Thrifting Fast Update

So how's it going? Have you all been shopping?

I haev a very exciting announcement about my shopping fast! I got ALL my old unlisted inventory listed last week! So I got to go shopping!  I found a lot of fun new goodies, which I got listed within 4 days. And you know what? 3 of them sold overnight!

Let me tell you - it is an AMAZING feeling to bring a bag of goodies into the house and list them and send them right back out again. It also feels pretty great to be out shopping guilt-free. I didn't have any thoughts in the back of my mind about the mountains and mountains of stuff I already have at home that I should list, so why am I buying more. It was just fun!

So I'd like to challenge you (and myself!) for 2012 ... get all your new purchases listed within one week of bringing them into the house. I am going to aim for 48 hours, but life does happen around here, so I'll officially give myself a full week. It's great not having bins of stuff all over the living room. I'm excited to see if I can keep that up. We can do this!!

Make It Happen Monday

Wow. I had The. Worst. Sales. Week. last week. It was horrid. I just barely reached HALF of my goal for the week. And I wasn't alone. So many of our members on eBay Underground said they were also having their worst week this week. Can't really figure it out, but it stinks.

I spent MUCH of last week feeling really nasty and bitter toward eBay. It's extremely irritating to me that I am PAYING for a month of listing, I am PAYING for a month of store fees. And yet, all signs point to the fact that my listings are NOT showing up for that entire month. I was grumpy and moody most of the week. But you know what? I may not have reached the thousand that I was hoping for, but I do have $500 more than what I had a week ago. So why am I complaining?

We are very fortunate in that my eBay income isn't a requirement. Yes, since I've started selling, our quality of living has increased. I've gotten lazy with my coupon shopping (higher grocery bills). I've gotten lazy with cooking (higher restaurant spending). But we've also gotten to do some stuff we hadn't been able to before (taking the kids out for one-on-one evenings, redecorating bedrooms, etc). None of those things are necessities. I don't HAVE to make $1000 a week selling on eBay. I seriously need to keep things in perspective. We have a comfortable life. I need to learn to be grateful for the sales that I do have, and not be so grumpy when I don't reach my high, self-imposed goals.

Don't get me wrong - I'll still set high goals for myself, and I'll still strive to reach them. But I'm no longer going to let it get me down and make me snap at my family when I don't have a good sales day.

Someone hold me to that?

Make It Happen Monday!

Well drat. I missed my goal by $14 this week. Can't win 'em all, I guess. But no matter - I'm still quite happy with the number I did reach, so I'll celebrate that, and make a new goal for this week!

You know, there's a lot more to goals than just dollar amounts. Yes, of course, that's the main point of selling on eBay, but I don't want us to get so focused on that that we get disappointed and discouraged when we don't reach those goals. I didn't reach my goal this week, but I got a lot of listing done!

Here are some other goals to consider:

• List a certain number of items each week
• Get your eBay area organized
• Take stock of all your shipping supplies, and order whatever you're short on
• Buy a certain number of items each week

And don't forget personal goals as well:

• Drink a certain number of glasses of water each week
• Exercise a certain number of days each week
• Spend a certain amount of time on a non-eBay related hobby (I am SO far behind on my pleasure reading!)
• Spend an afternoon out of the house (stroll through the park, go for ice cream with the kids, sit on a bench by the river ... clear your mind of eBay for the afternoon)
• Be in bed by a certain time each night
• Wake up by a certain time each morning

There's so much more to focus on than just sales dollars! This week, I want you to go ahead and choose a sales amount goal, but also choose 1 or 2 other non-dollar eBay goals, as well as 1 or 2 non-eBay goals.

Come join us on eBay Underground and let us know what you're working toward this week!

Make It Happen Monday - I reached a crazy goal!

As I've mentioned before, we've been setting sales goals for ourselves on eBay Underground. I decided to stretch myself ridiculously far this week. I never dreamed I'd actually do it, but I DID!!

You know, I've been at this for 2 months shy of 2 years. I started selling on eBay in November 2009. Two or 3 months into it, I had a lofty sales goal for myself. I was aiming for $10/day. After almost 2 years of research, learning by trial & error, several home runs and plenty of duds, and active participation in the best eBay discussion group EVER (am I right!?), I am to the point where I am at least matching my husband's take home pay each week!!

I never EVER imagined THAT would happen. My ultimate goal in doing this was to enable him to quit his job (that he HATES) and we would run my/our eBay store together. I'm getting close, but we aren't anywhere ready mentally to make that leap. We would lose really great healthcare benefits. And besides, he's going to school right now for a major career change anyway. If he ends up actually LIKING his new job, then my eBay income will just be bonus money. I'm saving up as much as possible each week to get our full basement completely finished. I've outgrown our spare bedroom and need to move to the basement, but not until it's habitable. My goal was to save up $10,000 for that by December 2012, but I'm going to reach that goal close to a year early! I can't even begin to tell you how satisfying it is to set high goals and not only reach them, but exceed them!

Come join us and set some goals for this week and see for yourself!

Make It Happen Monday!

On eBay Underground, we've been setting goals for ourselves ... and reaching them!! It has been so encouraging to watch our members increase their goals week after week after week after week after week!

Week 1, I set a modest goal for myself of $100 per day. I had been doing that most days for a couple week, but I wanted it to be completely consistent - $700 that week. I reached it, but just barely - $700.92!

Week 2, since I only barely reached my week 1 goal, I was going to keep it the same. But Joann encouraged me to bump it up. I went with $750 and blew that away with a $818.09 week!!

Already, I could see that pushing yourself to reach high goals can really make a difference!

For Week 3, I decided to go crazy and aim for $850. I didn't quite make it, but I'm not going to complain about the $803.75 I did reach.

