posted on August 1, 2004 03:36:29 PM
As I run out of the house for my next 6pm to 6am shift, I want to say something...HELP!
Another 12 hours working with people who don't want to work together as a "team" - which in healthcare is NOT a good thing! A new boss who we thought would stand up for our department - HA! He is management, so guess who he backs? Now in a year we have our fourth life changing new schedule, after we just got the schedule we all love! People who have been in our department for 20 years, are quitting to do something else and NOT being replaced. More "new ideas" for our department that only adds an hour or two of work to our already busy work day (or night)...I could go on, but I think you all know what I am talking about!
But the real question is...what can I do to make eBay happen? Any suggestions? Any ideas? Where do I find wholesalers and products that will sell?
Any thoughts would be appreciated! -and you don't have to be specific and give away your utmost secrets- Thanks so much, this Vendio board is great! You all are great! I have learned so much already!
^..^ meow ^..^ meow ^..^
Time Spent With Cats Is Never Wasted
[ edited by rosycat on Aug 1, 2004 03:37 PM ]
posted on August 1, 2004 04:02:37 PM
Rosy ... You can do this exclusively on ebay or you can also cross market and have your own website. Personally, I don't have my own website because there is no way I could keep up with everything. I want to remain small for now and I work about 6-8 hours a day on my ebay business. First, purchase yourself a couple of books on marketing. It is important that you learn how to market your goods. I think it's Jack that says he buys junk and sells treasures. That's exactly what marketing is all about. Next, decide what it is that you would like to sell. Personally, I stuck with something that I know about and enjoy. It makes it easier for me to list something that I am thoroughly knowledgeable about. As for wholesalers or distributors, you will probably need a resale license to purchase wholesale. That is easy enough to get. Just check the blue pages of your phone book and look up the Dept of Revenue. They can direct you on who to speak with regarding obtaining a resale license. Then you can research distributors. When I was purchasing wholesale when I had my craft business (I sold finished items at craft shows), I would look at who manufactured the item on the back of the product. I would then call them and ask if they wholesale or use a distributor and go from there. I found all of my distributors this way.
posted on August 1, 2004 04:14:42 PM
Rosy--Your job sounds just like mine. I work in health care but in the back-office. My company just went through a lay-off period and now everyone is doing their job plus the others that were laid off with the same rate of pay. We also had our hours cut back to a madatory 36 hours. Luckily my department only has to work 2 weeks like that.
I am to the point where I do not want to go to work anymore. I too need to find a way to make money at home.
If this week is any indicator of how sales are going to be until the Christmas rush--Ouch!!. I can't believe how slow Ebay is right now. May have to keep working the 8-5 grind.
posted on August 1, 2004 05:36:56 PM
Those of you who work in health care have my sympathy. I know the job can be rewarding, but the current state of health care in this country is totally chaotic.
In the late 80s I worked for 2 1/2 years in a major hospital, one of the two largest in our hospital system. I was in public relations and marketing, and for a while I was customer relations supervisor. In that capacity I worked closely with our hospital exec. He had an idea a day--including let's have a piano playing soft music in the lobby and serve tea every afternoon, etc. etc. etc. Some of his ideas were good; most of them didn't go over well. And we in our office had the job of explaining (translating) what he wanted to the hundreds who worked in the hospital. We didn't call them customers; we called them "guests."
At the same time, nurses' hours were been yanked around and cut back here and there, and the nurses were going crazy. Some of them would be called in to work, get a sitter, get dressed and head out for a few miles to the hospital, only to be told when they arrived that they weren't needed after all. I ran into one of them outside, and she was in tears.
Every time there were major staffing cuts, the rest of the workers were told that would be the last cut. Not true. Cut after cut.
Our hospital was one of the two cash cows for the whole system; most of what we brought in was given to smaller hospitals.
What a mess our health care system is in! We need a complete overhaul. I quit the job after 2 1/2 years BECAUSE I COULD, without depriving my family of food and shelter, one of the lucky ones. And I never looked back. I vowed never again to work hard to make some execs at the top of the corporation rich. And I never have.
