Home › Forums › Random Thoughts › In 2019, I will…
- This topic has 44 replies, 20 voices, and was last updated 5 years, 3 months ago by So Cal Joe.
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12/05/2018 at 10:53 am #52707
… list at least 2 items per business day. NO EXCEPTIONS!
… go for a one mile walk every business day. NO EXCEPTIONS!
… deposit 10% of my monthly earnings into a savings account.
… spend at least one hour every Monday working ON the business instead of IN the business.
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12/05/2018 at 11:12 am #52714
… Quit my regular job and go full time eBay in June
… Go for a one mile walk every business day. NO EXCEPTIONS!
… Expand my selling market (intsagram and poshmark possible?)
… Make a list of every good thrift store and their days/hours of operation…within 50 mile radius -
12/05/2018 at 11:25 am #52718
Oooh… I like the last one! That’s a great idea! May I add that to my list too?
Good luck on going full time.
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12/05/2018 at 2:19 pm #52743
Here’s my list of what I’m doing different in 2019:
-I currently only track the cost of goods, shipping supplies, postage, and fees – need to start tracking mileage, and all expenses before I go full time
-electronically store my receipts for purchases
-I want to have 1000 listings by end of April (currently hover around 200-250)
-I need to sign up for a store subscription (challenge is I sell on eBay.com and eBay.ca – need to determine the platform, or both, or use multiple accounts)
-learn to use the iPad Santa is bringing me, and what is more efficient to do on it vs. a computer
-start fresh in 2019 (planning on doing this when I’m off work between Xmas and NYE) – clean out all the stagnant items, re-organize my work area. I’ve already bought bins (thrift store finds), vinyl pockets to label the exterior of the bins (another thrift find), and cutdown on the number of different boxes and envelopes I use (3 of each).
-start selling the odd fun oddball items that I like – someone else may also like old bowling trophy ashtrays? -
12/05/2018 at 7:58 pm #52758
IN 2019:
1. I will not marathon source anymore in 1 day if I can avoid it. I need to break it up. I noticed at first store I buy a ton and it all trickles down. So, either I lose stamina or interest by end of day.
2. Eliminate box hoarding due to lack of space. It’s making me nuts.
3. Continue to try to expand categories – I am already doing this, slowly. It’s painful learning new things but thrilling when cha-ching hits.
4. Maintain a healthy balance of “real life” and my business. Continue to meal plan, have food on hand, and clean as I go!
5. Less Social Media – I have set up a screen time limit on my phone. Helpful. -
12/05/2018 at 11:36 pm #52771
Inglewood, I’d suggest subscribing to a store on whichever site you primarily list (cad vs usd). You can list on either site from one account, it really just determines how much you’re billed, and in which currency. Everything else remains mostly the same.
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12/06/2018 at 9:33 am #52791
It’s a decision we’ll have to think through – we’re 50/50 on each site now because of the free listings we get, but are leaning more towards .ca as it allows us to control shipping costs more within the country (as U.S. and international rates are pretty much the same under 1kg).
I’ll share my decision once we make one. Need to do the math…
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12/07/2018 at 10:48 am #52878
Did the math…will be going with a Basic store on eBay.ca to start, and use my 50 free on .com for certain items. Sadly, I left just over $500 on the table by not having a store this year. For 10 of the 12 months, it would have made sense…
Interestingly though, when I look at my listing on .com or .ca, both have the various additional categories that a store allows (categorization, discounts, promotions, etc).
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12/05/2018 at 11:41 pm #52772
As for me/us in 2019:
– quit job and go full time around Jan/Feb
– move across the country and into a cheaper, more rural location closer to family, and closer to a border.
– list like mad. Stretch goal of 4,000 listings by December 31, 2019. I’ll need to average 150-225 listings per month (depending on sales numbers) to hit this.
– continue to expand offerings on Amazon
– enjoy having a few acres, no boss, and a woodstove -
12/06/2018 at 2:29 pm #52818
some of my personal goals for 2019:
by june: -get up to 12,000 items in the main ebay store, 250 listings on the 2nd ebay store, 50-100 items on etsy, 10-15 items on poshmark.
