Let's Check Out Sales So Far This Year.
I usually spend all my allocated eBay time sourcing and listing product. I can't even remember the last time I sat back and looked at the big picture. I know I tracked my sales and expenses very closely during my month-long eBay experiment, but that was just one (large) part of a whole year.
So let's look at these numbers together, shall we?
First Quarter 2018
$1,336.08 in sales minus $524.01 in expenses equals $812.07. That doesn't include the cost of goods, but I get them extremely cheap. I get at least 50% of my total sales in profit, on average.
It might surprise you, but I am not too hardcore into reselling. It is just one thing I do, and I do it when I believe it to be the most profitable thing to do.
You can see from these charts that business was slow for almost the entire quarter. Well, when I was writing Steemit posts I was getting over $30 or $40 for each one, so that is where I focused my time. I didn't source or list, only packed anything that sold.
Then we had the first crypto-dip. At the end of March, I decided to start the eBay income experiment at that time to sort of combine the two. And it worked out VERY well. I was able to get a few bucks out of Steemit posts, and hundreds from the thrifting.
2nd Quarter 2018
$4,634.30 in sales minus $1,557.49 in expenses equals $3,056.81.
This was when the eBay income experiment really took off. It is amazing how much the numbers jump when I go hardcore into it for just one month. Still, I was working full-time and did everything after work. So hardcore into it but just part-time.
This experiment was also to test the possibility of becoming a full-time reseller in the near future. The results were promising as the experiment was limited to only the items I sourced from the Goodwill Outlet. All other sources for items, like garage sales and other thrift stores, were not included in the experiment.
3rd Quarter (To Date) 2018
$1,901.41 in sales minus $602.79 in expenses equals $1,298.62.
Today is August 17th, so we are only halfway through the quarter. But the numbers are already better than the first quarter of the year.
I've still had the occasional sale from the eBay income experiment as well as my once-in-a-while sourcing and listing.
The large section of no sales at the beginning is because I closed down the store while I took the family to Alaska.
Conclusion
Year to date I have sold 319 items for a total of $7,871.39. After eBay, Paypal, and shipping fees it comes out to a total of $5,167.50.
Of sold items, only 6 have sold for over $100 which is 1.8% of sales.
Just 20 have sold for between $50-$100, which is 6.2% of sales.
Which means 92% of my items sell for less than $50.
The highest amount I sold an item for was an antique clock I found during the eBay income experiment, which was sold for $234.94.
What do I think about all these numbers? First, that I sell low priced items. Second, that little amounts add up over time (as I often say).
I don't mind selling lower priced things. The risk of scammers is MUCH lower on such things (probably why I get very, very few). And I can do it because I get my product very inexpensively.
Hey, just $10 extra every day would add up to $3,650 in a year.
After seeing my behind the scenes numbers, what do you think of my eBay efforts?