I don't blame you a bit for wanting to do something different. But what a loss to health care!
___________________________________
Bozone (n.): The substance surrounding stupid people that stops bright ideas from penetrating. The bozone layer, unfortunately, shows little sign of breaking down in the near future.
posted on August 1, 2004 11:56:13 PM
Go with what you know and what you like. It is easier if you understand the products and markets you are working with. Start small and make your mistakes while you still have your day job. Don't limit yourself to eBay, IMHO, that is a major error.
Don't use credit cards to pay your costs. Pay your expenses from cash flow. DO NOT hire relatives or friends to help you. Consider taxes and self-employment costs if you do quit your job. Always maintain insurance and medical coverage.
posted on August 2, 2004 04:25:35 AM
Rosy - my daughter is a nurse. She is sick of all aspects of working in health care. At one time, she was charge nurse in a nursing home on second shift, and was responsible for 42 helpless patients with only one aide. It broke her heart because she could not properly care for her patients. Yes, the administration was more interested in cutting cost to feather their own nests than the wellbeing of the patients. She quit and took a part time job, and started selling on eBay. Her income was about the same as when she was nursing. She did this for four years and then got back into nursing, at the urging of people who said she should not throw away her nursing license. Well, same stuff different day. Now she is working for a veterinarian, but still doing eBay. She says the patients are much nicer! The problem with eBay is that you can't depend on a steady income and there are no benefits.
posted on August 2, 2004 05:04:21 AM
A new company just bought our hospital to save it from closing and we thought this was a good thing, but...everyone's stress level has increased and we are no closer to having staffing and patient care problems solved. sigh. It IS heartbeaking when patients can't get what the need...sigh again. We have lost so many good, caring people at our hospital with such excellent skills because of being treated so poorly - it is such a shame! And you are right, chaotic is the term!
Well, I am very impressed with the wealth of knowledge you all have, thanks! I have so many questions - hopefully not silly ones!
bizzy - when you say you work 6-8 hours a day on eBay, is that taking photos and making listings? Is that shopping for items to sell? I will be checking into that license today! Do you have a routine?
And I have been wondering if one advantage to using Vendio is that you can make auctions up to use at a later date? Right now I have only 10-20 auctions per week on (soon to change)- how many auctions should you have to really get the best use from Vendio services? But I need to sign up for services thru Vendio. Just haven't decided which one yet.
I probably will have to work for awhile and get my business up and running. Fortunately, I don't need insurance or benefits - my husband has good benefits. But there is a lot to think about! I appreciate each and every reply here!
Yes, I do have a routine that I follow every day. In the mornings, I reconcile payments, print invoices and prepare items for mailing. I mail 3x a week, but do this every morning so that it doesn't become unmanageable. This takes 1-2 hours each morning. Then I sit, scan and upload for 2-3 hours. Then I write out my listings. In between I check for emails and respond to questions, etc., and look for other items to sell. Because I stay in one category, I have learned that category inside and out. I can shop on ebay for more items to sell. With my marketing experience, I can generally buy something for $5 or $10 and resell it for $30 and up depending on what it is.
I do work hard, but would much rather work for myself than someone else. And I am enjoying what I am doing. I'm saving money on commuting, clothing, etc. that I would normally spend with a 9-5 job. In order to earn the money that I am earning, I list 10-25 auctions every day 7 days a week. (I don't pack and ship on weekends, but I do list.) My sell through rate is 83% for the month of June. I don't know what it is for July, but I believe it is around the same amount as I sell just about everything I list.
I'm in this to earn a living and not to get rich. I do not shop yard sales, thrift shops, etc. and try to buy something for a few dollars and hope that it will sell for big bucks. I don't have that kind of experience in the market. There are others that are doing very well using that method, but it's not for me. But I do very well within my category and I'm content with what I am making.
posted on August 2, 2004 08:56:19 AM
What a great post! Been there!
