Making space
March was a month of making space.
Since I didn't get to list nearly as much as I did in February, all the new finds started to encroach on my floor space. Coincidentally, my sister, Kelly, has been building her own business, Homebound Interior Design, and just having her walk through my space and spitball ideas had me remember my couch has a storage component. I flipped the chaise up and threw a bunch of slow-selling items underneath. Out of sight, out of mind.
New furniture
A few weeks later, I finally took the plunge and bought some new furniture. I had been getting by with the few pieces I bought the day I moved in, three years ago. I'm not one to buy new things, as you might guess, but this was a necessary evil. And, boy, I'm glad I did. I decided on the iconic Ikea Kallax storage system and purchased an eight-cubby piece for a vertical bookcase and a four-cubby piece as a new tv stand. Almost immediately, I could throw all the extra books, DVDs, and everything else spilling onto the floor into something solid and clean. Hooray!
That would have been enough but I managed more.
Re-listing Facebook
After months of no activity on a few Facebook listings, I decided to try and relist. I deleted a listing for a big box of 100+ pink MegaBloks. It even included some unicorns and cute little girl figures. And wouldn't you know it, after about 12 hours of a fresh listing, I had made a deal, and cleared some more kitchen storage space too.
New Rollo, who dis?
And last but not least, I promised myself I would and I did - I hooked up the new Rollo printer! What the hell was I waiting for? It is awesome! Now instead of slowly printing shipping labels on white printer paper, cutting them out, and taping them to boxes, I can fire off thermal-printed stickers and my packages are ready to go. Plus, I was able to stash away the Canon printer and reveal some more shelf room.
Now, with all this brand-new space, let's take a look at how we did with the money.
By the numbers
Spend: $421.09
Profit: $940.98
Listed on eBay: 97 (120 last month)
eBay rating: 99.4% (0.1% bump!)
What Sold
Highlights
New thrifts and wins
I feel like I'm endlessly surprised by this business. I found some new thrift stores this month and they've been in my backyard this entire time! One was 15 minutes away - Union City Unique. Another was American Thrift Store in Passaic, which apparently has existed along my normal weekend thrifting routes and I had no idea until I saw a billboard. Both visits were fruitful for different reasons. I almost walked out of Union City Unique empty-handed until I found all three Powerpuff Girls in plush form! American Thrift Store had a lot of larger toy bags crammed with stuff and I gambled on a winner. It turned out to be over 100 pieces for a board game called HeroScape. I ran an eBay auction and walked away flipping a $4 purchase into $76 gross profit.
Thanks, eBay!
Each quarter, eBay offers Store subscribers a $25 credit for shipping supplies in their branded eBay store. This was the first time I could take advantage and I ordered up a big box of small boxes. Just another bit less to worry about - shipping.
Fails
Tough listings
I didn't manage to break 100 listings this month. It's not like I don't have the stuff to do it. But I've started to scratch the bottom of the barrel when it comes to items that are easy to list. I still managed to list a few things each day, though, and now the remainders need some extra attention before getting photographed and thrown up on the marketplace. Little by little.
Too many iPhone photos
With still listing so much and so consistently, I take a lot of photos. As you can imagine, I need quite a few to highlight a number of angles for each item in my store. Multiply everything I have and my iPhone photo library is over 5,000. Maybe that's less than what you'd expect but the failure of the situation is taking all the extra time scrolling through photos to find the wins that make up the What Sold gallery above. Plus, whenever I sell something, I transfer the photos of the item off my phone and onto my laptop. Why am I saving them? I have no idea. Can I save just one? Maybe so. I need a new system to make this a bit smoother and faster.
What do you want?
During one particular Thrifting Thursday, I offhandedly made a comment to my co-pilot and mom that I wasn't even bothering to look at Legos anymore. Thrift stores have caught onto their value and jacked the prices. In response, Ma asked, "Well, then what are you looking for?" And I realized I couldn't quite answer with a single thing. It's almost like I'll know it when I see it. And I think I'm considering that a failure. I need to know more of what I want to get. They call that manifesting, right? As a matter of fact, this might be the opportunity and nudge I need to start sharing some toy reselling tutorial content.
Going forward
Mark it down
We all know every month brings some new opportunities. And I think this month should bring back an old one. Some of my plans last month didn't pan out, so I'd like to try again. I want to run a markdown sale on my eBay store. You read right - if you've ever wanted to buy something from me, April is the time!
Facelift the listings
Considering the MegaBloks win this past month, I'd also like to refresh and re-list my Facebook items. Who knows what could come of it?
IG personalities
I'd still like to build up my Instagram audience. And, as far as I understand, if you want people to pay attention, you need to create some value. But do I want to teach people how to buy and sell toys, or do I want to sell the lifestyle of being a reseller? Seems like there are possibilities for both. Let's see what we can do.
