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First, I would talk the emotional component out of the equation. Then,take the amount of money you need to net on a regular basis as a baseline. Say it’s $4,500 a month. Assume a 25% margin to level up the down months and level out the up months. So, your baseline is now $6,000. Now account for taxes,any benefits, etc. I’ll add 20% for that here, but you’ll need to assess that based on your state and circumstances. Baseline is now at $7,500. You know best what it takes to get that done listing wise based on your work experiences so far. Now consider how long it will take you to build up your own store to achieve that based on the model you will employ (e.g. quick nickel v. Slow dime, etc). From that you can extrapolate your time line and developers your project timeline. Assuming you want to build this up on the side while still working full time, you can develop your time line with built-in risk factors. For example, a super cautious person, would work on the side until the side ebay business outpaces the full-time job earnings on a consistent basis for a certain period of time. Another approach with more risk would be developing the side store until half the earnings are achieved and sufficient numbers are available to extrapolate an estimate for a 40 hour work week. I could go on, but it really comes down to the fact that you need a cushion to bridge the gap between your current safe earning model to a full time commission only earning model.
I went from a full time mostly commission job working for a company, to a self employed job twice so far in my life.what I did was to work my side self employed job long enough to earn more than my full time job for 3 months in a row. Then I quit my W2 job. It worked for me, but the period of time I worked the 2 jobs was grueling.
Another way to go is to bank 6 months worth of bill money, then quit your W2 job.
Things to consider are, will you be able to remain focused and drive yourself without being at a work place environment? Will you be able to achieve a work-life balance at home without the self employed job taking over your life? It can be difficult for some to work from home.
More to consider: Will you have the support of your husband and family? Or, will there be conflict there to attend to during and after the transition. How will you feel about working alone? That’s a biggie if your daily work life is rich in friendships. You’ll need to figure out how that can be replaced in other ways.
I wish you all the success!please share how your process goes. So many of us contemplate the same!
I just tried my first sale. I also have not seen a reported bump in sales from the markdown manager, yet I have had items sell at the reduced pricing achieved through the markdown manager tool. So, with such a little store and no reliable data, I can’t say whether or not I benefited from the markdown manager. The eBay page which displays that data has zero information, which is incorrect since I actually have sold items with a markdown. At any rate, I am trying the sales tool for the first time and am hopeful that its features will create urgency. They indicate a countdown to the end of the sale, from what I understand. To get to the sales tool, take the following steps:
1. go to MY EBAY
2. go to MY STORE
3. under MANAGE STORE, go to MANAGE PROMOTIONS
4. under MERCHANDISING, go to MANAGE PROMOTIONS
5. read the information toward the bottom of the page if you want more information
6. click the GET STARTED button to initiate your sale. the wizard walks you through the processI will report back glitches if I encounter them.
Update: I sold Mr. Drunken Lamb to a woman in FL. I’m really shocked, but it went for $45 on best offer. I paid $5 for him at the bins. We had an uproarious exchange about him and she promises to have a bourbon, whiskey and beer waiting for him upon arrival.
First, even though I listened to the podcast about how to list as a scheduled listing, I somehow have a problem doing it without getting charged. But no matter, I’m about done with using my phone as a listing mechanism. I like it well enough as a camera, but I’ve run into too many problems with it to continue on using it to list. Here are some things I have encountered: when i relist an item with the app in the phone, sometimes, very rarely, the photos from one listing morph onto another listing that I am also relisting at the same time; when I use the “sell one like this” feature, I often forget to double check certain elements of the listing, like the size in the title, or the postage selection (ugh); if you start a listing with just a photo in the listing and then wait too long (like overnight) to actually complete the listing, sometimes the photos disappear when you go to submit the listing; & you can only see just so many of the listing when you load them up into drafts. I’ve lost money on shipping and had to take a return as a result of using my phone to list. Its back to the computer for me.
Best we got on CL was all free: 2 HD flat screens 42″ & 55″, high end rain barrel (yes, it’s a thing), nice snow blower, John deer lawn mower -self propelled, large water fountain, radial arm saw, 2 nice leather couches, the list goes on
J & R, I find your musings on what building to build compelling, having built a building (a log home) myself around your age. I vacillated so much on what and how to build. I recommend building a pole barn, either metal or wood, in such a way on the lot that, later, if you want to put a home on the lot, you could. I don’t recommend over building for something that doesn’t suit your needs. Personally, I plan on putting up a pole building on our country lot. I’ll probably use retired telephone poles and rough cuts, scavenger style! Have fun with your build.
