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How do you do your home office deduction? For a traditional office the area has to be dedicated BUT for inventory storage it does not.
Free standing structures like sheds or garages count.
once you add up the qualified square footage you use for the business, you can deduct that percentage from a lot of home expenses.
You pay all the home expenses anyways, might as well leverage it into a deduction!for mileage, combine personal errands with actual business errands whenever possible.
-an example for me, if I have to drop off packages at the post office I do it during lunch at my day job. Then on the way back I pick up lunch if I’m eating out.combine weekend family trips with business. We take a weekend trip to Columbus a few times a year. Columbus is great for thrifting. I scavenge a couple hours each day in the morning. I can deduct the mileage and hotel costs because the trip purpose is business. You are allowed to do personal things on business trips.
I haven’t done this in the past but will start this year. if you have kids and are a sole proprietor you can pay them and write it off directly without payroll taxes, w2’s or anything!
I’ll be paying my daughter between $2-4k this year if she keeps up. That’s a major tax deduction for me and wel below income tax wages for her.
I’ve been tracking her work on a spreadsheet for a couple years so I already have the documentation in place for her pay.They aren’t sucking up “profit”. They were never profit to start with. Your fees are 14%. It is what it is. You’re only taxed on your net profit, and if you keep good numbers you will always know about what your taxes are and can set that aside.
You have to look at taxes/fees the same way you look at COGS. They’re just part of the equation, and should not be a factor at all.
Maximize your gross sales by sourcing higher dollar items and account for and maximize all your expenses. Find ways to “deduct daily life” as much as you can.
Reposting my numbers here in the main thread:
Items in Store 2005
Items Sold 12
Total Sales $464.00
COGS $40.00
Total Profit $424.00
Average profit $35.33
Average sales price $38.67
New Listings 47
Items scavenged 11
Listing 2023 weekly Avg 16I have my systems in place. I’m only scavenging according to my requirements. I have stations in my office for “To be listed”, “Ready for cleaning”, “ready for photos”, and “inventory ready”. I actually moved everything to inventory (my slacker point traditionally). I’ve ended and sell similar 5 listings every day. I’ve posted at least 5 brand new listings every day. My daughter is doing minimum 5 items a day photographs.
Now I just have to maintain this momentum this week, and the next, and the next.
Everything is going great that I can control, but sales still suck. I’m hoping the switch flips at some point this week and sales pick up.
I countered a $300 offer on that Carhartt Jacket and it expired. I really want $340 minimum for it and I think I’ll get it eventually. Still…maybe I shouldn’t have been so greedy and just took that offer.
https://www.ebay.com/itm/266106152421
My wife’s rich Aunt sent this my way to sell, so technically I didn’t scavenge it traditionally. I priced WAY high since the 90’s are super ‘in’ right now and this is NWT from 1997.
Nothing else too exciting. I did pick up a vintage pair of Rollerblades that are in the original box with very little wear and all the plastic/rubber is in excellent condition. I’ll sell that for $100. I’ll get it listed this week.
As long as you are listing the items for sale and have adequate storage, then that is just a part of your strategy.
If you are building death piles of $10 long tail items and you don’t have a sound storage or listing strategy then you should readjust.
Once your knowledge base grows to the point you can pick out ALL the low hanging fruit at any sale, you have to have some checks/balances to keep from buying too much.
I’ve created a set of rules for scavenging this year that I have to follow in order to meet my goals.
- Items <$50, 90 day STR = 100% or greater
- Items $50-100, 90 Day STR = 50% or greater
- Items $100+, No STR requirement
I still get the enjoyment of scavenging, but without the addition to death piles. It takes a bit of adjustment, but it becomes normal to pass on even $30-40 items I would have bought once upon a time.
I had a couple nice scavenges this week.
https://www.ebay.com/itm/266098066463
this VCR is actually quite a disappointment. I saw a Sony DVD/VCR combo box behind the counter at goodwill. I asked if it was for sale and the lady said yes. The box was opened, but I was able to see a brand new still in plastic remote and the VCR still wrapped in the original foam wrap along with a manual. I happily paid $20! This was a $350 open box player that would sell within hours!!!
