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Howdy and welcome. Several members here on SL use WonderLister and Sixbit. I have used both for several years and as of late have gone 100% to SixBit Enterpise edition.
Dustin, One of the tech at SB set mine up for me along with several other things we had to get done. My situation was that I had years of data and over 1,500 existing listings along with all the financials all on WonderLister which had to be mapped to the fields in SixBit and imported over. A big, tedious job and still working on it.
But in answer to your question. Click on the Allocation Plan tab, from drop down arrow, select the “Keep 1 item Listed as Fixed Price. Then below this place a check in the box that says “Relist/Revise Fixed Price Listings, then in the next field space you should see …keeping a constant quantity listed., then in the box to the right enter the number 1. Next a check mark in the box for “End Listings when Out of Stock .. then skip to the bottom and put or there should be a “zero” in the “Quantity Held in Reserve:”
NOW, click on the “Etsy” Tab and do the same thing as above in the Allocation Tab in the Etsy Tab area. In other words do the same thing you did in the Ebay Tab area in the Etsy tab area.
This is how Dustin set it up for us and has been working so far. If you have just gone to the enterprise Edition, then you have a Gold Level of support for the trial period which includes a remote in sessions.
Create a list of questions you have and things you would like for them to do for you, then go to the Support area, create a ticket, add a generic subject line like I nee help setting up and getting running and would like a remote in session. you will get a reply to your ticket number and a calendar with the times-appointments available for the rep that will be getting back to you. Most likely Dustin, JC Ryan or Steve Leah. All very nice guys and Troy and I have both worked with all of them.
Then they will confirm the appt. date and time, usually the next day. Then be at your computer, they will send you a download link they they will connect. First thing i do is to enter in the chat box.lease call me and give them my phone number. They call immediately and that way we can talk as he fixes or sets things up. But have your questions ready because you will only have about an hour of their time. They will control your cursor and do the things for you. I also have set my phone up on a tripod over my shoulder and photographed everything they are doing and I can here our conversation on the playback.
just a tip.
Good Luck..
Mike at MDC Concepts, Inc
MDC Galleries and Fine Art
SmartParts Small EquipmentP.S. .. The reason EAT or Easy Auction Tracker may not have come up in a SL search is because it was probably back when SL was a “Blog” and not a “Forum” format, but Jay could confirm this.
But if you go to the “Search the Blog” box which is separate from the “Search the Forum” box, which will be located on the SL home – landing page, you will find numerous posts pop up about EAT. Troy [aka T-Satt also used EAT as did several others. You will find more details there.
As far as NET PROFIT goes that will be hard to track in EAT IF you do include all of your expenses, autombile, extra electricity for having lights turned on, your sqaure footage of your rent or mortgage dedicated to your business, procurement costs, shipping and office supplies like scotch tape, staple, computer paper, toner, ink, sticky notes, erasers, magic markers. Thos of us who track in detail can get a TRUE Net profit picture at any time we want as long as we use our business credit cards and download all of those expenses within Quicken, Quickbooks or Go Daddy.
To give a very simple and over generalized picture of how some miss the real net profit picture is this.
Net Profit is after all expenses that one could ever think of that has ever had anything to do with your business. You will find all total, [and this has been discussed before many times] that if you Sell $50,000 a year then expect 60-7-% of that to be eat up by “hidden and soft costs”.
Now the very simple example. You sell $50,000 a year, you subtract all of the typical talked about about fees, Ebay, PayPal, then subtract the price you paid for an item and that’s all. Now envision this, what if gasoline was $1,000 per gallon and that was not included in your “expenses” subtracted out of that $50k in sales.
You travel 20 miles per week for “procurement” of your items and or post office trips. That is $20,000 in gas expenses for one week alone. In 3 weeks you are in the red, have spent all $50,000 in sales and have NO NET PROFIT.
The Sales amounts minus just a partial list of expenses is nothing more than and “Adjusted Gross” figure.
