Forum Replies Created
-
AuthorPosts
-
07/01/2019 at 2:40 pm in reply to: Scavenger Life Episode 415: Importance Of Being Honest As A Business Owner #64338
@Timo: That is correct. Since I’m on the Duo version, I get the allocation plans option, so our items were set to Auto Relist and they all did (no extra work).
The nice part about that is that you can decide if you want to change pricing when the item relists. So say you want to relist the item and drop the price by $1 on each relist. Or increase the price by 10% on each relist, etc.
For items that may have a price sensitivity, you can do this.
07/01/2019 at 2:37 pm in reply to: Scavenger Life Episode 415: Importance Of Being Honest As A Business Owner #64336For our 2,500+ items, the relisting was done in about 2 days.
06/24/2019 at 6:12 pm in reply to: Answers on Finance, STR, and ROI to Mr Vintage Estate Liquidation from eBay #64062@Mike: Yes, for just about every item, we set an Auto Decline “floor” of 60%. Don’t want to be bothered below that line.
I know that a lot of people want to start with 30%-50% offers of your asking price. We just get too ticked to deal with it. Especially the sub 50% offers. I would never do that to someone, so it just bugs me.
We already price somewhat to move (not too low, but rarely in the top 10%, so people wanting us to sell for at the lowest 20% of solds to me is just insulting…
Congrats when you get done with closing Mike!
I still think weekly is a good review to look at, especially when compared to prior years. Do I lose my mind if things change? Now, but I like to see the trends from prior weeks as well as to prior years.
But large scale, yes, monthly is the way to go. FWIW, when I do forecasting, I do it monthly…
Regarding slow sales, STR, ROI, etc. both on the podcast and on the other thread, I think it comes down to the type of retail you are selling.
There are the Wal-Mart/Target type stores, that have both long and short term items that sell, but they are a higher volume, higher STR type stores as a whole. Then there are the antique stores, that have a much lower STR, but have a higher average ROI per item.
In my experience, most antique stores are never really crowded. Totally anecdotal, but I never seem to see many people there. But, they seem to stay in business.
Jay and Ryanne, you guys are much closer to an antique store model. Low STR, High Inventory, and willing to wait for the right buyer.
Most Amazon resellers are 3x models (pay $5 – sell at $15, $5 in fees, $5 in returned capital, $5 in profit) with high STR.
I think that Veronica and I are more in the middle at a 5X+ model, but willing to wait on some items, willing to quick turn on others.
All can work if you know how to run your business in the lane you are looking for.
Just heard the podcast this morning.
My thoughts on labor is that it can be a blessing and a curse, depending on how people are used. If you are hitting a wall on throughput (time is the constraint) then labor can level you up. But you MUST make sure that the labor will increase your average Revenue and Profit per week/month. If not, it is a luxury and has to be seen as such. It will reduce your margins, so make sure you know if you are doing this for more revenue/profit or for luxury.
Even when done for more revenue, you will have a cash flow hole when you bring on more people. Based on your STR, this will be short or long. When we brought on our photographer, I did the forecasting and knew that we would have a 4-5 months cash flow hole, while we were paying him NOW but the extra listings would bring more sales LATER.
I can’t stress enough that if you are bringing on people, make sure you do your own forecasting and know what that will do to your numbers short term (down) and long term (up).
I hope Raph finds Splinter! 🙂
Week of 06/16-06/22
Total Items in Store: 3,185 (Up 39% YOY)
Number of Items Listed: 80
Number of Items Sold: 96 (Up 55% YOY)
(Includes 0 Etsy, 6 Poshmark, 0 Bonanza, 0 TrueGether)
Weekly STR: 13% (Up 1% YOY)Total Product Sales: $2,631 (Up 65% YOY)
Sales Volume Variance to Prior Year: Up $877
Sales Price Variance to Prior Year: Up $156
Cost of Items Sold: $505
Cost of Labor: $120
Highest Item Sold: $135 – Corral Boots
Competition: Highest Priced Sale: Veronica wins the week and Veronica leads for the year 14-12.Clothing
# Listed: 1,879
# Sold: 70
STR: 16%
ASP: $24.22Shoes
# Listed: 725
# Sold: 19
STR: 11%
ASP: $38.11Hard Goods
# Listed: 581
# Sold: 7
STR: 5%
ASP: $30.33EBay
# Listed: 3,185
# Sold: 90
STR: 12%
ASP: $26.45Etsy
# Listed: 222
# Sold: 0
STR: 0%
ASP: $0Poshmark
# Listed: 772
# Sold: 6
STR: 3%
ASP: $41.83So, the store bounced back. After two slower weeks where we had sales in the 70s, now we are back in the 90s. So…were the lower sales because we had 5 day handling when we came to Montana, driving down our momentum? Or are the higher sales because we ended almost all of our listings and resubmitted them this week? Or did none of that matter? Let the speculation begin… 🙂
Going to put the store back on long handling this week, as Veronica is driving up here to Montana on Tuesday. We are going to help my mom get ready for the Bitterroot 50 Mile Yard Sale, a two day event similar to the Nebraska Junk Jaunt. We will probably get some shopping in as well if we can.
