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08/13/2018 at 4:12 pm in reply to: Scavenger Life Episode 373: Should Running A Business Be Complicated? #47412
Jay: That is interesting. Inkfrog doesn’t pull in your scheduled listings?
With SixBit, it will pull in your scheduled listings on eBay (this was part of our process before we got Veronica on SixBit on her laptop.
Is there a setting in Inkfrog that would pull in your scheduled listings?
08/13/2018 at 2:56 pm in reply to: Scavenger Life Episode 373: Should Running A Business Be Complicated? #47405almasty: “For third-party tools, yeah, it is sort of exhausting to have to buy all of these extra services to “help” what should be easy. Still, it is the actual knowledge of which services to buy, how to use it in your business, how to set-it up so it makes life easier for you, etc,. that eventually do make your life easier. If Ebay was any easier to use, there would be 100000x more people doing it. Having at least a little barrier to entry to make it a little more difficult to use is a good thing for f/t sellers.”
There is SOOO much good stuff you said in there….
Amen!
Good article. Hits the main points that I hear about.
LOVE the home office deduction. We expanded out this year and now have to go the LONG way (not the simple version) to calculate our deduction, but it was well worth it.
08/13/2018 at 2:42 pm in reply to: Scavenger Life Episode 373: Should Running A Business Be Complicated? #47402almasty: Good point. I estimate our taxes and put money away each month into a separate account, then pay the quarterlies out of that account. Good thought to add that in for anyone doing this F/T…
08/13/2018 at 2:39 pm in reply to: Scavenger Life Episode 373: Should Running A Business Be Complicated? #47400Yes, messages and offers on eBay. SixBit has that part, but I like to keep our Inbox on eBay cleared of Unread messages, and we are usually on our phones for that stuff anyway.
08/13/2018 at 2:07 pm in reply to: Scavenger Life Episode 373: Should Running A Business Be Complicated? #47393To piggy-back on Mike’s answer, here is what we do:
All listing, relisting, and inventory management is on SixBit. We only use eBay to resend invoices to buyers who have not paid, or to manage a return (process the return on eBay to provide the refund, then process the return on SixBit to put back into inventory to relist).
All Shipping is through ShipRush. PS – THAT is were I would like eBay to continue to evolve. ShipRush is free to us, but manages ALL our shipping (even Etsy/Bonanza/TrueGether (though TG is manual)). Hire out the tool, provide the free tool.
Sales (when we run them) are managed on eBay, as are Promoted Listings.
08/13/2018 at 2:02 pm in reply to: Scavenger Life Episode 373: Should Running A Business Be Complicated? #47391TheHustler: Well, I’m a nitpick on numbers…still here! 🙂
Seriously, it is a much deeper conversation usually, and I can show him the file that I have that will do that for him. You can pass him off to me if you would like. I think I speak his language…
NumbersGeek to NumbersGeek…
08/13/2018 at 1:05 pm in reply to: Scavenger Life Episode 373: Should Running A Business Be Complicated? #47378on Wabi-Sabi: I love that too! As a daily mindset, that “nothing lasts, nothing is finished, and nothing is perfect”
However…
While nothing is perfect, we should still strive for it. Always flawed, yet always improving…
08/13/2018 at 1:02 pm in reply to: Scavenger Life Episode 373: Should Running A Business Be Complicated? #47376PS – I actually DO measure the waist (layed flat across the second button), as it tells what the drop is (fit), but I know that ain’t what they are looking for. They need to remove this as a Mandatory for this category now, but I’m betting they stick with “Does Not Apply”.
PSS – Does Not Apply didn’t exist when I called them up. They realized their mistake and added it after that.
08/13/2018 at 1:00 pm in reply to: Scavenger Life Episode 373: Should Running A Business Be Complicated? #47375I can see that Geoff. Makes sense. I’m an accountant by training so I could do things in Excel and Quicken (still do), but if others are not Green-Eyeshade-Inclined, that is a good way to go.
08/13/2018 at 12:58 pm in reply to: Scavenger Life Episode 373: Should Running A Business Be Complicated? #47374On the issue of the sport coats: I called eBay IMMEDIATELY and they realized that the Waist Item specific should not have been on there for Sport Coats. It WAS a requirement for Suits. When they merged, they didn’t change that.
Answer: Use the Does Not Apply at the bottom of the list of items for Waist. Also, there is a new Item Specific for Type: Sport Coat / Blazer / Suit / etc. Fill that in as well.
08/13/2018 at 12:17 pm in reply to: Scavenger Life Episode 373: Should Running A Business Be Complicated? #47363Listened to the podcast on my way to the contract gig, will post numbers later. My thoughts:
100000000% agreement on keep it simple when you start. Find good items, take good photos, list on the platform, ship. Repeat. Use a spreadsheet to track your numbers. Done. Veronica did a great job on our business by herself without ANY backend (I stayed out until 2011 when I wanted to start, and then in 2013 when we got serious). Keep your focus on sourcing good items and listing well until small things get better. Watch your processes as you do them and make improvements as you go (KAIZEN or LEAN). We are an LLC now, with SixBit, with ShipRush, on multiple platforms…but we started without ANY of that. Do the right things right first, add and improve as you go.
Loved how Ryanne spent the time to learn the new software. Any implementation takes time (ours was a good week to get everything the way I wanted in SixBit), but then it pays off with good processes and more knowledge down the road.
08/13/2018 at 11:48 am in reply to: Scavenger Life Episode 373: Should Running A Business Be Complicated? #47360totommyto: “Highest price sold: $31.50 – 2 rusty chains with hooks”
Really? On Etsy? What kind of chains were these? Decorative?
08/13/2018 at 11:47 am in reply to: Scavenger Life Episode 373: Should Running A Business Be Complicated? #47359TheHustler: Getting to the final Net Profit number is a challenge for most resellers, as the first question is Accrual or Cash Basis?
When we are all posting our numbers here, most are showing their Gross Profit on an Accrual Basis. Meaning that the Sales less COGS is on the items that sold. The hard part about the rest of your costs (fees, supplies, labor, warehouse, etc.) is that those costs are not broken down item by item, so you can’t get a true Accrual cost for most resellers (Mike and I have discussed this at length, and there may only be a few others that even WANT to get to that number…)
The real important part to look at is Net Cash each week. Cause it really doesn’t matter if you show profit on paper, if you ain’t got the cash in the bank account…you can’t spend it. This is where it is important for people to see how their numbers run each week (STR and ASP) so they can see what type of Sales (Cash In) they can expect, but then match that up with their weekly disbursements (Cash Out) each week on the business. Mainly, how much they are going to spend on new inventory, supplies, pay the eBay fees, etc.
For estimation on the accrual side, for many resellers that are smaller in scale or part time, after the Gross Profit, you could deduct 15% for fees (eBay Store/FVF/Paypal), and maybe another 15% for misc expenses (supplies, 3rd party app, etc.). That should give you a ballpark.
If you or your friend want to talk about numbers in detail, hit me up at TSATTERF@YAHOO.COM. I have a spreadsheet you can have that will track the past, and then if you want to project the future, I can help with that too.
Veronica and I recently finished some books that we highly recommend. Interesting that they are both great if you need a kick in the pants!
Veronica finished the “5 Second Rule” recently, and really liked the message. Basically, don’t wait! Don’t procrastinate! Countdown from 5 and when you hit 0, do it! Whatever “IT” is…
I finished “Living With a SEAL” this week. Quick read, and is inspiring and funny. Shows the great mental makeup that we should all develop more in ourselves and our children.
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