Larry & Kathy’s 2008 Garage Sale Challenge – Final Two Weeks Update

 

Ended	eBay Sold	Amazon Sold	Cost	List Fees	FV Fees	PayPal Fees	Incid. Fees	Miles	Net Profit	Total
5/08	$0.00	$46.93	$5.50	$0.00	$9.74	$0.00	$0.00	$10.74	$20.95	$20.95
5/15	$0.00	$231.92	$24.75	$0.00	$51.17	$0.00	$0.00	$21.97	$134.03	$154.98
5/22	$61.97	$299.91	$72.50	$2.50	$68.29	$3.01	$0.00	$12.59	$202.99	$357.97
5/29	$77.06	$186.25	$41.25	$3.55	$42.95	$4.61	$0.00	$10.12	$160.83	$518.80
6/05	$0.00	$139.65	$6.00	$0.00	$15.25	$0.00	$0.00	$4.71	$113.69	$632.39
6/12	$0.00	$93.59	$8.75	$0.00	$20.80	$0.00	$0.00	$$6.59	$57.45	$689.94
6/19	$0.00	$98.29	$4.50	$0.00	$22.84	$0.00	$0.00	$4.94	$66.01	$755.95
6/26	$0.00	$114..30	$4.25	$0.00	$23.90	$0.00	$0.00	$6.48	$79.67	$835.62
7/3	$0.00	$100.95	$13.25	$0.00	$24.05	$0.00	$0.00	$6.49	$57.16	$892.78
7/10	$0.00	$61.25	$4.75	$0.00	$15.29	$0.00	$0.00	$3.52	$37.69	$930.47
7/17	$345.50	$35.25	$46.40	$8.41	$34.47	$17.12	$0.00	$19.58	$254.77	$1185.24
7/24	Vacation									$1185.24
7/31	Vacation									$1185.24
8/7	$56.96	$107.84	$11.55	$3.45	$28.71	$3.67	$0.00	$5.76	$111.66	$1296.90
8/14	$161.61	$78.20	$34.15	$8.10	$28.43	$10.62	$0.00	$10.70	$147.81	$1444.71
8/21	$0/00	$163.54	$11.00	$0.00	$34.23	$0.00	$0.00	$14.04	$104.27	$1548.98
8/28	$0.00	$122.94	$3.60	$0.00	$23.29	$0.00	$0.00	$4.85	$91.20	$1640.18
9/4	$0.00	$44.94	$1.50	$0.00	$10.25	$0.00	$0.00	$3.62	$29.57	$1669.75
9/11	$0.00	$43.93	$1.00	$0.00	$10.09	$0.00	$0.00	$2.91	$29.93	$1699.68
9/18	$0.00	$141.55	$2.25	$0.00	$25.53	$0.00	$0.00	$5.94	$107.83	$1807.51
9/25	$0.00	$137.04	$3.00	$0.00	$26.26	$0/00	$0.00	$6.30	$101.48	$1908.99
10/1	$114.98	$120.20	$38.31	$2.80	$31.20	$5.77	$0.00	$11.33	$145.77	$2054.76

While we also fell way short of our goal of $4,000, we enjoyed being part of the Challenge.  It kept us going from week to week, and we learned what we need to do to improve our sales.  We would enjoy being part of the Challenge again next year, Gary, if you choose to continue it.  Best wishes to all in your sales adventures!  Thank you, Gary, for all we learned from you!   Kathy and Larry

Ken & Deb Wrapping Up

Well the 2008 Garage Sale Challenge has ended and we fell far short of our goal of $5000.00 in net profit for the summer. We were way too optimistic about how much inventory we would find and how much we would be able to list. We’ll plead naivete since mid August marked the end of our first year selling on eBay. We learned a lot over the course of the challenge and had a lot of fun. Having a goal kept us moving some mornings when we might not have otherwise.

Some things we learned….
It’s easier to buy things than to get them listed. In short enthusiasm can’t make up for a basic lack of time! We still have unlisted inventory from the summer even though a family emergency essentially kept us from buying from mid August through September. Since we do this part time weekends are often the only time we have for both buying and listing.

Mileage is a huge expense at least in the small town rural environment where we live. Our mileage expense for the challenge was 23% of our total sales – we were stunned to learn this. We were pretty sloppy about recording and deducting mileage last year and it’s clear now this is a mistake. Needless to say we’re paying much more attention to it now.

Our instincts for what sells well are pretty good and getting better all the time.

We enjoy doing this and we enjoy doing this together (this cannot be understated since we’re not really making any money at it yet!).

It was fun “meeting” the other challenge participants and following along as you worked towards your goals. Best of luck to everyone going forward. Gary, thanks for organizing the challenge and thanks again for sharing so much of what you know at Auction Rebel. We hope you’ll do it again next year!

