The Numbers: January 8-14, 2023

[Jay]

A little quieter week for us but still plenty of sales. Our helper is graduating this Spring so we’re determining if she wants to continue or we find
[See the full post at: The Numbers: January 8-14, 2023]

[Sharyn]

My daughter started taking some photos for me this week. She helped me out one summer about 4 or so years ago when she was still in high school. It didn’t take much to get her re-started. There is room for improvement, but I’m very happy to have a helper right now.

Sales were decent for me. The one Etsy sale was actually three sets of a 3-pack of drawer handles. Since shipping was included in the price, I’m counting it as one.

Week of Jan 8 – 14
Total Items in Store: 1783 eBay, 29 Etsy
Items Sold: 12 eBay, 1 Etsy
Cost of Items Sold: $3 + $127 Commission
Total Sales: $342.43 eBay, $49 Etsy; includes fees but no shipping
Highest Price Sold: eBay $93 Vintage Apple Keyboard Macintosh Untested
Average price: $30
Returns: 0
Money Spent on New Inventory This Week: $0
Number of items listed this week: 7

[ChristineR]

Total Items in Store: 522
Items Sold: 13
Gross Sales: $816.20 (including eBay fees, shipping, and taxes)
Net Sales: $557.34 (minus eBay fees, shipping, and taxes)
Cost of Items Sold: $127
Highest Price Sold: $200 (used Williams Sonoma pasta set)
Average Price Sold: $62.78
Returns: 1
Money Spent on New Inventory This Week: $0
Number of items listed this week: 8

This week sales were surprisingly good since I didn’t mange to list much quantity.  Shipping is slower and annoying with the cast.  I’ve been working on my COGS bookkeeping and should finish that today.  I had three big sales (for me) of $12-15 used items in 2022 and overall a lower COGS so even with fees up and kind of barely doing Ebay in the beginning of 2022 will make more money than 2021 due to those three art sales and a great 4th quarter.

I had an unusual INAD this week which was deserved but was really for a minor flaw IMHO.  I’ll need to slow down a little bit maybe and inspect the used items carefully. So I’m sort of ruminating on the differences selling fewer RA items in my store.  At tax time here I’m like wow that was a great sale! but also darn that will increase our tax liability.

I’m also enjoying people’s discussion of plans for business change.  For me the most significant change is to be more careful about picking up only higher profit items.  The exception to this is getting a $12-18 item with a bar code maybe.  However, those easy to list items tend to get me into having a less curated focused store, which maybe doesn’t matter on Ebay so much.  I made some more headway into my piles in 2022 and finished listing all of the holiday items but there is a lot more to go.  It would be wise to further limit shopping as a treat outing and get even more selective about pick ups.

I’ve been working on cleaning up my Pinterest boards going into this slower time of year.  I’m seeing between 10-15% of views coming from outside Ebay, though I suppose most of that might be Google mostly.  I wish Ebay would give a bit more specifics.

[Lukastreasure]

@ChristineR –  You comment, “So I’m sort of ruminating on the differences selling fewer RA items in my store.  At tax time here I’m like wow that was a great sale! but also darn that will increase our tax liability.”

How does selling RA increase your tax liability?

[Retro Treasures WV]

Items in Store 1951
Items Sold 15
Total Sales $364.00
COGS $53.00
Total Profit $311.00
Average profit $20.73
Average sales price $24.27
New Listings 0
Items scavenged 3
Listing 2023 weekly Avg 1

I didn’t list anything this week, but I did complete a major job that leads to listing – I cleaned and organized my ebay office (AKA, garage). I got the whole area cleaned up/organized, trash all removed, desk cleaned, and my “to be listed next” shelf created and filled. I’d call this phase 1. This week I’ll do phase 2 which is making a dedicated shelf for items in listing processing, and a dedicated location for complete listed items that need to be moved out to inventory.

 

This REALLY needed to be done before I could do any serious listing. The space was just way to jumbled and disorganized.

 

The dedicated “to be listed” shelf was important to me. I’ve dedicated one of my rolling shelf carts for this purpose. This gives me a landing spot for any new sourcing so I get them listed immediately. Since I’m only sourcing big hitters there is no reason not to list them immediately! I put my new purchases on, I pull my 10 large items and/or big hitters from death piles, then fill the remaining space with general stuff that I can create listings really quick with such as shoes. Then I make every effort to clear the whole shelf within 1 week so I can fill it again. Dealing with one single source for listing instead of staring at giant death piles will help me stay focused on a small goal that I can finish and replenish.

