I've been following Pam over on her blog. She had decided to list $200 in sold value every day. Wow, that is ambitious. She recently scaled back to just listing every day.
That got me to thinking. (I know, that is a dangerous thing!!) I try to list at least 5 things every day. To me that is a lot. Some days the $$ amount is $100 and other days it is a lot less. For example, I just sold another Christmas applique fabric panel for $4.99. I purchased a whole bolt of these panels and listed them as per panel, figuring no one would want an entire bolt. If I had followed my new, self imposed rule I would not have listed these.
What is my new rule, you ask.
I was going through my ebay stuff and trying to sort out things. I had just made my end of the year haul and desperately needed some space to store the stuff until I can take pictures. What to donate and what to list. Big questions that need fast answers before I drown in ebay stuff. I decided to not list anything that I couldn't make at least a $10 profit. Sounds easy? Not really. Like the fabric panels. They cost me about 25c each and I can sell them for $5 each. I can't list them for $10 each, they won't sell that high. Well, they might but it would take a few years. So I listed at $5 each and I have already recouped my original investment and the rest is pure profit. And since I made the rule, I can adjust it whenever I want. The perks of being "the boss".
But for most things I have tried to abide by my new rule. We'll see how it goes. Over on the Ebay Entrepreneur Tristen had some good ideas for staying more productive and efficient. Auction Calc is one of the aps available that will help you calculate your profit. When you find an item and are trying to decide whether to purchase or not, you can plug in the cost and it will calculate what your sales price would have to be to reach your profit level. I think this is something I will be checking on in the very near future.
How do you decide what to keep?
Remember the free stuff that I picked on New Years Eve? I don't know what I was thinking. I really have more to deal with than I know what to do with. I should have looked more closely at the books. Most are too young for my granddaughters. So I got to thinking what I should do with them and I decided to take them to our town library. It is a very, very small library and I am sure that they could use some new books. If they can't use them they can sell them at their spring book sale and use the money to purchase ones they do need.Personally, I wish they would get more audio books. I have "read" all that they have. Also, a few of the things were broken and I couldn't sell them for parts so I tossed them. Anything else I think I can donate to a place where it will do some good will be taken there. And of course I will sell some of it, mostly the NIB. After all I have bills just like everyone else. So, how do you decide?
Once I've bought something to sell I usually make myself list it even if I realize further down the road I shouldn't have bought it in the first place. That may not be the smartest method but for now it's what I do. For current purchases though I'm trying to increase my profit per item. Right now I average about $15 to $20. I'd like that to be more like $30. The only things I redonate are items that have flaws I didn't see when I bought them and that aren't worth selling with a flaw.
ReplyDeleteI have a tough time listing stuff I bought. I have a very expensive espresso machine sitting here that I know I should list. I can get probably $150+ for it. I'm not going to use it, I don't need it. Why can't I bring myself to list it?
DeleteI just figure that I'm trying to list whatever I have right now. Most of the things I have aren't very expensive items. Like my buttons...I usually just sell a set of them for around $3-$4 but I figure I've got them so I should get them listed. Last week I sold several sets to the same person and the order was $34.90! I know if I could just get more listed I would do better. I can't wait till yard sale season. I've seen so many different things to keep on the lookout for from everyones' blogs so hopefully I can find higher end items this summer and do better! ~~Pam
ReplyDeleteI'm counting the days until yard sales start again. Something about digging through all that stuff to find a gem that the seller has no clue about. Makes the pulse race...
DeleteThis year I was planning on only listing things where I could at least make $15 but it is so hard for me to stay away from the items that cost only .25 that I can sell for $7.99 I know its not much but if I sell 10 of those, that is $79.90 so Im still debating what to do
ReplyDeleteAfter I set my goal of a minimum of $10 I just listed yesterday and today a bunch of things for $5.99, $7.99 and $8.99. This was free stuff, but still it takes as much time to list. It makes me want to scream!!!!!
DeleteI sometimes buy out the whole sale, estate, etc. That means really good stuff and lots of it but plenty of smalls value items. The smalls & furniture go on facebook, nearly every area around me has a facebook selling group. Takes seconds to list, they come pick it up, & no fees! I also have a couple of garage sales a year. If those two avenues don't sell it I put it out by the street and it will be gone by morning!
ReplyDeleteWow, I think I would get so panicky buying the whole estate that I wouldn't be able to sleep for weeks knowing I had so much stuff that I needed to sell. I have been at estate sales and there would be a person talking to the folks running the sale and inquiring about buying everything left. I have always wondered how they managed getting rid of all of the stuff.
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