Takes money to make money
It's 2021. Things move fast around here. Outside my reselling bubble, this month has been so extra, as the kids say. We finally have a new President but not without some chaos on the side. Wall Street is panicking over the strength of the Internet. And one of my favorite UFC fighters, Conor McGregor, got knocked out. What is happening?
But enough about that - Flipshark got some stuff done!
Let's start with the numbers. This is a business after all.
As I mentioned last month, I realized I had been tracking my profits in a slightly less than genuine way. I ended up only calculating and sharing the net profit for an item when it sold. I wasn't factoring in all my other costs and all the other items I bought that didn't yet sell.
Now, I have a different plan. I want to share what I've spent each month and what's sold within 2021. (We'll count 2019-2020 wins separately just to add to the mess.)
The mental shift has been interesting. It has helped me take a second look at what I buy and also what I buy to invest in the growth of the business. With that being said, I bought a LOT this month. More risk, more reward, right? Let's check it out.
By the numbers
Spend: $870.58
$775.26, includes 100 bubble mailers, all the items, and a new website and URL - flipsharkfigures.com
21.95 for upgrading my eBay Store subscription
73.37 for a brand new Rollo thermal printer
(Again, this is a bit off. I probably technically spent even more. I had some leftover gift cards for one of the thrift stores I visit and I had an Amazon gift card from my regular job that afforded me a giant chunk of the new printer.)
Gross profit last month: $732.30
This is the total I received from selling on eBay and Facebook in January before I take out shipping and other fees.
Profit this month:
$562.81 from 2021 sales
$433 from 2019-2020 sales (Anything sold before 2021 is profit because I surpassed the YTD total with career sales.)
If you bring it all together for January, I made $995.81
Subtract the spend and we have a profit of $125.23!
But now that the serious spending is under our belt, we can expect this to skyrocket next month.
Listed on eBay: 113
eBay rating: 99.2%
What Sold
Highlights
So much happened this month!
SecretFormula x Flipshark Partnership
I am especially happy to share this month that I partnered with SecretFormula to sponsor the virtual prize table for their Spoons Toons & Booze After Dark shows. What the heck does that mean? In the Before Times, SecretFormula would produce and host events and parties connecting nerds of pop culture from today and yesterday. I stumbled on their brand of fun when my good friends Rob and Rachel brought me to a Spoon Toons & Booze screening at the Nighthawk Theater in Brooklyn one Saturday night. We watched Clone High and Ren & Stimpy and Daria on the big screen. I ate my weight in cereal from their unlimited cereal bar. It was unforgettable.
In 2020, SecretFormula seamlessly shifted onto Zoom and it was easily one of the best parts of an otherwise garbage year. In a time where so much was shut down or off-limits, SecretFormula offered a community and an event worth looking forward to. Not long after noticing some familiar faces every event or so, I started to realize that these are my people. Flipshark Figures should be involved. I had all this great stuff lying around and I knew the SecretFormula crew would appreciate it.
Needless to say, I'm part of the action now and it has given me motivation to do so much more than just flip thrift store junk. You can see how it works on the Secret page. But, of course, there is more to come.
Listings
On top of all of that, I exceeded 100 eBay listings again. I think this started to become a necessity because I found that the more I listed on eBay, the more I sold. I'm willing to bet eBay rewards listing consistency, and, hell, if I don't list all this stuff, it's not going anywhere! I'd like to see my apartment floor from time to time.
New website
I bought a brand new domain (flipsharkfigures.com) and built a brand new website! You're looking at it! I figured it was time to officially make the switch from my original gallery of home decor for sale and really embrace the fun of reselling toys, games, and nostalgia. I'm no designer, but Squarespace made it easy. (I even found some inspiration from SecretFormula's own website and blue background.) Now I'm happy to say I have a place to share these adventures and show off the goods.
100+ IG Followers
Announcing a partnership with SecretFormula and offering a new website opened the doors to some Instagram growth. I finally broke 100 followers! It's still small potatoes but I'm more dedicated than ever to grow a community around this business. Anyone can sell on eBay but it takes a special reseller to build something better.
