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Mike: “But I do think a nice, tall, cold, Vodka Tonic would go real well right about now. LOL”
I was listing last night with a nice bourbon at my desk…perks of the job… 🙂
Simplico: I use it in conjunction with ASP to get information on our sales.
When looking at our sales revenue compared to another time period (prior month, prior year, forecast, etc.) there are two components for the variance, price and volume. Comparing the volume of sales let’s me know if we sold more or less, comparing the ASP let’s me know if we had higher or lower prices.
I like to see STR as it let’s me know the velocity of our sales. For example, if I see that our STR is decreasing, I want to know why. Is it seasonal? Is our pricing too high? Is our inventory not as sought after?
Plus, I use the STR and the ASP to forecast our future months. I use the STR and ASP by month in all our forecast calculations. Using that method, we are pretty close to forecasting what our numbers are going to be.
For example, I forecasted our June to have $6,177 in Product Sales, assuming a 13% STR (last June STR of 17% less a 4% degradation which yielded 292 items sold) and a $21.17 ASP (Last June with a 10% increase for higher items). Right now we are going to beat that. We are already at $7,575 in Product sales. We have sold 294 items so far (so I was close on the volume) but our ASP is $25.77. This appears to be an increase in our shoe volume which is driving up our ASP overall. Now I can factor that into forecasting for next month.
I do other calculations each week (Average COGS per Product Line, Average Profit per Product Line, ROI by Product line, etc), I just don’t report all of that here. I bore most folks with our numbers as it is!
I’m a spreadsheet geek and former Cost Accountant and Financial Planning and Analysis guy…I love me lots of numbers! But…as long as they are relevant and give me guidance for future moves. For example, with our photographer coming on board, I’ve seen that we haven’t been getting as many Hard Goods listed. So Veronica and I put a plan together to get more Hard Goods going in Q3 so that we are maxed out for Q4.
Numbers and analysis can help you guide your business if you use them right…
They are recognizing and working the issue. We were hit as well, and calling Concierge there was a recorded message acknowledging the issue and that they are working it.
See…this is good use of our fees. Making promotions and offering discounts (on their side) to drive customers to the site.
We all win!
Thanks for the heads up.
Annie: I just called and I got the same message on the Concierge Line. Looks like they are on it.
Side Note: Why didn’t they use that message when the photo dropping happened last week? Would have saved a lot of headaches! Admit the issue and get in front of it.
Yep, we have been down this road as well.
Especially since you later removed the listing…looks like you took it down after meeting and made a sale outside of eBay.
Gotta be careful of the computer Overlords… 🙂
Yep. Just heard Griff talk about this on eBay Radio from yesterday.
Some penalties could be coming for too many INADS or missing handling time…
Lots of good stuff here.
T-shirts have seemed to be long-tail for us compared to other clothing items. I would keep your buy cost at $1, no more than $2. Total price (including shipping) is usually $15-$20, so speed is key in listing, as they don’t hit big money (there are some that do, so you have to research, but most of them are long-tail and low $)
For me, I hit t-shirts last when sourcing (and lots of time I don’t even bother). I usually don’t find much that are worth the time for us.
Thanks. I do know that the number of discount days during the week has dropped off. We used to get a text once per week that they were doing a discount on one weekday. We haven’t received any of those in weeks.
Some of their pricing has gone up as well. The last couple of times I have been there, the pricing has been too high.
Habnab: “I’m terrible at the business/numbers side of this whole process. Bring me your unreadable signatures, your mystery pottery, your unidentified artists, and I’m your (wo)man. Start talking STR and ASP… and talking about business policies and SEO… not so much.”
You and I would be a perfect match then…we would cover each other’s weaknesses perfectly! 🙂
Yep. That was the double tightness I felt when going with our photographer now. Bulking up inventory, paying for labor, when the payoff is 4 months down the road…and I do it in the summer, the slowest time of year.
But we saved up for it (not that we are enjoying it right now!) and we know the payoff is coming. Things are hitting like we thought (actually this June is higher than I thought as our ASP is up) so I know I can trust my forecasting. Life is better when you plan and forecast what is coming, so that even when the crap happens, you knew it and you have a plan to get through it.
This is why you have preached (and we are with you) that before you go full time, you have to KNOW what your business will throw off in cash, what it takes to get there, what your seasonality is, and how you will survive that.
Being in business for yourself is great…but scary if you aren’t prepared. You can’t blame the boss when sales are slow. You can’t blame the market if buyers aren’t buying. As the boss, you get all the glory and all the blame…and all the responsibility to provide for your employees and your family.