(currently 10,060, 185, 20 and 0)otherwise:
-do an actual inventory this year of items listed and unlisted that i haven’t had a chance to toss yet. get out the junk. free up the space for new inventory, yay.
-rebox the majority of my inventory in new boxes and free up listing space so some of the new 2,000 items to be listed have a place to go thanks to the inventory purge. (i rebox my inventory every few years to make sure there isn’t any damage to listed items. this year is the year for it, yay =/)
-make a significant dent in my backlog this year
-actually list through my “junk drawer” of small ephemera i haven’t put in a box because it’s too small and fragile. stop tossing new things in it, ugh. just list it when it comes in from now on.
-list more on days that are mainly for listing. stop making excuses! -
12/07/2018 at 9:05 am #52863
– Not be so precious, and accept decent offers, especially on lower dollar/bulky stuff. Inventory grows way faster than sales do so I gotta do this or get swamped by the logistics of huge volumes of stuff.
– Acquire more storage space and reorganize my existing storage unit with numbered shelves. The stuff at home is organized but at my storage unit it’s a disaster.
– As a cashflow-limited seller a perpetual problem is being short of cash due to “nickel and diming yourself to death”. Meaning, buying a hundred little individual items for 5x or 10x that aren’t that amazing. Need to keep a big wad for the really big opportunities when I want to go all in on something substantial.
– Sell more locally for greater exposure & to mitigate the risk of being primarily on one platform.
– Give Amazon FBA another try? I don’t think I really gave it a fair shake last year.
- This reply was modified 5 years, 3 months ago by simplicio.
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12/07/2018 at 9:22 am #52867
Now that Amazon charges fairly substantial long term storage fees after 6 months, what do you think you’ll do differently on FBA? That storage fee changed the game for us because now its all about quick sales.
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12/07/2018 at 9:30 am #52868
I would use it in a very limited way, for newer, shorter tail stuff and for books. My mistake last year was sending in tons of super long tail books and CDs that wouldn’t sell. It’s only $20 a month so even though I don’t find much brand new short tail stuff, it’s not hard to justify.
I partly want to do it because I find books sometimes, but it’s not profitable to sell them on Amazon MF in Canada due to our high shipping cost (unless they’re like $50+). We pay typically $15 or so to ship a book domestically, $20 to the US, so it just kills your profit. Same time, selling books on ebay is too much of a pain in the neck due to the long listing process vs just a scan.
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12/07/2018 at 10:28 am #52875
— Improve and streamline our sourcing. Goal is to only have to source on a Saturday 2 times per month by Q4. We will do this by exploring more online sources of inventory that we can buy and pickup locally or have shipped to us. The side benefit to this should be that we are increasing our ASP and Net Profit per item as well. ROI may go down (to 3X) but Profit/Hour will increase.
— Hike the Colorado Trail in August
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12/07/2018 at 1:59 pm #52889
List like a madman My goal is a lofty one and is on the verge of out of reach. I want to hit 4000 listings by the end of 2019.
Complete the new area in my Basement I need to take some personal containers to the storage unit and buy some more clothes racks. This should be very doable. This will create room for over 1000 more items in storage.
Hire someone This has proven to be difficult. With sales down since October, it has not be feasible to hire someone. Also, finding a good person at a reasonable rate will be time consuming.
My idea is to create some sort training videos on various topics. Then interview 3 people and have them watch the training videos and then put it into practice during the interview. I will pay them for this exercise, but then only select those who can follow directions and produce great results.’
Get all my vintage listings on Etsy This should be doable, I just have to allocate the time.
Buy great items I will do my best to get the highest end items that make sense. I really want to raise my average selling price and raise the level of quality of my items.
Mark S
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12/07/2018 at 3:35 pm #52895
Mark S – check out this video, around the 8 minute mark she talks about her strategy for hiring photographers. This may be an easier method.
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12/07/2018 at 10:50 pm #52908
antarestar.
