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Comments
I'm up to 42,571 items.
Currently, losses are $1955.59 and inventory is $7344.17, $6700.49 after 3% BL 2.9% PP, ratio 3.4263
In 2017, I'm down $134.14 and added 5204 items, $700.01 after projected fees
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Finally parted out 75825
I started making more use of partial cent prices - half cent below a dime, tenth cents below a penny. This includes bulk discounts on the cheapest parts.
I price below average but not by a set percentage, it depends on the market for a particular part, and this avoids odd prices like 13.37c
@koshka I meant how do you look up store views to divide by sales?
That sounds like a daunting task...
I do that for minifigures and maybe some of the high value parts, but doing that for every single part when parting out a... let's say 100-lot set... sounds like too much work.
Do any of you guys mark your parts with an invisible marker? I would be tempted to, just in case they try to pull the ol switcharoony with the bits.
I get your point though, they would just lie and say it was missing if they were that devious.
I would still be tempted to put just a dot inside a tube or something.
http://www.bricklink.com/store/home.page?p=ramseyturner#/shop?o={"showHomeItems":1}
I'm often less thorough on large sets and/or low value parts.
I have BrickLink fill in average prices and keep current prices for items already in inventory.
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Haven't added much lately but good to let money come in and catch up on sorting what I already bought.
Decided to offer deals on buying all of a high quantity lot - like quantity 25 @ 14c, tiered pricing 25 @ 12c
Never tried tiered pricing, something to consider somewhere down the line.
A question for everyone: how have sales gone in January?
Mine started better than usual, but tapered off to a trickle after a week and a bit. January is now primed to be the 2nd best month since I started (June last year), although a big part of that is from a single buyer, which worries me a bit because he's not likely to keep buying at the same rate.
http://www.ebay.co.uk/usr/shop_fair?_trksid=p2047675.l2559
or on eBay as some others have mentioned. I'll look when this batch runs low.
restocked on bubblemailers with a big Sunuku order - 500 000, 250 0, 150 2, 50 6 for $100.75 shipped.
I'm almost out of 0. I use the most of those by far, and even they're too big for some orders. Thus the 000's. I often cut 0's in half, but that doesn't work for some orders, I'd rather avoid the extra time and tape, and it may look sketchy (though I've heard no complaints). Occasionally I need really big mailers. A 6 being too big is better than a 5 being too small, and I didn't need to get as many at once. 2 is the medium size I'm used to.
been getting a few orders per day. I try to ship next day, same day if timing works out, but some have taken a couple days
And speaking of sales for January, have seemed to have done ok. At least as good as last year and last year had a 10% sale on for the month as thought it would be slow after Xmas.
1. I have been pricing parts individually to begin with but I then retain the entry in my inventory and only tend to update the prices for the rarest parts. I've also used the part out function for a couple of new and used sets recently and just gone with the six month average. This seems to be working out reasonably well e.g. I'm slowly but steadily shifting parts from a large technic set.
2. ziploc / press seal bags - I use ebay uk sellers. Most of my bags (and padded envelopes) have come from eposgear so far. I think that the quality varies a little between orders and I'm sort of regretting the smallest bag size as I have large thumbs and the seals are difficult to open.
3. December and January have been by far my best months so far. January did have a big dip in the middle but things have picked up again. I also sell things through an auction site and my theory is that parts sell well in the winter as it's when people are staying inside and MOCing.
4. possible things for the future include more accurate weighing scales, a label printer and working out what packaging to get for selling baseplates.
Filled 7 tiny orders and a slightly larger one tonight. harder than I thought. took most of the evening. part of the effort was keeping track of which was which. also contacted about minor problems on a couple previous orders, one more thing to do. it's been busy like this for a few days, so I'm tired.
Nearly out of bubblemailers, buying as few as needed at retail. tracking info says I get Sunuku delivery February 4. not going to delay current orders. will see if I receive in time to mail later that day. also, when I get those I can get rid of my oversized bubblemailer charge, that couldn't hurt business.
On thing I have changed with packaging recently is that I've had a few orders where a small box placed inside a mailing bag has worked better than a padded envelope.
@SprinkleOtter
I understand free USPS boxes are only for flat rate. Since LEGO is low density, that postage isn't such a good deal*. I often send a few pounds in a large bubblemailer, Priority Mail by weight and distance. Maybe flatrate is a better deal cross country and/or for particular assortments. 1st Class Mail Package is available for up to 16 ounces; that used to be 13. I rarely can fit over a pound in a small flatrate box; sometimes I've used a medium flatrate box for 4 pounds or so. Retail Ground isn't much cheaper except for very heavy packages. Remember that a box weighs a few ounces versus a fraction of an ounce for a bubblemailer.
*I've made extensive use of flatrate for coins or trading cards.
@elspankdog
Yep, a BL store calls for a large investment in inventory
https://store.usps.com/store/browse/uspsProductDetailMultiSkuDropDown.jsp?categoryNav=false&navAction=push&navCount=0&atg.multisite.remap=false&categoryId=mailing-envelopes&productId=P_EP14PE
Actually, no. If you go under packing supplies on their website, there are many free boxes that aren't flat rate.
I'm using 2x3 and 3x5 bags at about the same rate. 3x5's are pricier than 2x3's online, so the convenience store packages still seem like a good deal. Also, they come in a 7x4 bag. I just put 20 2x6 plates in one and it looks like it could hold at least 50 of those. About 30 1x1 bricks fit in a 2x3 and about 100 in a 3x5.
With tiny bags, I can come closer to one lot per bag - easier to organize for both buyer and seller, and less risk of pieces getting damaged by contact with dissimilar pieces. Also, a relatively empty larger bag takes up more space.
Usually I sort after payment, but lately I've started some orders ahead of time if the buyer has high feedback, I see the parts while doing other sorting, and if not too busy. I use the Ready order status if finished. It seems helpful to message the buyer about this.
Sometimes a buyer purchases an entire lot and I count slightly more. Lately I send the buyer all of them rather than relist and store a small amount of tiny pieces. Either it's a bonus or is like a baker's dozen, covering for something missing.
Parted out 2 #40165 * and another #70324, added a #30376, also Nurse Harley Quinn and Clan of the Cave Batman CMF's
started using retain, which moves zero lots to stockroom rather than deleting them. adding that item again with concatenate and no stockroom should bring it back out again. should be particularly useful for when I add another copy of a set later after selling out of some of the lots in it. like 70324.
* listed alternate heads and hair separately, made this clear in the minifig listings.
I use bubble mailers for most orders but have sent some bigger ones in small boxes (should get some bigger mailers, really). Also, sealed sets must be sent in a box, and while an extra couple of €€ doesn't make a difference on a big set I mostly only re-sell the [email protected] promotional sets, which are quite small and low-value.
On a different note, working the storage part of the store, with some stack-ons on the way.
Not much parting out happened in the last couple of weeks, but that will pick up again once the stack-ons are in place and a couple of other orders arrive. Stay tuned -> http://brickrepository.com
They are indeed expensive, but it's starting to get too time consuming to find stuff inside bins that have a couple of hundred different lots in them.
Now I won't be able to have only 1 lot per drawer, as I'd need a whole lot of cabinets (not enough space or money for that). But I intend to have 1 part per drawer (with all the colours in there), which should already make it a lot easier for finding the part I need. I might go one step further and split the colours into individual bags, for that extra bit of optimisation.