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Pick the items that you CANNOT get wrong (pricing would be mine), and make sure you do that yourself. Other items, just plan to take the time for at least a week to:
Show them what they are doing
Then watch them do it (as they will have questions and you can watch how they do)
Then let them go on their own, but you have to be there to answer questions, and you quality check them before the listing is live.You have 30 drafts you can use, and an unlimited number of scheduled listings, so you can catch mistakes before they go live.
Don’t have them do everything at once. Break things down and tackle slowly
Prep/Clean
Photo/Measure
Draft Listing
Pricing
ShippingDon’t be afraid, just think of what you are worried about and how to develop a system to catch it until they are on their own. They will be slower than you, and they will make mistakes at first, but you can do this.
Gotcha!
I know that there is some value there, but yeah, I didn’t like the experience. I love the garage sales, even though the amount we find per hour is a little less, since I like the interaction with other people. The regular thrift stores don’t bother me, as I just get in a zone and treat it like investing…looking for the good value where others have missed it. And though they can get full on 50% off days, it just doesn’t bug me. If I have to, I put in my headphones and listen to podcasts and go to my own world for a while.
Wow! How much of the work do you do yourself vs. others to restore? What type of storage do you need to be successful? And how do you know what buy vs. what to pass on?
That is very interesting, and something that I know another full timer moved to as well, but definitely a storage and long term commitment.
Welcome!
How much of your sourcing is from the GW bins? I went to the one in Denver once, but it is not my cup of tea. It is great from a cash perspective (as I would think most items are a 10x (pay $1 and sell for $10), but I’m not sure how fast these items move and if the cash return per hour is worth it (both aggravation at the bins and time to list).
What is your experience? Is my perspective incorrect (low dollar commodity items that sell for $10-$18)?
Happens sometimes. I would reach out to the buyer and ask them if there is anything that you can do to make things right with them. Put on your best customer service hat and listen to see if there is something you can do to make it right. If not, let it go.
Sometimes these things happen. Just do your best to make it right, and objectively look at how you could improve, and then execute.
It was a bit of a change, but I can now say that I am proudly Unemployable…
My thoughts on making the transition:
Make sure you have the type of personality that can be self-employed. Before all things, be sure of that first. The large majority of your fellow citizens are only trained to take orders and work for others. Our school system is designed that way as well, so “more education” doesn’t help with that. When you are on your own, you are on your own. If things don’t get done, if money isn’t coming in, if the business isn’t producing…it is all on you. You can’t blame your boss (you are the boss), you can’t blame your coworkers (you don’t have any), it is only on you. And you can’t blame the market if they don’t buy your stuff. If the market talks, you can’t just blame the market, you have to learn what the market wants and provide that. Whining doesn’t help, only action does.
I grew up with my dad running his own business, and I worked with him a lot in that world growing up, so I was exposed to that and was aware of the difficulties. I think growing up on a family farm helped as well (if animals need fed, cows need milked, plants need sowing…it has to get done…period). I was also good at school and following orders and making things better, which is why I was successful in the “traditional” workforce, but I always wanted to do things my way.
To make the transition, first have at least 6 months of expenses in the bank, more if possible (I would shoot for 9-12). That reduces the initial shock of no money coming in. But I will tell you, when it starts to get down to the last three months worth, you start getting nervous.
Reduce your “burn rate” (the amount of normal spending”). My wife and I were already frugal, so that was good to start, but we still found ways to cut. No more cable (don’t miss it), no more phone land line, rarely go out to eat (and when we do, we make sure it is a business meal), look for cheaper alternatives for recurring items (we stock up on food when on sale, using cans in the basement, multiple freezers, etc.).
But also budget some luxuries first! If you hate and miss too many things, you will hate your life, and then what was the point? We make our own wine, so a luxury item but at less than $4 per bottle (and we prefer the taste). We still keep Netflix since we like shows & movies. Look for very good bedding linen at yard sales/thrift stores (very nice sheets go a long way to feeling wealthy).
Take your corporate discipline to your work at home life. Have a routine, get up, get dressed, go to “work”. Have that mentality, since what you do in your business will pay the bills. When I get back into the flow of eBay, I’m hard core and put in the serious hours. But when I need to schedule time off and not do eBay, I’m 100% off as well. Find what works, but keep the discipline when working at home.
Make sure you have run numbers on your business to know what it can do when you go full time. Start tracking your final profit (not revenue, but final profit after all business expenses) and look at how many hours it took to make that profit. It will show you how much your work is providing per hour. Look at how many hours you can devote to your business (and be reasonable…don’t plan to work 90 hours per week. I think 50-60 is reasonable, but you have to know yourself.) That is a starting point to see what you can do.
Dig into your numbers deeper. What are your profits each month, and what are your low and high months? Can you survive the low months? Can you make and save (in a separate account) enough in your best months and use that to cover the low months? If you are lower than what you need to be at, how long will it take for you to grow your inventory to the level you need it to be at? If you will need to grow your inventory, where will that capital come from, and how long will it take to for that capital investment to come back to you as cash? Most small businesses miss this point. If you are using the profits from the business to buy more inventory to grow the business, you can’t take it out for personal expenses (i.e., you don’t get paid as much when you are growing since the business needs the money to grow).
