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Steven on CL ads I do not put my area code. I just say Nashville area code, then 7 digits. It really cuts down on the scammers. Anyone who lives in Nashville knows the area code.
3/12 – 3/18
Total Items in store: 388
Items sold: 7
Cost of items sold: approx. $33
Total Sales: $178
Highest price sold: $
Average price sold: $25.45
Int’l sales: 0
Returns:0
Number of items listed this week: 0
Amazon disbursement – $2,809Full time ebay goal – was March 2018; now – ????
Ebay to Amazon – 2 sales – $210, COGS – $60, fees – $23, profit – $127
Waist deep in taxesI have not actually done any un-gating, so I was speaking in the theoretical sense I guess. Right now I am concentrating on expanding into as many categories and brands as I can with the hope that I will be grandfathered in if gating happens.
Amazon is making sweeping changes, but remember it is a lot newer than ebay. In the beginning, ebay made some broad sweeping changes. I remember when BIN was added, I thought ebay was silly. Now, almost everything I sell is BIN.
Fun times, fun times.
I am buying a majority of my items on ebay, and I do find inventory. It requires time, but it is easy enough. Most days I scroll through my amazon inventory and search for items with quantity 0, then go to ebay and do a quick search, sort for new, low – high and see if there are any items worth looking at. I look very closely at the pictures and make sure the listing says new with no conditions. Once I receive the items, I inspect them closely. If the packaging is damaged, I send it back. Ebay makes that part easy. This process usually takes about 30 minutes or so.
Other days, when I have time, I search broad categories in ebay looking for different items to add. When I find those items I have to do more research on sales rank, pricing history and competition. Research is fairly easy sitting at my desk chair. I believe there are a lot of items out there that would be eligible for an eb-az flip.
I am building this portion of my business up now because I am hoping to turn the eb-az business over to my wife. She has no desire to scour ebay for different items to list, but she can easily search for specific items. We have a 2 month old, so she is busy right now, but in the months to come she should be able to learn the process. Since she had the baby, she has been working very part time for her old job. The plan is for her to continue working 4-8 hours a week outside the home, but then she can stay home most of the time to be with the kids and work a couple hours a day on amazon.
I have changed what I look for to send in to Amazon. I do a little RA, I don’t go out searching, but if I am already out, I will scan some barcodes. With the fee change, it seems that I have to be a lot more conscious of sales rank. No more send everything it in and it will eventually sell.
My 2 cents, if you enjoy selling on Amazon, you may have to adjust what you sell. Look at the items you sell, are there some real winners? Maybe try to find the items that have the best profit margin and try to isolate what they have in common. Then you can still arbitrage with amazon and stay diversified. Diversification is not a bad thing if it is not distracting.
I have moved away from ebay to explore FBA and I am still finding profits there. I still enjoy ebay and will list more items soon, but I really like the simplicity of sending it in to Amazon and forgetting it, no pictures, no key words, just boop with the scanner, and its done. As long as it is easy and profitable, I will do it.
I do worry that soon everything will be gated on FBA. but if that happens, I will pay to ungate or just move along.
I would consider a coin-op laundromat if one came up for sale. I am really interested in storage units, If I had to pick something right now, that is where I would invest. Almost all of them around here are 100% full. Like coin-ops, they tend to be higher on the passive investment scale, which is where I want to invest long term.
Here is a fun one. I looked at buying a trailer park this week. 17 rented trailers, 21 lots. $425,000. Most people would snub their nose at a trailer park. Good used trailers can be bought for around $10k plus $2500 to move them. So if I buy 4 trailers to fill the last 4 lots for $50k, that would put my total investment at $475,000, which is a lot of money. But here are the numbers. Mortgage at 5% – $3,200 per month. Land taxes – less than $200 per month. Estimate upkeep and repairs at $1,000 per month for a total cost of $4,400 per month. If we assume two open trailers, the income at $500 per trailer per month would be $9,500 for a profit of $5,100 per month. In my mind, these are fairly conservative numbers. Within 2 days of listing, the real estate agent said she had 3 cash offers and expected another one. There is no way they would wait while I finance through the bank, which would take about 2 months. So I missed that opportunity, but I filed that experience away in the memory bank.
On the title issue, I didn’t buy the house. It was a family member, we agreed on a sale price, I would do the work and then sell. After closing, they would pay me out of the proceeds. Since I was not investing a lot of money, I felt like that would be ok. Turns out she had a co-signer, her ex-mother-in-law, who has since passed and whose estate is in probate…I don’t think it will be a big deal to get it out of probate, but will just take time. I always do a title search on property I buy.
I look at flipping houses as retirement investment. I want to build that business up to where I can support owning 2 flip houses at one time. One in the remodel process and one in the sales process. Once I build it up to that level I will start investing the profits into long term investments, probably commercial real estate.
I look at ebay/amazon more as income. the goal there would be to make a sustainable income to pay month to month bills. ebay/amazon is a filler activity for me. I can work at it when I have time. If I need to concentrate my time in other avenues for a while, I can. Then come back to listing stuff again. Building the pipeline as you say.
