a percentage as their commission and ship it.
The commission varies by selling price, and the percentage goes down as the price goes up.
Over the past few months, as gas grocery costs rose, Tammy Neighbors said they’ve seen a spike in customers and calls of interest.
“We probably get about 20 to 30 calls a week from people just asking how the process works,” she said.
“I’d say the number of customers we have right now are up in the thousands.”
That is reflected in their store, which while orderly, is full of products to be sold – everything from an 80-gallon fish tank to an impressive collection of Life magazines, dating from 1938 to 1872.
Hulking pieces of lab machinery sat in one corner, which Tammy Neighbors said was donated to a charity.
“So, since the charity can’t do anything with it, they’re selling it and they’re going to collect the funds to support their cause,” she said.
Tammy Neighbors said her customers mention their financial hardships more often lately.
“They’ll say they want money for their mortgage or to get gas or buy food,” she said. “We’re hearing a lot more of those stories than we used to. We’re trying to work as hard as we can to get as much money for their items as we can.”
Local pawn shops have also seen an influx in customers.
Most pawn sellers are getting rid of unneeded items such as guns and musical instruments.
“We have seen an increase in people selling electronics, but I guess the biggest increase of what we’ve been is guns,” said Kavin Barringer, manager of Gallery Pawn at 817 N. Frazier in Conroe.
“We’ve had a lot of people trying to get rid of movies and video games too. With things the way they are everyone’s kind of tight.”
Barringer said the increase in the value of gold over the summer has brought jewelry to his store, but no more than usual.
“Jewelry in our business has always been a mainstay,” he said. “It’s something we see on a daily basis.”
Pancho Martinez, manager of All Pawn, located at 811 W. Montgomery St. in Willis, also said that the store’s intake of gold jewelry has stayed the same, despite the value increasing.
“When I first started five years ago we paid $3 to $5 per gram and now we’re up to $6 to $8,” he said. “So our prices have increased on the gold that comes in but our intake hasn’t increased.”
Martinez said he’s been doing more buying lately, mostly of construction tools and musical instruments. But he said now that gas prices are beginning to drop, he’s seeing a drop in sellers.
“We were really taking a lot of stuff in during May, June and July, but not so much in August,” he said. “The price of gas has gone down, jobs are opening up and people are not pawning.”
Submit a Comment
|
You must be logged in to post a comment.
|
Not yet a registered member?
Click here to become one. Comments to stories and articles on the Web site are not edited or pre-approved before appearing online. Readers posting comments are solely responsible for those comments. Comments must be germane to the story to which they apply. Online comments that are libelous, profane or personally attack another site participant can be reported as abuse using the link provided on each comment. Comments reported as abusive will be reviewed and may be removed from view, as will off-topic comments. BE CIVIL. Individuals continually posting abusive comments to the site may have their registrations revoked. |