Now you may ask, how can anybody track buying a pack on 3 Gel Ball point pens as an business expense and include such minute details in your reports. Ah ha.. Use accounting software, use only your business card for all business relted expenses, even use two cards at the grovery store if you are buying silver polish, windex, paper towels FOR YOUR BUSINESS. The you classify those “vendors” [stores, sources] as business places or ietms. You only have to do this once as you begin proper business bookkeeping protocols [SOPs=Standard Operating procedures], then the software will do it automatically for you every time you download your business checking account.
Troy, Mark Tews, any accountant on here can help one figure out a “COA”, [chart of accounts]. Once you have your COA set up [ours has about 25 to 30 categories] then everything goes into those accounts when downloaded automatically. Ex. every business card charge at Staples goes into “Office Supplies”. It doesn’t matter if it was ink, papaer, pens, tape, etc.. But you can if you have the time break it down into office and shipping supplies. We do.
This is why I cringe when I see newer members decry- I am selling $30k a year so I am ready to go full time. Well only if you can live off of about half of that.
I would suggest no one quit their full time job until they get some expert advice from a CPA or Accountant and ask how do I determine our “REAL” Net Profit. Then your salary will be an expense that is subtracted from your GROSS which then in turn lowers the NET you will arrive at. I would suspect a high percentage of those who quit selling online fall prey to “NOT KNOWING THEIR REAL NUMBERS”
The mantra here on SL is “Know your Numbers”, but I say we change that to “Know Your Real Numbers”. As above $1,000 per gallon of gas not accounted for will put you into the red and out of business in 3 weeks and has nothing to do with Ebay, Etsy, PayPal fees, etc., etc.
So something like EAT is more better called an Inventory Tracking Tool and the tab for “expenses” will be a real manual task if you will want REAL NUMBERS.
P.S. you will have to keep every receipt you get and enter it manually and then EAT is not going to classify it into the “Expense Categories” that Quicken for Business does.
Just a Southern Boy who likes Peaches, Watermelon, Butter Pecan Ice Cream and Pecans opinion and carries no weight above what a good Accountant will help you with.
Mark Tews even has online courses and tutorials aimed at helping online sellers or there are books on the Fundamentals of Accounting for Online Sellers.
Good luck and keep on “Truckin”.
Mike at MDC Concepts, Inc.
We used it too for years. it is an Excel spread sheet with a lot of Macro’s.
We have discussed it here on SL 3 or 4 times with several replies and posts about it. You can use the “search SL” function and discover all the old threads about it. i personally posted a good bit about it.
It is not created by a “large company”. It is created by a single guy who used Excel to write all the Macro’s. I have talked to him personally many years ago. It is a side jig for him. He has a fultime job, so when you email him for help or fixes he usually answers in the evening.
As T-Satt says it is a solid spread sheet BUT as with all spread sheets a user can mess it up. Make sure you do back ups of it everyday. If you accidently “unlock” the protection by trying to do some editing or adding to it’s function and screw up the Macro Formulas in some cells, you will have to have the author correct it, and in most cases it will take him a while to get back to you and then it will most likely be written instructions in the form of an email. But he can be reached by phone if you ask for his help.
EAT does basic money functions on the financial tab, yes it has an inventory tab but is very limited as compared to SixBit and WonderLister which are intergrated inventory control management systems combined with listing software, shipping modules, consignment modules, photo storage and financial analysis. EAT also is not a journal entry, double book keeping system and does not function on the level of Quicken for Business, Quikbooks or to some degree go Daddy. You can track some expenses in EAT but it will be all manual. Real bookkeeping systems are connected to your personal and business checking accounts, credit card accounts both personal and business at your bank and payPal. To do monthly reconciliations, do detailed financials, Profit and Loss statements that include all of your business expenses EAT is somewhat weak unless you do everything as a manual input on the Expenses tab.
But don’t get me wrong, several of us on SL used it for years way back when but finally had to move along to as Jay calls it “More robust Programs” both to capture everything automatically and to gain speed and effeciency.
