The Numbers: December 4-10, 2022

We had one big sale this week. Biro meat band saw.  Just when we hit bottom, we seem to luck out and make a good sale.   We have sold everything from a small 1 oz 1st Class thing, to a 3500 lb sailboat!  — Tom

Total Items in Store: 581
Items Sold:  23
Gross Sales: $1,023.31 (including eBay fees, shipping, and taxes)
Net Sales: $637.46 (minus eBay fees, shipping, and taxes)
Cost of Items Sold: $144
Highest Price Sold: $135 (atomic starburst coffee mug)
Average Price Sold: $44.49
Returns: 0
Money Spent on New Inventory This Week: $22
Number of items listed this week: 48

On paper this looks ok but I feel like I’m working a lot harder and making a lot of deals to make less money without the RA items.  Plus I’m trying to raise money for Christmas gifts.  Will need to work hard at listing. Lots of life ups and downs but keep on truckin’ as they say.

On a podcast they discussed working harder to make the same money.  I also ran into a really experienced local reseller who said this is his worst year ever and higher dollar items (60+) aren’t moving as well as usual.  He said he tracks his packages and USPS is doing very well so far.

I listed a lot of Christmas and nearly finished.  I’m a bit sick of Christmas stuff TBH.  It will be nice to switch out to something else.  I haven’t decided yet what I will pull out from the piles.

I got burned one year with not being able to buy a Fed Ex label on Ebay for a large gift order right before Christmas.  I went ahead and ate it in the spirit of the season but then started each year after that to turn off my store on the USPS shipping cut off day until Christmas Eve.  I think this year I’m going to go ahead and leave it on.   Fingers crossed.

If you want to consider an occasional podcast, I wouldn’t complain about that. 🙂

Great week for you guys.   I’m sure we all miss you.  It was great to start the week with your insights and a little extra motivation.  Nothing like the feeling of community that you built.

Had a pretty good week.  It started out really strong on Sunday, but then trickled down from there.  Had a great sale of a Star Trek Enterprise desk model for $275.  I paid $24 at an auction a few weeks ago and only had it up 20 days.  I couldn’t believe I won it for so cheap.  I was asking $400 but took an offer.  Had another great sale for a paperweight from Lyndon Johnson’s presidency that sold for $175.  Apparently, they were given out to political supporters and allies.  I was surprised to sell it for full asking price because it hasn’t gotten much attention since I posted it.  Sent it priority mail international to France.

Had a rare for me return request for a Coleman lantern.  Buyer claimed it wasn’t working properly.  I didn’t test it extensively, so I negotiated a half price refund.  It was a pain to pack so didn’t want to go through that again.  Only my 7th return request of the year.

Etsy once again pulling its weight.  Accounted for 25% of sales this week.

Week Ending 12/10/22
Gross Sales(w/o shipping $ tax): $1,155.05
Net Sales: $905.29
Total Items Sold 26
Total Items in eBay Store: 1103
Items Sold eBay: 17
Total Items in Etsy Store: 347
Items Sold Etsy: 9
Cost of Items Sold: $95.38
COGS Percent 10.54%
Highest Price Sold: $275.00 Star Trek Enterprise Model
Average Price Sold: $44.43
Returns: 1
Money Spent on New Inventory: $0.00
Average Days Listed: 180
Longest Listed: 1393
New items listed: 22

Last week was good, but not exceptional. I had a number of sales yesterday (Sunday) and this morning, so shipping was definitely annoying today. I noticed that I had a number of buyers from far away, and I used two Regional A and two medium flat rate boxes. I hardly ever use the med flat box. I brought three items to FedEx, which is also unusual.

I very much enjoyed the podcast, but I understand how busy you two are.

Week of Dec 4 – 10
Total Items in Store: 1791 eBay, 30 Etsy
Items Sold: 19 eBay, 0 Etsy
Cost of Items Sold: $0 + $167 Commission
Total Sales: $444.90 eBay, $0 Etsy; includes fees but no shipping
Highest Price Sold: eBay $86 Nonworking Apple Macintosh Model M0001
Average price: $23.42
Returns: 0 (1 damage in transit)
Money Spent on New Inventory This Week: $0
Number of items listed this week: 14

12/04/22 – 12/10/22

Total Items In ebay Store: 4720

Total Items In Etsy Store: 255 (all 5 items sold when I had around 200 items or less listed)

ebay Items Sold: 17 $941.85 / Net $821.39
Etsy Items Sold: 5 $303.59 / Net $244.94

Total Gross Sales: 1245.44 (including eBay\etsy fees, shipping, and taxes)
Net Sales: $ 1066.33 (minus shipping, and taxes)
Items Sold: 22
Highest Price Sold: $ 125 (Tape Recorder and a hat – both sold for $125 each)
Average Price Sold: $ 48.46
Money Spent on New Inventory: $ 74.93

Number of items listed: 17 ebay, 38 Etsy

Gut Sales Report for the week: I didn’t realize I sold so much this week. Way better than I thought.

Focus for the week : Still trying to get my 1800 vintage listings on Etsy. I have only 255 listed on Etsy so far.

Scavenge of the week: Found a new pair of Lucky Brand Jeans – new ones still sell for good money.

