Kitchen Sink Project Finished

 It took several months before I was ready to install the Ebay kitchen sink that I refurbished. I first needed to fix a leak in the hot water line that goes to the dishwasher. I also needed to replace the shutoff valve on that line. Because the leak was right at the tee that goes to the dishwasher, I needed a new tee in addition to the shut off valve. I noticed that the copper pipe for the hot water was soldered to the cold-water line. I figured this was done to give the pipes some support. I decided to reroute the hot water line for the dishwasher to the back wall and put in a 90-degree elbow. I also needed about 10 inches of copper pipe and some 1/2" pipe clamps to secure the pipe to the back wall.

The under-sink photo shows how little room there is to work. The garbage disposal is on the left and the white canister on the right is a water filter. I used SharkBite Max fittings which do not require solder. My only worry was that the copper hot water supply line was pitted from the leak. SharkBite fittings need a smooth surface. I used a 3M stripping pad to clean the old pipe as best as I could. After that it was time to start cutting pipe. I used a Ridgid 40617 Model 101 close quarters tubing cutter to remove the old tee. The part that was soldered to the cold-water line was cut with a reciprocating saw. After deburring all of the cuts, the new SharkBite fittings were installed. I then installed clamps to give some support to the copper pipes. When I turned the water back on, I found only one leak where the dishwasher line connects to the shutoff valve. It just needed to be tightened a bit more. The pipe repair took about 4 hours.

Several weeks later, with the under-sink repairs completed, it was time to remove the old sink. I first disconnected the water lines to the faucet and then removed the garbage disposal. This gave me room to get at the 6 clamps that hold the sink in place. With the clamps removed I was able to lift the sink out. I then moved the faucet and the garbage disposal mounting hardware to the new sink. Everything was going well until I tried to remove the drain from the right side of the old sink. I tried using an adjustable plumber's wrench, but that didn't work. As a last resort I tried my 12" pipe wrench. That made the whole drain rotate, but the nut would not budge. I gave up and went to Lowes and bought a new drain assembly for $22.

With both drains in place and the faucet mounted I was ready to install the new sink. The 2-inch deeper sink bowls made reinstalling the clamps a little difficult. I had to cut about an inch off the plastic drainpipe on the right side. The garbage disposal was heavy, but I managed to get it mounted. The drainpipe on the left side had just enough adjustment to line up with the garbage disposal. I then connected the water lines to the faucet. No leaks! The last step was to put silicone caulk around the outside of the sink. The removal and installation took about 8 hours. Total project cost was about $180. It doesn't look much different, but it is nice to get rid of the dull finish and the dent between the bowls.

Bird House Project

 Last fall I started building a bird house with some scrap wood that I had laying around. After I decided on the dimensions, I decided to build two of them. The interior is 5-1/2" x 7" and the ends are 7" high cut at a 45-degree angle. I thought that it would be too heavy if I made all of the pieces from 3/4" thick wood, so I bought a small piece of 1/2" plywood for the sides and roof. I made the roof so that it can be removed for cleaning. All of the angle cuts were done on a Black+Decker table saw. The perch is a piece of 3/8" dia. oak dowel.

After the main parts were assembled, I couldn't decide how to finish the roof, so I let the two unfinished bird houses sit in the garage all winter. Once spring arrived, I started thinking about what I was going to use for roofing. I thought about using some old roofing from my house, but that was too thick and hard to cut. They make roofing for doll houses, but I didn't think any of those options would last very long outside. I finally settled on sandpaper. I happened to have some unused 3"x 21" sanding belts that I bought on Amazon back in 2022. The 80 grit was about right, and the color looked good too. 

I didn't plan it this way, but the belts are 21" and the roof was 10-1/2" long. I needed to cut up 2 belts for each roof. I also needed to find a piece of molding for the roof cap. I selected a .875-in x 8.0-ft white hardwood molding with a leaf pattern from Lowes. Since the molding was 8 feet long, I decided to trim out the front of each house and paint the vines green. This helped hide the roof line gap and two screws along the bottom edge. I then applied Minwax Puritan Pine stain and a coat of Rust-oleum Ultra-Cover Clear that I had left over from a previous project.

The entrance hole is 1-1/2" diameter, about the size for a wren, finch, or a swallow. I plan on mounting these guys to 4x4 posts in the shade near the garden. Although, they almost look too good to leave outside. Next time I would use a hand miter saw. I spent a lot of time sanding the ends of the trim pieces, so they fit together nicely. I would also make the whole thing out of 1/2" plywood. With the 3/4" thick boards, each house weighs 3 Lbs. - 2 Oz. It took a long time to build because I didn't like any of the designs for the ones I found on the Internet. I had to think about the size of each piece and then cut double the amount so that I could build two. Hopefully birds will appreciate the effort, and the new houses will draw more of them to the back yard.

Kitchen Sink Restoration

For as long as we have owned our home the kitchen sink has had a dent in the rib that separates the two bowels. An 18-gauge stainless-steel sink like the one pictured can cost as much as $280. I'm sure my old one was no more than 20-gauge. 

I found a used one that was 2" deeper on Ebay and put it on my watch list. The seller who was located in Ironwood MI, sent me an offer of $40. Although the sink had no dents, it had a lot of scratches. I watched a few Youtube videos on how to restore an old stainless sink and it didn't seem too difficult. I didn't think I would find another one at that price, so I placed the order.

A few days later the sink arrived in good condition. I went to Lowes and got some 3M moderate (black) and final (green) stripping pads. With a bucket of water and some dishwashing soap I first started with a moderate pad and then switched to the final stripping pad. 

