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09/18/2018 at 9:57 am in reply to: Scavenger Life Episode 377: Talking Numbers with TSatt (Troy) #48876
So, Jay is 100% correct. We don’t try to find these items, those are just the items that we average out to. For us, volume it part of the key, so I won’t turn down a $10 net profit item when I’m in the Wild, I just pick them up and add it to the cart. I don’t like it if that is ALL that I’m finding, but I don’t turn it away.
Basically, we average out to that, by having $15-$20 shirts with $30 sweaters with $100 suits. We are looking for the big pops, but gather the little guys on the way. Like hunting and gathering…I’m looking for the Elk, but I’m picking nuts, berries, and leafy greens on the way…
09/17/2018 at 6:37 pm in reply to: Scavenger Life Episode 377: Talking Numbers with TSatt (Troy) #48855totommyto: Yes, your weekly STR is 1.65% (I would calculate this on a monthly basis, so it would be ((10/7)*30)/603=7.1%.
What this means is that you sold 1.65% of your inventory this week. Now, is that good or bad? For that answer, what was your STR last week? More importantly, what was your STR during this same week last year? Also, what is your STR compared to others that you see that post here on Scavenger Life, primarily someone that has a similar size store and sells similar items? That is where it will provide more information.
It is also good to know if you want to project what your business will produce in the future, either to see what you can do if you continue on this current path, or trying to back into how much inventory you will need to list to generate a certain dollar level of sales per week, or how long it will take for you to get solid returns on your investment (on inventory purchases and time) if you continue your current path.
09/17/2018 at 5:57 pm in reply to: Scavenger Life Episode 377: Talking Numbers with TSatt (Troy) #48852Brian Treasures: Thanks and glad it was helpful. Just let me know if you have any questions!
09/17/2018 at 5:56 pm in reply to: Scavenger Life Episode 377: Talking Numbers with TSatt (Troy) #48851bcfo: “QUESTION: We seem to talk about STR in terms of units or listings sold v. inventory not as % of available sales. Which is more accurate for a 10% STR? To say that you sell 50 items per month in a 500 item store, or you sell $10,000 per month in a $100,000 store? I would assume the cash number, right?”
Yes and no…
Lemme ‘splain…
You are correct that if you take your Sales $ divided by your Inventory $, that is a true (the most true) representation of your STR (lets call that Dollar STR). Now, I don’t do that, but for good reason.
If you saw that your Dollar STR was up compared to last year… Is it up due to Volume (more sales) or Price (Higher Average Selling Price)? Ahhh, here part of the secret sauce…
As part of my weekly numbers, I calculate the Volume Variance and the Price Variance for each week. So, I can see the change in volume (number of sales this year vs number of sales last year) AND I can see the change in price (ASP this year vs last year).
By using a Price/Volume calculation, this shows WHY I’m up or down…volume or price?
Quick Formulas: Change in Volume x Prior Year Price is Volume Variance. Change in Price x Current Year Volume is Price Variance.
As an example, here are the numbers for us for the week of 9/8. We were up $453 in revenue vs last year. Now, we sold 82 items in 2018, only 63 in 2017. Last year’s ASP was $27.10, so our Volume Variance was Favorable $515 (82-63)*$27.10 Our ASP this year was $26.35, so our Price Variance was Unfavorable $62 ($26.35-$27.10)*82.
So by breaking the two items out, I can see that we are up $453, $515 due to more sales and lost $62 due to lower prices.
It is even more important this week. YOY we were up $72, but Volume was down $416 and Price was up $488. So even though the week was pretty flat to last year, our higher pricing made up for lower volume. Good to know (and continue to look at why our STR is lower than last year).
Hope that helps. Lemme know if you have questions!
09/17/2018 at 5:41 pm in reply to: Scavenger Life Episode 377: Talking Numbers with TSatt (Troy) #48848Sell Thru Rate: Total number of items sold divided by Total Inventory. Shown as a % of Inventory. This shows your sales velocity, similar to Inventory Turnover in Accounting.
