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02/12/2019 at 8:32 am in reply to: Scavenger Life Episode 398: How To Buy or Not To Buy on eBay #56828
bcfo & sonia: I hear you on the costs. One of the things that we look at constantly is the capital needed for sourcing. We know that we will have a sizeable outlay each week we source, and we are working to keep that cost down to an average of $5. Now, if the right items come along and we have to pay up for them ($20-$40) we will do that when we know that we can at least sell for 3x to 4x the purchase price, but we work to keep a lot of items sub $5 so that it averages out.
As we move to look for higher ASP items, especially in bulk, we find that getting 3x -4x gets tougher. Then we see we can get more $/hr of work, but need more capital to invest in those items, and probably longer tail, so the returns take longer to come in. Always a balancing act…
FYI: BCFO, I agree on the alternate platforms. While eBay is still showing a decrease in the Shirt and Jeans market on their platform as being down 8.5%, now PoshMark is filling that hole in our sales. More work to do with the crossposting and daily reconciliations to ensure we have everything tied out, but this is where this part of the market is going…
Welcome! You are in our neck of the woods, so where outside of Denver?
I’m starting to think that with as many Trash Elves that there are in the Denver area, we are going to have to start a Meet-Up! 🙂
02/11/2019 at 8:49 pm in reply to: Scavenger Life Episode 398: How To Buy or Not To Buy on eBay #56803Congrats on making the leap Doubly!
So, two things I want to say about making the leap. Yes, you will have the doubts. But what is done is done. The best thing you can do is use that motivation to work your butt off at making your new path a success. Use that little bit of fear to list, source, improve, get better, get faster, etc. I can say that it worked…and still works…for me.
Second, if you have anything you want to talk about or discuss, reach out, either on the forum or to me directly at TSATTERF@YAHOO.COM.
You got this, and welcome to a new world.
02/11/2019 at 7:17 pm in reply to: Scavenger Life Episode 398: How To Buy or Not To Buy on eBay #56795Congrats to both of you Jay and Mike. Gotta feel good seeing a plan come together.
Thanks for the update on SixBit Mike. It would be something I would consider, adding Shopify, but I really need to see how to drive traffic to the Shopify site first.
Again, let me know if I can help with SixBit at all. We love the program a TON.
02/11/2019 at 7:05 pm in reply to: Scavenger Life Episode 398: How To Buy or Not To Buy on eBay #56790Amen brother. Second that entire thread!
Congrats SpartyQ!
02/11/2019 at 4:48 pm in reply to: Scavenger Life Episode 398: How To Buy or Not To Buy on eBay #56768Yep SEAM, you are at our goal. And it is a great inspiration showing that you can do what we want to do!
Keep up the great work! Very inspiring!
02/11/2019 at 4:46 pm in reply to: Scavenger Life Episode 398: How To Buy or Not To Buy on eBay #56767Amen and I third that notion! I’m glad that our journey and my long discussions on boring numbers are useful! 🙂
And honestly, I get a ton of info, data, and motivation from others as well on these forums. I really feel I have received more than I have given!
02/11/2019 at 4:01 pm in reply to: Scavenger Life Episode 398: How To Buy or Not To Buy on eBay #56760Wholesaling would be in there eventually, but I know that it will require a higher capital outlay and less margin (so now we are talking a 3x return vs the 5x return we are at now and what our goals are).
Basic numbers of 160/30/5 are all doable. We mostly haven’t done the 160 per week in listings since I keep being out for my contract work. But I can do 20-30 listings per day on my side easily, and finding that much each week has happened enough that it isn’t a main concern (though it is still my biggest one, as I can’t control that part).
And remember that for us, $5k top line would net about $1,500 net (30% net margin).
02/11/2019 at 3:42 pm in reply to: Scavenger Life Episode 398: How To Buy or Not To Buy on eBay #56758Plans are to grow to a weekly $5k in Sales on a $1k COGS. Rough numbers I have kept in my head for 5 years:
160 sales and listings per week
$30 ASP
$5 APP02/11/2019 at 3:00 pm in reply to: Scavenger Life Episode 398: How To Buy or Not To Buy on eBay #56751Yep, over $30k in inventory purchases last year.
