Merry Christmas

Things are winding down on the selling front and getting hectic in the cleaning the house and preparing for Christmas front.

I had 45 packages to ship on Monday morning and then just one or two yesterday and today. I have already turned off my Amazon Merchant Fulfilled account, and sent 3 more boxes today to FBA. I still have pickups scheduled for Tuesdays and Fridays, so I will keep trying to have a few boxes at least until the after Christmas sales merchandise hits.

I am going to go ahead and list whatever is left in the house that I have for ebay so I can can just put it away, no put it away and then drag it out again to list. I'm debating about putting my ebay store on vacation or just leaving it and packing the few orders that come in. On one had, I am really, really tired and I'm ready for a break, but don't want to miss out on any revenue I can squeak out! FBA is till going strong but I expect it to fizzle out in the next few days. I am working on my business plans for the new year, as well as figuring out a better way to balance my family and "work."

Little man is home sick today. I am trying to finish up 20 handmade snowmen for his classroom party on Thursday and my house looks like a thrift store tornado, so I am going to make this my last post until at least after Christmas.

Thank you dear readers, for being my coworkers and cheerleaders as I take on this new adventure in my life. I do so appreciate your kind words of encouragement, the wealth of knowledge you have shared with me, and your kindness to someone you have never even met in person.  You are all very special to me, and I wish you and your family a most blessed and Merry Christmas!

knee deep in the Amazon

Oh, dear thrifting friends, I apologize for being absent. Things have been very hectic here.  I've decided to make a few changes/updates to my business plan and how I have been running things.
In the beginning my plan was to focus more of my energy on Amazon and sell down some of my ebay and etsy inventory. I don't where I strayed off the path, but I have been spending most of my time, energy and money on ebay inventory and it's paying off, but its such slow going.
So I thought I'd fill you in on a few changes I am planning or have already put into motion.

I found a new and plentiful item to sell on Amazon that I have been mostly overlooking at the thrifts. With this new information, I proceeded to fill both my mom's expedition and my explorer with thrift finds over Black Friday weekend. It only took me about 6 hours to process and pack all of those items for Amazon FBA. It would take me months to process that much for ebay.

I've also really analyzed what is slowing down my ebay process and I think it's picture taking and storing inventory. Taking both of things into consideration, here is my new business plan going forward.

I am going to thrift on Mondays and Thursdays, looking only for Amazon inventory, which should make it easier to go to several thrifts in one day.  I have been paying $14 or every pickup I scheduled for UPS. I have now signed up for $10.50 a week and will have a pick up on Tuesday and Friday. The plan is that what I buy on Thursday I can process and pack for Tuesday and what I buy on Monday I can process and pack for Friday. This will make a steady flow on boxes arriving at Amazon, which will mean a more even flow of money coming in, instead of saving up until I had 14 boxes of inventory to make the cost worthwhile, like I was doing previously. I'm feeling a little pressure to find enough inventory for two loads a week, but I think that I can do it.

To speed things up on ebay I have moved my photo setup into the house- my hubby isn't thrilled with it, but it's the only way I can keep getting new things listed. It's just too cold, even with the heater, to take the little one out to my shop during the winter and I am able to get more done in the house since there is more room for her to play and be entertained. I am also able to do more laundry, cleaning, cooking being in the house instead of out in my shop.  The thing that bugs my hubby the most is the piled up inventory, which I totally understand. I have a plan for that too.

My inventory process used to look like this: Photograph, pile next to my chair, list using the large pile next to my chair, put into a laundry basket, haul a few baskets out to my shop everyday, sort the items from the laundry basket into bankers boxes or totes marked with themes, like Christmas, kitchen, vintage toys etc. Only most of the time I only got to the haul one or two baskets out to the shop a week, and then never get them sorted and then try to dig thru the baskets when I sold something. Totally not working!

New plan:
photograph 50-100 new items a week. I am talking to my mom, or thinking about hiring someone to watch little one 1-2 days a month so I can spend the whole day photographing enough to list for the rest of the month.  then write down details in google drive, pack bankers boxes with random things I have listed, ex box # 6, mark what box the item is in on the listing. Haul boxes out to my shop daily, place on shelf, find the numbered box when something sells. So much easier! The only problem I have right now is remembering to write the number in the listing.

What I have been doing is just not producing the amount of money I need it to, so I need to find a way to do things quicker, so I'm going to give it a go and I'll let you know how it's going in January.