Ebay sellers thread (other platforms too)

[LivingAlmostLarge]

I sold the second box to the runner up bidder today. We went back and forth a bit and agreed on $1,000. He's already paid and I'll ship them out tomorrow. Turned out to be a guy who bought a Lionel train from me a couple of years ago.

Paid $60 on 10/10 and sold for a combined $2,130.55 in 12 days, my two biggest ebay sales ever.

that's a crazy ROI

[disneysteve]

October 2024 wrap up

Ebay:
$3,570.39 gross
$2,826.09 net

Replacements.com:
$6,264.03 gross
$4,502.79 net

Facebook Marketplace:
$0

Total:
$9,834.42 gross
$7,328.88 net

It was a wild month with nearly $10,000 in combined sales.
I had my 2 biggest ebay sales ever at $1,130.55 and $1,000.00. Including those two items, I had 7 ebay sales over $100 each which is the most I've ever done in a month. Six of the Replacements sales were over $100, 1 of which was over $1,000, and 1 over $3,000.

I'm blown away by these numbers. My net profit for the month is more than the $7,200 income I budgeted for the entire year. I absolutely don't expect to hit numbers like this regularly, if ever again, but it is amazing what one can do with a little effort. I will admit I'm feeling a bit burned out right now though so I'm taking it easy for a bit. Still buying and selling but I'm not going at it full blast at the moment.

[disneysteve]

I just booked my next road trip to North Carolina to bring china to Replacements. We're going on 12/4. I don't have nearly as much to deliver as I did last time but I'm going to do my best in the next 2 weeks to find more. Strictly financially speaking, it's probably not really worth going, but my wife is going to come along this time. We're staying for 3 nights and making a little vacation out of it, so I'm less focused on the business end. We have friends who live about 30 minutes from there and my cousins about an hour from there so hopefully we'll get to see some or all of them as well as explore the Greensboro area a bit. Driving down also means I don't have to pack and ship all of what I've got. I think I already have 10 cartons ready to go plus a few more things I need to pack. Hopefully I can find a bunch more between now and then.

[LivingAlmostLarge]

I just booked my next road trip to North Carolina to bring china to Replacements. We're going on 12/2. I don't have nearly as much to deliver as I did last time but I'm going to do my best in the next 2 weeks to find more. Strictly financially speaking, it's probably not really worth going, but my wife is going to come along this time. We're staying for 3 nights and making a little vacation out of it, so I'm less focused on the business end. We have friends who live about 30 minutes from there and my cousins about an hour from there so hopefully we'll get to see some or all of them as well as explore the Greensboro area a bit. Driving down also means I don't have to pack and ship all of what I've got. I think I already have 10 cartons ready to go plus a few more things I need to pack. Hopefully I can find a bunch more between now and then.

That would be a fun vacation. Turo or rental car company?

[disneysteve]

That would be a fun vacation. Turo or rental car company?

Turo. I’m renting from the same guy but a slightly newer van.

[LivingAlmostLarge]

Turo. I’m renting from the same guy but a slightly newer van.

how much will the rental be? Is it worth it?

[disneysteve]

how much will the rental be? Is it worth it?

No, it’s not worth it if I look at it strictly from the business side. We’re viewing this trip more from the personal vacation aspect with the china delivery as a bonus.

Going forward I think I’ll go back to shipping the china to them as I get it unless I come across some higher dollar stuff. When that happens, I’ll stop shipping, let things accumulate, and plan a trip down toward the end of the 60 day delivery window.

[disneysteve]

I just booked my next road trip to North Carolina to bring china to Replacements. I don't have nearly as much to deliver as I did last time but I'm going to do my best in the next 2 weeks to find more.

When I posted that a week ago, I had about $1,300 worth of stock to take. I've focused on my sourcing this past week and now have $2,163.50 ready to go with another week before we leave. I'm not sure how much shopping I'll do this week with the holiday and all. There is only one estate sale that I know of this weekend and I don't think there was much china in the photos. I can probably hit a few thrift shops and I'll keep trolling Marketplace. I just picked up a set today that will sell for $256 (I paid $115). I'm more comfortable with what I have now. It will cover the cost of the trip and still leave some profit.

[disneysteve]

November 2024 wrap up

Ebay:
$880.97 gross
$615.57 net

November was a slow month sort of by design but I still hit my original $600/month profit goal. The actual net was about $40 higher because of a couple of items sold from our personal collection where I zero out the cost since you can't deduct losses on personal sales but I still got the money.

I did no sales to Replacements in November because I've been accumulating stock to take there in person. We head down on Wednesday and will deliver $2,200 worth on Thursday morning so that will be in my December tally.