 

The goal is to have a shelf with clearly labeled bins for my daughter (and possibly oldest son) to work on for an hour or two each day. They can do photos and cleaning and maybe more as the year goes on.

 

I’m also going to start end/sell similar relisting my 5 oldest listings each day. That will have me turning over my ~2000 item store in one year and show some daily activity even if I’m not listing. My hope is that I can find a balance where I can keep my kids fed with listings so that I can start consistently listing a few items a day every day rather than a big pile on the weekend.

 

[Lukastreasure]

@Retro – I have one of those to be listed shelves and it keeps accumulating already listed inventory, while the to be listed languishes in piles on the floor.  I need to follow your lead.  Maybe this week…

[ChristineR]

@retro I paid a lot more for the RA items so COGS higher, taxable profit lower with more RA.  Sometimes my used items sell for as much as lower end RA items but they only cost $3-5.

[Retro Treasures WV]

Paying more taxes is a GOOD thing!

If you keep COGS and tax liability are things that exist and are just part of the equation. Never limit your business pointlessly by focusing on those two.

The only time COGS should be a concern is if you have no liquid cash to pay for them.

The only time taxes should be a concern is if you didn’t make a plan to set aside money to pay for them (a common theme in self-employed).  Don’t be that person!

AKA, Wesley Snipes, Nic Cage, “Cristley knows best” guy.

If you account for taxes all year and properly account for your deductions then taxes should be an afterthought.

[Jay]

Well said. If you’re paying taxes, it means you’re making money. Like you said, the only danger is not saving up to pay the taxes.

[craig rex]

The only time taxes should be a concern is if you didn’t make a plan to set aside money to pay for them (a common theme in self-employed). Don’t be that person!

AKA, Wesley Snipes, Nic Cage, “Cristley knows best” guy.

If you account for taxes all year and properly account for your deductions then taxes should be an afterthought.

Especially since eBay has made accessing our tax info SO MUCH EASIER in the last few years. Sales tax, listing fees, total fees — it’s all right there. Figure out your COGS and other deductions and you’re all set.

One of the hidden best parts of growing an eBay business is paying more taxes because it means you’re really starting to make some serious money.

[craig rex]

I’m also going to start end/sell similar relisting my 5 oldest listings each day. That will have me turning over my ~2000 item store in one year and show some daily activity even if I’m not listing.

Welcome to the dark side. This sell similar trick often leads to no sales for a week straight and then on the eighth day, two items sell in an hour. Then a week later, another one of them sells. Can’t beat it for thirty seconds of work. It definitely puts more eyeballs and watchers on the old listings. I’ve also become much more conscious of lowering the price or the offer settings which is something I never used to care about.

Also, congrats on the to be listed shelf. A big step forward when you’re focused on only sourcing the heavy hitters! It makes it easy to hit 5 listings a day (or whatever your number is) and it’s exciting to fill up that shelf and then empty it and see the stuff sell.

[Retro Treasures WV]

I was inspired to do the “to be listed” shelf by watching this channel:

https://www.youtube.com/@catrpcrew

 

The main channel is where they do the well edited flashy videos showing all the cool stuff they buy and sell. The crew channel is where the real work happens, and is mainly content for other resellers.

For example:

Main channel vid: We’re doing a $40 k whatnot sale. Here’s all the cool stuff!

Crew channel vid: The sale is over. Here is how we deal with shipping 1k+ orders within a few days. How we organize, process, pack, etc.

[Mark S]

01/08/23 – 01/15/23

Total Items In ebay Store: 4643 (was 4644 last week)

Total Items In Etsy Store: 500 (was 375 last week)

Total Items listed: 5,079

ebay Items Sold: 20 items for $ 895.88 Net $ 723.13
Etsy Items Sold: 9 items for $ 534.26 Net $ 396.91

Total Gross Sales: $ 1430.14 (including eBay\etsy fees, shipping, and taxes)
Net Sales: $ 1120.04 (minus shipping, and taxes)
Items Sold: 29 items
Highest Price Sold: $ 110 (boots)
Average Price Sold: $ 38.62
Money Spent on New Inventory: $ around $350

Number of items listed: 22 ebay, 59 Etsy

Gut Sales Report for the week: Was an ok week on ebay. With the help from Etsy, that made it a great week. I am close to becoming a Star Seller on Etsy. You need a 4.8 rating out of 5 and I am at a 4.7 rating. Not many Etsy sellers are Star sellers – only .5% are. But, it is kinda like be a Top Seller on ebay, doesn’t help a lot, but it is good to have.

Focus for the week : Prepping what I need to do to prepare for more sales for the year.

Scavenge of the week: Got another big haul from the thrift store.

