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I sold a large item to Canada. It was defective. I thought it was new. Ebay told me I had to provide a shipping label. I have no way of providing a Canada Post label and I wasn’t gonna force my customer to deal with it. I refunded in full and yes I also was required to refund the GSP shipping as well. This was a year ago.
I felt bad for the person because it was a Christmas present.
Total Items In Store: 895
Items Sold 21
Total Sales $642.50
COGS $100.10
Total Profit $542.40
Average profit $25.83
Average sales price $30.6012 of my sold items were shoes for over $400. Shoes absolutely drive my store! Matter of fact, I just got the “cha-ching” on a $100 pair of shoes while writing this.
I forced myself to get my photo setup arranged this week out in the garage. I’m back on the listing train baby! I’m getting back to having a system where I create listings during breaks and lunch at work, then take photos in the evenings. I HAVE to get some form of system going so I can be consistent. On Saturday I was able to list 20 clothing items start to finish in the morning. On Sunday my time was limited due to waking up late. I did do a timed trial to assess how quickly I can list pants. I can easily do 3 minutes a pair to create the draft listing, research and price, assess condition, and fill out all info in listing. Basically everything but photos. I already know I can batch process photos very quickly through my phone app. So 5 minutes per item start to finish done in a batch process fashion for pants is my benchmark to shoot for.
Scavenging has been great lately. My current process is that I hit up 3 tag sale Goodwills on Sunday, and hit up my local non-tag sale goodwill just once a week now. I’m cleaning up on clothing! I’ll buy the bread ‘n butter stuff all day long with the 99 cent tag sales. If something is pretty good and I’m not confident it will stick around until 99 cent week then I’ll buy moderate bread n butter ($25 profit) items at 50% off. I only buy things full price if they are well over $30 profit. Yesterday I got two vintage women’s ugly sweaters that will easily bring $100 each, but may bring even more once I do a little more research.
So basically I compare everything involving my time in life to selling shoes now.
Example: Change oil in car? Do you know how many pairs of shoes I could list in that time frame? Not worth my time!
Lol!Anyways, here is a basic breakdown of my hourly profit for shoes based on my method.
Assuming I follow a shopping trip for 10 pair of run of the mill shoes at my average selling price.Shopping time: 30 minutes.
– Really it’s less than that – 10-15 minutes for the shoe section – but its a nice round number that includes travel time. Travel time is usually tied to another errand so I typically don’t count it.Listing time: 50 minutes (5 minutes per pair)
-I can really crank the shoes out. I can usually do 7-8 pair draft listings (everything but photos) in 15-20 minutes. I save time by using “sell similar” during my research for a sold listing that way the basic title and item specifics are already populated. I just edit as needed to match my pair. Photos is 2 minutes a pair. I have a very specific order I take photos of shoes so I can do it very quickly. In all I have about 5 minutes total a pair in listing.Pulling from inventory: 10 minutes.
– I have an inventory system and my shed is right outside my house. I use the classic version of the ebay site on my phone in the browser so I can see my custom SKU’s and pull all the items to ship quickly. I throw them all in a bin and bring it back inside to my shipping station. I have 3 day handling on all my items so I only ship 2-3 times a week. I don’t like making one-off trips to the shed. I also don’t sell enough volume to justify daily shipping.Shipping time: 30 minutes ( 3 minutes a pair)
This is where the rubber meets the road. Shipping is super easy. They either go in a padded flat rate mailer or a USPS tyvek mailer. I’ll ship expensive or really nice shoes in a USPS shoebox. I use a DYMO 450 label printer that really speeds up the labeling part. I pack, then weigh (if needed), then print label, seal up package while label is printing, then slap on label. 3 minutes per pair is easy and actually on the high end. I can do 2 minutes an item if I’m really rolling and everything goes smoothly. I can crank out 20 shipments in less than an hour easy if it’s all clothes and shoes.So an hour and a half total time for 10 pair of shoes. My average selling price is in the $35 range for shoes and my average COGS is $5. After fees, average profit is $25. We’ll go ahead and bump that down to $20 for this example to be conservative.
