Goals

$100,000

January 18, 2017 by Kari @ She Thrifts 2 Comments

This has been long in coming because I first started selling on eBay sporadically about five years ago, but I noticed on my seller dashboard recently that I’ve surpassed $100,000 in sales on eBay (ever).

Ideally that number would be up to 150K by the end of this year, but so far my goals are off to a rocky start. I hit my listing goal of 100 new listings the first week of the year, didn’t hit my listing goal the second week, and didn’t make my sales goal either week.

Luckily there are more days and weeks to come! Gotta keep chipping away, right?

eBay Goals, 2017

January 1, 2017 by Kari @ She Thrifts 6 Comments

New year, new goals! I just looked to see what my goals were at the start of 2016, wondering if I had come close to hitting them, but it doesn’t look like I posted any.

I love the new year, the feeling of starting off fresh, all the possibilities. Goals are fun, but of course they aren’t anything more than wishes unless I’m willing to put in the work to make them happen. Here are my current goals for 2017:

List 100 new items/week

This is actually a slightly toned-down goal from the start of the school year. I had HUGE expectations of what I should be able to accomplish with both boys being in school. I thought I would be able to use all of the time they were in school to list. Reality – notsomuch. I spend most of Monday volunteering at their school, and there are some other weekdays that I work at my “real” job, so I get little to no listing done. Also, there is shipping, photographing, and other life things that take up time I would like to be using to list. So, I am starting 2017 with a workable, achievable listing goal, with the knowledge that how many items I am able to list each day will probably change day to day, week to week, depending on how our schedules go. And that will be okay, as long as I am hitting 100 by the end of the week.

Sales average $150/day ~ $1000/week

I was hitting this for awhile, notsomuch lately. It’s totally doable if I am consistent with my listing.

Get organized, stay organized

I need to reorganize my office, it looks like an explosion of packing materials. And I had been letting my inventory creep back into our living areas. No more.

Inventory all totes

This is a long-term goal, because I usually wait for the obscene number of free listings to pop up, and then I go through totes and end listings, tweak listings, add Best Offer, sell similar, or just end them for good.

Keep blogging

I’ve neglected it. I know it. I enjoy blogging, and want to feel like I have the time to dedicate to it. But it requires me getting my listing done first, so I can focus on more fun things guilt-free.

Become a morning person?

I think I’m gonna try it. I used to be a real night owl, but I feel like I am getting very little actually accomplished in the late hours lately. I’ve been moving my bedtime earlier and earlier, and I think when the boys start back to school I will head to be shortly after they do, and get up at 5 a.m. to get some work done before they get up. I am usually most motivated first thing in the morning. (We’ll see how this one goes.)

What are your goals for 2017? I would love to hear about them!

August exhaustion. And success!

August 31, 2015 by Kari @ She Thrifts 4 Comments

Still eight more days until my oldest starts back to school, and an additional week until my youngest starts back. Not that I’m counting or anything. I’m actually not really sure I am ready for school to start again, but of course it will, ready or not. My oldest will be in second grade, so will be in school all day. My youngest is 4 and will be in a three morning per week pre-K program. Getting into a routine will be good.

At the end of July we had a good routine going. Breakfast at 8 a.m., boys outside playing at 9 a.m., “school” (reading, writing, practicing spelling, etc) at 10 a.m., hanging out and having lunch with daddy from 10:30 a.m. until 1:30 p.m. while I worked on eBay stuff, and then out the door for swimming lessons which started at 2 p.m. Having three hour kid-free, eBay-full blocks of time to work was great. (I was lucky that my husband was working a swing shift at the time and was available to hang with the boys.) I realized I could pretty easily knock out at least 12 listings in a three hour block of time if I had the photos already taken and ready to go. That gave me an average of 15 minutes per listing. Plush and some kid items take less than 15 minutes, some clothing takes around 15 minutes including measuring, especially when I didn’t have my photos cropped yet (I quickly figured out that was the thing that slowed me down the most!). But July was great, and I felt like I was making good progress, keeping up with all of my yard sale purchases, and even making a dent in some of my backlog. So I set a big goal for August, that somehow suddenly seemed attainable.

