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May I suggest you do some quick research about this. If you are a business and wish to get an instant P&L statement [Profit and Loss Report], then GDBK may not do for you. GDBK is just a journal system. Just like a green paper accounting pad you buy at an office supply store. If you wish to have a way to set up a Chart of Accounts [COA] and be able to categorize all income and out go an shown and stored in those categories and then pull your monthly, quarterly and year end reports and see all expenses by amount AND percentage of income, those reports come from a more, as Jay calles it a Robust System.
But you don’t have to have QuickBooks, Quicken for Home Business will do. Quicken was bought last year from Intuit and now is owned by a new corporation that has made a lot of improvements.
But here is what you should do. Search Google for the top 10 or 20 home business accounting and you will see in every list that GDBK is either the last or next to last one listed and not even on the top 10 or 20 lists. There are 20 more programs out there that out shine and out perform GDBK.
Even though J&R use it and it is mentioned tons of time in this forum, does not make it the best or even the cheapest out there. What separates to more expensive apps from the cheaper ones is the ability to “Invoice” your customers. If you provide a service or are in the trades you have a need to create invoices that list what services you provided and a price for those services you absolutely need a more robust system and it costs more. But make sure you review the comparison list of what the app provides
If all you want is a glorified check book register then GDBK will do, as a business we look for more than GDBK can provide. nd even if all you do want is a fancy check book register program again GDBK is way, way down almost all list we found when we Googled, “best app for the small business”, what is the best online bookkeeping software”, “what is the top 10 accounting programs”, you want even find GDBK listed on most. You will see “Fresh Books” on top on most of them, but be careful, some apps are ONLY for INVOICING PURPOSES and “Wave” is even free.
May I suggest, like Jay has said many times, first get an accountant, doesn’t have to be a CPA but a CPA does help. Then ask them what program they would suggest. remember the person who prepares your taxes may have a preference for how they want to see your business numbers oprganized and presented to them. Also most CPA’s have the Accountant’s version of Quicken and QuickBooks so they can access your files remoetly and just pull all the data they want directly off your file or you can send them a .Pdf file of the data and files.
But as a last word, any organized program whereby you can categorize your income and expenses and deductible numbers is a big plus for your business.
Are these suggestions nothing more than a different way to present Jay’s Daily Fire Hose email. Everyday I get an Email from Jay – ScavengerLife that says “SL Fire Hose”. At the top of it is every comment-post that has taken place within the last 24 hours as a single line title in Bold Blue.
Then if I scroll to the bottom of that single line title listing of “ALL NEW” posts, all of those are shown in full text format.The single line blue title post is a blue link. If I click on the Blue Title line it opens my browser and takes me to that Forum area-topic and there is the whole topic.
Save these daily posts and you can use your “Search Function” to search any and all topics posted on the forum since Jay started sending these out.
This seems to fill my need to find anything or any topic on the SL Forum. But maybe I am missing what else it is you are wanting over having everything posted on SL in chronological order by title and in full text and linked to forum topic – subject. Guess I am confused like Jay.
Hhmmm … mike at MDC Galleries and Fine Art
The one big advange we find to using the clear totes is that we can see into them and know which ones are low and have room for more items to be placed in them.
We use an inventory control number system and any item can go into any bin, any place as long as there is room in it. We use a metal rolling cart that holds all the new items that need to go into inventory after uploading the listing. We place the items on the cart and roll up and down our inventory isles. We can see which bins are low and have “air space” in them. When we see bins only half, or three quarters emoty we stop and put a few items in that bin and then write down the item number and bin number on our clipboard, which we later enter into our WonderLister program.
Using the clear bins allows us to try to always keep the bins topped off and mostly full thus utilizing our available cubic square footage to the best advantage. This keeps all of the inventory “tight”, “compact” and we are not spread out all over the place. Opaque [non-see thru] bins do not lend themselves to this. One has to either lift – feel each box and or take it down off the shelf, open it to look and see how much space is unused in it. A huge time waster in our opinion.
Guess the same would apply to the steel file cabinet drawers. 50 cabinets with 4 or 5 drawers each. Let’s say 2 cubic feet of storage space in each drawer for a total of 500 cubic feet of storage space [if my math is correct]. So at any one time, how much “vacant” – “empty” space do you have without pulling out each drawer and looking into each separately? Now if you only keep like items in each drawer, then you don’t need to look, but that can also waste space.
mike at MDC Galleries
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This reply was modified 3 years, 8 months ago by
MDC Galleries & Fine Art.
Just went to place my first quarter order and noticed something. Ebay is now only offering 7 size boxes. They no longer offer the 18″x14″x12″oversize box. The largest now is: longest 16x12x8=1,536 cubic inches and the 12x12x12=1,728 cubic inches [which BTW is the cut off for sizes that have to go to oversize-dim. weight at 1,728 cubic inches].
So about 1.5 years ago the USPS stopped offering the Larger Reg. size “C” box at 15x12x12=2,160 cubic inches, but we loaded up and stockpile a lot of those but are finally down to only having 5 left in our stock. The next best thing was the Ebay 18x14x12 at 3,024 cubic inches. Now that is gone.
So size wise the two largest box sizes now are the Ebay 12x12x12 at 1.728 CI and the USPS Box #7 12x12x8 at 1,536 CI. Unless I am missing something.
So if you need more than 1,728 CI you will have to start splicing these sizes together to make custom size boxes for your larger items.
Just a heads up.
Mike at MDC Galleries
At a local closeout discount house in the local area. They buy the final close outs from the “Dollar General” type stores. They stack them in groups of3 and 4 bins and zip tie them together and then sell for $12. Sometimes we get the 4 packs and that is $3 each. Other times the 3 pack for $12 which is the $4 ea. The difference is usually on the 4 pack one of the handles is missing or there is a crack in one of the bins so they throw that one in for the $12. We usually buy these and save the odd bin until we find another good lid for it or get another handle from a really cracked up one.