The trick is to go in the direction of the factory brushed finish. It only took about an hour to get the result I was looking for. To finish it off, I applied a product called Stainless Steel Magic to get a nice even surface shine. You can still see a few scratches, but I think it looks fine the way it turned out.

The next step is to remove the old sink and install the new one. One of the copper pipes under the sink has a tiny leak that needs to be fixed. The leak is in a tee fitting on the hot water line. I could attempt to resolder the joint that's leaking, but I'm afraid that solder wouldn't draw into the old joint properly. I would also need to buy solder, flux, and propane. My other option is to replace the tee with a Sharkbite tee that has a valve on one side. The shutoff valve to the dishwasher needs to be replaced anyway. Sharkbite fittings cost more than traditional fittings, but you don't need to solder the joints. I will also need to replace the drain gaskets and make adjustments to the drain fittings for the new sink depth. I can't spend any more money this month, so the repairs and sink installation will have to wait. With many home repairs, the improvement you get is only marginal, which is why I'm in no hurry to finish. 

2024 Ebay Sales Summary

 Although it is not quite the end of the year, I decided to post my Ebay sales summary for 2024. The good news is that total sales increased by 128.5% from the previous year. Net sales increased by 158.2% and the average sales price per item increased by 36% to $27.15. The number of items sold increased by 68%. This was mainly due to the 21 Xbox controllers that I sold in 2024. 

Now the bad news. The cost of selling (which includes Ebay fees and shipping) was 37.6% of total sales. And the cost of goods was 29.5% of total sales. Add sales tax to that and my profit was only 27% of total sales or about $305. That was still a 48.4% improvement over last year's profit. Total items sold was 42, so my goal for 2025 is to sell an average of one item per week. I should be able to achieve that if I can find reasonably priced controllers to refurbish. It feels like a few individuals have been trying to dominate the used game controller market. The average price of a used controller that needs repair on Ebay does not leave any room for profit for resellers. You can get a new Xbox One black model S wireless controller for $49.95. I usually charge $32 for a refurbished controller with free shipping. That means I can only pay $12 per controller.

The last item that sold was a Marine Corps military utility cap. I got it in a bulk package of 35 assorted hats and caps. This was only the third cap that sold so far but that was enough to pay for all 35. The buyer was located in California and is the production company for the NCIS television series which stars Mark Harmon. NCIS stands for Naval Criminal Investigative Service, so they buy a lot of military uniforms and gear for the show, which has been in production since 2003. I thought it was interesting to know that an item I sold might end up in a TV series. I'll have to keep my eyes open for more military items to resell. All of the other hats I have are pro and college sports team related which may take longer to sell.

20 Xbox Controllers Sold on Ebay

 In the past eight months I have sold 20 refurbished Xbox One controllers on Ebay. Each controller was disassembled, cleaned, repaired, and sold at a fixed price. I typically buy controllers that are listed "For parts or not working" and try to restore them to 100% working condition. Most of the controllers are model 1708 (3rd generation), which I find are easier to repair. Model 1914 (Xbox Series X) controllers are a bit more difficult to fix. I have not tried to fix any Elite model controllers because even the broken ones are over $30 each.

The most common color I have sold is white (see image). While white and black are the most common colors, the more colorful special edition controllers sell faster and fetch a higher price. I have compiled the numbers to try and determine if fixing old controllers is a viable business model. If you exclude labor, you have the cost to acquire the controller, the parts to fix the controller, the cost to package/ship, and Ebay's transaction fees. Total gross sales (minus tax and Ebay fees) were, $565.88. That may look like a good number, but after subtracting initial cost and shipping, you end up with a $157.97. 

That money then goes into buying replacement parts and more broken controllers. My average cost for a non-working controller was $14.21. That includes tax and shipping. The most I have paid for a non-working controller is $16.44. It is getting more difficult to find controllers for less than $16 unless you buy 3 or more at a time or find someone who wants to get rid of a broken one quickly. On auction sites, I find the same people bidding against me on every controller listing. We are just making each other's resale business less profitable by buying untested controllers for more than they are worth. I suspect the other bidders are relisting controllers on Ebay for parts or not working at a slightly higher price. The proof is that the average price of a broken controller on Ebay has increased dramatically in the last six months.

So, despite the satisfaction of getting a controller to work again, the reward just isn't enough to justify the time it takes to find fixable controllers at a reasonable price. There are also issues with older controllers that make them impossible to recalibrate. Microsoft recently gave the ability to recalibrate Model 1914 controllers but have only released firmware updates for older controllers to make them more tolerant to stick drift. Eventually, thumb sticks are going to wear out. High quality analog sticks are more expensive and only have a life cycle of 2 million cycles at best. With a popular fps game like Call of Duty a thumb stick can wear out in 3 or 4 months. It would seem like the ideal scenario for a controller repair shop, but people are trying to sell their broken controllers at a high price and pay as little as possible for ones that have been refurbished. 

The other issue is that after a while you end up with a bunch of controllers that are unfixable because of circuit board issues. They either won't turn on or the buttons and triggers don't work. I currently have 5 controllers with various circuit board issues. Buying a used circuit board cost as much as buying an untested "for parts" controller. You need to have some spare parts, but over time you end up with a collection of controllers that have bad circuit boards. Every year more gamers upgrade to newer video game systems, which means that the market for older controllers will gradually diminish. Eventually the only people buying old controllers will be collectors who are trying to acquire every variation.