And the goal was: List 12 items on eBay EACH and EVERY day in August.

Fast forward to August.

August had no routine at all. Every week my oldest was doing something different, basketball camp, soccer camp, play dates and park dates for both boys, family in town visiting, etc, etc. Fun, but busy, full mornings and hard to get into any kind of a routine.

The first week or so went pretty well. I was motivated, even though my three-hour work blocks seemed to have evaporated. After that, it was rockier. There were some late nights. I gave myself a firm deadline of midnight to be finished with my 12 listings, and some nights I wasn’t finished until 11:40 p.m. A couple nights I fell asleep at my computer and had to get up and walk around to wake myself back up. There were a few days I thought about quitting. But, I didn’t. And the end result? I met the goal.

31 days of August x 12 new listings every day = 372 new listings in the month of August.

372!!!!!! I have never come anywhere near that before.

Am I going to do it again in September? Notsomuch. A toned down version, maybe. While making listing a priority was good in a lot of ways (sales were definitely up over last month, new inventory was listed almost immediately), other things suffered. Mainly, housework. And it’s really starting to get to me. Tomorrow’s plan? Mop the kitchen floor! Wahoo.

Hopefully I will get into another good routine once our school year officially starts, and September will be smooth sailing. As for now, I am going to relax for the last few minutes of August, enjoying the feeling of accomplishment of a goal actually met(!).

May Goals

May 1, 2015 by Kari @ She Thrifts 2 Comments

It’s been awhile since I’ve written a monthly goals post. (Can I just say HOW is it possible that the year is already 1/3 gone?! Seriously. It’s practically summer, which will fly by, and then it will be fall. I feel like I should be preparing for Christmas already.) Anyway. My goals.

200 new listings.

200 is always a big stretch for me. But stretching and missing a goal still usually gets me farther along than I would have been without. (Also, I really am starting to think about preparing for Christmas. I would like to have my store up to 1500 listings by the end of the summer. Another stretch, but I’m going to try.)

Participate in a consignment sale

It’s consignment sale month! Next weekend is JBF, where I’ll shop but not consign, the following weekend is a different local sale that I will consign at. Hoping to offload a bunch of stuff, not expecting a lot of $$ in return though. It’s mostly a place to get rid of items that aren’t eBay worthy. And consigning gets me in early to shop, which I love.

Update the blog 3x per week

I’ve been trying to do a sales update on Fridays (which has been hit and miss at best), BOLOs on Sundays, and then another misc post Tueday-ish. (Also, I’m pretty good about reading everybody else’s blogs, but I’d like to be better about commenting. I mostly read them on my phone where I have login issues which prevents me from being able to comment. I often think I’ll remember to go back and comment when I have my computer in front of me, but usually I don’t.)

Double my sales!

April was pretty much a dud month for me. I’d like to double my sales for May. Which would take some work, but isn’t actually out of the realm of possibility.

What would you like to accomplish this month?

March Goals

March 3, 2015 by Kari @ She Thrifts 3 Comments

Holy cow, it’s March! How did that happen? I can’t believe how fast the time is going.

I only got about 1/3 of my way through my inventorying, but I’ve decided it’s time to take a break from it and get back to listing. My sales really dropped off in the last week or so, and believe it or not, I’ve missed the listing process. (It’s packaging things up to ship out that I could really do without.)

I’ve been ticker-less for several months now, but I decided it’s time to get back to it. Tracking my number of new listings works well for me. I’ve set a high (for me) goal of 200 new listings this month.

http://tickers.TickerFactory.com/ezt/t/wxuSu5X/savings.png

What are your goals this month?

2015 Goals ~ Looking Forward, Looking Back

February 4, 2015 by Kari @ She Thrifts 8 Comments

I know, I’m a month late in the goal setting for 2015. Better late than never?

