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No problem, but let me be clear on what they are…
My sheets are by clothing type (Shirts / Pants / Suits … etc) that have the information needed to do a listing WITHOUT having the item in front of you. So these are clothes only.
I’m going to tweak them and scale them down, as now I should have a lot of basic information in the templates in SixBit or on eBay, and I’m also cutting down what I put into the Description.
If this is what you are looking for, shoot me an email at tsatterf@yahoo.com and I will send you a copy. These are built in Excel.
I think that approach is fine. Don’t waste time on the listing and photos if you aren’t getting the return.
Though I would also tell you to avoid purchasing the item if you aren’t getting the return. If it was a box lot or a group of clothes, that is different (and in that case I would get what I could get). But if you are starting in clothes…I would look stuff up at the store.
When I first started doing clothing, it would take over an hour to go through just 1 side of 1 rack of clothes. I was looking just about everything up. Now, I can hit the whole store in that time. I still have some looking up to do, as I always find some variation or new brand, but I really try to save the cash up front if I can.
Week of 12/10-12/16
Total Items in Store: 1,678
Number of Items Listed: 78
Number of Items Sold: 100
(Includes 13 Etsy, 5 Bonanza 1 TruGether)
Weekly STR: 26%Total Product Sales: $2,275
Cost of Items Sold: $418
Gross Profit for Week: $1,673
Highest Item Sold: $110 – Polo Ralph Lauren Down Parka
Competition: Highest Priced Sale: Troy wins the week and Veronica leads for the year 27-22.eBay Clothing
# Listed: 1,031
# Sold: 49
STR: 20%
ASP: $24.20eBay Hard Goods
# Listed: 644
# Sold: 38
STR: 25%
ASP: $22.84Etsy Hard Goods
# Listed: 115
# Sold: 13
STR: 48%
ASP: $17.04Completely agree on doing the jobs that you want to hire out. In fact, I am changing my listing process right now, going back to the listing sheets that I used to use, so that I can do the job exactly how I plan to have our new hire do it. This is so that I can refine it one more time before they come in, and it will be easier to step in when they aren’t here.
Regarding Same Day Delivery, I have not seen anywhere that Guaranteed Delivery requires Same Day shipping, but Veronica and I do Same Day handling. Our Postal Service arrives at the house no earlier than 3pm, so we have a 2pm cutoff on eBay. If the buyer pays at 1:59, we have to ship it out that day per eBay handling requirements. If the buyer pays at 2:01, we don’t have to ship until the next day.
Good news on the Dicken’s Village sale for $5,000. The first payment of $1,000 went through, so it looks like this thing is happening!
PS – I may have an answer on your items not showing for eBay Guaranteed Delivery. Check in your Site Preferences \ Return Preferences. You should have a rule that says “Approve a Return Automatically” with the name “Approve eGD returns automatically”. If you have modified that rule at all…your items may not show up. It was set when you signed up for eGD to automatically accept all returns.
I found this rule yesterday, and contacted eBay asking how it works. Both the rep and I believe that by changing this rule to have certain exclusions, your items may not show up for eGD. He is supposed to contact me today to confirm that. I will let you know if I get any more info.
I agree with Jay.
One caveat. If you want to spend money for more inventory, make sure you already have everything else listed first. Also, if you are spending personal money for more inventory, be extra sure that the item will sell for a good return, or at least with a quick ROI.
No hoarding… 🙂
We have some areas we are looking at, I will look for that as well. Our church has a similar program that we are looking into.
Especially if we go with someone to just list, that would work out great.
Thanks for the tip!
I would love that. Move your life to be what you love, have others do what you hate (because they probably love what you hate).
I love numbers and handling business “stuff”. Other hate it…and that is a business.
My sister-in-law LOVES to clean…others hate it…and that is a business.
I was contacted on Instagram this week by someone offering up their skill at photo editing. He sent some samples and they were really good. Some people hate (or can’t) get their photos to that quality, but he can…and that is a business (and something I’m considering).
It is only a sweat shop:
1) If you let it
2) If it isn’t who you areSelf awareness is key. There are a lot of people that should NOT go into business for themselves. It ain’t easy, it can be stressful, there are lots of problems. To run your own show, you might as well be a janitor: cause you are cleaning up crap all day.
I have always run my own show, even when I worked for others. I OWNED my job, and busted my butt to do it the way I wanted. When that wasn’t enough, I quit and Veronica and I took this to the next level: solopreneurs.
Now we want to level up again, and put our talents to work on the areas that we are good at (and that we love to do): Solid sourcing and how to run a business. I love running businesses, so adding people is just natural to me. We both love the hunt.
And with the leveling up, we will make sure that we are doing this in a way where we keep the parts of the job we love. I could take my side and do sourcing only (truly) if I wanted, and never touch photo/listing/shipping. I would not make a lot per item, but I would essentially be paid to shop and manage employees. Will I do that? Probably not…but I know I could (and there are pros and cons to that model).
Veronica does not want to go to that level, but she loves shopping and she loves researching. So if we get someone that can get photos and shipping done, she can stay in the parts of the business that she loves.
Big key when adding to your business…outsource what you hate and keep what you love (and are hopefully good at). Then it isn’t a grind, it is something you enjoy.
And then you ain’t working…you are living…
I’ll let you know how it goes.
It will be a cost, but it is increasing profit as well. That is why I have my forecast dynamic to see how productive they need to be to make it worth the cost.
Labor is not just a cost to a business, but it is a revenue generator (if done correctly). Especially at this stage. If I am not increasing my bottom line by having an employee, then it isn’t worth it.
But the flip side is true as well. If I’m not willing to invest costs into the business that will make the business more profitable…then I shouldn’t be in business (or accept the one that I am in).
As the saying goes: If you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go together.
I want to go far…
So to be extra clear, at $12/hr for the employee, my labor expense is $13.80/hr. If the employee is $16/hr, my total labor expense is $18.40/hr.
No, $12/hr to the employee, $1.80 for taxes. I have my calculation based on their base rate ($12/hr), but I gross up my labor expense by an additional 15% to cover payroll taxes. So if I flex up for a $16/hr employee, my payroll taxes increase as well.
Looking to have someone by end of January at the latest.
Yes, the $19k per year is after the pay for the person. My forecast is dynamic, so if I add hours to the helper, the cost increases for the year for their labor, as well as increasing the number of new listings for the month. By increasing the listings, the cash requirements for purchasing more listings increases as well.
Yes, $12/hr is an employee. I added a 15% payroll tax to the base rate to cover the employers portion of FICA/Medicare and to cover FUTA/SUTA.
Right now, the person we are looking for is only a photographer. Yes, we are expecting this to be extra income for someone like you suggest. In fact, a student would be perfect, as we can work around their schedule, and they can work around ours. We aren’t looking for someone to do this full time, as we need to grow into the position first. If we find that perfect person and we need to grow to keep them, we can deal with that.
