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The listing hamster wheel to increase sales costs cold hard cash. You need money to buy things to list if you follow this theory!
I reviewed my numbers tonight and I’m looking to reduce my sourcing. I realize this could affect my sales, but I need to build up some cash reserve for awhile.
Anyone else feel like this? -
Hey bcfol440. Welcome. I see you’re new here so it would help if you were to introduce how you are currently running your business. The more you share, the more other sellers can share their own experience.
–Where do you source for inventory?
–Do you specialize in any categories?
–How much do you pay for inventory?
–Whats the average profit on each item?
–How many items do you have in your store?
–How much do you sell a month?I know for us, sourcing costs are really the least of our worries since we find places where we can buy clothes by the trash bags and table lots of hard goods for cheap. We have to limit what we buy not because of cost but because we’d accumulate more than we can actually list.
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Hi! I will post this in the intro area as well.
I have been selling 1 year part time in the Midwest.Where do you source for inventory? Estate Sales, Thrift Stores.
–Do you specialize in any categories? Started in clothing/shoes and moving into smaller hard goods/old books/decor/nostalgia. I love picking up espresso machines and espresso parts, too 🙂
–How much do you pay for inventory? Average $2-$10 per item depending on returns. I pay up on items due to what’s available near me/time.
–How many items do you have in your store? 350 and climbing with $10,000 total inventory listed.
–How much do you sell a month? 30-40 items per month/$1,000-2,000 average.Yes, I need to seek out the cheaper auctions/bigger lots. We do have Goodwill Bins here that I could seek out/make trips to. I would love to get my next 100 items for $500 investment. eeek!
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You’ve created a great business already. Now its about refinement and getting better at what you already do. As SoCal Joe said, there’s so much out there for cheap. Sounds like you just need to brea out of your comfort zone and keep becoming a better scavenger.
Auctions: box lots and table lots go for cheap
Estate Sales: specifically go at the end when prices are dramatically reduced.
Yard sales: They’re coming soon. People want everything out of their yard by the end of the day so its easy to buy armloads of stuff for cheap.
Craigslist: Some scavengers here who live in urban areas find people just giving stuff away.
Thrift stores: Good will Bins are one avenue. (I dont like the aggressive competition). But you can also take time to find the smaller church or independent thrift stores. They often have “bag days” where you can fill a bag for $5. Or they just have super cheap prices that put Goodwill to shame.Bottom line: if you want to pay less for inventory, branch out.
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Jay – SO true! In my area there are auctions all of the time, It is really ripe here in the Midwest for cheap picking in certain categories. I am going to start moving out of my comfort zone on those “last call” estate days and sales so I can get to 500 items cheaper than I have been.
I am going to try an auction soon. Moving into hard goods has been SO great!Thanks for your reply.
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