Just a little input, but at $50 per year, it is a very good spread sheet format system, especially for those with fewer items.
Have a great day..
Mike at MDC Concepts, Inc.
MDC Galleries and Fine Art in AtlantaHoly Cow Troy.. and this from Mr. Numbers!!
Just ran a future Value of Multiple Deposits Calculator on this. $22.95 x 12 months x 19 years at a simple 3% interest earned would have equaled $7,099.30 by now.
$5,232.60 in actual monthly installments and $1,843.75 in simple interest.OK.. Listen to me now LOL 🙂 for a guy that can deliver the kind of monthly number beakouts you do, please check your monthly statement. I do because of one big factor, I have had a wife for 50 years and she has a credit card. Enough said. 🙂
Check, check and re-check all monthly statements, especially medical ones. 50 aspirins at $25 ea. in a hospital can be over looked on a 10 page Explanation of Benefits Statement.
But to join you, I had a $30 a month subscription for a web site building app. that I let ride for 3 years, but I knew it was there. I intended on using it each month I saw it, but after 3 years of never getting around to it, it was a total waste.
But glad to know the Mr. Number Cruncher is human! LOL 🙂 🙂
mike at MDCGFA
Right there with you AF. I have a fanny pouch around my waist. It has tape measure, several loupes, a magnet, pen and paper to create my own receipts and of course a bigger accordian slot in the middle to hold all the smaller denomination bills we carry. Usualy $250 to $300 +/- most times. A super flash charge cell phone charger, but descretly all in a pouch around my waist, but you are right, when i need to check, out the tools come,
Makes you wonder beside all the looking and checking the pro dealers do and as you said fairly quickly, what they have to think when you make a pile of 10 to 20 items with a huge difference it what the objects are and you haggle a price what they think you are going to do with all that varied and misc. stuff other than “resell it”. Same for the thirft stores. A conter full of everything under the sun, that most people don’t want and they got from others throw aways and you buy a pile of odd things. Are they dumb enough to think you are going to go home and then just line this stuff up on a shelf and stand back and admire it.
They usually know when I whip out our tax exempt certificate on them. They know then we are a business. Duuhhh!!!!
And I agree, don’t tell me what I can and can’t do with my merchandise. i burn it if I want to, gift it away outside there door for free as people come up [that would burn them up and get the cops called on me] But yes, we have spent thousands of dollars at some of our favorite shops and I don’t think they care at all what we do with it, just keep buying from them, year after year.
That goes back to my getting to know the onwers, making friends and them knowing who you are, what you buy and you will get deals. They know the drill and already know I am going to do the dance with them.
Mike at MDCGFA
Hey Troy:
Just an idea. If you use SixBit to create a “pick list” on that many items, just print your pick list out on a sheet of small labels or a pressure sensitive adhesive sheet. Use the pick list to pull all your items, then as you finish an items packing just peel and stick the pick list label on that box.
The SixBit pick list data has a small thumbnail pix of the item, your sku, and I think buyers name. That should be enough to identify the box, who to ship to and name. Then when you bulk print your labels, just peel and stick your shipping label over the smaller 1 x 3 in. PL ID label you had on the box, then proceed to print your bulk scan sheet for USPS.
Just an idea.
Mike at MDCGFA
Ok here is a link for you.
There are a number of them listed all the way from about $13-$15 up to $124 and change. you can’t see the prices with out a subscription but the higher prices of the top 5 or 6 are as follows:
Tesla Electric Car Red Lunchbox Collector HTF Item Sold for: $124.95 Source: eBay Sold Date: Mar 04, 2018
Tesla Electric Car Red Metal Lunchbox Collector HTF Item Sold for: $75.00 Source: eBay Sold Date: Jul 11, 2018
Tesla Stripe Tin Lunchbox – Tesla Motors Promo Sold for: $50.00 Source: eBay Sold Date: Dec 13, 2016
Tesla Lunch Box In New Condition – Rare Sold for: $50.00 Source: eBay Sold Date: May 05, 2017
TESLA Lunch Box Metal Rare Red Excellent Condition Sold for: $49.99 Source: eBay Sold Date: Apr 26, 2016
Tesla Stripe Tin Lunch Box(Damaged, Crushed, Dented) VERY RARE Sold for: $39.99Good luck…
Mike at MDC Galleries and Fine Art
Funny thing is they call it both all over the place and it causes confusion. As I staed in other post, if Ebay added 2 more slots to make the “Offers” go up to 5 then that makes the idea of “best Offer” a moot point.
