Bye Bye Bunnyman, My First eBay Sale!
After starting up the business and accuring some inventory, we finally have our first sale! It occurred appropriate two months after starting the business, officially. So, what has happened in that time?
What Have I Done in Two Months?
In short, not much. Thinking about it, this sale probably took so long because it is the only DVD that I adjusted the price for. All the other DVDs are priced at $10, simply to get in the motion or posting items. When I posted this, I noticed the other historic listings for a DVD of Bunnyman were priced over $20 CAD.
A lot of thought has been put in how to make it easier, in my defense! I have been playing around with different LLM models to try and find a way to optimize my posting an information gathering. I am hoping to use image detection to identify an UPC, take that information scrape what the media title is and gather all the appropriate information that needs to be posted on the listing.
Breaking Down the Sale
Yay! $18.00 CAD, or is it?
| Costs | Amount |
|---|---|
| Product | $0.00 |
| Thank You Card | $0.04 |
| Envelope | $0.41 |
| Shipping | $3.88 |
| eBay Fees | $3.89 |
| Total Costs | $8.22 |
So, this was eye opening, but, not overly unexpected. It's not cheap to turn over inexpensive product. I feel, quality was important, so I increased expense probably a little more than I really had to, but, long term, the above break down should decrease. It will however decrease marginally at a much greater expense. IE. Buying in larger bulk quantities.
| Revenue | Amount |
|---|---|
| Sale Price | $18.00 |
| Total Profit | $9.78 |
A profit (and not the biblical kind)! Well, there is kind of an obvious asterisk here. The product was "free". Free for this project at least. These are the DVDs, I wish to offload in a fun fashion. The rarity and desire for this DVD has definitely made it profitable, but, unless I am selling all of my DVDs for $15+, I am predicting some losses in my future.
Where do I Increase Margins?
Looking at it long term, the easiest ways to increase margins is through volume:
- Increasing the number or sales will decrease the transaction fees
- Buying media in bulk will decrease the cost of product
- Buying shipping material in bulk will decrease the per item costs
- Using one shipping company, again, will decrease the cost per unit with spend
Increasing the revenue is a little trickier. This is where the only real options are:
- Selecting more specific items, IE. Highly desired, limited edition, speciality items
- Build a community, where repeat purchases are rewarded
- both!
What's Next?
Some easy checkboxes to hit off:
- Build out a custom store! Leaning on the "community" piece. If there is a place that customers can keep returning, knocking out that transaction fee, prices can stay cheap and ideally provide a better experience
- Keep up with the inventory. There are at least 100 DVDs and CDs to add online.
The Reality
There are two realities to face, one, this is a hobby and two, the margins are low. At this stage, the biggest requirement is time. Based on the current return on the time spend, it has to be considered a for fun project and/or money pit. And, it is.
Though I say all of this, it is a hobby and I enjoy it. Over time, there is potential for it to change. If I am to knock off the majority of those check boxes, maybe, just maybe, this could become a realistic business opportunity. I mean, people do it all the time.
At the end of the day, my goal is just to expand my personal CD collection, if I can cover it with this hobby or make some money along the way to expand my collection, that sounds like a win!