Well….. not quite. I got it home and took it out to verify things. The VCR I unwrapped was…not the one on the box. The remote and manual went with the vcr actually included. I think the one I got was actually new as well, weirdly enough (which would explain the foam wrap). Also, it does work perfectly.
Still a very nice VCR but man what a disappointment to see that $350 sale evaporate.
https://www.ebay.com/itm/266097538185
This one was surprising. Normally these steins are pretty worthless and I ignore them. The Corvette image caught my eye though. It’s a pretty cool Stein with the leather handle grip! The Sell thru rate is basically an instant $100 sale. I priced up since mine is the only one currently listed.
https://www.ebay.com/itm/266097536020
So this is the extra special scavenge of the week. I’ve talked on here before about my “scavenger sense”. Occasionally I’ll get an irrational yet specific urge to go to a specific thrift store out of nowhere. I always find a high dollar item when this specific urge hits. I got off my home interstate exit one day this week and at the stop light I got “the sense”. I switched lanes and went to the Goodwill. I didn’t find anything too special, and as I finished up looking through one aisle I got the urge to turn around and look at coats. Behind me was a section in the coats that was pulled open so a coat was on full display. I would have missed this if the coats were all smashed together as usual. I assume this specific coat was just put out (hence, the scavenger sense).
I am no longer buying coats, so initially I wasn’t going to get it. Even if it was a $50 coat, I just don’t want coats! I put it back on the rack and caught a glimpse of the unusual plaid flannel interior. I had never seen a carhartt with this interior so I looked up the model number. Do yourself a favor and search “Carhartt J97 PTL” on ebay so you can be as shocked as me!
Twas a rough week for sales, but I did have one good sale
https://www.ebay.com/itm/265269502407
I took an offer of $90 as I was HONGRY for a sale!
Harley boots always do pretty well.
Items in Store 1970
Items Sold 13
Total Sales $288.00
COGS $66.00
Total Profit $222.00
Average profit $17.08
Average sales price $22.15
New Listings 32
Items scavenged 9
Listing 2023 weekly Avg 9Ooof, those numbers are rough. Hopefully that’s the last of the bad numbers though!
I got my new listing systems up and running this weekend and hit it hard. We got 32 items listed and I already have 25 items ready for photos this week.
I have labeled bins for my daughter to use:
- Needs Cleaned
- Photo Ready
- Inventory Ready
Every day she just has to photograph 5 items after her school and chores are done.
I will create 5 drafts every morning before work.
The goal is to put up at least 5 new listings and “sell similar” my oldest 5 listings every day this week and every week thereafter.
A neat tool on iphones I wasn’t previously aware of was ‘shared albums’ in photos app. I set up shared albums on both of our phones and created a shared “ebay” album on her phone. She takes the photos on her phone and adds them to that shared folder. I get a notification once she adds them and I can go in and download them to my phone. Then I message her so she can delete them.
So now we’re off to the races.
J&R, you might want to consider shared albums for your photo helper!
I’ve also settled into using my new scavenging rules which forces me to only buy quick sale/high value items. Any new purchased items go directly on my new “to be listed” shelf, which I did empty this weekend.
This new listing system combined with my new scavenging rule set really has me feeling reinvigorated. I can’t wait to start reaping the rewards with higher sales volume!
Fed ex has always been horrible about adjustments. I switched to using pirateship for UPS labels a while back for this exact reason.
if there is an overage on pirateship they communicate to you immediately and make it easy to dispute.
the last time I got an overage charge on pirate ship for UPS dimensional shipping it was physically impossible as I used a 12x12x12 box! Pirateship deleted the overage quickly and with no fuss.You can’t go wrong with foam board from the hardware store. Sandwich the frame in foam board. If the front frame has a deep edge, put a smaller piece of foam board only on the glass. Bubble wrap over that. Plenty of dunnage to ensure 2-4” of padding on every side.
for breakable memorabilia, plenty of bubble wrap is your friend. If it has any breakable pointy pieces, use styrofoam to protect them. Wrap in small bubble wrap – 2 layers. Wrap in big bubble wrap 1/2” or 5/8” bubble – 2 layers. Put in box and fill remaining space with dunnage of choice- minimum 2” on every side.