You made me want to go and look…
Weekly Sales $ Average:
2014 – $719
2015 – $1,103
2016 – $1,312
2017 – $1,527
2018 – $2,008So, we increased our Average Inventory Purchases by 3.2x since 2014, and increased Average Sales by 2.8x.
Getting there… Not there, but getting there…
02/11/2019 at 2:27 pm in reply to: Scavenger Life Episode 398: How To Buy or Not To Buy on eBay #56749I loved the beginning part about what everyone pays for inventory each week. Just depends on what you source, where you source, what your thresholds are, etc. This is such a big component of going full time: Knowing what your purchasing requirements are.
While we all talk about our Average Selling Price each week, I also track our Average Purchase Price each week. For us, over the past few years, it still comes back to about $5 per item. So if I want to sell 100 items a week, I have to be ready to buy 100 items per week, so that would mean spending $500 per week for inventory based on the items that I purchase. Results for everyone will vary, but it is important to know when going full time.
Also, make sure that when you remember that while you build up your store (like we still are), that a higher percentage of your weekly cash flow goes to inventory purchases that what your sales are. That is why growing businesses are always looking for more capital.
It made me go back and look at our store over the years. Knowing that some weeks we didn’t shop at all, here are our average purchases per week:
2014 – $189
2015 – $283
2016 – $350
2017 – $458
2018 – $613Feeding the beast, but growing because of it!
02/11/2019 at 2:17 pm in reply to: Scavenger Life Episode 398: How To Buy or Not To Buy on eBay #56748Week of 02/03-02/09
Total Items in Store: 2,350 (Up 29% YOY)
Number of Items Listed: 113
Number of Items Sold: 74 (Up 30% YOY)
(Includes 1 Etsy, 0 Bonanza, 0 TrueGether, 10 Poshmark)
Weekly STR: 15% (Up 1% YOY)Total Product Sales: $2,091 (Up 49%)
Sales Volume Variance to Prior Year: $418
Sales Price Variance to Prior Year: $271
Cost of Items Sold: $395
Cost of Labor: $240
Highest Item Sold: $125 – Tiffany Style Stained Glass Floral Lamp Shade
Competition: Highest Priced Sale: Veronica wins the week (Shocker…Beat out my $100 coat!) and Veronica leads for the year 5-1.Clothing
# Listed: 1,483
# Sold: 53
STR: 17%
ASP: $26.32Shoes
# Listed: 476
# Sold: 13
STR: 12%
ASP: $32.03Hard Goods
# Listed: 391
# Sold: 7
STR: 8%
ASP: $34.96Etsy
# Listed: 193
# Sold: 1
STR: 2%
ASP: $40Poshmark
# Listed: 526
# Sold: 10
STR: 11%
ASP: $37.90It will be interesting to compare my numbers 1 or 2 years down the road.
Amen. That is one of the biggest reasons to track your numbers each week/month. Gives you context, and you can see trends. Knowing your Average Selling Price, your Average Cost, your Sell Thru Rate, and seeing how they change over time is huge
First, you can see if the market is moving. Seeing the trends has been big for us to make good purchase decisions.
Plus, when you are climbing the mountain, it is good to look and see where you have been. Perspective…
Absolutely the stakes are bigger. But the other downside I see, is that the margins are thinner as well. The stuff is out there, but takes time to find.
We will get there. Just takes time to look, process, and execute.
I would like to get to that point soon, buying wholesale or in bulk. That is realistically the only way I see to get to the top line numbers ($20k/month in sales) without having to sit on a lot of long tail items. But that may be a way to go, as you have shown that long tail is a good way to go (for items that are 8X-10X).
The $20k/mo in Sales (at a minimum of 25% Net Profit, but preferring more of a 30%-33% Net) is the goal for now. How to execute that is the hard part. More hours sourcing the way we are is a possibility in the short term, but that way leads to burnout. So if we can do it without the long hours, that is where bulk or wholesaling comes in.
Once we get there, the net pays the normal bills much easier and allows more breathing room…
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