eBay Scouting Hot Finds: Looking Ahead

eBay Scouting Hot Finds Newsletter

Friday Morning Edition

Aug. 28, 2020

Yesterday I put back on the camp director hat and started the engine for 2021 recruiting. As I told the staff running a camp is kinda like college football. Before you can play the game you have to recruit. In this case for me it's troops to come put down a deposit and at the same time I need to hire a solid veteran camp staff.

Vintage eBay Scout Auctions This Weekend

When I got back into the camp game after an almost 20 year absence I discovered that its a very competitive landscape. When I was a Scout in the 1980s my troop would never have considered going out of council to summer camp. Now it's kinda a badge of honor that you run a strong program. So for Camp Barstow we cast a wide net to get troops as far away as Florida to sign up.

Check Out My $5 Dollar Store With Live Auctions

Boy Scout Memorabilia Auctions on eBay

Now add to that the fact that most troops are struggling to get back to meeting in person and camping then it makes it even tougher. But as I said in my email to the leaders yesterday - we have to move forward with plans to offer a fun and safe summer camp in 2021 and so it's not too early to make plans.

Auctions Ending Friday & Saturday on eBay

Our somewhat throwback idea is to run a camp open house on Sunday October 11 from 1-5 PM. When I was a Girl Scout leader we would always get these invitations from the council camps to attend an open house. In their model typically girls go solo (without their troop) so the council knew it had to recruit the campers by talking to the parents. We are planning a fun packed afternoon that will allow guests to get a taste of our program with a dose of sales pitch.

Patchblanket eBay Santeeswapper Store

On eBay I have 423 live auctions running including the last bit of items closing tonight and tomorrow from a great Pacific Northwest collection. Then on Sunday I have 234 auctions ending 1 minute apart in the first waves. I'm going to try and run a big group of first time auctions every Sunday since that has always been the biggest day for auctions to end in our category.

This week I decided to start sorting my NOAC patches. For several years I have been putting everything I got from NOAC in a Rubbermaid tote. When I started this sort I had 1 1/2 totes filled. I put out small containters labeled by year and got everything down to 1975 sorted separately. Now that I have EVERYTHING in one eBay store it makes sense to go through and get all this listed. We don't have an upcoming NOAC but you can't sell it if its not listed.

Have a great weekend,