We were out of town for 4 days last month and will be away for 4 days this month too for the North Carolina trip. Estate sales slow down some around the holidays, like there was only one sale Thanksgiving weekend when there are usually several. Because of our trip this week, I'll be missing the in person sales and a couple of online auctions so no sourcing will happen unless we do some shopping while in NC (which we probably will knowing us). I anticipate December being slow except for the load going to Replacements this week.

Beginning January 1, my quota for Replacements resets. I have to sell them at least $5,000 worth of merchandise during the year to remain in the program at the reduced fee. When I first joined, I wasn't sure how realistic that would be, but since July 1 I've sold them nearly $13,000 worth so hitting $5,000 in a full year should be no problem at all.

[disneysteve]

I just booked my next road trip to North Carolina to bring china to Replacements. We're going on 12/4.
my wife is going to come along this time. We're staying for 3 nights and making a little vacation out of it, so I'm less focused on the business end.

We got back from NC about 5:00pm yesterday. We had a really nice trip. We arrived Wednesday night and headed to Replacements Thursday morning. After dropping off the china, we took the facility tour. Even though I had done that last time, I wanted DW to see the place herself. And since we had a different tour guide this time, I actually learned a number of things that I hadn't heard the first time. If you're ever in the area, it's worth stopping in and checking it out.

Thursday night we had dinner with my cousins who live about an hour away and we spent the evening hanging out with them. I hadn't seen them for over 3 years so it was great to catch up. Friday morning we visited a local art museum that currently has an exhibit on the life and art of Charles M. Schulz, creator of the Peanuts comics.

I probably won't head down again until the spring at the earliest. Until then, I'll go back to shipping stuff to them through the winter months. I don't expect to buy as much over the next few months and also don't want to worry about hitting bad weather. Hopefully when things pick up again in a few months, I'll get back to buying enough to make a trip worth the time and expense.

[crazyliblady]

Hi, everyone. I have been considering selling some things on ebay as a way to make more money. My question is about taxes, like sales taxes and income taxes. How do you document what you profit is? For example, if you were selling a box of toilet paper tubes, how do you figure out what you profit is? To us, it is essentially worthless unless you do crafts, gardening, or camping, for example.

[disneysteve]

Hi, everyone. I have been considering selling some things on ebay as a way to make more money. My question is about taxes, like sales taxes and income taxes. How do you document what you profit is? For example, if you were selling a box of toilet paper tubes, how do you figure out what you profit is? To us, it is essentially worthless unless you do crafts, gardening, or camping, for example.

Sales tax is handled by ebay so no need to worry about that. I do think there might be one or two states where you are responsible for it so check on that.

As for income tax, you are taxed on your profit, so income minus expenses.

If you save your used toilet paper rolls to sell, your cost of goods is zero. So sale price including shipping paid by buyer minus ebay fees, actual postage, and any other expenses like shipping materials. There are other business deductions you can take too like mileage, for example, driving to and from the post office.

Sellers make a big deal about taxes but it really isn't difficult as long as you keep good records.

[crazyliblady]

Sales tax is handled by ebay so no need to worry about that. I do think there might be one or two states where you are responsible for it so check on that.

As for income tax, you are taxed on your profit, so income minus expenses.

If you save your used toilet paper rolls to sell, your cost of goods is zero. So sale price including shipping paid by buyer minus ebay fees, actual postage, and any other expenses like shipping materials. There are other business deductions you can take too like mileage, for example, driving to and from the post office.

Sellers make a big deal about taxes but it really isn't difficult as long as you keep good records.

Thanks! I think if I do this, I am going to start very small with listing one type of thing. This has to be low scale so I can still work full time and do this part time.

[disneysteve]

Thanks! I think if I do this, I am going to start very small with listing one type of thing. This has to be low scale so I can still work full time and do this part time.

Definitely start small to learn how everything works. There is a great Facebook group called "ebay sellers helping each other" that I recommend (I'm one of their Group Experts) if you have any questions, or just to scroll through and read the posts. You can learn a lot there.

The biggest hurdles when you are first starting out is how shipping works and how to price your items. Feel free to message me any time if you have questions. I'm happy to help.

[LivingAlmostLarge]

Thanks! I think if I do this, I am going to start very small with listing one type of thing. This has to be low scale so I can still work full time and do this part time.

I'm not at steve's level but I sell my old stuff on facebook marketplace and consignment stores locally. I figure why not make something? Seriously if you listen to steve's podcast interview and read about others they seriously start with $20 and can flip it into something that many make $500-1000/month just as a "hobby" or way to pay off debt.