Going to be nice to see her too! I kinda miss her!
@SEAM: Amen on being able to use templates to speed up work. We do that with SixBit in a similar fashion.
Can’t imagine the way you batch your stuff though. I would get too confused. I take the item, do the listing entirely (measurements, item specifics, title, etc.), then hand off to the photographer. Then it is just drop in the photos and schedule them to upload. When I do my own, I do the same thing, just that I do the photo side.
But do whatever works!
We were going down the employee route, but our photographer wanted to stay independent, so that worked great for us. No insurance, as he doesn’t work on site.
06/24/2019 at 10:42 am in reply to: Answers on Finance, STR, and ROI to Mr Vintage Estate Liquidation from eBay #64006This is a great discussion, and it comes down to not only the return on capital but the time it takes to get that return.
We have on one side Mr Vintage (and Craigslist Hunter Pete to some extent) that have a drive to turn inventory over within about 60 days. The goal being that within 60-90 days, capital has been returned, with a profit, to be reinvested in new inventory. Basically, the Fast Nickle approach.
On the other side is Jay and Ryanne, who want to price high to get the most possible profit on each item to get a return on their time of photoing and listing as well as waiting for the buyer that will pay up for their items. Essentially, the Slow Dime approach.
The key for each reseller is what their line is between time and return of capital and profit. Yes, the phrase is “A Fast Nickle beats a Slow Dime”. But I would say the Jay and Ryanne approach can be the Slow Quarter.
So…does a Fast Nickle beat a Slow Quarter? Or do you get desperate and impatient and become a Fast Penny? Or are some items worth being a Slow Dollar?
Everyone has different lines that they want to follow. Hike Your Own Hike. But also do this knowledgeably. Think about how long you have sat on certain items and decide if it is a bad buy and you should cut bait. Also think if that lower offer today is worth taking so that you move the item, get your money quicker and redeploy the capital. But also make sure you aren’t settling on a low offer just to take it, when it is something that you know you should sit on and make more money later. If you really think you can get $100 for it, you may not want to take $65 for it now. Or has it sat for a long time and you really should take it?
This is the artistry of this game we play…
06/23/2019 at 6:15 pm in reply to: Answers on Finance, STR, and ROI to Mr Vintage Estate Liquidation from eBay #63960@Mr Vintage: There are some things that are true long tail, and others that are delusions.
Some things just are rare and take the right buyer, and that buyer may take a while to be in the market and to find your item. To your point, you need to buy right to begin with, but some items are worth sitting on for a while until that buyer shows up.
Sometimes…it is just a bad buy that we tell ourselves is long tail. That is to be avoided.
06/23/2019 at 6:08 pm in reply to: Answers on Finance, STR, and ROI to Mr Vintage Estate Liquidation from eBay #63955@Mr Vintage: Yes, I have some knowledge baked into the ending prices that tells me how old the item is. This helps when getting an offer, I can see how long it has been listed.
06/23/2019 at 1:36 pm in reply to: Answers on Finance, STR, and ROI to Mr Vintage Estate Liquidation from eBay #63918@Jay: The best levers that we have beyond what you mentioned:
— Great photos from all angles of the item
— Great descriptions
— Great keywords and knowledge of the item
— Marketing your store on social media relevant to your items
— Creating a blog and e-mail newsletter on relevant subjects to your items for sale -
AuthorPosts