During Week 4, I kept my goal the same since I didn't reach it during week 3. Goal: $850. Reached: $847.65. Aggghh! I was $2.35 short of my goal. And what made it even worse was I had a $9.99 sale 20 minutes after the end of the day. SOOO close.

For Week 5, I decided to push it again. Since I was SO close to my Week 4 goal, I figured I'd give it a shot and aim for $875. Well... I had a record week! $985.82!!

So we have just begun Week 6, and I am reaching for the stars this week. My goal is to hit $1000 in sales this week. To me, that just sounds crazy! But I have seen a pattern over the last 5 weeks. Push, push, push, and you'll probably get closer to your goal than you think you will!

I'm not telling you these numbers to brag or to make you feel bad if your numbers are lower. I'm telling you these numbers so you can see how my sales increased week after week, simply because I said I wanted them to. I stated a goal, and I listed and worked hard for it!

So today, I want you to come on over to our Week 6 thread and state your goals for the week. I also want you to push yourself just a little bit. Set your goal just a bit higher than what you think you can reach. And then stretch for it! Add just 1 extra listing per day (above what you usually do). If you don't have a regular listing schedule, make one. Try to list 3 items per day. Stretch. Push. Work hard for your goals. You will feel an amazing sense of satisfaction when you reach your goal. And then you can stretch harder, push further, and work harder to reach an even higher goal next week. And before you know it, you'll be reaching for $1000!

How I Get Stuff Done

In the comments from this morning's post on goal-setting, Christy asked if I have a set schedule for how I get things done. The short answer is no. But the short answer is never enough for me, so I'll elaborate!

As I stated in this morning's post, my goal is to reach 1000 listings in my store by the end of September. Christy wanted to know if I have a set number of items I list each day, or if I have a set number of times I shop. I'll address the shopping question first.

This past year, I took regular road trips. Once a month, I went to Harrisburg for the day. I dear friend watched my kids for the day while I shopped till I dropped! That was usually good for 50-75 new items. Also, twice a year, I drove to my sister-in-law's out near Philadelphia for the weekend. Same deal there. She watched the kids, I shopped. Because it's a bigger city, and because it was a long trip, I came home with over 100 new items each time. On a lesser scale, I try to hit the local Goodwill at least once a week, usually while I'm out running other errands or waiting for a guitar or gymnastics lesson to finish up. My Goodwill is pretty small, so each stop is only good for 5 new items at the most.

Now ... about listing ... I am currently trudging through what was 150 pairs of shoes a month ago. Every 2 or 3 days, I grab my Rubbermaid bin and fill it up with however many shoes will fit. Then I spend that morning cleaning and polishing them, that evening taking and editing pics. Then I spend the next early morning listing them all. I do NOT set goals for myself like, "I will list 10 items per day." I'm realistic. I'm a homeschooling mom of 4. I know there will probably be more days than not that I will NOT reach that goal. I have been keeping all of my unlisted inventory in the living room. I think it probably drives my family crazy, but it's right there in front of me all the time, instead of tucked away somewhere. Out of sight, out of mind. This strategy keeps me focused on getting it listed and put away - out of the way!

If you have a less busy life, or fewer items to work through, I would suggest setting a daily number-of-listings goal. If your lifestyle won't allow that, then that's ok! You don't want to set impossible goals for yourself, or you'll get easily discouraged and frustrated with yourself for not reaching your goals.

Start small. Aim for 2 new listings a day. Once you've got that under your belt, aim for 5 a day. Keep increasing it, as long as it's still doable and not interfering with other aspects of your life.

Or another strategy ... fill a box and set a deadline for when it needs done. For example, I will get this box prepped and listed by Thursday.

I've rambled on plenty here. I guess my point is that there are as many different strategies as there are sellers. You'll have to try a couple different goal-setting methods until you find what works best for you. Good luck!

Setting Goals For Your Online Business

If you are running an online business, it's a good idea to set some goals for yourself. You need to have something to focus on, rather than just the attitude that whatever happens, happens. When I first started selling on eBay 2 years ago, my goal was to net a whopping $10 a day. It was a real struggle, and it took a long time to reach that goal, but I kept focused on listing, and eventually I reached it.

For the past 6 months, my goal has been significantly higher than that. In May, I got the closest I had ever been (only $90 short). June stunk (as it did for most of us, I'm pretty sure). But then in July, I met my goal a week before the end of the month, and then had an amazing last week and ended the month at 1.5 times my goal!! I stayed focused on my listing and was determined - and it paid off in a big way!

For August, I chose to aim for somewhere in between my original goal and the crazy high number I hit in July. Again, I stayed focused on my listing and excellent customer service, and again, I am right on track to hit the crazy high number again! If I hit that number 3 months in a row, I'll raise it just a little bit and we'll see what happens.

But financial goals aren't the only goals that are important. I am currently working toward my goal of 1000 listings in my store. I am at a little under 800 right now. I was at about 825 last week, but I didn't have any time to list over the weekend. I'm pretty sure I have enough stuff right now to get me to my goal. Once I hit 700 listings, my sales took off! So I am extremely focused on hitting 1000, because if business boomed mid-summer at 700 listings, I can only imagine fall/holiday business at 1000 listings!

Hey! I think I'll have a giveaway here once I've hit 1000! I'm hoping to reach that goal before we start school on September 6. I need you all to help keep me focused so I can reach my goal on time. I don't know what the giveaway will be. Probably a pair of shoes, since that's who I am and what I do. I'll do a new giveaway post once I hit that point, but thought I'd mention it here for a little extra incentive.

Come join us on our proboards group and let us know what your sales goals are for this week!