I was trained in the financial world as an accountant, and did forecasts and budgets for many years, so it was easy for me to slide into this business and start answering those questions. This is why I track sales and revenue by day/week/month, Sell Thru Rate, Average Selling Price, New Listings per Day/Week/Month, Sold items per Day/Week/Month, and the amount of time to list each item. By having these numbers, I could forecast how much work and hours it would take to get to get to the income we need, how long it will take to get there, and make sure we have the capital to do it, with 2 sons to provide for. And I keep those numbers still now, update them constantly, and forecast each month of the current year, as well as the next year. Having the numbers and a realistic view of what you can do is key before you make the leap.
To make the leap…the “shove” as you say definitely helps. My company at one point offered Early Retirement, I mentioned it to my wife and kids, and they told me to take it. That shove was HUGE, since I always view myself as the provider, and I could not see losing the “safe income” to make less money and have them make sacrifices. But now, I don’t want to go back, and my wife and kids don’t want that either.
Guess what? That “safe income” is a myth. You can lose your job at any time, so it really isn’t safe. But when you run your own business, you develop the skills to grow in any environment. Sure, markets may go down, sales may be slow, but you have learned the skills to pilot the ship yourself and make corrections, or start new ventures.
The safest income is the one you make for yourself.
We saw the demo of this at eBay Open. Possible game changer to expand people shopping on eBay. I hope this takes off!
As for “extreme scavenging”, I can’t think of one example, but it seems like Veronica & I are “extreme” in our lifestyle compared to many others in our area. We are routine bargain hunters on EVERYTHING. Our motto is “We don’t pay retail”. We grow a garden, hunt, fish, make our own wine, we have a large room in our basement with canned goods we get on sale (or what we have canned ourselves…I loved that I have learned to pressure can…making extra large batches of Green Chili Stew and Venison Bourguignon to can), we have 5 freezers for meat we harvest or when the stores have a sale. Our house has so many things we have purchased from garage or thrift stores. I laugh when I go hunting, as the only things I purchased new are my gun and my boots…
Totally agree that you have to enjoy what you do and what you list. That is why we do this job. Owning your time is paramount to us. I’m planning to take a month off next year to hike the Colorado Trail, and this job allows me to do that (just have to get shippers!). But my life has changed so much for the better since I left the 6-Figure Income life. The cash isn’t everything…
I will agree that the “List It & Forget It” is a great way to grow your inventory. Since we went to SixBit and now have SixBit automatically relist our items, we have saved a TON of time by not manually relisting items, which has helped us grow our store. However, for sales, we have found that 30 Day listings are better. Since SixBit is relisting as a third party (not relisted through eBay), we are still seeing a good sell thru rate. We have tried using GTC a few times in the past, and we see our sales drop significantly when we do. So I feel that we are now in both camps: We list and forget on a daily and weekly basis, but we use “list and attend” strategy to sell (30 Day and a periodic review of old inventory).
Been way behind on numbers with our deer hunt. Good news is my son got his first solo deer (meaning he had the plan, saw him, and got him with one shot all by himself), so he has been very happy and proud that he provided meat for the family. Unfortunately my father had some health issues and we had to cut the trip short. He is back in Montana now, and almost fully recovered, but a little nervous for a while.
Week of 10/15-10/21
Total Items in Store: 1,687
Number of Items Listed: 23
Number of Items Sold: 77
Weekly STR: 20%
Total Product Sales: $2,301
Cost of Items Sold: $556
Gross Profit for Week: $1,450.12
Highest Item Sold: $150 – Beats by Dr. Dre Solo2 Wired On-Ear Headphones (Like the previous week, I just barely lost. I sold a pair of Rock Revival jeans for $125, and still came in second!)
Competition: Highest Priced Sale: Veronica wins the week and Veronica leads for the year 25-16.Week of 10/22-10/28
Total Items in Store: 1,668
Number of Items Listed: 35
Number of Items Sold: 65
Weekly STR: 17%
Total Product Sales: $1,557
Cost of Items Sold: $340
Gross Profit for Week: $1,001
Highest Item Sold: $85 – Rock Revival Jacoby Straight Flap Pocket Bootcut Denim Jeans – I FINALLY broke through!
Competition: Highest Priced Sale: Troy wins the week and Veronica leads for the year 25-17.October 2017
Number of Items Listed: 182 (Forecast: 300)
Number of Items Sold: 311 (Forecast: 281)
Monthly STR: 17% (Forecast: 16%)
Total Product Sales: $8,476 (Forecast: $6,964) – Increase of 51% YOY
Cost of Items Sold: $1,853 (Forecast: $1,741)
Gross Profit $5,588 (Forecast: $3,726)Our best month ever. STR was slightly stronger at 17%, but the big boost was the increased Average Selling Price of over $26 vs a forecast of $24. Downside is our listing activity was much lower than I predicted. I planned to lose some time with being gone for hunting, but I had way more prep this year than I planned and days just slipped away. I’m going to have to focus and make up time! Veronica is kicking my butt (and taking up my slack), so I need to start pulling my weight!
Amen there. We don’t eat a lot of bread, but when we need it, I can get the older stuff cheap in the clearance section and freeze it. I NEVER go through the grocery store without hitting the clearance area.
Similar for salads. I find a lot of salads that are close to expiring for dirt cheap. Buy and eat that night…
You aren’t wrong there. I have never done road kill, but based on the harvesting and butchering that I have done on our own deer & elk, you have to avoid the areas that have a lot of blood (which is why we work hard for 1-shot kills), as that meat is not good. I would suspect road kill has SOME good meat, but not nearly as much as when we dress out what we hunt.