I once heard a speaker say to make a million dollars, copy someone who already has. He also stated that never to go into a product based business because someone else will always have the same thing and be able to do it cheaper. On eBay I say "and have it in better condition". Look at eBay as the years have gone by. I use to do well in antiques and collectibles and now if someone loses a bid.....hey---they just wait, another one will be on eBay soon. Rarity is gone for the vast majority of items. The same speaker said do a service based company. I have been following his advice for the last 15 years. Making a million? no--but we are doing much better off financially. Husband loves his job (and it won't be outsourced) with good health benefits so that affords me the freedom for home-based business. I used eBay profits years ago to pay off the house in 10 years instead of 30 years. Makes a big difference. I advocate paying off the house! Anyone who says you don't have a tax write-off if you do, doesn't know how to do math.
Consider what you can do in a service based business. I'm glad I left my state job. I did put in 20 years and retained my pension funds in the system. There, too, they preached team work but its never in practice------NEVER.
You have no idea how glad I am to have had the opportunties with eBay in 1997-1998 through 2000. I could never understand why people would take their profits and put it on depreciating items like cars and trips. (Of course, now I can since the house is paid off) I could put it in to more real estate and I may do so yet but working on a larger savings account fore retirement. I only sell from Nov to Feb (use to sell in the summer and Oct to April) Too many sellers; not enough buyers. The next generation will not have the amount of collectors we have seen in the past; discretionary income for antiques and collectible is gone as far as I'm concerned.
I don't want to discourage you but to encourage you and remind you what I am glad I had---a terrible work environment. I'm glad I had the adversity. The pain made me improve my lot in life. Remember you need this to make you look at life differently.
(Wasn't in health care but public safety related)
posted on August 2, 2004 09:33:38 AMRarity is gone for the vast majority of items.
For the vast majority of items, rarity was never there (meaning there were plenty of such items made). What you had was geographic scarcity: you were unlikely to easily locate that double-hinged widget within 20 miles of your home.
Of course, as you point out, eBay has changed all that for many types of items. Not all.
posted on August 2, 2004 09:40:36 AMI advocate paying off the house! Anyone who says you don't have a tax write-off if you do, doesn't know how to do math.
That makes sense in some markets but not all.
In areas where home values are shooting upwards like fireworks (Silicon Valley and Las Vegas, to name but two), it makes much more sense to be as leveraged as you can get. If the value of your house is increasing 15% per year, you buy the best house you can possibly afford at today's still-low mortgage rates. When we pay our house off in a few years we'll take the $1 million or so from the sale and buy a $2 million house. Sure, there will be market corrections but they are always temporary.
Forget about working hard to get rich; THAT's how you gain wealth.
posted on August 2, 2004 10:42:49 AM
In Utah, where we lived for 20 years, we paid off our house and cabin in 1995. Now in California we own our cabin here, outright, and bought our house for cash from the sales in Utah.
There's something very freeing about not having a mortgage. We are retired and feel better about opening college accounts for our three grandsons, as well as donating to causes we truly believe in.
The freedom also allows one to take more risks with activities like selling on Ebay, and I don't get as wrought-up over bad buyers these days, either.
Teacher is right that there are some markets where it doesn't make sense, but in the majority of markets, as Suze Orman says frequently, it pays to pay off your mortgage as fast as you can, if you plan to stay in your home for any real length of time.
___________________________________
Bozone (n.): The substance surrounding stupid people that stops bright ideas from penetrating. The bozone layer, unfortunately, shows little sign of breaking down in the near future.
posted on August 2, 2004 11:53:46 AM
I've recently quit my dayjob in retail clothing sales (and you think some ebay buyers can be annoying...) and am selling full-time on ebay. I had been thinking about doing this for a year and have been watching my items sell for much more than I would have ever imagined and just decided to take a chance and jump in.
Now, I sell musical equipment and rare vinyl. I live in a city where there is a lot of rare gear and vinyl and I've been collecting both of those things for over 20 years so I am dealing in something that I KNOW about and am continuing to be amazed by the prices some very "common" items get. Geography plays a big part in my business. I often sell to small un-heard-of towns in the US and a lot to Europe and the UK. I've been building up a customer list and I take requests and I deal with some buyers off of ebay whose trust I've gained.
