Last week's goals were:
- Sales Goal: $800. I am happy to report that I PASSED this goal! Hooray!
- Listing Goal: List at least 20 new items. I actually got 33 new items listed! Another Hooray!
- Sales Goal: I'm going to bump this up just a bit to $850.
- Listing Goal: List at least 20 new items again. I have 2 laundry baskets of stuff to get listed this week, and I plan to shop on Wednesday, because I have a 20% off clothing coupon for Goodwill that's good the last Wednesday of every month. I am very confident that I'll reach my 20 new listings and probably more!
I have an unpaid item case open right now. I had someone offer me $20 for a $29.99 microwave turntable. I accepted the offer and haven't heard from them since. Doesn't it drive you bonkers when THEY offer to buy it and then never bother paying? When/if they pay, I'll just drop it into one of my new "cute" turntable boxes (wrapped safely, of course), and send it on its way.
Those turntable boxes cost me about $2 a piece with shipping. I sell a LOT of turntables, and at a very high profit margin, so I don't mind spending that $2 on a box. But if you are only selling one or two, do you want to place an order for 25 boxes? No, probably not. Before I started buying boxes, I was making them myself. I used other large boxes, redesigned them, and cut them to the size and shape I needed.
I have a new document available under the "Products and Services" tab at the top of my blog. This document includes the template that I use for turntables. I have sent this template out to people in the past, but this document includes the template for 4 different-sized turntables, as well as a step-by-step tutorial on how to build them. This tutorial will save you the cost of having to buy the boxes. It will also save you the time waiting for your shipment of boxes to arrive. If you sold a turntable this morning and you need to ship it tomorrow, do you have time to wait for your order of boxes? No. This tutorial will help you get your turntable shipped out on time! Check it out under the "Products and Services" tab at the top of my blog.
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I had a buyer from Alberta over the weekend. She bought a board game. She paid for it this morning, choosing First Class International shipping. A couple minutes later, I got this note from her:
Now, geography was never my strongest subject in school, so let's consult a map, shall we?please ship out today as i am hoping to receive it before saturday for an 80's party i am hosting!!! thanks again
The red dot is me, in Pennsylvania. The green dot is my buyer, in Alberta. The yellow line is the long, long path that this package needs to travel between now and Saturday. Alberta is roughly two light years away from Pennsylvania, so I'm pretty sure it's not going to arrive on time. I sent my buyer a message saying, "I'd be happy to ship today, but I really doubt it will arrive on time!" I then waited several hours to hear back from her. The time came when I had to ship it, or I'd be too late for the post office, so I went ahead and shipped it first class. After I sent it off, I wrote her this note:
Hello! Your package is on its way! I hope it arrives on time - your party sounds like a lot of fun!Notice I ended that message on a happy note. I didn't end it with: "I don't think your package is gonna make it on time." The "your party sounds like a lot of fun!" took the focus off the bad news. I've got my fingers crossed, but I'm not expecting anything good to come of this transaction....
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My husband's off to class again tonight, so the kids and I are headed out for some pizza!
I bought your spreadsheet today and love it. I would love also if you would sell your spreadsheet on how you keep track of your business expenses. Thanks
ReplyDeleteThanks, Sarah! I'm glad it's a useful spreadsheet. I keep track of all of my expenses in a physical book, so I don't have a spreadsheet for that right now. I can work on creating one though, since I suspect you wouldn't be the only one who could use something like that. In the meantime, you can check my "Amazon Products for eBay Sellers" tab at the top of my blog, and you'll see a link to the Dome record-keeping book that I use for that.
ReplyDeleteI think I will be buying that turntable template. I tried to order boxes and shipping was $100+!!! I guess that's the price I pay for paradise. :)
ReplyDeleteOuch, Yvette! I can get 25 boxes shipped to me for around $50, but I live a lot closer to the shipper than you do :)
ReplyDeleteHave you ever thought about using multi-depth boxes? For example, uline has their 16x16x6 boxes, which cut down easily to 16X16X4 or 16X16X2. It's like having three boxes in one.
ReplyDeleteJessica, on that buyer from Alberta...speaking for myself...I would be sorely tempted to cancel the transaction. Can a seller cancel a transaction & refund the buyer without getting into trouble? A buyer with unrealistic expectations is always troublesome...her ignorance re: the reality of shipping is mind-boggling...I have had Canadian packages take 4-6 weeks due to hold up at customs!
ReplyDeleteScott, I've seen those, but I've never considered using them. The only time I've ever needed a 16 x 16 is for my turntables, so I'd have no use for a deeper or shallower one.
ReplyDeleteAnonymous, yes, in retrospect i probably should have cancelled the transaction. I wouldn't even count on a domestic parcel post package to arrive in that amount of time, much less international. But it's too late now. All i can do is cross my fingers and hope she's nice about it.
As a side note, sweet valley high was from the 90s, not the 80s, wasn't it?