posted on February 20, 2001 07:57:01 PM
My wife and I would like to start selling some of our inventory via auctions. We currently operate, along with 6 employees 1 retail store and 2 garage sale/truckload sales 4 days a week for 6 months. We work with retailers and manufactures during the year to help them reduce there inventory. Most of our items are new. I have researched some categories on e-bay and feel some of our inventory would do well via auction. However time is always a factor, you can only do so much yourself. I am wondering how much time i would have to commit to list on average 200 items at $20.00 each average per month to attain a monthly gross sales of $4000.00? Any suggestions or experience would be appreciated. Thanks
posted on February 20, 2001 08:09:56 PM
I run about 200 - 250 auctions per month. It really does not take any time at all to list. The majority of my time comes from tracking the auction status (collecting, shipping, ect.)
$4,000 is a good goal. My first goal was $2,000. I finally made it.
-Trey
***********************************
"If your mind can concieve it, and you believe it, then you probably can achieve it."
posted on February 20, 2001 08:10:38 PM
First it all depends on what type of items you have.If every item is different each week it will take you some time.
To speed things up have a generic template with all your info on it.All you need to do is add a description and a jpeg,this will save lots of time.
Next look for a bul loading software,auctionwatch has a great one you can use.
Ideally if you can find 200 items that do well each different that you have multiples of the same items then thats the best.
That way you can repeat the same items over and over again and just set a time to relist these.
This is not easy to do though at all.I have been at this for over 3 years and it has taken me that long to get 50 such items.However my pics change every week but the descriptions stay the same.
To do 100 auctions takes me about a day to do as many as you want 2 to 3 days working a 10 hour day.
posted on February 20, 2001 08:11:38 PM
New items can be easier to deal with on listings. You can use one description over and over, assuming you have lots of one item, same photos over and over, and so on. The downside can be over-saturation of a certain item, then fewer bids, and lower sale prices.
If you use software like some of the folks here do, you can list lots of auctions quickly once it's set up. But then, don't forget--emails to answer, items to pack, trips to the Post Office, pretty soon you realize that it takes quite a bit of time.
posted on February 20, 2001 08:25:25 PM
A good rule of thumb for me is one hour per auction.
That's one hour for listing+corresponding with the high bidder+packing and addressing+getting it shipped.
But I sell a variety of stuff and hardly ever sell the same thing twice. If you're going to sell the same few things over and over you can save considerable time on the listing.
posted on February 20, 2001 09:08:48 PM
My goal 3 years ago was minimum of $3,000 a month & I have achieved that ever since.
Almost everything I sell is different, hardly ever 2 of the same thing -- and Memoryhole is right on, I figure my work load at about 1 hour per sold item.
I've just started using AW's bulk upload feature, and see already that it will cut off several hours at least each week, and I've recently figured out a couple of other shortcuts.
But the bottom line is, it is a lot of work! I work some pretty long hours, and odd ones too, but I'm the one who's in charge of everything in my life, not some boss, so for me the work is worth it.
My choice when I started was to be very diverse, and concentrate on antiques, ephemera, collectibles, and books -- if you have one or two specific & repeatable product lines in mind, obviously you will be able to automate certain steps & your time spent on things won't take as long.
If you are convinced you will LOVE it, then go for it, but if it is just going to be another job, consider it very carefully before making the plunge.
posted on February 20, 2001 10:35:28 PM
"Good rule of thumb one hour per auction"Average selling price per item sold $20.00-$8.00 item cost=$12.00-$10.00 hour labor=$2.00-$2.00 other expense=no profit on a $20.00 item???? Am I looking at this wrong or what? If it took me an hour to sell a $20.00 item at a truckload sale or a retail store you would not be in business very long. Sure you do not have the overhead when selling via auctions but the time a person spends to sell an item adds up. So the way I see it is to lower the cost of the item so there is more room to work out a profit and try to sell higher dollar items,or put no value on your time . Am I making any sense?
posted on February 20, 2001 10:56:51 PM
To Westhill:
The secret is to look for shortcuts. If you have 500 of one item then you only have to write its description once and then you can reuse it 499 times. You can use bulk listers, find ways to multi-task(I sit here and pack while uploading pictures), use automated e-mail to contact your high bidders etc....
posted on February 21, 2001 08:33:16 AM
I've been dealing in ladies designer clothes which has a higher potential closing bid. I found that I was spending about the same average time per auction whether the item was a $20 value or a $200 value. (I'm a bit of a perfectionist with photos and cropping them, and do spend time on my own WBN - so my average time per auction is TWO hours). <p> So, I've worked to find cheaper sources and higher end items. My recommendation is that you don't bother with "widgets" that cost $8 and only go for $20, especially if they require different descriptions. Find something that costs little, but is unique enough to sell high. My "average hourly wage" is $20. That ain't bad, considering I have no rent, no employees, no headaches!
"Sweetfulfillment" - from my FAVE song, "When You Wish Upon A Star" - dedicated to FULFILLING your ebay dream needs
posted on February 21, 2001 10:41:13 AM
Even if you have to make different descriptions for each auction you can save a great deal of time by making components that you can paste together which contain your shipping and payment terms and any background or copyright info.
Keeping all these in an enhansed clipboard program like Clipmate is useful.
posted on February 21, 2001 11:02:13 AM
One of those Arsineo Hall thoughts here... How is Fairmarket going to affect you? If you're selling multiples of an item, verses unique items? Don't you think the big boys will be able to undercut you? Just like the big stores that move in, they can afford to take a loss longer than you can. Playing field is about to change. Hhmmm....
posted on February 21, 2001 11:25:57 AM
If you sell 200 items a month making a 5$ profit on each, you make $1000. So you either need to increase your profit margin therefore the amount you wish each auction to end. However, that may mean the number of successful auctions will decline, thus decreasing your final profit count. If you have a lot of the same "thing", it may not be any more work to list 600 or more at the same time. Then again that may beg a question as to whether or not they should be listed as a dutch auction and so on and so on. The bottom line in my book is that hard work and persistence pays.
posted on February 21, 2001 12:05:39 PM
Obviously I'm a real small fry around here.. My net income for January was only $50, although February is looking much better... I skipped listing trading cards for one month and went with the sets and plushes only, and that's made for a good month. I'm going to start listing the cards again in theme months (ie one set for March, different set for April, etc) and see how that works...