I took a look back at the goals I set for myself last year, and many are very much the same as what I would like to accomplish this year. 2014 goals are in italics, 2015 goals are in bold. They are:

#1) Keeping up with the boys.

(2014) I am still a busy mama with two young boys (ages 6 and 2), and they will always be my priority. I know how lucky I am that I am able to stay home with them full-time. I am very thankful to have found a way to contribute to the family budget while being with them, but I also know eBay could take over my life if I’d let it. Sometimes I will need to put eBay on the back-burner of life, and just let it simmer. And that’s okay.

(2015) I am definitely still a busy mama (boys now ages 7 and 3), and they are still my priority. But, things have changed in our family (most significantly my husband’s job), and I find myself needing to step up and fill some of the gap. The good thing is that I already had this in place as a way to earn an income. I now need to work on transitioning my thinking from being just a fun hobby to an actual job. The good thing is, keeping up with the boys doesn’t really have to suffer. I have two mornings a week when they are both in school, and usually have at least a couple of other mornings each week when my husband works later in the day so he is able to hang out with our youngest while I list. I try to keep our afternoons listing-free, but will often go back to it after the boys are in bed.

#2) Continue growing my eBay store.

(2014) I know it will be a slow grow. But, I would like to eventually get my store up to 1000 items, and then try to hold steady.

(2015) I can’t remember when I hit 1000 listings, but it was months ago. I have been holding steady, but would like to work up towards 1500.

#3) Continue to branch out, but also list what I love.

(2014) It’s gotten to the point where I feel like I could list pretty much anything, and I do. And while I am always happy to find a hot item that sells for big bucks, I also enjoy some smaller sales too. Some kids clothes or plush may not bring in a lot of money, but if I enjoy buying and selling them – then it’s worth it. I want this “job” to stay fun as well as profitable.

(2015) This attitude worked well when eBay was more of a hobby job. Now that I am transitioning my thinking to a real job I will try to focus less on the smaller sales and more on items that can bring in bigger money. I will be very, very selective on anything new I purchase. Some of my unlisted inventory though will probably fall into the more-fun, less-profitable category.

#4) Tackle Amazon!

(2014) I’ve procrastinated long enough. I’ve sold a few things myself, but still haven’t ventured into FBA territory. This is the year.

(2015) Other than a few MF sales, I didn’t do anything with Amazon last year. For some reason I am feeling less and less motivated to get started with Amazon. Probably just resisting the unknown, maybe afraid of change. I should just send in one box and see how it goes. Maybe I’ll like it. Maybe this is the year?

#5) Continue attending my local eBay sellers Meet-Up group.

(2014) I found it on a fluke, and have been attending regularly for almost a year. Even when the topic of the month isn’t something that I am especially interested in, I am always happy that I showed up. There’s something great about sitting in a room with like-minded people who totally get the eBay/Amazon/Etsy draw to selling online.

(2015) The time and date of the meetings changed at the beginning of 2014, so for quite a few months I wasn’t able to attend. Now, with my husband’s new schedule my ability to attend changes from month to month, but I have made it to the last few meetings, and still enjoy being able to go.

#6) Continue to write this blog.

(2014) I love reading the blogs of other sellers, and I am always happy to be able to pay it forward when I come across a BOLO. I value the connections and friendships this blog has afforded, and for that I thank all of you.

(2015) Ditto. I still enjoy writing this blog, and reading all of yours. I’ve got a bunch of ideas for new posts for both this blog and my new one. Now to find the time to get them all written!

November Goals

November 5, 2014 by Kari @ She Thrifts 8 Comments

So, I fell really short of my October listing goal. I had hoped to get 200 new listings up, but I barely made it half way to that goal. I ended up getting sick at the beginning of the month, and did no new listing for about a week. (And a month later my cough is STILL hanging on! Enough already.) I lost a lot of momentum that week, and while I had finally gotten back up to speed by the end of October, there was no regaining all of that lost ground. I think it would have been a stretch anyway, but if I had been listing that week and saw the goal as possibly attainable, I probably would have worked harder at the end of the month too, trying to reach it. As it was, I knew I wouldn’t get there, so while I was still listing, I didn’t push as hard as I could/should have.