This works for number of sales per day, or week, or a month. Question is…what is relevant?
Sales per day…too small of a timeframe for me. Sales per week is the minimum I would look at. Again, even though I track this weekly, I show the STR in Monthly terms (what % of my inventory would be sold in a month if the week I’m calculating was a month long). I can write out the formula if you would like.
09/17/2018 at 2:16 pm in reply to: Scavenger Life Episode 377: Talking Numbers with TSatt (Troy) #48826Amen brother. Thanks for the time, and let’s keep killing it from different paths. Wonderful variety out there!
09/17/2018 at 2:14 pm in reply to: Scavenger Life Episode 377: Talking Numbers with TSatt (Troy) #48825Cashflow is always so critical to a small business. It is what kills most of them. They literally grow themselves to death (yep, its a thing). THAT is my main reason for watching numbers and forecasting cash each week.
09/17/2018 at 2:12 pm in reply to: Scavenger Life Episode 377: Talking Numbers with TSatt (Troy) #48824Thanks Doubly! Don’t hesitate to ever ask a question if you have one. Deep inside, I’m a teacher at heart, so I love to help. I guess I’m a student as well, as I’m always trying to learn something new!
Your inventory is getting real. You have a nice business going these days!
09/17/2018 at 12:58 pm in reply to: Scavenger Life Episode 377: Talking Numbers with TSatt (Troy) #48816totommyto: WOW! That is awesome that you found these. Excellent price, and love ROI of Infinity!
Thanks as well. I love talking with Jay, as we come at things from different perspectives, but have a lot in common. It lets me see that there are some things that are universal, while there are multiple paths to get there.
09/17/2018 at 12:55 pm in reply to: Scavenger Life Episode 377: Talking Numbers with TSatt (Troy) #48813Almasty: 26 in one day? NICE!!!
The best we have ever done was 24, so that is very well done!
Our take…send it out. We sleep better at night knowing we did the right thing…and we make sure we learned the lesson.
09/17/2018 at 11:23 am in reply to: Getting Your Part-Time eBay Business Going: You can do it! {very long} #48802Mickdog: 1000% agree. Very excellent post!
The most important part…start. That is it. Start. Action will trump Thought. You learn a TON from doing, so just take some time and START!
Well done!
09/17/2018 at 11:10 am in reply to: Scavenger Life Episode 377: Talking Numbers with TSatt (Troy) #48801Week of 9/9-9/15
Total Items in Store: 2,709 (Up 55% YOY)
Number of Items Listed: 65
Number of Items Sold: 65 (Down 21% YOY)
(Includes 1 Etsy, 0 Bonanza, 0 TrueGether)
Weekly STR: 10% (Down 10% YOY)Total Product Sales: $2,079 (Up 4% YOY)
Cost of Items Sold: $434
Highest Item Sold: $140 – NEW Banana Republic 2 Button Suit
Competition: Highest Priced Sale: Troy wins the week and Veronica leads for the year 21-16eBay Clothing
# Listed: 1,712
# Sold: 49
STR: 12%
ASP: $29.50eBay Shoes
# Listed: 405
# Sold: 6
STR: 6%
ASP: $47.50eBay Hard Goods
# Listed: 592
# Sold: 9
STR: 7%
ASP: $34.93Etsy Hard Goods
# Listed: 157
# Sold: 1
STR: 3%
ASP: $49.85Going to work hard this week to load up our photographer with items this week, as he is off for a week next week. While he is gone, we are going to tackle some mini-death pile items that we wanted to photo ourselves to get those up and listed.
And got to carve time for new sourcing options. That has to be key for our business for 2019…
09/17/2018 at 11:07 am in reply to: Scavenger Life Episode 377: Talking Numbers with TSatt (Troy) #48800Nice score on that Chandelier! I would love to see a photo of that!
09/17/2018 at 11:05 am in reply to: Scavenger Life Episode 377: Talking Numbers with TSatt (Troy) #48799Let’s not go that far!
Though I would love to tackle our Federal Budget… 🙂
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