Thanks for the video, I watched most of it.
Those were some good ideas on hiring a photographer. I think I just need to tweak it for me.
I don’t think I could handle getting 200 resumes. However, I do have quite a bit of experience in interviewing people and I do know what to look for. I will have to come up with my own strategy when I am ready. Thanks again for the video.
Mark
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12/07/2018 at 2:37 pm #52891
Raise my ASP from $34 to $50. I think that’s a real stretch, but what the heck.
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12/07/2018 at 3:40 pm #52896
– go through all of my old listings to update pictures and item specifics. Possibly redonate any bad buys.
– hire a photographer
– save enough money to pay for a trip to Antarctica in 2020. I have a friend who is a big traveler and Antarctica is her final continent. We are old enough friends that I could basically invite myself along on her trip. -
12/08/2018 at 2:18 pm #52924
Not make resolutions.
Continue with piles… Not glamorous. I hope to finish in 2019 without heavily donating. I dug the hole and plan to work my way out of it.
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12/09/2018 at 12:42 am #52932
-List all death piles by March, (local auction company has one last auction tomorrow, then is on vacation until March. I have a deadline!)
-Pay off all debt except for the house (if I get the death piles listed, that should provide enough income to pay off the debt)
-Double my profit over the previous year
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12/09/2018 at 10:20 am #52943
I like these goals.
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12/10/2018 at 9:01 am #52971
I decided all my above goals are boring. So here’s my actual 2019 goal. Source and sell either one item for CAD$10k +, or $10k+ worth of one SKU if it’s multiples.
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12/10/2018 at 11:23 am #53016
Travel more – just bought ticket to London for late January for $160 and booked a week at a hostel for 25 pounds/night (have not determined where I will return from or when).
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12/10/2018 at 3:36 pm #53044
$160 from Denver is incredible. Have a great trip 🙂
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12/10/2018 at 12:44 pm #53026
aperture – from where? How the heck did you find a ticket for only $160? Way to go!
I’m also on a Travel Quest. One State per year until I’ve done all of them, one country every five years. I’m learning Mandarin ATM as that’s the first one in my plans. 😉
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12/10/2018 at 1:32 pm #53032
I’ve been thinking about this topic, and I decided that I make list of things to do, but not goals or resolutions. Maybe I should? But here is my list for next year (and sorry about the long post):
1. Combine/lot things up that haven’t sold in a long time. Examples: Stoneware of the same design, related ephemera, etc.
2. I purchased a large lot of sewing labels about two years ago. NONE have sold. I would like to make a multi-pack listing in a last ditch effort to get them to move. I’ve only been listing them as one type at a time. Give it a set time, then just donate if it doesn’t work out.
3. Post more to other sites: Etsy & Mercari
4. Continue to retake photos of jewelry that were listed before I improved my setup.
5. From January to April, run several auctions a week to get rid of old merchandise. Donate what doesn’t sell.
6. Remove items with chips or hairline cracks that I originally thought would be OK. I’ve got a late 1800s bowl that I’ll keep listed, but anything contemporary has to go. I now throw out or donate that stuff right away.
7. Reduce my death piles of items that need testing or repair.
8. Decide whether I want to keep the Facebook group that was set up for me. My mom won this in a sweepstakes, so I contacted the company and had it done. I’ve made only a few posts, and I need to be more consistent and then promote it; otherwise it really isn’t doing anything. Maybe a few people reading this can go and “like” it. Any comments are appreciated.: https://www.facebook.com/UpSmartLLC
9. Need to visit my parents and bring back the large number of items that their friends have given for me to sell.
10. Set up a new shelving system on the half of my basement that isn’t organized. A friend might be giving me a few units.