Thoughts for the week: Regional Boxes are being discontinued after Jan. 22. So, I ordered 100 Regional A Boxes because after Jan. 22, you can use them for regular postage.

Plans for 2023: I am going into this year believing that I can do $100K in sales. If that is true, I need to list about 200 items a month so that I don’t lose ground. So, I have put processes in place to get that accomplished.

So, I have a big target for the year. Don’t know if I will be able to hit it or not, but if I even come close I will be happy. As my dad always used to say, “If you aim for nothing, chances are you will hit it.” So, I am putting a big target out there to challenge myself this year.

Mark

[Lukastreasure]

 As my dad always used to say, “If you aim for nothing, chances are you will hit it.”

My favorite iteration of this is, “If you fail to plan, you plan to fail.”  Good luck on meeting your target.  Looks like you’re on the right track.

[craig rex]

Thoughts for the week: Regional Boxes are being discontinued after Jan. 22. So, I ordered 100 Regional A Boxes because after Jan. 22, you can use them for regular postage.

Great reminder! Post office box rates are also increasing slightly after January 22nd. So I have two things to take care of by Friday…

Plans for 2023: I am going into this year believing that I can do $100K in sales. If that is true, I need to list about 200 items a month so that I don’t lose ground. So, I have put processes in place to get that accomplished.

I am rooting for you and optimistic based on your early successes with Etsy as well as my own experience last year adding a second trading card specific platform beyond eBay. That increased my sales far more than anything I would have done on eBay.

If you ever fall behind on your listing goal, don’t forget about ending some old items and selling similar like we’ve discussed here a bunch of times. Or using sales and coupons. Lots of different ways to get to whatever your $$ amount goal each week (or month, or year) and certain “tricks” are nice to pull out once a month or every few months to take the pressure off of that constant list-buy-ship grind.

[Dahlyla]

‘Thoughts for the week: Regional Boxes are being discontinued after Jan. 22. So, I ordered 100 Regional A Boxes because after Jan. 22, you can use them for regular postage.’

Thanks for the reminder!

[Lukastreasure]

Week Ending 1/14/23
Gross Sales(w/o shipping & tax): $517.55
Net Sales: $400.39 (eBay: 276.72 / Etsy: $123.67)
Total Items Sold 12 (7/5)
Total Items in eBay Store: 1083
Total Items in Etsy Store: 358
Cost of Items Sold: $59.00
COGS Percent 14.74%
Highest Price Sold: $150.00
Average Price Sold: $43.13
Returns: 1 ($99.95)
Money Spent on New Inventory: $272.55
Average Days Listed: 492
Longest Listed: 1878
New items listed: 19
$ Amount New Listings $949.05

Had a busy week.  Sales weren’t great but better than last year for this week.  My best sale was a vintage aluminum xmas tree for $150.  I had listed this tree 2 years ago and it somehow fell off eBay.  I thought it was weird that it hadn’t sold for two Christmas seasons so looked on eBay and realized it was no longer listed.  I found my old pictures and relisted it for $175 and it sold within 24 hours for an offer of $150.  It was pretty beat up or it would have sold for a lot more.  A nice thing about using Sixbit is that it would have alerted me if this had happened.

Had my first glitch where I sold the same item on Etsy and eBay.  I made a mistake with the setting that automatically removes items from one platform when it sells on another.  Fortunately, it was a smallish sale of only $24.95 but still hated to refund.  Weirdest thing was that I’d had the item listed for about 4 months and it sold to two different people within a 24 hour period.

Won some good items on an online auction this week.  Best win was an antique Dresden porcelain figurine.  I paid $150 for it, but similars have sold for $700.  Also won a 1925 Singer sewing machine with bentwood case for $23.

Just shy of my listing goal of 20 items this week.  Listed 19 for a sale value of  $950.

I hit an estate sale on Sunday.  Got there 2 hours before close and there was a line to get in.  A lot of great stuff, but they were delusional on their pricing.  Even at 50% off most items were way overpriced.  I was surprised when they weren’t even taking offers.  I ended up with a stack of cookbooks and a few odds and ends but put several items back when they wouldn’t budge on prices.  The house was still full to overflowing and there was a big pile next to the check out where other buyers had left behind stuff because they wouldn’t budge.

[Jay]

 A lot of great stuff, but they were delusional on their pricing.

Beautifully put. I see the craziest prices on items these days. I guess everyone is now doing research  on their phones and think highest sold is what they’ll good.

Good news, we’re more patient than they are delusional 🙂

[craig rex]

Beautifully put. I see the craziest prices on items these days. I guess everyone is now doing research on their phones and think highest sold is what they’ll good.

