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Hello Everyone!
My name is Dave and I run Full House Vintage on Ebay Full House Store Ebay Link
I have come to reselling as a necessity, as being self-employed most of my professional life (I’m 36) has made me NOT an ideal company yes man. I previously founded/owned a photo studio which I sold. After quickly learning I did not enjoy working for someone else… I started Full House Vintage Jan 2020.
I first sold on Ebay in 1996/1997 in Junior High and can still remember my first sale, a 1970s Harlem Globetrotter Game Magazine for $11 which I bought for a quarter! I was hooked. I went on to sell Wooden Fishing Lures, Cameras, and all sorts of things, while my mom would collect checks and money orders from all over the world (thanks mom!). I would go to the flea, run home and look up everything I saw on ebay, then go back the next Sunday and buy 🙂
As my Great Uncle once said “I once had a job working for someone else, I just never showed up Monday morning.”
Name: David
Location: Englewood, Florida
Places Lived: PA, CO, FL, South Korea
Sells: Ebay – Mostly Clothing
Tidbits: PSU Alum, Long Distance Backpacker, Favorite Book Vagabonding : An Uncommon Guide to the Art of Long-Term World Travel by Rolf PottsSee you around the forum!
Sincerely,
DAVE! -
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Jay,
Thanks for the welcome.
I worked out of my house for 5 years before seeing that you needed to differentiate yourself from the other small business photographers.
To do this I brought together two of the biggest photographers in the area, who I had worked with and sold them on the idea of opening a brick and mortar. It gave us great ability to not only up sell and market, but grow with employees. I was in it for 3 years. It’s still doing well http://themonarchstudio.com/ it’s in St. Augustine, FL.
Sold it for life change, moving back to Colorado to start family. In the end that didn’t work out (divorce).
I sold my portion for under 30k, not as much as I had hoped, but I was the one wanting to leave. Let me just say even with a written selling agreement on the books, this was one of the most difficult things I have had to do. Basically it came down to whether or not I wanted to go to court for the amount in that agreement. I am still in touch with my previous partners, and they are good people, so all I can say is… It was not easy.
Long story short selling a business, moving, and getting divorced within a year only makes you hustle more 🙂
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Sorry to hear about the bad year. Im sure its a longer story and hopefully you’ve grown form it.
We’re considering a partnership on a business with another couple.
–how did you legally enter into the partnership?
–What were the terms?
–what would you have done differently?
–how did you determine the $30k cash out?
–what should it have been in you mind?
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1. We had a professional accounting group set everything up for us. Partnership with K-1 Distributions. Basically paid ourselves “reasonable” salary is the term the IRS uses, and then the rest through K-1s for tax benefits.
2. We had quite the percentage breakdown for if you were the shooter, if it was a previous client, etc. But for the most part 50% of job paid to lead, the other to company.
3. Our agreement said payout to be “1/3 of the determined value of an outside evaluation paid for by the partner leaving” or something like that. I would put a number on it as an example “1/3 net profits for previous years for next 3 years” or something like that.
4. 30k was basically 1/3 of the cash assets, legally owed to any partner leaving.
5. I knew being the one leaving I had little negotiation power. I asked for 50k, not even my years salary.
6. Lastly, as the computer person for the company, I was the only one who had access to ALL the passwords from the 3 websites to the security system passcodes, quickbooks etc. IF someone wanted to (I WOULD NEVER) a partner could hold all of those things hostage. Make sure you spread out access to critical accounts since so much is done virtually these days.
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3. Our agreement said payout to be “1/3 of the determined value of an outside evaluation paid for by the partner leaving” or something like that. I would put a number on it as an example “1/3 net profits for previous years for next 3 years” or something like that.
Did you not pay for an outside evaluation that your partners would be legally obligated to pay?
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No. After speaking with counsel, evaluations can be challenged again and again. side note: One of my partners wife was a lawyer. In the end I didn’t want to risk thousands on lawyer fees, and still potentially losing.
So as is ebay, took the sale now offer.
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Understood that partnerships are good until they aren’t. I guess if partners fall out, it can only get messy even if there’s a clear contract. Too bad your partners didnt value what you brought to the table.
I share your excitement about running an eBay business. It’s yours to run as you want!
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