Scheduling is important and I find that I work more hours in the long run, but the rewards of being on my own schedule outweigh the drudgery of working retail for me. And the payoffs are coming and they're growing.
Before doing all of this, I laid out all of my monthly bills and expenses and made a balance sheet to see what sort of income I would need to "get by" and what I would like to make as a goal. I think this is an important factor. I had saved up a "cushion" before starting this so that I could stand to lose money or not hit my "get by" amount and I've worked and worked every month to keep up. It gets a bit scary in the beginning, I've found. You may do well one week and slow down the next. The same goes for your overall months. I'm constantly checking my sell-throughs and mark-ups to make sure that I'm profitting. The earlier comment someone made about not buying your product on credit is important.
There are a lot of great posts on these boards and a lot of experienced sellers who know a lot about ebay and running your own business. I don't claim to be as experienced or as knowledgeable, but I wanted to write in from the place of someone who's been where you are now and has made the decision to leave my 10-7 job and stop making money for other people and start doing it for myself. It's a struggle sometimes and you need to be honest with yourself and your finances and check to make sure you're not ruled by your fears. As you can see from these posts, there are successful people out there doing what you would like to do... there's no reason why you can't join them!
posted on August 2, 2004 11:54:48 AM
I've recently quit my dayjob in retail clothing sales (and you think some ebay buyers can be annoying...) and am selling full-time on ebay. I had been thinking about doing this for a year and have been watching my items sell for much more than I would have ever imagined and just decided to take a chance and jump in.
Now, I sell musical equipment and rare vinyl. I live in a city where there is a lot of rare gear and vinyl and I've been collecting both of those things for over 20 years so I am dealing in something that I KNOW about and am continuing to be amazed by the prices some very "common" items get. Geography plays a big part in my business. I often sell to small un-heard-of towns in the US and a lot to Europe and the UK. I've been building up a customer list and I take requests and I deal with some buyers off of ebay whose trust I've gained.
Scheduling is important and I find that I work more hours in the long run, but the rewards of being on my own schedule outweigh the drudgery of working retail for me. And the payoffs are coming and they're growing.
Before doing all of this, I laid out all of my monthly bills and expenses and made a balance sheet to see what sort of income I would need to "get by" and what I would like to make as a goal. I think this is an important factor. I had saved up a "cushion" before starting this so that I could stand to lose money or not hit my "get by" amount and I've worked and worked every month to keep up. It gets a bit scary in the beginning, I've found. You may do well one week and slow down the next. The same goes for your overall months. I'm constantly checking my sell-throughs and mark-ups to make sure that I'm profitting. The earlier comment someone made about not buying your product on credit is important.
There are a lot of great posts on these boards and a lot of experienced sellers who know a lot about ebay and running your own business. I don't claim to be as experienced or as knowledgeable, but I wanted to write in from the place of someone who's been where you are now and has made the decision to leave my 10-7 job and stop making money for other people and start doing it for myself. It's a struggle sometimes and you need to be honest with yourself and your finances and check to make sure you're not ruled by your fears. As you can see from these posts, there are successful people out there doing what you would like to do... there's no reason why you can't join them!
posted on August 2, 2004 12:26:57 PM
Roadsmith, owning your own home is great, but be wary of the traps out there to remove your assets from your estate and heirs. After you retire you are basically forced to go on medi-care (in CA medi-cal). If you have any type of illness they pay a large amount of bills for you. Flash forward to the future and the surviving spouse passes away. The estate is presented with the entire bill, due and payable. It is not illegal to protect your family assets from this recovery tactic. Your home can be turned over to a child, for love and affection, with you retaining a life estate. Or you can create a family trust and protect it that way. Beware the Medi-care MRU (Medical Recovery Unit). I know of cases when a disabled adult surviving child had the house taken by the MRU, but they were granted a life estate. These are bureaucrats that get their daily bread buttered by keeping your family poor. Don't assist them.