I think its a lot like how we kind of have all seen at one point or another with certain thrift stores or estate sales which have a sign or print out with highest active listing or highest sold. Except now it’s anyone and everyone with an electronic device who can “do the pricing.” So any price that is Google-able has become fair game, whether it’s from any site you can sell stuff on, the manufacturer’s website, active price by someone with no real possibility of selling, highest sold, some Amazon drop shipper with a crazy price, or just something they made up.

Its crazy to me how otherwise smart people can be so irrational about the value (or lack thereof) of things they consider selling. Even if you explain to them very patiently many of the intricacies of selling online. Either they cling to the idea that their things are worth $$$$ and not a penny less, or they get impatient and sell too low or just give up and keep it all. Its happened to me too many times, with people from different backgrounds, to be a coincidence. Anyone else?

[Temudgin]

Week of 1/8 – 1/14:
Total items in Store: 325
Items Sold: 10
Gross Sales: $273.15 (w/o eBay fees, shipping, or taxes)
Cost of Items Sold: $67.78 (including consignment commissions)
Highest Price Sold: $41.56 plus shipping (Korean Navy destroyer challenge coin)
Average Sales Price: $27.32 (not incl eBay fees, shipping, or taxes)
Returns: 0
Money Spent on New Inventory: $0
Number of new items listed: 0

Life got in the way of eBay scavenging and listing last week but I still had a decent week, for me.

[Borderrooster]

This was an okay week for me, and an improvement over recent weeks. I sold some items that were listed for years, and another item sold within hours of it being listed.

I had 3 bottles of vintage Gillette after shave lotion listed for a while. A buyer from Canada asked if I would sell him just one bottle. I ended the first listing and relisted the items separately. Wouldn’t you know they all sold shortly after that. Always learning!

eBay Store Week January 8 – 14, 2023
Total Items in Store: 1137
Items Sold: 20
Gross Sales: $551.95 (including eBay fees, shipping, and taxes)
Net Sales: $299.87 (minus eBay fees, shipping, and taxes)
Cost of Goods Sold: $80.00
Highest Price Sold: $50.00 (Lot of 14 “Plants vs. Zombies” Graphic Novel Comic Books)
Average Price Sold: $27.60
Returns: 0
Money Spent on New Inventory This Week: $215.00
Number of items listed this week: 9

[craig rex]

I’ve made a lot of progress lately with organizing myself and my time in the last few weeks. It’s always nice to have a little breakthrough with how you do things. These incremental changes really add up!

1/8/2023 to 1/14/2023

Total items in store: 612

Items sold: 27 (13 via best offer, 13 via seller initiated offer, 14 via promoted listings)

Gross sales: $1805.41 (down 53% from one year ago)

Net sales: $1286.77 (down 53% from one year ago)

Average sales price: $66.87 (up 23% from one year ago)

Highest price sold (net): $158.70 — Quinn Hughes Upper Deck Allure black elysium RC #3/3

Sold to a repeat buyer with taste in expensive ultra-modern rookie cards. Since my store has become more tightly focused on 500-1000 quality listings, and this buyer left really positive feedback after every purchase, maybe they will find a few more card they want to buy in my store. Probably not. But it’s more likely now than when I had 2000+ listings, most $25 and under, and I was mostly concerned with churning new listings out and shipping 50+ sales and buying more to keep the cycle going. I think that’s a necessary stage for any online seller and it’s fun in its own way. But a $150 sale takes just as long to package as a $15 sale, and it’s a lot more exciting to focus on finding items which you think will sell quickly and for a nice price. Then I get affirmation and profit.

I paid $97 for this card in June of last year and it sold for my full price $249.99 with a 25% coupon that I include with every packing slip and send to every repeat buyer. So the sold price was $187.59 and my net after fees $158. I wouldn’t spend as much on this card if I were buying it today, but making these “mistakes” with slight overpays has been vital in helping me grow my knowledge about more expensive trading cards. Knowledge is always power with selling online.

Lowest price sold (net): $12.33— Roger Federer 2007 Ace authentic jersey

This is the ninth copy of this card I’ve sold since August, and I still have a few more. It helps that there are just a few sets if you want modern tennis cards, and Federer is maybe the best player in the world. Random pro tennis player’s jersey card is worth a buck at most, but I will be able to sell these Federer jersey cards for $15 until I run out of them. I bought a large lot of them and each one cost me about $4 each after shipping and tax. So I already have another one listed, hopefully by the time you click on it that one will have sold as well.

[Author]

Posts