GoPro filming
My brother was nice enough to lend me his GoPro and I finally took it out for a spin. I didn't ask anyone at the thrift store for permission and I'm still not sure it's allowed. I was trying to be sneaky about it and I did manage to get a bit of footage, but I also managed to get a sliver of my finger in the shot too. I'm not sure if I'll continue getting footage like that but I'm happy to say I tried.
YouTube video
I didn't manage to make too many videos this month. As a matter of fact, I made one. But I'll celebrate where I can!
Storage buys
What else? Oh, I made my first storage unit deal. It was a sweet alley-oop from my sister who saw a Facebook listing about someone trying to clean out and close their unit. They claimed to have some toys, so I was listening. I ended up meeting Rachel (a former reseller) and making a solid deal of $15 for four nearly-new items. Plus, I already sold the Amiibo figure for $13 so the other three are pure profit!
A new printer
Last but not least, I did it - I finally pulled the trigger and bought a Rollo thermal printer. No more gigantic printer or ink cartridges or taping my paper labels to eBay boxes. The Rollo printer will not only be a giant convenience factor, it will look a lot more professional to my customers.
Fails
eBay subscription
It turns out listing too much can be a burden. It's not technically a failure - just an oversight of my own success. My eBay Starter Store subscription only offered 250 free listings every month. While I only listed 100 new items this month, my old junk has been renewing every month without a sale. Some stuff even stretched back to the beginning of this reselling journey. I had to make some cuts and take down some things that just won't sell or just won't sell for enough. An example? How about two? I had two separate listings for some sealed packs of floppy discs. For $10 each. No thanks.
Plus, this particular failure encouraged me to upgrade my eBay Store subscription from Starter to Basic. Now I have 350 free monthly listings on top of a few other benefits! Let the listings begin!
Clarifying fees
While researching the eBay Store options, I did learn about some more specifics in terms of fees. I always assumed the final value fee sat around 10% but it turns out it is often a bit less, depending on the item category. However, the final value fee also has a flat-rate $0.30 attached to it. That's a lot of detail to say that my fee calculations have been only slightly off. I'll be correcting this going forward.
Stupid shipping
Oh, and you want to hear a really dumb mistake? I thought I could redeem myself when I found another Octonauts Gup-A Submarine on the thrift store shelf. Originally, I found and sold one for $40 but I forgot to add shipping. When it was all said and done, I made a whooping $3 in profit. But this time I did only slightly better. I sold the new Gup-A for $25 and, guess what, forgot to add shipping! Luckily, I was able to pack it better this time and walked away with $3.59. Oof.
Going forward
Let's keep this train moving!
Website improvements
Before the next Spoons Toons & Booze After Dark show, I need to update this website. Beyond spicing up the prize table page, there is opportunity to show off more of the treasures I normally find. I'd much rather sell to a fan on my website than through a platform like eBay and Facebook. That's the goal - build a community that wants to follow along with what I do.
An IG Community
And with that being said, I'd like to make it a priority to build up my Instagram followers this month. I've had a really great time sharing a lot more about what I do and what I pick up. And why not? That's half the fun. Plus, my good friend Rachel has exploded on the Instagram bookstagram scene and I need to pick her brain for how she found her people.
Bright sides
While the costs should certainly drop after this month of extreme spending, I do want to invest in some smaller LED lights for my product shots. I've been taking up so much space for years now with these larger box lights in my apartment. I keep them open because they're a hassle to close and I take listing photos almost every day. And while no one is coming over now, every day we're closer to getting back to normal life.
Advertise
Last but not least, I think the biggest potential for product requires putting myself and my business back out there. It's not always going to be enough to spend hundreds at the thrift store. I might be able to flip things for a profit, but I'd rather work smarter than harder. How? I think Facebook advertising might be the next best route. I want to advertise that I buy toys and lots of them. With the winter still kicking, I think maybe there are some people out that want to do some spring cleaning. Or just want to empty their attics or basements. Or make some side cash. And that's where I can find opportunities. Or, at least, that's the plan.
Until next time.
