*ka-ching!* My phone chimes at the ungodly time of 6:15 in the morning. Normally, I would resent any sound coming from my phone at that hour, but fortunately my waking brain associates the sound with something positive. eBay is contacting me, and it's something I want to know!
"You did it! Your item sold. Please ship this item to the buyer after your buyer pays." Well, well. Awesome! It's the set of Bible Story books that I picked up last week. Wicked! The buyer chose the "buy now" option, which is fine by me. I didn't anticipate a bidding war here.
*bing!* Yahoo mail is now wanting my attention... PayPal cheerfully exclaims "You received a payment from your buyer... SHIP NOW OR DIE." Ok, ok... I'm up... It's about that time anyway. Coffee is needed for any further competent action, however.
I look around the house for an appropriate shipping box. Nope. That's right, I had chucked those in the trash about a month ago before I started this little venture. Oh well, I'll get something at the post office. I bubble-wrap the books and place them in plastic bags for the trip over. When I arrive, I ask the friendly clerk what's best to ship Media Mail. He points at the basic cardboard boxes. I have my shipping and handling budget in mind... Ouch. Ok, good to know, need to buy these somewhere else next time.
...darn it, I don't have tape. I know it's cheaper at WalMart, but I'm under a bit of a time budget for the day.
...oh, might as well add the ninety cents for tracking. I want to make sure my new friend on Ohio gets these babies.
Total... $7.74 over what I charged. Ok, so the tape was half of that. The Post Office needs to remain fiscally solvent somehow, I suppose.
At home, I plug in the actual numbers into my spreadsheet. Even with the added cost of not planning ahead and adding the tracking, I end up with a little more than a 210% profit margin on this particular sale. I have sold 75% of the cost of all the items which I have bought so far. Not bad, considering that I've only sold 10% of my "stock" and all within my first month of half-assing this process.
I'm expecting the record mailers any moment now. I'm hoping that they'll be convenient to use. I now have shipping tape. I may have to list some more LP's now that I'm fully capable of sending them out in a reasonably priced fashion. I still have some more Disneyland records to list. Go with what's hot, I guess.
*ding, dong!* Mailers are here. Time to start shipping!
Update: eBay's estimated shipping is eating my lunch. Those 10 records cost almost three times the amount I charged for shipping & handling. I must have not entered it correctly, but at least my beloved buyer will be in DisneyLand heaven in 2-3 business days. My profit margin took a significant hit, but still netted positive. Live and learn, apparently.
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