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12/31/2018 at 3:17 pm in reply to: Scavenger Life Episode 392: No Alarm Clocks – We chat with Troy aka T-Satt about the eBay Lifestyle #54249
For me…
“You can get on the bus or get off the sidewalk…but I’m drivin’!!!”
12/31/2018 at 3:14 pm in reply to: Scavenger Life Episode 392: No Alarm Clocks – We chat with Troy aka T-Satt about the eBay Lifestyle #54248Yep…
Scavengers always find a way…
๐
12/31/2018 at 3:10 pm in reply to: Scavenger Life Episode 392: No Alarm Clocks – We chat with Troy aka T-Satt about the eBay Lifestyle #54247I have changed my ring tone on my phone for that reason. When I hear it on other people’s phone, I duck out of reflex…
Always good to pay down that debt!
Welcome!
12/31/2018 at 11:42 am in reply to: Scavenger Life Episode 392: No Alarm Clocks – We chat with Troy aka T-Satt about the eBay Lifestyle #54222aperture: Still though, there is a ton of wisdom and discipline in your numbers process, and I have seen others fail at doing just the basics of what you are doing.
If you aren’t full time, then yeah, a lot of the numbers and meaning isn’t needed. Only shop when you have extra cash, list everything you have purchased, make sure you are getting solid returns on what you buy (for us, that is a minimum of $10 net profit after COGS/Fees/Labor for $5 and under purchases and 3X or better on higher dollar purchases). Do that and you will be successful.
The reason that I do numbers to the depth that I do is that this is now our life, and I can speak the language of numbers and forecasting to see what type of business we need to achieve the goals that we have. And with the much higher burn rate that we have vs Jay and Ryanne (living in a higher cost location with 2 kids and a mortgage), I have to make sure the return is there.
STR tells a story and provides information. STR over time tells even more of a story. STR with ASP over time expands it further. For me, that is the story I need to know.
They are like the stars in the sky, and I’m the Captain of the ship in the 1800s, with a sextant and clock, navigating the high seas of eCommerce…
Boy…that was cheesy… ๐
12/31/2018 at 11:33 am in reply to: Scavenger Life Episode 392: No Alarm Clocks – We chat with Troy aka T-Satt about the eBay Lifestyle #54221almasty: Anytime on the shout out.
Your last paragraph has a TON of wisdom. Know what you are doing in one vein before you start another. I like to think FOCUS
FOCUS = Follow One Course Until Successful
THEN it is easy to maintain course #1 while you learn and start course #2.
Trying to do it all at once…very low chance of success.
12/31/2018 at 11:31 am in reply to: Scavenger Life Episode 392: No Alarm Clocks – We chat with Troy aka T-Satt about the eBay Lifestyle #54220Christine: You do really well with sales on Mercari.
Do you think the Promotions to Likers is a big part of that?
Do you think the lower items go faster there?I haven’t had a sale there yet, but like Poshmark, starting with the high end stuff first. I haven’t done many offers to likers (first time was on Saturday on three items, no sales). When doing that, do you wait until there is a certain number of likers first?
Ryanne: Amen!
Of course, how is that possible? The picture shows that the item has payment received?
Was this a photoshop? Or does the original message still show even after they pay?
Oh My…
Wow…
You can call eBay to see if they will remove it since the shipping is out of your hands, but I wouldn’t worry too much about it. Neutral feedback doesn’t affect you Feedback %.
We are currently at 100% Feedback score. Last 12 months are:
Positive: 1498
Neutral: 6
Negagtive: 012/31/2018 at 8:42 am in reply to: Scavenger Life Episode 392: No Alarm Clocks – We chat with Troy aka T-Satt about the eBay Lifestyle #54206Retro: Yep, so true.
Here’s the thing…I work hard. It’s just who I am. I have two speeds: Mach 5 and Stop. And I spend a lot of time at Mach 5.
I take my work seriously, and I think about it a lot. I look for risks, try to mitigate them. I look for new opportunities. I think about processes. I spend a lot of time on this eBay thing and how to make it better.
So even now, I am “on the clock” just about all the time.
Difference is, I the one choosing to do this…not that I am MADE to do this. When I do decide to go into STOP mode, I can. Then I can pick it back up when I choose to.
Having this type of mindset is great when YOU are the one running your show…but when a manufacturing plant that runs 24/7/365 is setting your schedule…that mindset is going to burn out quick.
12/31/2018 at 8:26 am in reply to: Scavenger Life Episode 392: No Alarm Clocks – We chat with Troy aka T-Satt about the eBay Lifestyle #54205Geoff: I completely agree with Simplico. Any cost you have to your business you should track, document, and take as a tax deduction.
From a Management Accounting perspective, you should ALSO track and maintain these costs. You want to see the main drivers in your business and see what you can do to lessen them. If you are spending hard dollars to drive to pick up items, try to time your trips to be efficient, or see if they can be shipped to you. Or can you find a reliable source of boxes you get for free (recycle) so you don’t have to pay for boxes.
We haven’t paid for any boxes in many years. Check with some of your local malls, check craigslist (great for packing paper, bubble wrap, and moving boxes) for free stuff. You can even us IFTTT to send you messages when listings on Craigslist match your criteria. I got up at 5 am and got to Boulder last week for two huge boxes of free packing paper. And we still have packing paper we got for free last year (about 8 large garbage bags full).
12/31/2018 at 8:20 am in reply to: Scavenger Life Episode 392: No Alarm Clocks – We chat with Troy aka T-Satt about the eBay Lifestyle #54204Aye Aye Captain!
I’ll put a message on this thread with a link to the Yearly Numbers tomorrow when I set it up.
12/31/2018 at 8:20 am in reply to: Scavenger Life Episode 392: No Alarm Clocks – We chat with Troy aka T-Satt about the eBay Lifestyle #54203No, not worried about the lack of sales.
For Etsy, we know that the STR is lower, but we really haven’t given it the due respect (meaning enough listings) that we should have. We did a bit of a shift on Veronica’s side this year with her doing more shoes and jeans, since we were having trouble consistently finding vintage hard goods, so we didn’t really crosslist there enough. We hovered between 150-180 listings on Etsy all year. We want to shift that this year, with me dropping some lower end clothing and taking up the jeans and shoes, freeing her up for more hard goods, and we think we have some new sourcing options to keep her full on that side. I’m really interesting in how Mike does on Etsy, as he already has 2-3 times the listings there that we do.
For Poshmark, again, not worried. I’m listing mostly the high end stuff now, so naturally a slower STR. Plus, a lot of my listings there are men’s clothing, and Poshmark is still more women centered, so again, a slower STR. I do have some sales, and I’m finding more men’s sellers/buyers on there, so I just have to stay the course. I still am only at 120+ listings right now, so again, too small to really tell.
Like you say, we really need to get to 500 listings on a platform to see consistent sales. So that will be the true test. 500 is a SWAG, but a good goal to aim for before we really analyze.
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