11. Come up with a better inventory system? Maybe? I tried this once, but it didn’t stick. I’m kind of like Jay and Ryan where I can almost always find something right away. -
12/10/2018 at 2:49 pm #53038
@Amatino, I am flying from Denver to London direct on Norwegian with carry-on luggage only. To find flights, I use google flights in map view to look at flight rates for the next 6 months.
https://www.google.com/flights (choose the top left corner pull down to select “Explore Flights”)
Good luck with your travel plans, Daniel
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12/10/2018 at 3:38 pm #53045
My goal for 2019 is to have our storage building built on our property with a ebay office (and mancave!) / listing / photographing / shipping area downstairs and 1200sf storage upstairs. That SHOULD be enough to organize all my listed and unlisted inventory. THEN I will have to move 3700+ listed items 115 miles and fill it up! It is actually fun to design a space for flow and knowing what I need rather than the ‘bandaid’ storage ‘system’ I have now. One example of haw patched together my system is my main clothing storage area is in the attic and down 3 flights of stairs in the basement is my shipping area …… not optimal! Also I promised my wife that at our new property NO EBAY STUFF goes in the house! My house now is taken over by ebay crap errrrr treasures …..
The total building is 50×40 but only 30×40 is ebay related.
I HOPE to pay for it by ebay cashflow!
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12/10/2018 at 3:45 pm #53046
50′ x 40′ is about twice the size of building we have. 2000 square feet. Huge!
–How much will this cost you?
–Is it a metal building?
–Will you have a poured concrete floor or just gravel?-
12/10/2018 at 5:53 pm #53056
Hey Jay!
It will be a poured concrete foundation. one part of the building (20×40) will be clear span (no 2nd floor) and will be for tractor storage / farm shop. The ebay side is the remainder but 2 stories with one 10×20 single car garage carved out. Thus the mancave/office/ebay stations area will be a 20×40 foot section then a 10×20 sf section behind the single car garage. In that small part is where the ebay stations will be as well as the stairs to the 2nd floor storage area. so all together 1000 sf downstairs (but that includes lots of mancave area) and 1200 sf upstairs.
Price will be north of 50k for sure but will not know till the spring. I am HOPING all in 75K.
It will be a pole barn structure with metal skin but will be insulated as well (the office area will be ‘finished’ with drywall etc).LDK
- This reply was modified 5 years, 3 months ago by Kelly1mm.
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12/10/2018 at 7:15 pm #53061
$50k-$75k sounds about right. We were about $20k all in. I wanted a second story but it would have been twice as much. Sounds like you have a very cool place coming soon!
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12/10/2018 at 7:33 pm #53064
I will post pictures and plans when the project is farther down the track. I am in ‘make money’ mode right now! Building this with ebay profits is the goal with no mortgage!
I have been collecting MCM furniture for my office – got a HUGE (like 8ft wide by 7 feet tall) birdseye maple smoked glass bar ($25), a Lane Boomerang table ($25), and just picked up a vintage Herman Miller Eames Replica Lounge chair ($30)! lots of other period items! Going to look like a mad men set! My wife does not like the style so that is why it is going to the mancave/office.
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12/10/2018 at 7:46 pm #53068
Holy moly, that sounds awesome. It was a little painful getting our building up (money and builders), but it has really changed the way we do things. Huge quality of life increase. Keep your eye on the prize.
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12/10/2018 at 10:09 pm #53086
Thanks Jay! My wife is a saint for sure because I have taken over the house with ebay stuff. She sees this is a very good way to provide income to allow us to retire early but we both REALLY want some separation in our life between work and home. So this property was bought specifically for being able to have an outbuilding where the ebay inventory will stay. Listed (high$) art will be the only exception – we will enjoy it while it is for sale!
I suppose the vast majority of sellers are like us where storage becomes untenable before we bite the bullet and get ‘proper’ storage space. I started out thinking I would keep my listings in a closet! HAHA! What a newb!
Will keep you informed of the progress!
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12/10/2018 at 9:50 pm #53082
I heard a speaker say we should change our way of thinking from:
sales – expenses = Profitto
Profit= sales – expenses
Yes, it is just semantics, but . . I know I want to set 5% aside, and I think about that first. Then control my expenses. It seems like such a silly small thing, but it worked for me! -
12/12/2018 at 12:05 pm #53189
I was just working on my 2019 goals when I listened to the podcast and heard about this thread. Convenient timing!