How could your offer be the “Best Offer” if Ebay is providing the opportunity for several back and forth counters. With 5 chances to negotiate, then the only way to have a “BEST Offer” is to make an offer and include a message to the seller that is you one and only offer and it is all your willing to pay, take it or leave it. That is the only way it becomes a one time “BEST” offer, but leaves 4 other opportunities to do the back and forth dance which may lead to you getting the item for just a little bit more.
I agree. Pretty cool idea and thinking outside the box.
You might even think about adding a category to your store for that topic. Out and about Albany or something like that and then promote that category with sales and duplicated description blurbs about the items to catch the search engines.
But good idea and effort.
mike at MDCGFA
I very seldom have to go to our PO but occasionally I run very late and miss the local at house pick-up.
At the PO they have a section down at the end of the counter that is only for pre-paid packages. I walked in with about 8 shoe box size item in my blue Ikea bag. Walked to the fron of the line, took two steps to the right and unloaded all my packages. They have a canvas laundry cart right behind that area and when a clerk gets free or no line at their station, one of them steps down to the end, scans all the packages in and puts all of them into the canvas rolling cart. When the cart is full, one of them rolls it to the back and brings out a fresh empty one. I have spot checked on and off for years and they always seem to get scanned within about an hour or so from my drop off. And of course they get scanned a second time going out the back door for delivery to the main PO down in Atlanta.
As for the scan sheets for the at house pick ups, we have had 3 different mail people state they don’t like scan sheets because they don’t trust them to have every pkg. accounted for. They say many times they scan the sheet and it says 3 packages and their are really 5. Sellers many times add late sales to the out going pile and they never get put on the sheet. So, we have been told if under 8 to 12 packages they prefer to click scan each box separaetly. If we were going to have dozens and dozens, then maybe but the error problem would still exists. They say that using the sheets if not accurate then having tons of missed scan looks bad on them and they hear about it.
Maybe some of the postal employees here on SL can jump in and clear this up if wrong.
Mike at MDC Galleries and Fine Art
Hey guys: I brought this up a few years back but didn’t get much traction or replys. But here is my 2 cents again.
I am with you on Make an Offer” and if Ebay didn’t want “haggling”, then why did they go from only 3 “Offer slots” to 5 “offers-counter Offers. When they did this it set the tone for the seller to act like we used to at the Antique Malls. it goes like this.. we called it doing the dance.
First let me state my old primise that the one who mentions a numbers first, usually looses.
Now, create a booth tag with a price or create a Ebay list price. That sets the glass ceiling, buyer sees that price as “high”, then they make an “offer”, that is the floor. They are not going to pay your full list price and you are not going to take their low ball offer.
You may say, why low ball, well the good book says you “Have not because you ask not”. That is why I always haggle at esatate sales, but that’s another topic.
So, with Ebay adding two more levels to this process, that sets the floor for “the dance”. 1st offer at the floor to low, we counter as a second offer at 10% to 15% percent off, buyer wants to still get a deep discount [he wants to win the dance], so he rejects our 10-15% and comes up maybe 10% off his low ball, [that is 3rd tier of offers], now we come back at 20% to 30% off that is fourth level, then buyer either accepts or comes back with something inbetween. That is the 5th offer. The dance is done.
Now why do you think Ebay was thinking when they added the 4th and 5th offer slot to the buyers? My opinion is that they wanted the buyer and seller to have a “Mini In Store Private Auction” thus “The Dance”.