So total profit on 10 pair is $200. Divide that by 1.5 hours.
Profit per hour: $133.33And this is why I think of everything in terms of shoes!
Currently I’m really into jeans and men’s shirts. My average profit is much lower, but my COGS are a fraction (most stuff is $1 each rather than $5+), and the space they take up is much less. I can fit 25 clothing items in a bin compared with 10-15 for shoes. Without going through the numbers I’d guesstimate my profit per hour on clothes is more like $50/hour. It does sting knowing that my time to list is longer on clothes (measurements) and my profit is lower, but I’m working on diversifying my inventory for a more steady income stream.
12/15/2017 at 8:12 am in reply to: The good news is I listed a record number of items for sale #28845For any pair of shoes I spot research, I take less than 30 seconds to assess condition and research the shoe. I do a quick check on ebay for the model #. Most good brands have a readily available model number or model name in the shoe.
For instance with Nike, I don’t buy every pair I see. I type in the model number in Ebay and check the active vs sold ratio and also scan the sold prices. The level of wear, the size, and the color scheme also go into my “mental equation”. This weeds out the generic $20 nikes and lets me stick to either the collectible shoes or the high end performance shoes. Not everything with Jordan “jumpman” logo on it is worth money. Most are run of the mill junk. I don’t need to know exact value during my speed research – just that it is desirable and will make me at least $30.
Brands like MBT, Dansko( after a bend test), Allen Edmonds, Clarks Artisan (bend test again), Vionic, Dr. Comort, SAS are automatic buys as long as they are in decent condition. That isn’t a complete list but off the top of my head a good start.
I’ve researched sooo many shoes at this point that I just “know”. There are only two reasons I still research when buying shoes:
1. New unfamiliar brands
2. To raise my profit level.I would be swimming in a sea of $15-20 profit shoes if I bought everything I knew was a solid $25 sales price shoe. I used to buy every single Born, B.O.C. or Clarks shoe I came across. Now they either have to be absolutely mint condition or a more desirable model. That’s why Clarks Artisan is the only one that is still on my auto buy list. The artisan line is much nicer and sells for an average of $30-35 for me. I’ll still buy the $25 profit shoes without researching but only if they make it to 99 cent tag day.
I’d also miss out on some awesome new brands and great sales if I didn’t take the time to research something that caught my eye but I was unfamiliar with. I didn’t build that list of automatic buys by watching youtube vids or reading on the internet. That was all me through my own hands with researching before buying.
Whew that was long winded! Hope that helps anyone looking to get into shoes.
12/14/2017 at 3:27 pm in reply to: The good news is I listed a record number of items for sale #28798Oh man, I think I would burn out real quick if I bought stuff without even knowing if it was worth selling. I know what everything I buy is roughly worth before I buy it. There is nothing worse than getting an item out, cleaning/prepping it, then researching and finding out it is worth only $5-10. Ugh…
To do that all the time is a one way ticket to quitsville.I put a lot of it back into buying inventory. I have a full time job but in reality it could end at any time. I have a monumental death pile, but if that day comes I will be able to switch to full time and list like a madman – tripling the size of my store without spending one more dime. I have the dedicated space, all the tools/supplies/infrastructure to be full time. Basically I’ve invested in my own personal insurance policy.
12/12/2017 at 2:27 pm in reply to: Case opened for item not received, though tracking shows it was delivered #28670I had a case like this in October. I told the person they needed to contact their post office. THey opened a case and I had it closed with tracking. They opened a case with their post office and it was closed stating the post office did deliver it (documented in tracking). I then got a vague email from paypal that a buyer had been refunded. The email said I did not have to do anything and paypal would work with the credit company. The money never left my paypal account.
So I guess the buyer got their refund…
It’s always an awkward case because no one involved in the transaction did anything wrong but no one wants to take the loss.
My twin doesn’t come here anymore. Boo!