Unfortunately they do not do online sales and are just a local railway type salvage company. They get them on an irregular schedule so we always stop in there everytime we go past them and check. It is first come first serve. Sometimes we just miss them and they tell us they thought we would be coming by but unfortunately someone just came in that morning and bought them out. When we find them, we buy all that they have. Been doing this for over two years to accumulate about 200 or more of them. We also get shoebox size ones for $1 each and have a fairly large stockpile of those.
By the way they have a ton of other types of stuff. Shoes, clothes, electronic items, luggage, household items but most is in fairly rough shape. Remember they buy what Dollar Stores can’t sell or take back for some reason. If a dollar store can’t sell it or is a return, then beware of buying from these guys.
We did buy 5 toaster ovens from them a few years back at $15 each and gave them as gifts to family members. The only draw back was the timer and other knobs were twist and turn for the settings and then they ticked down, counting backwards and a bell went off. Clumsy to set the timers, but ours still works fine.
They have great deals on napkins, paper plates, plastic goods that have the packaging busted open and usually are missing some pcs. but at dollar prices not bad.I hear you. It took a long time for us to get all matching. Once done though it allowed us to have our shelves all set up on the same level and spacing. Standardization helps.
On another note it also is an investment cost. We have approx. 250 bins at this point and room for about another 150. In the end that will be about 400 bins at $4 +/- ea or about $1,600 invested in bins.
Be careful with the “Snap on LIDS”. I have had numerous lids pop off or up on the ones that I had stored up over chest height. We only use the hing-swivel “snap over latch” tight lids now and converted all of the snap on lids to that style also. The lids stay locked on even if you have to use your palm pushing up on tub handles for the ones stored over your head.
We have had a couple of bins with those snap on lids pop off and get dropped years ago and we broke a bunch of stuff when it hit the cement floor in the garage. We often get 66 qt. Sterilite bins with the “latch” tops at a local dollar type store for $4 each. Our preference by far.
Also the 1st quarter shipping supply discount coupon comes out. We have already done our shipping box inventory and ready to place our order.
Just for extra info.
One sold July 2016 and is listed on Worthpoint.com. Here is the link:https://www.worthpoint.com/worthopedia/david-harden-primitive-look-folk-art-1822556302
The sold price is $22.00 in case you can’t see it.
Oh I don’t know, thought I saw that somewhere and thought you might know. I just did a few minutes research and guess it is not a requirement. The topic is spoken about more as a “best practices” type of thing seemingly under customer service categories.
After reading a few examples of the dumb or insulting questions buyers send I understand a “no response”. That will save me some time in the future. I will just ignore them also.
I have a “Present” question for both you and Jay. How do the people that can find, buy, get almost anything they need and or want at the lowest prices ever possible, ever decide on what to “BUY” each other as a Gift? 🙂
thanks.. mike
Hay Ryanne: Just reading and had a thought. Oh and Merry Christmas by the way.
I like Linda, usually answer by way of a flat out “No” or “Nope” or occasionally just say “Make me an Offer” [who knows]. But the question is doesn’t Ebay state as sellers we need to answer the majority, if not all of the messages we get sent or questions asked” I thought I read somewhere that it is part of the metrics they track and that we need to answer most of the inquiries we get. If we just don’t answer thought they track that somewhere for whatever reason?
Mike at MDC Galleries and Fine Art
Here, Here Steven …
and shorten the time a buyer has to pay after an offer is accepted. We get cancellations at times and the buyer says outright, please cancel, I found either a nicer one or a cheaper one. Had one of those this week.
mike at mdc galleries
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This reply was modified 3 years, 9 months ago by
MDC Galleries & Fine Art.
I think you have mentioned that more than once over the past years. One would think that the more tools Ebay provides for the full time, professional sellers as you call them, that we would be even more successful and in turn they would flourish and hopefully have less issues from sellers and buyers alike.
I hope they don’t get the bright idea, that if they are going to provide “some things”, that like you say, Premium and Anchor would get the same tools and not break it up into tiers, like the shipping supplies. The more you pay Ebay monthly, the more tools you get access too and the longer the history of Sales will be.
They probably won’t buy one of the listing services like SixBit, WonderLister, InkFrog and others because of the big push of those services to include cross listing on other platforms like Etsy, Shopify, Wix, and others. That is a big tool for those programs and Ebay would have to cull out a lot of code and neuter them to just provide tools for enhanced Ebay use. Just talking pure speculation here but wouldn’t make sense to have atool that allows a seller to have their own web site store and build SEO guidelines to push / drive traffic to the sellers own store [like we are getting ready to do] and away from the Ebay platform.
Again, just flapping my jaws.
mike at MDC Galleries
Yeah.. you are correct Jay, it was Ebay’s own data, but TP did a great slice and dice analysis of the data and also offered charting and graphing so you could see seasonal peaks, momentum trends and the like. Where Ebay just sold the “Sales History” to them and also WorthPoint.
That is why I said above that someone like T-Satt and others here that create and build spread sheets with haevy formulas may find that TerraPeak will do what they are currently doing only for them. I never knew if TP allowed customization of columns and the such. I did subscribe to it years ago and used it for about 6 months or a year [can’t recall] but found WP gave me what we needed and for less. Now, maybe a different story.
This could be interesting in the way many look at their numbers, sales through rates, velocity and such. We all will need to keep our eye on this and maybe give it a try and all compare notes after they start implement things. Probably will be a lot of information in the Winter Update also.
Mike at MDC Galleries
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This reply was modified 3 years, 8 months ago by
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