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[Simon]

Thanks for the show! I just caught up with it today after having a day off work on Monday. (I always listen to you podcast on my way to my full-time job).

Here are my numbers for the week:

Total Items in Store: 2703
Items Sold: 37
Total Sales: $845
Cost of Items Sold: $74
Average Price Sold: $22.83
Average Cost of Item: $2.01
Highest Price Item Sold: $76 Kontrol Stempel Copper Soda Acid Fire Extinguisher lamp
Number of items listed this week: 51
YTD Sales: $5343
YTD sales compared to this time last year: -9%
Average age of items in store (in days since listing): 360
Average number of days between listing and selling this week: 223
Median age of sales (in days, between listing and selling): 72
Sell-through rate (for the week): 1.37%

I was interested to hear that eBay was quiet for you guys this week. This week was pretty normal for me but the previous week was on the quiet side. My biggest sale of the week was an odd item (for me) :- a fancy old fire extinguisher that had been turned into a lamp.

I distinctly remember reading the Scavenger Life manifesto when I first started on eBay in 2015. It was the reason I knew that selling just a few items wasn’t really going to get me the results I wanted. Up until that point I had no idea that people like me could list hundreds of items on eBay. It was quite an eye-opener and it gave me the motivation I needed to ramp up.

[Simon]

In case it’s helpful, you can export down a full year of activity from PayPal. Just watch out for the different activity types (eg: refunds) so that you’re only using what you actually need.

[Simon]

Yep. I had that linked bookmarked also but the selection of listings presented was pretty useless the times I’ve looked at it.

[Simon]

Since it’s tax time, I’m wondering if the sales tax that the WA, OK etc customers pay will be included on the 1099 from PayPal. If it does, (and assuming that you use the PayPal 1099 as a the basis for reporting your revenue for the year) then we actually do need to know what the customer paid or we could end up having that money end up in our taxable profit figures. (This sounds confusing when I write it out).

[Simon]

> we can claim our moving expenses on our income taxes for the year.

Unfortunately, with last year’s tax reform, that deduction has been eliminated except for people in the military. https://blog.turbotax.intuit.com/tax-reform/last-call-on-these-popular-tax-deductions-33675/

[Simon]

Hi Everyone

Thanks for the podcast R&J!

Here are my numbers for the week:

Total Items in Store: 2695
Items Sold: 39
Total Sales: $777
Cost of Items Sold: $86
Average Price Sold: $19.92
Average Cost of Item: $2.23
Highest Price Item Sold: 2 items sold for $44.95 i) Line 6 Tonecore Uber Metal Distortion Pedal ii) Roxant Pro Video Camera Stabilizer
Number of items listed this week: 86
YTD Sales: $4032
YTD sales compared to this time last year: -8%
Average age of items in store (in days since listing): 360
Average number of days between listing and selling this week: 261
Median age of sales (in days, between listing and selling): 225
Sell-through rate (for the week): 1.45%

This week’s sales were about on par with the same time last year and didn’t have anything particular notable. Just a fairly consistent stream of sales (up until Superbowl Sunday).

Regarding changes in sourcing over time, there are lots of factors and trends are one factor. I used to find lots of George Foreman grills and juicers at garage sales. I don’t see them as often now. I’m waiting for the first Instapot to appear at a yard sale.

Regarding sending an offer to watchers, try this link. Replace the whole xxxxx bit at the end with your item number:
https://ofr.ebay.com/offerapp/sio/createOffer/xxxxxxxxxxx
eg: https://ofr.ebay.com/offerapp/sio/createOffer/323277251451

Have a great week
Simon

[Simon]

Thanks for the interesting show. You covered a lot of topics today.

My numbers for the week:

Total Items in Store: 2648
Items Sold: 42
Total Sales: $829
Cost of Items Sold: $93
Average Price Sold: $19.75
Average Cost of Item: $2.23
Highest Price Item Sold: Two items at $49.95 each i) Zenit Night Vision Scope Monocular ii) Garmin GPS 12 for Parts
Number of items listed this week: 69
YTD Sales: $3255
YTD sales compared to this time last year: -14%
Average age of items in store (in days since listing): 369
Average number of days between listing and selling this week: 269
Median age of sales (in days, between listing and selling): 165
Sell-through rate (for the week): 1.59%

To be clear about guaranteed delivery: If the item arrives late and the buyer contacts ebay about the late delivery, ebay can give them a free return label. eg: if the item was needed by a specific date. It’s not supposed to be for general return reasons but I suppose a buyer could use it that way. I’d guess that the claims against guaranteed delivery are minuscule. I’ve never had anyone use it (that I know of).

[Simon]

Just as a quick follow-up. I checked my late deliveries and I only had 1 late delivery in my last 420 transactions on my Seller Dashboard. That one was valid. So I suspect the problem with late deliveries is a regional or local problem. It looks like my post office was working on all the days they said they were working over the holidays.

[Simon]

I’ve sold a lot of remotes over the years. I’m surprised to hear about remotes for cable company boxes. I’ve always avoided them as they seem incredibly common. I’ll have to research those in future.