Fred’s Premium outlet. We started at about the same time and our numbers emulated each other. He was specializing in clothing and took amazing pictures. His numbers started to take off, and I was using him as my “bar”. I even started to switch over to clothing more because of him. I think he left about a year ago. A lot of people left after the forum change due to login issues and others left after the election. Always sad to see excellent contributors leave.12/11/2017 at 11:19 am in reply to: Scavenger Life Episode 338: Rich Scavenger, Poor Scavenger #28587Total Items in Store: 885
Items Sold: 14
Cost of Items Sold: $40
Total Sales: $382.50
Profit: $342.50
Highest Price Sold: $67 Timberland Boots
Average Price Sold: $27.32
Average Profit: $24.46So it’s been in the low 30’s for a high temperature the last 4 days here in WV. With my insulation and new heater, my garage ebay space stays a nice 63 degrees 24 hours a day. That is plenty warm enough for me to stay out there for hours in shorts/tshirt and slippers. Love it!
What I don’t love is that the space is still not set up. I’m still moving larger stuff out and organizing, but other commitments have kept me busy. This week I’m commiting myself to at least get my photo area set up so I can get back to listing.
My scavenging is cut back to two Goodwills on Sunday with the family and a single weekday trip to my local Goodwill. The tag sales have gotten AWESOME at the two Sunday Goodwills. I think they’ve been pretty successful in driving away customers with their over the top prices. Their individually priced “specialty” clothes ($10-25 per item) are almost all consistently making it to 99 cent tag week. I show up first thing on Sunday and easily fill a cart. They’ve also been slipping up and missing things. I got two pair of Big Star jeans that they put on the normal rack. They typically catch these and price them at $30.
So while I have actually cut way back on how much I shop, I’m bringing home even more inventory for even less money. My wife is also starting to take an interest in scavenging the women’s clothes. She is finding stuff I would have never seen. She shops a lot for herself, so she has that interest needed to get good at scavenging there.
12/11/2017 at 11:08 am in reply to: Scavenger Life Episode 337: If You Build It, You Will Have Storage #28586Sometimes I look at the iphone I’m holding and marvel at how outrageously awesome of a device it is. People take it for granted, but that little screened device is WAY cooler and more advanced than the majority of stuff the Sci Fi movies and books predicted.
It is a portable wireless super computer that connects me to the ENTIRE WORLD, along with all of the cumulative knowledge and history of humanity – all with the press of a button. Anything I desire this little device can either give me, lead me to, or pay someone to bring me. Instantly. While sitting on the toilet even… Wow! Lol!
My local goodwills have started pulling all name brand clothing and putting it on a “specialty rack” for anywhere from $10-$25 an item. Am I mad, nope not at all. They’ve made my life cheaper and easier. I just go once a week now at opening on Sunday when they change the tag sales colors and round up all the 99 cent tag items. No more digging through the whole store. All the good stuff is already presorted and “reserved” for me since no one is paying their crazy prices. The last two weeks I have filled up a cart of awesome stuff off this rack at two different Goodwills.
The best thing is I even told one of the nice cashiers exactly what was going to happen and what I was going to do in a couple weeks. They really lose out too, because I would have paid the normal $4-6 an item for every single thing I bought.
I meant some sort of personalized thank you, handwritten on the packing slip. It could result in a few more positive feedbacks.
I like the idea of printing packing slips and taking them to storage with you. Packing slips aren’t my thing, but this intrigues me. Do you also write a hand-written note on the packing slips? That would be an easy thing to do.
You can always package all your items and get weights/measures, but don’t seal them.
Print your labels one at a time and then seal/apply label. Use a label printer like the Dymo 450 so that one-off labels isn’t as painful of an experience.
I’ve said this numerous times on here:
Smart Post is great…until something goes wrong.The handoff to USPS loophole is crap. Fed Ex can play rugby with your package and as long as they hand it off to USPS without documenting condition, you have no claim (they won’t). USPS has no motivation to refuse a package in any condition because they have zero liability.
To top it all off, they aren’t even really that competitive anymore. Occasionally I check smart post prices but I stay with priority or parcel post 99.9% of the time.
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