Those buyers too shy to engage will either buy at our high listed price or not. For the shy ones we offer a periodic short flash Sale or a semi perminent Sales for 5 days then stop for 3 days or so.
The bold buyers, seasoned and know a “dance” when they see one, start the process with the “lowball” [remember you have not because you ask not.] Who knows the seller may be ready to just dump an item. Then the 2 step [weatern dance term] starts with the counter, then counter to the counter, then the counter to the counter-counter] the dance resulting in a sale in the middle somewhere.
Yes it takes time but we reply to every offer with a counter offer because we know we are high. But the first two numbers are the ceiling and the the floor. The end of the dance is somewhere in between.
Some buyers cut bait early, others stick it out. It does take time from us but well “close” a lot of our sales by way of sveral levels of offers.
Those with high feedback numbers do the dance very well, those with low feedbacks or bewly registered buyers usually take our first counter offer and we get to keep that extra amount we build in to use for the upcoming “dances”.
Just an opinion from the guy down south..
Mike at MDC Concepts, Inc.
MDC Galleries and Fine Art
SmartParts Small Equipment PartsThere have been several members here on SL that have created posts-threads on how they handle Legos. If I remember correctly the thread contained discussions on the best way to handle all the pieces, identifying the ID numbers on each piece, how one member collected thousands of pieces and how he handled listing them for what he thought was the best and most profitable way.
I suggest you use the “Search” function here on SL and put in key words and see what you get.
Here is a searching tip also. After you input a key word like Legos and you get the SL results, then on a PC, hold the “Control” key down and click the letter “F” [stands for find]. Then type in the same keyword “Legos” into the PC search box and make sure you click the “Highlight” box. This will scan the SL results and highlight the keywords. That makes it easy for you to scroll down the SL results, which will be just a long list of results that contain the keyword Lego but not show you where the key word is. So, by using the PC “control” and highlight it is very easy to scroll down the SL results and see those words “HighLighted” to catch the discussion.
The PC search box will also tell you how many times the key word has been found. Like 17 “finds” so you know how many to look for.
It is much easier than it sounds in writing.
OR, maybe Jay remembers those discussions or the member and can post a link to the thread for you.
Good luck
Mike at MDC Galleries and Fine Art
Estate sales are easy for us. First we have gotten to know a few owners so when we first walk up I say, Hi Jim, Fred, Robbie whoever it is and say same terms as last time and most of the time they say yes. If a new estate sale person, we do and I say the following:
First we walk around and see if things are all priced [mostly], get a feel if they are way high or reasonable according to our experience and if there are a few things we are interested in. Then I go up to the desk and ask for the owner or person in charge. then I do a few seconds of the business elevator speech .. “Hi glad to know you. First time seeing you guys. I see things all priced, you did a good job or nice stuff. You been doing this long? [get the answer]. Then I hand them our business card and say, “We are buyers and resellers, so you know the drill, there has to be meat left on the bone. If we make a pile and write a list as we go, are you negotiable?” “If so then this could be a win-win situation for both of us and you have made yourself a repeat buyer and we will frequent your future sales.”
And that’s it and wait for the answer. All in all less than 60 seconds. They know it’s a business deal from the get go. They have to give or we won’t do “the dance”. If they do, we will be buying “a pile” because I said so, and also if they invest in us by discounting, then they will continue to get our business. We let them know right away we are dealers and bring more fire power to their sale than the average, non-corporate entity, casual fair day buyer. Auction houses also know us by the same business like manner in which we deal.
Some say sure, we will negotiate and a few says something like well we only offer 50% off on the last day. I look then square in the eye and state well that won’t do, and guess no use checking you guys out in the future. Put my hand out, shake hands and wish them good luck with their business model. Then Susan and I walk away.
Susan knows my spiel by heart. That is all it takes. We have about a dozen estate sale owners who know us by sight or our blue bags we bring to carry our stuff out with. Most allow us to pack our bags as we bring things out and then work from my list I give them.
