Just thought I would give a little update on how our store is doing.
We technically started our store in June 2013 but it definitely wasn't a full month of sales. By the end of June we had spent more than we made on inventory and shipping supplies. Just started hammering out the beginning foundation of our store. We had a loss that month of around $17 even though we sold $267 worth of items. We had 33 items in our store by the end of June.
In July we had tons of problems with our house (and health) and didn't get much done at all. Again we took a loss by the end of the month but our inventory had grown. We ended up with a loss of around $52 even though we sold $222 worth of inventory. We had 71 items in our store by the end of July.
August was our first full month of working on the store and making decent sales. We walked away with a profit of $318.60. That's after spending $200 on inventory and $129 on eBay fees, and buying a Brother Printer for the store for $129.47. So it was a great month! Sold 19 items for $760. By the end of August we had 174 items listed in our store.
Which brings us to September. We had a great first half of the month, sort of mirroring August. The second half of the month has been surprisingly slow. We've also spent twice as much on inventory this month to try to bulk up for the winter. We have taken out $400 total in September for buying inventory. Our eBay fees this month will be around $190. So far we've sold around $413 worth of items which barely covers our inventory spending money for the month. We still have 10 days to have a blitz of sales but we haven't made a sale since last weekend. Currently we have 265 items in our store.
So it seems like we're climbing up month to month and making more and building our inventory more. So that is good, but I've also started to feel a little bit of doubt about some of the inventory I've been buying. Why is this item and this other item still in my store since June? I think it's cool, but no one else is looking for it I guess? It's times like these that I have to remain patient and just keep on listing. When in doubt - list more stuff! Our goal is to hit 500 items in our store by XMAS this year. We will see if we can do it!
In closing - sometimes it isn't easy selling on eBay. It comes in waves of awesome sales and then nothing. I think the important thing is to just keep going and have a little faith in yourself. Try not to get discouraged if you have an awful week of sales. Just get back out there and find more cool stuff to list!
I wish you good luck out there friends and hope you wish the same for us!
Happy Hunting!
The eBay Freshman
Surprised you aren't doing an Ebay store. Wouldn't it be cheaper to sign up for one?
ReplyDeleteHi Steven!
DeleteYour comment has prompted me to make the switch to the Basic Store Account this morning. I've been meaning to do it but never got around to it. I wanted to see how the first few months of sales went first. After last month I feel like it is the appropriate time to switch. We are officially a store now! We will see what the difference is next month.
BK
I was just thinking from a cost perspective and the number of items you have in your store it makes sense. For my store, I had someone design a professional logo but I think you said you are a graphic designer so thats cool.
ReplyDeleteWe'll try to sell anything as long as it's cheap. You can never go wrong if you only pay $1 for an item. But it's also important to do the research. If an item doesnt sell as fast as I expect, I look to see if anyone buys this thing, or maybe there's a glut of them. This being said, it's good to trust your gut. If you think its cool, someone else eventually will. Sometimes it just takes time.
ReplyDeleteToday, we sold some antique metal legs that maybe went to an old cast iron stove at some point. We got them for free. After over 2 YEARS, they finally sold for $40. It costs 5-cents a month to list an item in our store, so that cost us about $1.20 to list. After final value fees and Paypal fees, we made a grand total of about $30. Not bad for the fifteen minutes it took us to photograph and list the item. All it took was patience and the ability to store it. This is why the bigger the inventory you have, the more likely some random thing will sell each day.
At 500 items, I can almost guarantee that you'll sell something each day.
Jay,
DeleteYou have the largest store right? Is it like $199 a month or something? I totally agree about the gut thing. I bought a vintage bbq grill cover in like new condition for 50 cents and sold for 34.99. It sold in an hour and I think I actually listed it too cheap. Im lovin this Ebay thing!
Yeah I hear that Jay. Patience is something I've never been very good with. If I go with my gut on an item and then realize that there are 30 of them on eBay with asking prices lower than mine I will usually just throw it up for $14.99 buy it now. If someone buys it for that - I still made $10-$14 profit and I get rid of it. I sold an Olive Oil plush doll this morning for $14.99 that has been in my store since the first month. Glad to see it go and happy to recoup what I paid for it (I think it was $2) plus some. Not a giant sale but I moved the item and have that space back. Patience is the #1 thing I need to work on with my store. Had a weekend at the in-laws, hit a a few sales while visiting and am ready to get listing hard this week! 300+ items in our store by Sunday is my goal this week!
DeleteBK