Sales were pretty good though. My new goal is to average $100 in sales each day. Some days I met that goal and more, some days I fell short. I wasn’t able to maintain that average for the whole month (that week off took its toll) but I am thinking November may be my month!

For listing too. I’m keeping my goal the same for November – 200 new listings. Tis the season, and I can’t sell it if it’s not listed, right?

I am also creating a Craigslist ticker this month. I don’t buy items to resell on Craigslist, but we have a number of items in our garage that have been languishing out there since we moved in . . . over a year ago. I want to get the garage all cleaned out before the cold weather sets in, so we can actually park both of our cars in there (imagine that!) so I am setting a goal of listing 30 things on CL.

http://tickers.TickerFactory.com/ezt/t/wjUyykE/savings.png

For some reason the tickers aren’t posting correctly, and the links have to be clicked instead of just showing up in the blog post. Here’s hoping they magically fix themselves, like they sometimes do.

Most of my favorite sales in October were Halloween-related, but below are a few that weren’t.

Over the summer I picked up a bunch of sleep sacks and footie pajamas, and this last week I’ve gotten them all listed. I probably listed 10 or more different lots, and paid around $0.25 – $1.00 per item.

Carter’s Girls Sleep Sack Lot
Paid: approx. $6 @ misc yard sales, Sold: $34.95 (within a few days)

Either someone reaaaally loves Looney Tunes,
or reaaaally loves someone who loves Looney Tunes,
because $25 is a lot of money to pay for a roll of wrapping paper.

Looney Tunes Christmas Wrapping Paper Roll
Paid: $1 @ ys, Sold: $24.95 (one month later)

This pillow came with a sweet story

that I’ll share in my next “customer stories” post.

VTG Cut & Sew Beagle Pillow
Paid: $0.99 @ GW, BO Accepted: $30 (5 months later)

And I can’t leave out maternity clothes. One of my most consistent sellers.

Motherhood Maternity Winter Coat
Paid: $12 @ consignment sale, Sold: $64.95 (less than a day later)

October Goals —–> Aiming High! (+ September’s Sales)

October 2, 2014 by Kari @ She Thrifts 7 Comments

Well, I fell short of my listing goal in September. So what does that mean for October? Set an even bigger goal, of course! I am not where I’d like to be sales-wise, but I have high hopes for the fourth quarter. Of course, to sell things they need to be listed, and I have a lot of unlisted inventory languishing in my storage room. So, I am setting a goal of 200 new listings for October. I’ve never accomplished that many in one month before. Maybe this time?

Halloween items are flying out the door, which I love. It’s taken over the second spot in my store’s top performing categories (behind plush). I had over 100 sales in September, and right around 20% were Halloween related, be it costumes, clothing, decor, etc. Fun, fun, fun. But, I am saving those for a different post. Below you will find a handful of my other September sales, along with the varied times it took for each item to sell.

Vintage Memory Game – Complete
Paid: $0.99 @ Value Village, Sold: $24.95 (2 months later)
This is the second copy of this game I have sold.

Baby Einstein Book Lot
Paid: $2ish, Sold: $19.95 (3 days later)

NEW Winnie the Pooh Twin Flannel Sheet Set
Paid: $5 @ church rummage sale, Sold: $49.95 (4 months later)

Minnie Mouse Fanny Pack
Paid: $0.75 @ ys, Sold: $19.95 (1 month later)

mini-Caboodle
Paid: $0.25 @ ys, Sold: $24.95 (1 month later)

Firetruck Sweater, Size 2T
Paid: $0.50ish @ ys, Sold: $24.95 (6 months later)

Duck Metal Watering Can
Paid: $3.50ish on clearance last summer, BO Accepted: $38.55 (1 year later)

So, obviously not everything was a quick flip. But I still think *almost* everything will sell eventually!

