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Listening to the show right now. Had a hectic last weekend so I didn’t post, so here are my numbers for the past 2 weeks.
Week January 13-26, 2019
Total Items in Store: 993
Items Sold: 34
Cost of Items Sold: $224.33 (22.8% of sales)
Total Sales: $983.12
Highest Price Sold: $149.99 (lot of 1930-40s drafting pencils)
Average Price Sold: $28.92
Returns: 1
Money Spent on New Inventory This Week: $285
Number of items listed this week: 44
Promoted listings test: 13 sales, 355.96 (36.2% of total sales), $17.10 fees (4.8% of sales)After a fire start to the year in the first two weeks of January, the past two weeks have been much slower in comparison; although these have been more average weeks, not really “bad”. What I’ve seen is a lot of low dollar items selling quickly – went from $35-$45 average sell price down to under $30 now. Take out that big drafting pencil sale and my average price would be $25.
Got out to a pretty good estate sale this week… Saturday was the first day and I knew it would be crowded, so I got there an hour early to get a number/on the list – even an hour early, I was #31 and waited out in the cold for about 45 mins before making it in. VERY high end place, lots of amazing artwork, instruments, etc. I of course gravitated to smalls that I could flip for a profit like an amazing hand carved German chess set, ski/snowboard goggles, Cross gold pen/pencil set, Tumi luggage tag, and much much more. All of these things I have had before and should sell quickly.
Yeah, not too shabby for a side gig to my “real” job and also working alone
Wooo!!! Congrats on things starting to sell! Not sure if it’s a coincidence or actually based on your changes, but it sure does feel good when an item that you just revised sells.
Throwing my hat into the ring for
End of Year Numbers 2018:Total Sales (not including consignment or shipping): $33,862.90
COGS: $9,276.88 (including anything I bought but ended up donating/not listing for whatever reason)
Fees (eBay, Bonanza, Amazon, Paypal): $4,952.90
Labor: $0
Gross Profit: $19,633.12Total Number of Items Sold: 880
Jan 1 # of Listings: 1093
Dec 1 # of Listings: 2002
# of New Listing in 2018 (estimated): 2115Average Sale Price: $38.48
Mileage: 3,615 miles ($1,970.18 expense)
Office Expenses: (packing materials, cleaning supplies, GoDaddy subscription, etc.): $2,111Shipping Income: $5,461.01
Shipping Expense: $4,998.06
Shipping Profit: +$562.95Link to our discussion about Diminishing Returns… it’s a real life economic theory that can take a lifetime to master. Growth in non-linear, and knowing where you are in your business maturity is a key piece to it.
Love the end of sales when they make incredible deals like that!
Week January 6 – January 12, 2019
Total Items in Store: 982
Items Sold: 22 (8 consignment)
Cost of Items Sold: $140 (18.6% of sales)
Total Sales: $751.39 ($168 consignment)
Highest Price Sold: $100 (1965 John Coltrane Ascension)
Average Price Sold: $34.15
Returns: 1
Money Spent on New Inventory This Week: $120
Number of items listed this week: 18
Promoted listings test: 10 sales, $318.43 (42.4% of total sales), $16.21 fees (5.1% of sales)Other fun sales included this Painted Cast Iron Georgia Seal that sold for $75 (paid $10 total for a box of 20 these on the last day of an estate sale) and these c1970s/early 1980s Brazilian sunglasses sold for $65 BO that I got for maybe $3 at the flea market.
Was able to get out to a couple estate sales this weekend and had some neat finds:
– 1940s Ouija board (thanks @Ryanne, never would have picked this up without your tip!)
– Embroidered Scottish Infantry patch
– practically new 1950s Rolls Razor setupMuch more of a “normal” week for me after 3-4 really high weeks in a row. It felt like it too, only mailing 2-3 packages per day as opposed to 5-7 per day. Avg price was also down, thinking that perhaps the holiday gifting and also the “self gifting” post holiday might be slowing a bit. Looking at my historical numbers, this is pretty typical. January is my best or second best month for the past 4 years running. Last year, my January was $3419 gross and the first two weeks this year have been $1839 gross.
