Some 2009 Sales Stats

I keep a simple excel spreadsheet to track the money generated by our eBay business. We started eBay in August 2006, and I started this spreadsheet in Jan 2007 - I found it was much easier to keep track of things. Also, I needed to be able to prove to myself & anyone else who cared that we were not losing money.

So, anyway, here are some stats for 2009.

First the money: eBay-wise our gross was 9.5% higher than last year, and almost 300% higher than 2007. Last year (and most of 2007) we rented booths in a couple of antique/collectible stores downtown, and we also had some sales on ETSY & eBid. Our total gross income was higher in 2008, when you include non-eBay activity. Renting and stocking booths was a lot of work tho, it took a lot of time and a fair amount of physical labor - I was surprised. We decided to concentrate on eBay, so we don't work the booths anymore.

Our net income is about 7% less than last year, again because we've all but stopped all non-eBay activity, sales wise.

Second, the customers: Domestically we shipped to all 50 states. The top 5 shipping addresses were located in California, New York, Pennsylvania, Florida, and Texas. That's no surprise, last year it was the same except Florida was 3rd & Pennsylvania 4th.

Internationally we shipped to 25 countries, alphabetically from Argentina to Uruguay. The top 5 international shipping addresses were in the UK, Canada, France, Australia & Germany. Over time, and with a larger volume, I have a feeling that we'd send more to Canada than anywhere else. So far everything has eventually made it to the purchaser. I ship within one business day of receiving payment, but sometimes it takes awhile to get there.

We picked up consignments again starting from October, after a lull of sorts. We do consignments by word of mouth mostly, we don't actively seek them out anymore. Consignments are a love/hate thing with me. They add another layer of work keeping track of the sales for the consignor, eBay and PayPal fees & our commissions. And it requires extra communication with people, I find myself defending eBay fees (which are not cheap) and you sometimes end up trying to sell things that you might not really care about selling. But on the good side, you can get a lot of ideas about what to sell, you get more experience with what sells and what doesn't, you get a bit of money for inventory you didn't have to buy, and sometimes you present the consignor with a really large check, and that's always nice. Our profits from consignment sales accounted for about 11% of our net profits in 2009.

Third, the things we sell. I track the items well sell. I know which subjects sell the most, and which get the highest price (not the same). I know how much we spend per item, and how much well sell it for. Occasionally I'll track a group of items down to the penny, just to make sure of expenses vs income. That's pretty tedious though, so I don't do it often. I also keep a sheet of customer requests - if I come across a postcard or a picture that includes a collie, or an antique clock, or an interstate highway, I know who to contact.

Stats are boring, aren't they?