I total it up on the bottom of the list at sticker price, then put the 50% off price below that and then put the 75% off price under that and circle it then hand it to the person in charge. 90% of the time they say sure thing and I hand them cash. If not they usually say, this client was tough or she passed away and the kids have other plans if we don’t sell it, then they come back with a number between the 50% off and my 75% off. Usually 60%.
But in any case you start the deal / process as soon as you walk up, either same as last time Jim, or do the quick elevator speech and you will know where you stand in 60 seconds or if just need to leave.
We have honed this process through the years. We have been buying from some of the same people for over 5 years and 75% off on last day is what we get. And the closer to the last few hours is even better. I have made deals of 80% off during the last few ours.
All of our established estate sellers know I drive for 75% off of their sticker price.
Our card says we are a corporation by the use of “Inc”. and we have a tax ID number, so no tax on our purchases and by paying cash or business check the vendors save the 3%+ charge from the C/C companies, which I throw out at a new vendor as part of my spiel.
In case you do not know, many estate sellers make deals with their clients to try to leave the house as empty and clean as they can. So some of our friend estate sellers have buyers who come in 30 minutes to 60 minutes after the closing time and buy everything that’s left, lot, stock and barrel and clean the house out. Everything from paper trash to old brooms and mops and chemicals. They take it all for a one price. So i like to shop them several hours before those guys roll in.
Some estate dealers also have a dumpster brought end at the days end and split the cost with the whole house end buyers. The dealers take what they want and throw the rest away. The dumpster gets picked up the next morning. “Pulled” as it is called.
So, there you have it. You own a business, so run your business like a business. Estate Sellers are your vendors. I worked every vendor I ever bought from in the business world and always drove hard for discounts based on repeat buying, exclusively carrying their brand, volume buying and in a few cases even got vendors to stock their products in our plant and they came in and did the inventory for us and only invoiced us for what we used. In return we would drop ship for them to others if they needed some of the products they had stored at our plant.
So I just use the same tactics on the local estate sale vendors. Here I am, I am a buyer, I have been in business for 16 years and I will continue to do business with you if you cut me the deals. Plain and simple. No deals no business today and in the future.
Some of the vendors I actually call them, because that is what they are, I have manilla file folders several inches thick where I have bought thousand of dollars of merchandise from them. And we only buy what fits our niche and quality level. We will buy a hundred dollar item but only for $25. Period.
I have even had vendors say as we come in, glad to see you, we were hoping you and Susan would be coming in today because we have a couple of things that fit your niche and they take us straight to them as soon as we arrive. At times a floor walker will bring something up to us and say, “I think you guys like this kind of stuff” and usually we say “Yep” and take it to our bags. One lady who does this with us we have spent over $15,000 with them over a 5 year period. That averages about $3,000 a season.
You have to make your discounts in this business and we all know the profit is in the buying. These days everyone knows what something is selling for or sold for on Ebay, even yard sellers.
There is another lady who will remain anonymous, will not bend on the 50% off rule. Says her rpices are rsearched and fair and 50% is enough meat on the bone. Well after we got no where with her after several tries, we haven’t bought anything from her in over 4 years.
So you can make your own vendor pipeline if you work at it and are persistant. There are no “Merchandise Marts” in the used item world, but you can create your vendor pipeline. You get to know them, build the trust and build the system. Those that are willing to “do the dance” will, and those that are not or are staffed by “clerks” with no executive decision making power won’t and we are out of there in 60 seconds and never return. There are way too many good ones out there than to waste time on those who don’t know how to dance with you or won’t do the dance with you.
The good ord says, “You have not because you ask not!”… So ask up front. You will save yourself a lot of time making piles and wasting time looking and then only after the fact discovering, “Sorry, today is only 50% off day”.
Bye,bye, to those people until they learn how to do the “business dance”.
Use your brain and negotiating skills first rather than your back.
Just one guys opinion and another wall of text.
The management team from MDC Concepts, Inc.
Susan, Lisa, Christie and Michael
MDC Galleries and Fine Art
“SmartParts” Small Equipment Parts divs.