First step to identifying any problems in your inventory/store/listings is writing it down and noticing if this is a seasonality trend or something else… like was the first week of the year last year also 0 sales (not sure when you opened your store)? If so, it can start to show a trend that you will be able to prepare for in the future. Also, if you’re comfortable, post a link to your store and I’m sure several of us will provide CONSTRUCTIVE suggestions – perhaps your photos are too dark, perhaps your descriptions are too short/too long, perhaps your prices aren’t in line with market trends, etc. 🙂
Doesn’t a 30 year give you some flexibility with lower monthly payments in case you have lean months where a 15 year would have considerably higher monthly payments? And with the longer term, there’s always the opportunity to pay more each month as your budget allows (always putting anything above & beyond to the principle, not the interest).
This is certainly not a “normal” week for me ($600-$800 was a normal week for me throughout 2018) and I don’t expect it to continue this way, but I’m certainly going to celebrate when it all comes together!
I had 2 late deliveries on/around then as well that pushed me under TRS status – called and it was solved within 10 mins. I agree it’s annoying calling and with they had a better automated system, but it works.
Week December 30, 2018 – January 5, 2019
Total Items in Store: 989
Items Sold: 37 (12 consignment)
Cost of Items Sold: $329 (21.6% of sales)
Total Sales: $1,523.94 ($270 consignment)
Highest Price Sold: $250 (1962 Barbie)
Average Price Sold: $41.19
Returns: 0
Money Spent on New Inventory This Week: $315
Number of items listed this week: 28
Promoted listings test: 8 sales, $231.93 (51% of total sales), $11.52 fees (4.8% of sales)Awesome week of sales. Felt like my phone was cha-chinging off the hook. Sales coming in while I was packing other sales. Love it and maxing out as much as I can right now – I know the slow season is coming in just a handful of weeks.
Other than the Barbie above that sold at a high price, sold this Polaroid for $170 and a sealed Kiss album for $190. My mom’s consignment sales continue to be strong, hoping to knco all of that out soon to get them a check and help in their move/retirement.
Listening to the show as I crank through listings. My day job office has been closed since 12/22 and I go back on 1/2. After a few days with family, been listing what I could each day. Also got a bin of stuff from my mom that I agreed to list for her as my parents continue downsizing headed into retirement. I don’t love listing things for others without taking a commission, but I’m in the holiday spirit in helping her out.
Week December 16-29, 2018 (2 weeks)
Total Items in Store: 995
Items Sold: 35 (2 Amazon) (2 Consignment)
Cost of Items Sold: $235.95 (18.4% of sales)
Total Sales: $1,281.15 ($90 consignment)
Highest Price Sold: $125 (Chinese Opera Masks display https://www.ebay.com/itm/192744542984)
Average Price Sold: $36.60
Returns: 1
Money Spent on New Inventory This Week: $590
Number of items listed this week: 65 for me, 28 consignment
Promoted listings test: 18 sales, $668.99 (52.2% of total sales), $30.58 fees (4.6% of sales)Was away last weekend for a wedding, so numbers for the past 2 weeks. Had extended handling time last week – contacted each buyer, resulted in 2 cancellations (of 18 sales).
Weeks December 2-15, 2018 (2 weeks)
Total Items in Store: 942
Items Sold: 46 (1 Amazon, 1 Bonanza)
Cost of Items Sold: $326.50 (19.9% of sales)
Total Sales: $1,638.75
Highest Price Sold: $129.99 (WWII Fabric Map of Tokyo & Osaka https://www.ebay.com/itm/202521901492)
Average Price Sold: $35.63
Returns: 0 (2 cancellations from extended handling though)
Money Spent on New Inventory This Week: $360
Number of items listed this week: 24
Promoted listings test: 25 sales, $835.86 (51% of total sales), $34.42 fees (4.1% of sales)Nice couple of weeks. While away last weekend, my phone was chachinging off the hook – no complaints! After each sale, I contacted the buyers to remind them I had extended handling time (even though it was on the listings) and only 2 buyers asked that cancel. All good.
Didn’t take long to sell the first of those two WWII fabric maps – less than a week and for full asking price. Also average sold price was on the nice side as approximately 30% of my sales were over $40. No complaints all around.
No real picking this week, but I did get a chance to list a handful of items on Saturday, two of which sold yesterday so we’re keep cranking along.