Here are my goals:
…read 52 books
…gross $100k on my eBay store
…hike once a week in the winter, bring it up to three times a week once the mountains start to thawI like my goals to be quantified so I haven’t quite figured out how to quantify this one yet, but I’m hoping to go on car camping sourcing trips. After years of working towards it, this year I finally moved west. My long term goal is to have a subsistence farm in the mountains, but in order to determine exactly where in the mountains I should buy land, I have to see more of them. The working idea at this time is to put a cargo carrier on my SUV, pick a direction, and go. Explore my surroundings, go to as many thrift stores/flea markets/garage sales as possible, car camp at night on BLM/national forest land, maybe do some hiking and head home when the cargo bin is full. I think it’d be a fun way to get inventory while also learning the lay of the land.
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12/12/2018 at 1:01 pm #53196
Majestic: We are kindred spirits! Love your requirement to quantify your goals…you gotta do that to know when it is achieved and where you are in the process!
Plus, if I was single, I would be ALL about living out of car camping. Check out some of the great videos of people that have modified conversion vans to have living space. Awesome! Park at the trailhead, hike, sleep, eat…wonderful!
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12/12/2018 at 2:45 pm #53213
We live 15 minutes from some of the best hiking on the East Coast, yet only hike a handful of times each year. Yes to more hiking.
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12/14/2018 at 6:17 pm #53391
If you get one of these small utility trailers $349, you can make it into whatever you want, box trailer, motorcycle trailer little camper etc.
I have one that’s a small box trailer and another that’s a flatbed. They are very handy and can be towed by just about any car.
https://www.harborfreight.com/1195-lbs-capacity-48-in-x-96-in-heavy-duty-folding-trailer-62648.html
Good luck with your trip.
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12/13/2018 at 7:04 pm #53335
Wow.. big changes for me.
I need to finish moving into my new place and set up my storage and shipping areas.
Move my inventory to my house from the storage unit 25 miles away,
Get my store out of passive mode (extended handling time and no new listings).. The whole moving process, as well as, the selling of one house and buying the other has taken about 6 months. All in all, it’s been a big success, but it’s time to get back to work.
Finally, I need to get to the point that my Ebay income is paying all the bills. That shouldn’t be too big a deal, as I’ve drastically cut my living expenses by moving.
Once the dust settles, I’d like to have a metal storage building with a concrete slab and electricity, installed on my property. I can use it both for Ebay and a work shop.
2019 is going to be a big year for me.
Happy Holidays
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12/14/2018 at 8:13 am #53344
Huge congrats on your rapid change of life/location. From our POV, you handled it incredibly calmly.
What happened to all the stuff in the house you bought? Is any of it worth selling?
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12/14/2018 at 11:47 am #53355
Hi Jay, thank you for the kind words.
I had a plan and much to my surprise it worked perfectly. I also knew that I’d have some FU Money left over and time was on my side. Once the old house sold and I received the funds, my stress level went way down.
The weight of the monthly expenses had been adding up. I also had credit card debt accumulating and owed the IRS some money.. All that has since been paid.
Living in the motels was a little stressful, but it was short term, so no big deal.
Then this house suddenly became available. They say “Luck is when opportunity meets preparation.” I say, “It never hurts to be in the right place at the right time.” Either way it worked out nicely for me. I truly didn’t expect it to happen so soon.
The actual close/move in doesn’t happen until next week.
Essentially the house will be turn key. I’m getting all the appliances and furniture , as well as a large flat screen TV, a small utility trailer and a garage full of tools. The kitchen has everything I’ll need such as dishes, pot and pans etc.
The sellers are am older couple with age related health issues. I let them know, it’s ok to leave whatever they want and Ill just deal with it. They are very nice and I wish them the best.
I can’t wait until I move in and get to look through everything. I’ll probably just keep most of the tools.
Once I’ve moved in, I’ll post an update.
Thanks again,
Happy Holidays.
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