Back on track (a year later) to get rid of Sallie Mae

August 14, 2014 by Kari @ She Thrifts 10 Comments

If you’ve been reading my blog for awhile you *might* remember that for a year or so I was using all of my eBay profits to pay off my student loans. (Mentioned here and here.) I started at $26,000(!!), and about this time last year had it down to around $10,000. I was super excited by the progress I had made. But, last August we made the decision that it was time for us to buy a new house, and we were lucky to be in the position that we could buy without selling our old house first. What came next was a l-o-n-g fall and winter of paying two mortgages. Not. Fun. During which all of my eBay monies were redirected to pay the mortgage on the old house. Happily, once spring hit, our house sold! And my eBay money is once again my own, or rather, Sallie Mae’s. I made another extra payment with some eBay profits today, and my total owed is now down to $5599.85(!!). I am so excited by this. I am on track to have it paid off by the end of the year. ***Happy Dance***

July Goals + Quick Flips

July 4, 2014 by Kari @ She Thrifts 7 Comments

I have been struggling this summer to find any semblance of a schedule or routine. Ughhhh. For some reason I had the idea that during the summer I would have all this free time to get things listed, and I would be super, duper productive. Yeah, notsomuch. June slipped by and I feel like I haven’t made much progress in my goals in life or in eBay. Most days I try to get some listing in during the day, which is challenging being interrupted by my kiddos. It really isn’t the best use of my time. So, this month I’ve set up some new guidelines – I am only going to list before 9 a.m. and after 9 p.m. The rest of the day, I’m letting myself off the hook – I may take some photos, or package some items up as time allows, but no listing. So far, it’s been great! I feel like I am getting so much more done throughout the day, and the vaguely guilty feeling that I should really be listing is mostly gone. This month I am setting my goal low at 100 new listings, but I have a feeling that even with my restricted listing hours I won’t have a problem exceeding that goal.

Sales at the end of June for me were great! Cha-ching, cha-ching, cha-ching. Beginning of July? Almost no sales. I’m hoping things pick up after the holiday is over. Below you will find my faster flips from June. I had some higher value sales this month, but none of them sold the same month they were listed, as these did:

Monsters Inc McDonald’s Toy Lot
Paid: $1 @ ys, Sold: $17.95 (12 days later)

Build A Bear Wolf (with outfit listed separately)
Paid: $2 total @ ys, Sold: $19.95 (same day as listed)

I sold a number of maternity clothes again in June,

this being just one of quite a few that sold in the first month.

Gap Distressed Maternity Jeans
Paid: $0.50 @ ys, Sold: $19.95 (8 days later)

I have no idea how much I paid for these. I might have bought them at a yard sale, sometime? They were on a shelf in my son’s closet, but he’s been potty trained for months now so we won’t need them for swimming lessons. I was going to list them on CL, but realized that Little Mermaid themed Little Swimmers are hard to come by now, so I decided to give them a try on eBay.

Little Mermaid Huggies Little Swimmers
Paid: ??, Sold: $29.95 (3 days later)

I loooved sleep sacks when my guys were little. I like to buy these when they are around $1 each, and then I sell them as a lot when I have a few accumulated.

Sleep Sack Lot
Paid: $4ish?, Sold: $24.95 (7 days later)

Ratatouille plush
Paid: $0.50 @ ys, Sold: $14.95 (2 days later)

I mentioned Fur Berries HERE way back in 2012.
This is the first one I’ve found since that post.

Fur Berries Plush
Paid: $0.25 @ ys, Sold: $24.95 (9 days later)

I came across a Dave Ramsey Financial Peace University kit for $2 at a yard sale and thought I had struck a gold mine! Until I got home and looked it up that is. I decided to piece it out because that seemed to be the way to get the most money out of it. I still have a book to sell, and a CD with forms and such on it that I haven’t listed and may keep.