Week #	Sales	Cost	List Fee	Fv Fee	PayPal Fee	Misc Fees	Mileage	Net Profit	Total
1		105.50	8.40				53.03	-166.93
2	353.33	27.85	13.80	25.80	16.73	2.99	71.71	194.45	27.53
3	161.94	86.35	6.86	15.57	11.45	0.00	74.74	-33.03	-5.50
4	314.36	584.50	3.15	24.62	13.06	5.52	44.44	-360.93	-366.44
5	108.78	20.20	9.80	8.16	3.81	0.00	90.40	-23.58	-390.02
6	155.09	0.00	2.80	12.94	0.00	0.00	0.00	139.35	-250.67
7	56.98	73.00	2.45	4.71	3.55	0.00	48.48	-75.21	-325.88
8	94.93	41.14	13.30	8.43	4.35		59.59	-31.88	-357.75
9	155.70	0.00	5.60	13.21	6.60	0.00		130.29	-227.46
10	66.46	183.40	4.06	4.94	0.00	0.00	0.00	-125.94	-353.40
11	151.70	41.75	3.88	1.62	0.00	0.00	95.36	9.10	-344.30
12	136.17	0.00	2.10	9.41	1.75	0.00	0.00	122.91	-221.40
13	65.00	0.00	13.33	6.39	4.05	0.00	0.00	41.23	-180.17
14	325.20	100.52	0.00	25.74	12.12	0.00	68.44	118.38	-61.79
15	9.99	0.00	0.00	0.00	0.00	0.00	0.00	9.99	-51.80
16-17	49.58		0.24	5.95	1.04			42.35	-9.45
18-21	425.01		10.15	34.25	25.48			355.13	345.68
TOTALS	2,630.22	1,264.21	99.92	201.73	103.99	8.51	606.17	345.68

Gary’s 2008 Garage Sale Challenge – The Final Two Weeks

My 2008 Garage Sale Challenge came to an end with the auctions that ended the evening of Sunday, October 5th.

Here’s how the final results look.

Ended	eBay Sold	Amazon Sold	Cost	List Fees	FV Fees	PayPal Fees	Incid. Fees	Miles	Net Profit	Total
5/11	$193.46	$59.99	$35.35	$6.30	$18.04	$10.27	$0.00	$24.75	$150.37	$158.74
5/18	$923.70	$247.40	$59.55	$8.15	$109.00	$35.63	$0.00	$46.97	$911.80	$1070.54
5/26	$589.03	$298.12	$65.50	$10.40	$92.46	$15.59	$0.00	$59.09	$644.11	$1714.65
6/01	$348.10	$174.30	$30.70	$6.15	$50.69	$24.89	$0.00	$23.74	$386.25	$2100.88
6/8	No auctions - went fishing in Canada
6/15	$518.38	$57.34	$58.25	$10.25	$45.60	$27.83	$0.00	$36.87	$396.92	$2497.80
6/22	$215.92	$241.08	$21.25	$3.05	$56.44	$8.97	$0.00	$0.00	$367.29	$2865.09
6/29	$701.34	$139.91	$74.97	$12.35	$69.99	$25.42	$0.00	$49.49	$609.03	$3474.12
7/06	$935.78	$118.42	$41.75	$14.55	$78.21	$29.73	$0.00	$39.90	$850.06	$4324.18
7/13	$365.10	$125.98	$42.72	$5.35	$44.21	$16.12	$0.00	$21.71	$360.97	$4685.15
7/20	$366.07	$321.05	$89.50	$9.55	$86.45	$11.91	$0.00	$42.42	$447.59	$5132.44
7/27	$495.80	$469.26	$50.75	$11.35	$110.35	$22.73	$0.00	$52.02	$717.86	$5850.30
8/03	$278.74	$338.05	$45.00	$9.50	$81.83	$9.80	$0.00	$58.99	$411.67	$6261.97
8/10	$367.58	$210.45	$45.90	$11.15	$66.61	$19.32	$0.00	$38.38	$396.67	$6658.64
8/17	$542.88	$185.98	$52.10	$8.00	$69.00	$20.33	$0.00	$46.96	$532.47	$7191.11
8/24	$422.69	$492.56	$78.25	$23.85	$118.01	$17.30	$0.00	$54.04	$623.80	$7814.91
9.01	$914.03	$273.19	$108.00	$11.10	$104.60	$33.38	$0.00	$36.87	$893.27	$8708.18
9/07	$451.78	$55.46	$46.00	$5.40	$33.47	$21.81	$0.00	$24.75	$375.81	$9083.99
9/14	$319.86	$192.18	$52.00	$7.50	$54.72	$14.35	$0.00	$39.90	$343.57	$9427.56
9/21	$362.01	$117.18	$43.50	$12.65	$52.98	$18.03	$0.00	$31.82	$320.21	$9747.77
9/28	$581.03	$239.47	$124.85	$13.00	$76.54	$20.13	$0.00	$133.83	$452.15	$10,199.92
10/05	$527.48	$283.17	$36.25	$5.60	76.49	$7.41	$0.00	$36.87	$648.03	$10,847.95

With a net profit of $10,847.95 for the five months, I obviously fell well short of my goal of $15,000 net profit.

Even though my final figure is well short of my $15,000 goal, I hope that the last five months have demonstrated garage sales, thrift shops, and book sales be a source of inventory for someone wanting to sell on eBay.

I’d like to thank everyone who took part this year. I hope in one fashion or another, you were able to learn something that will make your endeavors on eBay more profitable in the future.