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Rule #1 to optimizing a process is…you have to have a defined process.
Creating metrics and improving listing times is great, but a lot of sellers don’t even know where to start and just start making random changes all over the place. My advice to anyone who wants to improve their time investment per listed item is to first get their process down on paper from start to finish.
I would also recommend differentiating between batch (like items) process times and one of a kind process times. They really aren’t apples to apples.I have become a shoes specialist. I can tell you for a fact that I can shop for, clean, photograph, list, and ship shoes faster than any other type of item I sell. I have a bona-fide true process for shoes, down to the exact poses I put my shoes in during photographing.
So if I wanted to optimize my shoe process, how would I go about that? Well you have to have a good process for improving a process of course!
Read this brief introduction to six sigma:While I have my own issues with six sigma in professional practice (hint, it is usually ineffectively applied and more problems are created) it would actually work great for helping an ebay seller clearly mapping and optimizing his/her work processes since you have direct control over every aspect of the process.
So now that I’ve covered how to define and improve your process, keep this last tidbit in mind:
Listing needs to be fun and engaging. If you aren’t enjoying what you are doing then odds are your time per item will suffer. While you may find a solution that improves your cycle times, if it makes the task unappealing then it will not be a sustainable solution.05/01/2017 at 1:52 pm in reply to: Unpaid Auction Item, Buyer offering to pay listing fees. Do I accept? #17296You get your listing fees back anyways. You can either start a “buyer requested cancellation” to end it now and get it relisted, or you can let the unpaid item case run its course.
You are going to eat shipping both ways as the buyer will file a “not as described” claim.
If it were me I would offer the actual shipping I paid as a discount and move on. If they don’t accept that then let them do a return.
04/27/2017 at 4:08 pm in reply to: Scavenger Life Episode 307: Getting Ready to Sell While Traveling #17207Coupon worked today. Ordered me some 12″ cube boxes and XL poly mailers.
I agree completely. “Nearly New” is absolutely horrible verbage. As a buyer, that means the same thing as EUC. Something like “New W/O packaging” or something along those lines would be better.
04/27/2017 at 10:53 am in reply to: Scavenger Life Episode 307: Getting Ready to Sell While Traveling #17184Well you can always use a laptop and still chill on the swing!
This is my personal feelings, but I simply despise the phrase “What’s the least you’ll take”. Poor negotiators tend to go with that right out of the gate. I have actually replied to several of those on FB yardsale with “What’s the most you’re willing to pay?”
I’d much rather someone lowball me than say that phrase. At least it is a starting point.The only exception I have is if negotiations stall, as you said, and then the buyer asks. If they’ve made a good faith effort to negotiate up till then I will give my absolute best price. I may even let them knock a few bucks more off that if they are nice.
I really like it when a buyer will go back and forth on price – it is fun!
It’s probably a craze line, which is not really a crack. 50% refund to make it go away IMO. You could always submit a shipping claim if you are sure it wasn’t there.
04/26/2017 at 4:07 pm in reply to: Scavenger Life Episode 307: Getting Ready to Sell While Traveling #17147I am also getting the “unavailable” issue.
Its all the new rage it seems with the Amazon sellers. They’ve been leaving amazon and going to Walmart.com
I expect by this time next year that my Average Cogs will be $8. As long as the profit still makes sense I’ll still buy, or I’ll find another way to source.
D’oh, I left that off. My average COGS is $5, so
$33.61 – 5 = $28.611000/$28.61 = 35 sales a week.
Really these numbers don’t mean all that much. Every year we’ll have a complete different inventory. Everything will vary and cost prices will rise across the board while ebay sales prices will stay pretty much the same.
Over the last 2 years thrift store prices have more than doubled. It’s only getting worse.04/25/2017 at 9:31 am in reply to: Scavenger Life Episode 307: Getting Ready to Sell While Traveling #17033They print much faster and there is no ink/toner. I got one to do Amazon FBA to print out the SKU product labels and it is awesome for that – you print one at a time as you list items. One of these days maybe I’ll send some more stuff into Amazon…but I doubt it.
In the podcast he only had 1500 actual listings, but had 4k items in bins and on a COGS spreadsheet.
Ok so I went and looked at my numbers from last year.
My ebay/paypal/shipping fees were 29.4% of my total sales (sales, shipping, tax collected)
Just ebay was 10.1% – the store subscription is why that is over 10%
Paypal was 3.4%My average sales price was $40
My average shipping income was $7.61So Based on my actual numbers:
Profit = 47.61*.706 = $33.61 per item.Sales to make $1k profit a week: 30 items a week.
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