Thoughts for the week: Well, I was way off on my projections of how Etsy would perform in terms of STR. I was way too low! I projected that items on Etsy would sell only 60% of fast as on ebay.  Right now my Etsy STR is about 700% of that of ebay. That is true for all items on ebay and also pretty much for only vintage items. I have had a sale on Etsy everyday since Tue Dec 6th.

So, I am trying to figure out why my Etsy store is doing so much better than my projections. Here are my theories:

1. It is the busy Christmas season. But, it is the busy Christmas season on ebay as well. Maybe just the right people for my items are looking at them on Etsy.
2. I Added tags to all my Etsy Items.
3. My Etsy store is a new Etsy store and no negative marks yet. Maybe Etsy is bumping me up in rankings to get me started.
4. It could be due to the specific items that I am selling. What I am selling is better suited to Etsy. Games and briefcase seem to be selling well for me on Etsy.
5. Etsy is an all new platform for me and my STR that held true on ebay does not hold true for Etsy. Etsy it is a totally different set of eyes looking at my items and it is like starting all over.

Let me know if you have any theories.

I tend to think that the reason is a combination of all of the above. However, I think #5 has the strongest influence. This is how my ebay store was when I first started. Things had a high STR at the beginning. Then over time, my STR fell more and more. I believe the same thing is now happening on Etsy. I will just enjoy the much higher STR on Etsy while it lasts.

My projection for Etsy was an extra $700\month after I got all 1800 items listed. I think now that the actual amount could be $1000-$2000\month for a limited time. Then the Etsy STR will head back closer to $700 after some period of time.

But, if this is the case, that is really good news. That means that I should probably see something similar happen on Poshmark for my shoes and clothes. But, I will not know till I try. I have my hands full with listing on Etsy right now and learning how everything works on Etsy.

Then it will be off to Facebook MarketPlace. I really think my doubling my ebay sales by listing on other platforms is just within reach. I just have to put the time in to make it happen.

Mark

Borderrooster eBay Store Week December 4, 2022 thru December 10, 2022
Total Items in Store: 1111
Items Sold: 12
Gross Sales: $277.61 (including eBay fees, shipping, and taxes)
Net Sales: $147.62 (minus eBay fees, shipping, and taxes)
Highest Price Sold: $49.95 (Ford F-150 Floor Mats)
Average Price Sold: $23.13
Returns: 0
Money Spent on New Inventory This Week: $0
Number of items listed this week: 10
I picked up a Hurom Slow Juicer at a thrift store a few months ago for $12.00. Finally got it cleaned up, photoed and listed for $175.00!
Also parted out a Hamilton Beach Juicer I bought for $5.00 into 7 listings totaling over $75.00. Hat tip to Ryanne for the idea!
Another of my listings this week was actually a relisting of an item that sold but was never paid for. eBay automatically relisted after it was timed out and canceled by eBay.

Week December 4-10, 2022

Total Items in Store: 463
Items Sold: 38
Gross Sales: $1,370
Net Sales: $842
Cost of Items Sold: $60
Highest Price Sold: $149 (vintage christmas tree topper)
Average Price Sold: $36.06
Returns: 0

Hope you  guys are having a beautiful holiday season.  I still take a peek at the forum most weeks to see how it’s going.  I am so thankful to you, Jay and Ryanne, for putting out that podcast for all those years.  It had so much influence on me when I was a newer seller…choosing the type of seller I wanted to be.  Specifically with the emotional and philosophical aspects of the business.  I looked forward to listening every Monday morning!

Sales have been okay, but disappointing when compared to last year.  I was having drinks with a friend who owns a brick and mortar shop in our town (gift shop along with interior design services).  We agreed that it’s not realistic to use the pandemic years when evaluating growth.  They are going back to 2019 numbers for charting the health of their business.  When I compare my sales to 2019 numbers, it makes sense.  I was feeling discouraged at the slow start to Q4.  But in November I realized I was having a pretty good November…just not a 2021 November.  I’ve got big listing goals for 2023 that will hopefully result in corresponding sales!

Items in Store 2005
Items Sold 23
Total Sales $1,202.00
COGS $186.00
Total Profit $1,016.00
Average profit $44.17
Average sales price $52.26
New Listings 7
Items scavenged 22
Listing 2022 weekly Avg 36

I had 2 $300 sales this week. Boy I could really get used to that! I didn’t list a whole lot but I did finish testing and creating draft listings for my “high dollar shelf”. I just have to do photos for them this week if I get a chance.

J&R, I wouldn’t’ complain if you took an hour during the holidays if you get a break and did a quick “year in review” podcast. That would be an awesome Christmas present!

Week of 12/4 – 12/10:
Total items in Store: 322
Items Sold: 13
Gross Sales: $409.84 (including eBay fees, shipping, and taxes)
Net Sales: $293.15 (minus eBay fees, shipping, and taxes)
Cost of Items Sold: $91.00 (including consignment commissions)
Highest Price Sold: $100 plus shipping (Romanian M59 rifle bayonet)
Average Price Sold: $31.53
Returns: 0
Money Spent on New Inventory: $0
Number of new items listed: 17

Posting numbers late is becoming my bad habit. More items sold that week with a higher gross but average price down, but a much better ROI and net. The challenge coins are starting to move again for me, which is good. When a category suddenly goes silent for me, I begin to wonder if its time has passed and that category has gone the way of Beanie Babies.