Secret formulas work
There must be something in the air. Or the fact that February was a perfect rectangle on the calendar this year. But it was my best month ever!
And it wasn't just a matter of lucky sales, I learned a lot too. I even had some dark times.
Let's not get ahead of ourselves. Numbers first. Secret formulas later.
By the numbers
Spend: $429.76
Includes a short Facebook ad campaign for $20
Profit this month:
$534.16 from 2021 sales
$617.50 from 2019-2020 sales (I consider anything sold before 2021 as profit because I surpassed the YTD total with career sales.)
If you bring it all together for February, I made $1,151.66!
Listed on eBay: 123 (113 last month)
eBay rating: 99.3%
What Sold
Highlights
Listing consistently
By far the best highlight of the month was committing to listing 5 items every day. It wasn't easy, but honestly it wasn't too hard. It was a bit annoying some nights to finish the tasks of my regular job, cook dinner, and then finally sit down to photograph, weigh, and list before I allowed myself to go to bed. And I'm not going to lie, some days did result in only 3 or 4, but the results are hard to argue. Not only did I list more than last month, I'm finally chipping away and selling some items that have been collecting dust since I bought them many moons ago. Either they were too large to photograph easily or required some cleaning. But once I committed, I was able to follow through.
More auctions
With the need to list more, I found myself getting more adventurous with auctions. I stuck with big lots of collectible things, like Legos and Playmobil, and it panned out! Added bonus: after 7 days of an auction, I was guaranteed to ship something out of my apartment. Score!
Make it fun!
I even found ways to make listing more fun. SecretFormula hosted a Back to the 90's: 1993 Sing Along one Friday night, so I tuned in, flipped on my webcam, and got some work done while listening to old-school tunes with my new digital friends.
Also, we gave away another prize from the Virtual Prize Table for SecretFormula's Spoons, Toons & Booze After Dark shows. Our winner, Collin, chose to send his sister this Care Bears keychain clip.
SecretFormula has been such a blessing. Not only did they keep me sane in 2020, they've helped so much in expanding my audience and, without even knowing it, refining my business approach. Just this past month, Nell, one of the co-owners, was kind enough to jump on the phone with me for what turned out to be an hour. I was curious to know how SecretFormula came to be and Nell offered to be a sounding board for my future business plans. It ended being so much more.
Chatting with Nell and hearing the stories of all those that made SecretFormula what it is today reminded me of a few essential lessons:
We do this because we love it.
It's so stupid that we can ever forget that. You choose your own adventure. Sure, there is the reality of the market. You can't expect a fortune selling something no one wants to buy. But if you don't like something about your business, you're the boss, change it. As an example, Nell helped me realize I don't need to guilt myself for not making a dozen YouTube videos every week. I don't like making videos. I may like the finished product but not enough to suffer through the process of getting better at it. At least not right now, she clarified.
It takes time.
SecretFormula began in Michael's apartment. But they grew to host hundreds for shows in theaters across the country and the digital presence we all know and love today! Flipshark may still be in the Apartment Phase but things are moving and shaking. I just need to remind myself that it'll take as long as it needs to. Just keep learning and trying new things.
No one knows what they're doing. Especially now.
I don't need to tell anyone that last year was a trip. We were all there. But harsh as it is, that's life. Curveball and chaos. And that's not meant to say we don't try. It's meant to remind myself that there will always be dishes and dust and problems to solve. You can't just wish them away, so why not get down to business?
Facebook ads
I finally dipped my toes in the Facebook advertising waters. I did a small test - a $20 buy over 5 days. I made an ad with the goal of receiving messages and targeted moms with children aged 18-32. I chose this demographic because it was how this all started. The very first day I decided to try reselling as a side business, I met a mother, right in my hometown of all places, who sold me her adult son's Mighty Morphin' Power Ranger toys and WWE wrestlers. She said he moved to Florida and didn't care for them anymore. I thought that if she existed, there might be more moms out there, looking to clean out their homes of childhood toys left behind and neglected by their kids. But no bites this time. I can't be exactly sure why - bad timing, too short of an ad run, or the wrong crowd. But now that I know the process, I'm more willing to try again. Added bonus: I made a Facebook page for Flipshark Figures.
Side note: If you know anyone with Power Rangers, Ninja Turtles, WWE wrestlers, Legos, Goosebump books, horror VHS tapes, X-men action figures, or anything like that - I'm listening ;)
Home Decor Highlights
While I decided to shift to toys and nostalgia, the home decor side of things is still open for business. On Instagram mostly. (Until the pandemic takes a hike and I can sell in-person again.) But to make it more apparent what newcomers could buy, I finally took the time to make some Instagram Highlights of what's still available and for sale.
Fails
One Bad Day
While there were a lot of highlights this month, there were some struggles. Particularly one weekend, it didn't just rain, it poured. It was February 13th. I woke up and checked my phone immediately. I've read all about how psychologically risky that habit can be but it's grown on me. Most days it's a solid way to wake up when I see some sales came in overnight. This morning was different. I received a rare refund request, and for a particularly expensive metal model car lift.
Well, that put me in a funk that continued when I learned about the success of some other reselling friends. My jealousy and frustration got the better of me. I know it's wrong to compare because you never know someone else's journey, but I couldn't shake the question - "I work so hard, why am I not doing better at this?"
I tried to shake things up and head out to the thrift store. But walking down the stairs, bringing a few things to my car, I dropped an orange peace sign statue meant for a friend, shattering it at my feet. It wasn't the only thing that broke that day.
Luckily, I woke up the next morning and I was able to take matters into my own hands. No one was going to do it for me. I admitted to my friend I smashed his item and I refunded him. I started the refunding process for the metal car lift. And I plowed ahead to better times!
Where can I buy your stuff?
Besides diving deep with me into the existential reflections of running a business, Nell did drop a simple question on me - "Where can I buy your stuff?" I've spent all this time sharing my Instagram and making SecretFormula friends, it never occurred to me that people would want to pay eBay prices for the action figures and Lego sets I list. But who the hell do I think is buying this stuff on eBay anyway? They're people too. Some of my favorites in fact. So I added my eBay store to the website up above but throughout the next month I'll be finding ways to advertise what I have to offer a bit better.
And some small fails:
I told myself last month I'd buy LED lights. I haven't.
If you remember, I did buy my Rollo printer but I haven't even opened it.
No worries. There is plenty of time.
Going forward
I know I've been doing this for years now, but there is still so much to learn!
I ended this month strong with the help of YouTube reseller Lindey Glenn. I stumbled on her video SECRET FORMULA for DAILY SALES on eBay! Beat the Algorithm and SELL MORE!
Stay active
Secret formulas seem to be finding me from all directions! Lindey shared a few tips I didn't realize. The biggest takeaway seems like common sense in retrospect - eBay rewards active sellers. If you're constantly wheelin' and dealin' on eBay, they want you to keep at it. If you make money, they make money. With that being said, Lindey recommends always enabling Best Offers on your items and accepting them when you can. Doing this allows eBay buyers to contact you and it allows you to interact and accept.
Just this weekend, I proved her right! I accepted a Best Offer for a model car, watched a movie, and two hours later, when I checked my inbox, I had two more sales!
Mark it down
Plus, now that I've listed a solid chunk of my death pile, it might also be a great time to experiment and run my very first eBay markdown sale. As Lindey shared, putting your store on sale, even for 5% off, could result in an avalanche of more than average sales. I'm willing to try.
More After Dark
Last but not least, how could I not plug SecretFormula's next Spoons Toons & Booze After Dark show? Join us in celebrating St. Patrick's Day with booze, cartoons, and a whole lot of fun!
