Forum Replies Created
-
AuthorPosts
-
One of my biggest time sinks is over-researching an item to satisfy my own curiosity. But since I’m not full time, I just think of this as fun time.
ebaymom,
I hate using tape guns, too!!!! THought I was the only one. I actually use duck tape clear shipping tape that comes with a small disposable dispenser. Not great from the environmental perspective, but it’s the only thing that I can get myself to use:https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0033URRSM/ref=oh_aui_search_detailpage?ie=UTF8&psc=1
(ignore the current price – I buy them for $2-3 at walmart)As long as … and the color shown is the true color of the items photographed,
almasty, I’m with you on low-effort, natural light photos. But, as Julie B described above, getting the true color to show up is the tricky/impossible part for some items for some of us. How do you avoid this problem? Or maybe you don’t sell clothes? IndySales provided some good info on white balance, but a few years ago I bought a camera with white balance settings specifically for this reason, but never got it to work right for me, so I just went back to using my phone camera. I’m not sure if my iphone6 has the special white balance settings Indy mentioned – will have to look into it. Most of the time if I just use a different background for the item, I can get the color to look right, but sometimes nothing works. I use natural light and don’t have the room or motivation to get any sort of special lighting setup or deal with outsourcing, so I’m (sort of) okay with having a very small percentage of my listings say things like “The jacket looks blue in the photos, but it is really purple”.
Ebay started auto-accepting returns for me a few months ago as well – contrary to my settings. Yes, it’s annoying that they just issue the shipping label without giving me the option to tell the buyer to keep it or offer a partial refund. Mike’s RMA# solution sounds promising, but I wonder what happens when you eventually accept the return – I’m guessing ebay still doesn’t provide the option at that point to select “let the buyer keep the item” or “partial refund”, at least not for us sellers who don’t offer free returns. 😐
This is what I would do, but I have no idea if it’s the best course of action b/c I’ve never encountered this problem.
I would ask the buyer how they know what the package looked like.
I would also call fedex and ask them what address was on the new label, and whatever additional detail they may have on why the package was returned.
The responses to these would help me get a better idea of whether the non-delivery was the buyer’s fault (maybe they somehow rejected the package?), my fault, or FedEx’s fault. If my fault – re-ship or refund. If buyer – no refund, ask them to paypal you money in order to re-ship. If FedEx – call them see if they can give you a credit or issue you a new label for free or something.
Of course a call to ebay won’t hurt.
To track COGS in GoDaddy, I just created a new non-business expense type called “Inventory” and enter all my purchases there. Then when I sell an item, I just change it from “inventory” to “COGS”, which is a standard GoDaddy business expense type, and change the date to the date of sale. There’s not really much more GoDaddy can do for COGS – you still have to type in what you purchased and how much it cost *somewhere*. At least this way I don’t have to type it twice.
It’s different in the US – you can’t take a loss on sale of personal items, and you do get taxed if you have a gain.
From IRS Pub 525
Sale of personal items. If you sold an item
you owned for personal use, such as a car, refrigerator,
furniture, stereo, jewelry, or silverware,
your gain is taxable as a capital gain. Report
it as explained in the Instructions for
Schedule D (Form 1040). You can’t deduct a
loss.
However, if you sold an item you held for investment,
such as gold or silver bullion, coins,
or gems, any gain is taxable as a capital gain
and any loss is deductible as a capital loss.
Example. You sold a painting on an online
auction website for $100. You bought the painting
for $20 at a garage sale years ago. Report
your $80 gain as a capital gain as explained in
the Instructions for Schedule D (Form 1040).I just looked this up and what’s new to me is that the gain, if any, is a capital gain and not regular income. That’s a pain, book-keeping wise. “Luckily” anything personal I’ve sold has always been at a loss compared to the original price, so I just make COGS for the item equal to the sale price, which zeroes out the profit/loss in godaddy.
These terms are great – thanks everyone!
I saw one in a thrift shop recently and went back and forth on buying it. May go back and get it, but figured I’d try to do some research first. Knowing this term may not end up being super important to selling such an item, but part of what I love about re-selling is learning the names of things, and it’s really bugging me that I can’t remember this one. Of course if I’m just making up the memory of there being such a term, well, [insert clever self-deprecating remark].
Here are some of the great terms I’ve learned since starting on ebay:
bat wing sleeves
chelsea boots
fair isle sweater
crewel vs cross-stitch
sherpa lining
vide poche
monk strap shoes
benchmade shoes
chop plate
master butter knife
chukka boot
vat dyed fabric
spaghetti lamp
oilskin
pinch pleat
madeira tablecloth
blow moldOK I’ll stop now. I guess I’m a terminology nerd!
39 Don’t tell customers more than they need to know.
Also known as “The Silent Method”
Oh yeah, one of the companies I used to work for ended their fiscal year on April 30th. SO weird, but at least the finance and accounting department folks got to enjoy their winter holidays and new year’s.
But as to the topic of this thread, I don’t see a compelling reason to change, particularly given that my COGS are so low to begin with.
That said, here are my numbers fwiw
thanksgiving 3
black friday 0
saturday 4
sunday 3
monday 5
tuesday 5The day after Cyber Monday already has a name – Giving Tuesday. We should be seeing a downturn of sales on that day since everyone should be spending money on their favorite charities, not buying more stuff!
😉
My store has way too many items in the under $40 range as well. I used $40 as a cutoff b/c I’m happy selling items in the $40-$50 range.
$1-20 22%
$21-40 38%
$41-100 33%
$100+ 7%I was able to be disciplined last weekend. I spent a few hours at 2 thrift shops, and only bought 1 item from each. Each should sell for at least $45. There were 4 other things I was thinking of buying, but I was able to get myself to put them back, which I am very proud of. One was a pair of keen leather loafers for $8, which is usually a no-brainer buy, but the profit on this particular style would have only been $20 or less. The other items were in my usual weak spot – not-very-well-known high end brands. For example, $10 for a sweater that retails for $400-500, but the ebay solds are almost all less than $30!! The 1-2 solds in the $100 range usually lure me in – NOT THIS TIME.
Of course, since ebay is not my only source of income, it is okay for me to spend a few hours on 2 items, b/c I really enjoy the time spent hunting, which means I’m maximizing fun (lots of hunting with less of the not-fun activity of photographing/listing/packing low profit items).
-
AuthorPosts