To answer your question, it is both/and for me. Finding a house to flip might not always be there. I have been trying to find one for a few months. I know I can always walk into an auction, thrift store or garage sale and make a good return on my time.
3/5 – 3/11
Total Items in store: 393
Items sold: 6
Cost of items sold: approx. $41
Total Sales: $238
Highest price sold: $120 honda window motor
Average price sold: $40
Int’l sales: 0
Returns:0
Number of items listed this week: 0
Amazon disbursement – $0Full time ebay goal – was March 2018; now – ????
Ebay to Amazon – 5 sales – $494, COGS – $165, fees – $73, profit – $256
Got my house flip ready to go on the market and discovered a problem with the title. It is going to take me a couple of weeks to get resolved. Got a contract on another house to flip with my boss on Saturday. Purchase price $87,000. Expected remodel cost $45,000. Expected sale price $165,000. I actually believe our sale price will be higher, but this was the number we used to evaluate. I will keep everyone informed.
Sent a couple of boxes in to Amazon this week. Still not 100% caught up on sending in ebay to amazon items yet.2/26 – 3/4
Total Items in store: 398
Items sold: 4
Cost of items sold: approx. $1.75
Total Sales: $40
Highest price sold: $13
Average price sold: $10
Int’l sales: 0
Returns:0
Number of items listed this week: 0
Amazon disbursement – $770Full time ebay goal – was March 2018; now – ????
Ebay to Amazon – 16 sales – $2615, COGS – $1030, fees – $283, profit – $1302
Had a great week on amazon, 2 items were about half of my sales. Both of the high dollar items I bought on ebay in February, so they were quick sellers. Having an outstanding week is the best motivation for me. Most of these items I bought in one evening on ebay. It makes me realize where I could be if I was 100% focused on re-selling. I also sold a couple hundred dollars worth of retail arbitrage. I don’t do RA a lot, but if I am already in Walmart or Lowes, I will look at the clearance section. I will finish up my house flip tonight (just have a final sweep and mop of the floors), so hopefully I can get it on the market by the end of the week. Once that is done, I will probably concentrate on amazon for a few nights, then move on to the “T” word.Congratulations and Thank You for the 300 episodes!
My guess is that it is galvanized pipes. I decided to not hire a plumber and disclose it when I sell. I did fill the bathtub almost 2/3 and it drained no problem, so it might not be anything??
Yes, if I can clear $10k to $15k on the first house I will be happy.
The split with my boss is as such: I buy the house, he manages and pays for the remodel. The way I look at it I can invest $80k, and get a $10k return within a few months. If we can do 3 houses a year, that would be a $30k return on $80k, not a bad percentage. Also, I am not locked in. At some point I want to use profits from this, ebay and other ventures to purchase commercial property as a long term investment. I have discovered in the past that I do not want to own rental houses, it is just not who I am.
I bought the house for $18k. I am going to ask $45k, but will probably take whatever I can get over $35K. I looked at the house to rehab and sell and decided it was not a good location. When the seller told me they only wanted $18k for it I decided to just clean it and sell it as-is. Someone will buy it and turn it into a rental house.
The house belonged to someone who was a border-line hoarder and they had animals inside. When I bought it, the smell was almost unbearable. I de-trashed it (I got about a $1000 worth of stuff to sell on ebay), pulled the carpet(there was hardwood underneath), and have been cleaning 3 nights a week for about a month. I have spent less than $100 on cleaning supplies. The house has two issues, the plumbing drains slow and the bathroom needs some attention. Other than that it will be a solid rental from somebody.
I have been looking for a traditional house to rehab and sell, but they are hard to find around Nashville right now, the market is a little on the crazy side. If I find one, my boss and I are going to partner to flip it and I will let you know how that goes. Our model is to find a house for $80K, spend $40K to renovate and sell around $140K.
2/19 – 2/25
Total Items in store: 399
Items sold: 6
Cost of items sold: approx. $36.50 ($30 on a retail arbitrage)
Total Sales: $162
Highest price sold: $ 70 wrench set – RA, $30 vintage quart ther mo pack cooler
Average price sold: $27
Int’l sales: 1
Returns:1 cranberry Pyrex casserole dish – wrong size ordered
Number of items listed this week: 0
Amazon disbursement – $0Full time ebay goal – was March 2018; now – ????
Ebay to Amazon – 2 sales – $167, COGS – $46, fees – $27, profit – $94
The goal is to get done with my house flip this week and get back into selling on ebay and amazon.2/12 – 2/18
Total Items in store: 401
Items sold: 3
Cost of items sold: approx. $13
Total Sales: $57
Highest price sold: $ 35 wrench set
Average price sold: $19
Int’l sales: 0
Returns:0
Number of items listed this week: 0
Amazon disbursement – $1,170Full time ebay goal – was March 2018; now – ????
Ebay to Amazon – 4 sales – $524, COGS – $259, fees – $76, profit – $189
I like to sell, but I collect yardsticks, soda bottles, and Atari games.