I’ve never had to double box anything using this method.
I was inspired to do the “to be listed” shelf by watching this channel:
https://www.youtube.com/@catrpcrew
The main channel is where they do the well edited flashy videos showing all the cool stuff they buy and sell. The crew channel is where the real work happens, and is mainly content for other resellers.
For example:
Main channel vid: We’re doing a $40 k whatnot sale. Here’s all the cool stuff!
Crew channel vid: The sale is over. Here is how we deal with shipping 1k+ orders within a few days. How we organize, process, pack, etc.
Paying more taxes is a GOOD thing!
If you keep COGS and tax liability are things that exist and are just part of the equation. Never limit your business pointlessly by focusing on those two.
The only time COGS should be a concern is if you have no liquid cash to pay for them.
The only time taxes should be a concern is if you didn’t make a plan to set aside money to pay for them (a common theme in self-employed). Don’t be that person!
AKA, Wesley Snipes, Nic Cage, “Cristley knows best” guy.
If you account for taxes all year and properly account for your deductions then taxes should be an afterthought.
My scavenge of the week is more of a personal item.
The local goodwill had some Samsonite luggage in the purchased goods section (pallet sales).
Each box has a large 27″ 4 wheel suitcase and a 4 wheeled travel suitcase.
They had two of these for $95 each. We actually needed a new luggage set so this worked out well. I bought one for us and I’ll sell the other to recoup some of the cost. I’ll ship in the existing box and price to be attractive for a local buyer to keep my profit up and buyers cost at slightly less than the going rate. I know if I sell with free shipping someone in Washington or California will buy it and I DON’T want that!
Not alot of sales to choose from this week unfortunately.
https://www.ebay.com/itm/265379056481
Sold these for an offer of $40. Listed for $79.99. This is somehow in the authenticity guarantee program. They’re getting a bit carried away with that program if these shoes are falling into it!
https://www.ebay.com/itm/266043891641
I’ve found a local surplus source that I’ve been able to get a bunch of toner cartridges from. They charge $10 each. I’m able to go through and cherry pick the valuable ones that have a decent sell rate. I’ve been able to get some that sell for $100+ each.
Items in Store 1951
Items Sold 15
Total Sales $364.00
COGS $53.00
Total Profit $311.00
Average profit $20.73
Average sales price $24.27
New Listings 0
Items scavenged 3
Listing 2023 weekly Avg 1I didn’t list anything this week, but I did complete a major job that leads to listing – I cleaned and organized my ebay office (AKA, garage). I got the whole area cleaned up/organized, trash all removed, desk cleaned, and my “to be listed next” shelf created and filled. I’d call this phase 1. This week I’ll do phase 2 which is making a dedicated shelf for items in listing processing, and a dedicated location for complete listed items that need to be moved out to inventory.
This REALLY needed to be done before I could do any serious listing. The space was just way to jumbled and disorganized.
The dedicated “to be listed” shelf was important to me. I’ve dedicated one of my rolling shelf carts for this purpose. This gives me a landing spot for any new sourcing so I get them listed immediately. Since I’m only sourcing big hitters there is no reason not to list them immediately! I put my new purchases on, I pull my 10 large items and/or big hitters from death piles, then fill the remaining space with general stuff that I can create listings really quick with such as shoes. Then I make every effort to clear the whole shelf within 1 week so I can fill it again. Dealing with one single source for listing instead of staring at giant death piles will help me stay focused on a small goal that I can finish and replenish.
The goal is to have a shelf with clearly labeled bins for my daughter (and possibly oldest son) to work on for an hour or two each day. They can do photos and cleaning and maybe more as the year goes on.
I’m also going to start end/sell similar relisting my 5 oldest listings each day. That will have me turning over my ~2000 item store in one year and show some daily activity even if I’m not listing. My hope is that I can find a balance where I can keep my kids fed with listings so that I can start consistently listing a few items a day every day rather than a big pile on the weekend.