posted on August 2, 2004 01:14:25 PM
I was working in a factory that made vaccumes for Sears,they did the cut back thing...you now have two others job added to yours,so I quit as my back could not take the one job added. Ended up changing Flea Markets...this has been really good. Got into a deal buying a large inventory of audio books for almost nothing with many other items to come added. Went in with someone else to rent with at the flea market with some super ideas...can't wait which we will do after the 127 Yardsale...excited...meanwhile sales are getting better by the month on E-Bay and I hope Bush gets back in. Oh... I wasn't suppose to say that...Sorry. Oh well Yea Christmas really excited....
posted on August 2, 2004 03:49:49 PM
Parklane: Thanks for the thoughts! We too have heard horror stories. We've got our estate plan all sewed up with a good estate attorney and hopefully we've looked at all the things that could go wrong and planned accordingly. We also have AARP for our supplemental insurance (and by the way it's fabulous) and are of course on Medicare, since we are retired. I know things can go wrong with even the best-laid plans, though.
___________________________________
Bozone (n.): The substance surrounding stupid people that stops bright ideas from penetrating. The bozone layer, unfortunately, shows little sign of breaking down in the near future.
posted on August 2, 2004 06:20:32 PMForget about working hard to get rich; THAT's how you gain wealth
iara: I dont think I understand that statement. Unless its supposed to be sarcastic? I always thought Rich and Wealth were not related to working harder, but working smarter. That, or having an inheritance...
posted on August 2, 2004 11:05:33 PM
Thanks for all the great ideas! I will use all of them! I have gotten some good info here and appreciate it greatly!
What about record keeping? Do any of you have any beginners record keeping advice? Or is that another thread?
posted on August 3, 2004 10:28:09 AMas Suze Orman says frequently, it pays to pay off your mortgage as fast as you can, if you plan to stay in your home for any real length of time.
Paying your house off is great, but it should be the last thing you pay off.
Mortgage interest is the only personal expense you can deduct from you income.
It makes no sense to borrow money for anything else when you have untapped value in your home.
As example: If you must borrow to buy a car at 7% for 4 years, there is no tax deduction for the interest paid. If you instead take out an equity loan on your house for the purchase of the car you not only get a lower interest rate, but the interest is deductable. So in effect, you are paying 2% interest rather than 7%. Of course this only applies if you can deduct over the standard deduction.
The important thing is to use disclipline in paying off the equity loan, pay it off in the same 4 years even if that means paying it off early.
Suze Orman seems to give some contraversial and questionable advice.
There seems to be other fairy tales out there about mortgage free home ownership.
The home is generally your largest asset, but it is at just as much risk as any other asset if you are in financial trouble. And having a home paid for by no means protects you from financial problems any more than having money in the bank can protect you.
There are bankruptcy exceptions in some states where you get to keep your home after filing bankruptcy. Florida is where most white collar criminals pay cash for their homes, and they get to keep them after filing for bankruptcy. There is at least one ex-felon from the Savings and Loan scandel that kept his mansion in Florida after filing bankruptacy.
One of the executives from Enron or Worls Com built a $15 mansion there as his company was going belly up.
Illness, loss of income, a law suit, can all cause you to lose your "paid for" home.
A "paid for " asset, if not properly thought out and protected can vanish just as fast as a mortgaged asset.
People who had their homes and farms paid for for years had them auctioned off during the Depression just to pay back taxes.
Developing a steady and somewhat uninteruptable income source is about the only sound financial planning advice to give, yet no one suggests this to working class people.
Best financial investment you can make ? How about getting a college education instead of paying off the mortgage ?
posted on August 6, 2004 08:26:32 AM
Neil: This is a late answer to your question. I don't know if there's any substantial difference between the hospital chain I worked for and Humana. I've heard pros and cons about every chain in the country. My hunch is that all hospitals are in the same sort of crunch from all directions, the only possible difference being the leadership methods of the top dogs.
(What do you do in healthcare? Nurse? Or?)