Another one to look out for ….. the other day I paid $1.50 at a thrift shop for a corded remote control for an adjustable bed. It wasn’t branded but I could find it online using the model number on the remote. It sold quickly for over $50

[Simon]

Inglewood – I have your journal forum thread bookmarked. I hope you’ll keep giving us updates on your situation.

[Simon]

Here are my numbers for the week:

Total Items in Store: 2621
Items Sold: 41
Total Sales: $846
Cost of Items Sold: $84
Average Price Sold: $20.62
Average Cost of Item: $2.06
Highest Price Item Sold: $59.95 SONOS BOOST – wireless extender
Number of items listed this week: 49
YTD Sales: $2426
YTD sales compared to this time last year: +-12%
Average age of items in store (in days since listing): 362
Average number of days between listing and selling this week: 167
Median age of sales (in days, between listing and selling): 55
Sell-through rate (for the week): 1.56%

It felt as though this week I was only selling hats this week but I checked the numbers and hats accounted for 70% of sales this week which isn’t too unusual. I find it odd that people buy baseball hats when it’s freezing cold outside. I thought the market for them would be much more seasonable than it is.

In regard to what eBay does for my lifestyle, I might be the most boring person alive but all our ebay profit goes straight into our checking account and it’s used in the same way I use the income from my day job. I don’t differentiate. Our financial goes remain the same. So, at this time of year I’m paying the normal bills plus fully funding Roth IRAs for my wife and I for 2019. (My big financial goal right now is for me to retire from my day job in 18 months and do eBay for part-time income).

Hope everyone has a great week!

[Simon]

After hearing about the Marie Kondo method on the podcast on the way to work yesterday, I heard it mentioned twice more during the day so it certainly seems like a big trend at the moment.

[Simon]

I got a mention in the podcast!

One minor correction. I actually list the vast majority of my hats at just under $20 initially. Once in a while I find something that I think is worth more but that’s uncommon. Sometimes I price at $15 when the target audience is just so small that I don’t want price to cause me to lose a sale (eg: “joe’s Plumbing Supplies, Someplace, WA”). I keep my $20 price for about 6 months at which point I’ll start running sales or add best offer. I permanently reduce hat prices after being listed 2 years and I start pulling them off eBay at around 3 years. I sell a lot of hats because I have a lot listed and because I’m patient. The average hat sale takes about 6 month.

My sales for this week are pretty normal for this time of year. The rainy weather here has meant few, if any yard sales which has put a damper on my sourcing and I only sold low-priced items this week.

Total Items in Store: 2639
Items Sold: 36
Total Sales: $690
Cost of Items Sold: $53
Average Price Sold: $19.17
Average Cost of Item: $1.49
Number of items listed this week: 75
YTD Sales: $1580
Average age of items in store (in days since listing): 368
Average number of days between listing and selling this week: 184
Median age of sales (in days, between listing and selling): 103
Sell-through rate (for the week): 1.36%

[Simon]

Thanks for the response Mark. Here are my numbers for 2018. (I’ve got some 2017 / 2018 comparisons at the end).

Total Sales – $47,0404 (not including shipping)
COGS – $6,189
Shipping Charged – $7,995 Actual Shipping: $8,834
Fees (eBay / Paypal) – $9,872
Gross Profit – $36,328 (sales + shipping charged) – (shipping actual + fees)

Total # of Sales – 1,995
Jan 1 # of Listings – 2,065
Dec 31 # of Listings – 2,568
New Listings in 2018 – 2,771

2018 STR – 1.6% weekly average
2018 ASP – $23.58
Avg sales/wk – 38
Avg listings/wk – 53

======= Highest sales for 2018
1. Orbi Netgear RBK53 AC3000 Tri-band WiFi System Router – $369.95 (paid $20)
2. Rollei 35 S Compact Camera w/ Sonnar 40mm f/2.8 Lens – $298.95 (paid $33)
3. RARE POQET PC “CLASSIC” MODEL PQ-0164 Portable Handheld Computer w/ case- $279.96 (paid $5)
4. APOGEE MQ-100 Quantum Meter with Integrated Original Sensor – $249.95 (paid $30)
5. ORIGINAL 1962 NEW YORK METS BASEBALL OFFICIAL YEARBOOK Inaugural First Season – $209.95 (paid $1)

======= Compared to 2017 =====
ASP: 2017- $22.64 – 2018 – $23.27
Avg. Weekly Sales: 2017 – 34, 2018 – 38
Avg. Weekly 2017 STR: 1.9%, 2018 – 1.6%
Listed: 2017 – 2,568, 2018 – 2,771

So my average weekly sales were higher and the ASP was also slightly higher but my STR has dropped. I listed more items in 2018 than 2017.

[Simon]

This is an interesting thread. I’m still pulling my numbers together so I’ll post when I have those but I wanted to throw a question out.

It looks like my sales increased by about 19% from 2017 to 2018. I mentioned this to my wife and she asked a simple question that I didn’t have a good answer to – “What caused the increase?”

There are so many potential answers : we had more stuff in the store, maybe we had better stuff, maybe ebay sent us more customers, maybe sales and promotions helped etc. Despite all the numbers that I keep, I’m not sure I can answer my wife’s simple question.

What about your store? Did sales increase or decrease in 2018 and do you know why?

[Author]

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