___________________________________
My right to speak my mind, to have a voice, to be what some have called "opinionated," is a right I deeply and profoundly cherish. And my only hope is that, one day soon, women--who have all earned their right to their opinions--instead of being called opinionated, will be called smart and well-informed, just like men. ~Teresa Heinz Kerry (bless her)
posted on August 6, 2004 10:02:29 AM
Rosycat. I worked in healthcare 45 years. I am not complaining because I loved every minute of it. At the very end I was laid off because they wanted me to do yet another job and I refused, found another one 1 month later. I was a Rad Tech.
I would like to make a few suggestions to you. Is there a possibility that you could work part time for a while so that you still had a cash flow and would give you time to find something to sell that would be easy, profitable and maybe even something that you could wholesale and sell the same thing so imaging wouldn't be difficult. and relisting would be easy. It's out there someplace. I tried selling full time and find it very tedious. Then even if you state in your auctions payment with 10 days it doesn't work. Payments don't come. Then you have all the paperwork for the NPB. Now I am not trying to discourage you. Bizzy has a great business. She had a few problems but don't we all. She has it together now and became a power seller quite rapidly. So it can be done and Bizzy is an example of that. Good Luck in what ever you decided.
posted on August 6, 2004 01:27:15 PM
Rosycat, you have to keep records. But if there is one thing I have learned from my Mexican amigo's, it's that you don't have to be smart about it. Well, be smart about it, but don't let anybody know....No Habla I R S....
posted on August 6, 2004 01:49:34 PM
Uh, all your receipts go in a box. Add em all up. Rule: you exist to do business. A receipt for everything goes in the box. Add it all up. The tax people might quibble? Subtract a per centage for shrinkage. 10, 20, 30 percent, I don't know. It's all in the box, I got some expert advice and claim two thirds as an approximation. Here's the box. Here's the calculator roll. Sorry, it was an old ribbon. Here's the income evidence. Let me know. Never give them information they do not request. Know what is in the box.
If I do owe more, I am proud to make a contribution for Dubya and the glory of imperial America.
posted on August 6, 2004 08:43:53 PM
This is great info, THANKS! In fact, I think I may already have a couple of ideas for things to sell. Some I have sold before with success, just didn't know how it would work increasing the number of auctions of this type item.
I definately can't quit work until I have a couple of credit cards paid off and a contingency fund for surprises! I'd like to get my car paid down, too. Calculated out, ... shouldn't take too long. How's that for being precise! It is definately motivation to get sales going!
There are even a couple other venues I have had the opportunity to use, which will also help. Keep the ideas coming! And Thanks!
And for the state of health care in this country, whew-what a mess!
The hospital I work for was going to close unless they sold out. So a company from Tennessee bought the hospital and gave us a lot of great promises, took over on July 1st this year. They made us think things were going to be improved - and some things will, but now we know it will be at the expense of other things...like some of our jobs, our schedules, taking on more and more work to do in less time...etc, etc. I think it is this way everywhere and I don't know the answer. I just have a real conflict with this and the impact on patient care.
I'm a respiratory therapist, but when I can, (and most times I don't) I take the time to take patients to the bathroom, get them things they need or hunt down a nurse or aide to help them, which can take awhile! These people wait and wait and wait. I would think it would be worth hiring extra aides, patients aren't safe when they can't get help. Extra nurses aide help would mean good PR.
Then, of course, I work nights and am the next one in line for day shift. So a day shift person quits...and they decide not to fill the position. So here I am still on nights and we are working without enough help.
posted on August 6, 2004 10:18:12 PM
Well rozy I have always said that they should pay Respiratory therapists $1000.00 an hour because I would never do that job in my life time. That is one rough and tough job and I commend you for doing that. I think there is always a need for them at least it was when I was working. When we had codes I new you guys would come running. I did CT and Special procedures. I also understand why you want to leave as it it the toughest job. Your knowledge, everything. My boss was a respiratory therapist and he now has quit his hospital job and does private oxygen therapy and I don't know what else. Good Luck
