I’m interested in entering the selling side of the hobby and I’m curious about what people use to track their inventory.
So far, my time in the hobby has been spent with a sole focus on collecting. I’d like for it to eventually fund itself so I’m starting to buy cards that I think are undervalued. Unless I have a lot of early and big success, I don’t see myself managing thousands of cards, so a simple solution should work. For perspective, I give myself around $30-$40 per week to spend on cards. I’d like to start breaking it up so that every other week I’m buying to resell down the line. I know I won’t see profits for a while at this rate and it’s gonna slow down my collecting, but I’m excited about what the future may hold if I play my cards right. Gary’s topic regarding his old purchases has me keen on keeping track of when I made a purchase, the cost of that purchase, and what I end up selling it for.
I’ve put together a basic spreadsheet to help me keep track of what I have.
If you’re talking a small operation (which you seem to be); that type of spreadsheet would work-out perfectly! It’s super-well organized - and would be very interesting to look back-on down the road (even just for the fun of it). However, if you’re looking to expand into something where you’re making multiple sales everyday, that type of spreadsheet would get really time-consuming! Don’t get me wrong, it’s still doable, but would take-up an extensive amount of time.
I’m a bit embarrassed to show-off my spreadsheet(s) after seeing that! LOL I just have a simple spreadsheet that I fill-in at the end of every month. Basically grab my Total Sales and subtract my Shipping Cost, eBay Fees, PayPal Fees, eBay Store Fee, Postage-Service Fee to get my “Net”. Something new that I just implemented (From Gary) was a detailed paper-trail of everything that I purchase for re-sale - everything I buy gets recorded onto a “receipt” (which I write-up myself). At the end of the month, I’ll add-up all of those purchases and subtract that from my “Net” to get my actual Profit.
And Obviously, as you get more-and-more into selling, there are other important factors that need to be deducted - Milage (that’s a biggie for tax-reasons), Shipping Supplies, Printer Supplies (Ink / Paper / Labels); and even getting down into the nitty-gritty - Internet Bills / Usage, Electricity Usage… That last part may be a bit above what you’re planning though!
@oldskoolpokemon Thanks, glad you like it! I see what you’re saying about it becoming unmanageable down the road. I just hope I can get to that point at some time
I’m thinking I’ll add a section to my recent sales where I subtract the fees & shipping that I pay so I can see what I’m really getting from a sale.
I built a database in Microsoft Access to keep track of my purchases/sales. There’s a little bit of a learning curve if you’ve only used Excel, but it might be a better route in the long run. I can send you what I use if you PM me.
The same principal(s) for collecting apply to re-selling - everyone has to start their business somewhere. If you’re willing to work-hard and have the same drive / dedication as you do with collecting and place those same principals towards re-selling, you’ll succeed! Having capital doesn’t matter at all - that just helps expedite the process a bit. Heck, I started my original eBay Business with a $75.00 “Investment” and slowly grew from there. I’d even argue having a limited budget is better for new re-sellers - really makes you understand the “hustle” involved with business. Don’t get me wrong, I still LOVE re-selling, but it was definitely a bit more enjoyable when I was only able to purchase $X and had to re-sell that product before purchasing something else - having a larger budget / inventory can get a bit overwhelming sometimes!
And Yes, I would highly-recommend adding something where you’re able to subtract all of your eBay and PayPal Fees and Shipping Costs! I was so distracted by the beautiful lay-out, I didn’t even notice that! LOL Those Fees and Shipping Costs can really add-up on you!
I started extensively keeping track of everything about a year ago and wish I had done it like this from when I very started. I have a very organized (for me at least) excel sheet where I keep track of everything. This picture is from some of my earlier recordings as you can tell by the dates as I usually keep track of where I purchased cards now too. I categorize my cards usually into ‘singles’ (cards that I get and sell again raw), "PSA Raw Cards’ (cards I get and send to PSA myself), & ‘PSA Graded Cards’ (cards I buy already graded). I also keep track of every little expense from shipping details, ebay fees, returns, misc purchases for each month. Everything I purchase card wise goes into monthly purchases. At the end of the month I just take my ebay gross totals for the month as well as cards I sold locally/ig and add those to give me a gross total. Then I minus my monthly purchases and my monthly expenses to give me a net total for that month. This is my way of keeping track and has honestly helped me a lot.
Hope this helps a bit. It’s always best to customize it to your own tastes as well and whatever works best for you.
I probably need to do that as well! I’m buying NM cards and I plan to grade whatever I think will get a 9/10 so having separate tabs will be great. Do you know right when you buy a card if you’ll grade it or do you wait till you have it in hand before adding it to your spreadsheet?
Yeah so I wait until I get the cards, look at it, and then decide if it’s going in my PSA raw or the singles category. I put them in my monthly purchases first and then once I get it put it into whatever category after.
Just curious… If you buy a binder/lot of cards and split them up to sell individually (possibly grading some and not others) do you go through the cards and try to determine an approximate cost for each card?
It is very common to use google doc as an ERP system.
Make sure you can transfer smoothly to a good ERP system, when your business becomes bigger.
You might want to make sure where you put all these cards, when you have over 200 cards.
Before buying a binder or lot of cards I always try to make a rough estimate of the total cost of the cards for myself in worse condition than stated (if buyer states “all cards in great condition!” I just assume LP or worse). This way if you’re pleasantly surprised with actual NM or better cards, you have more room for a good ROI. I also try to give myself a rough estimate of what I think I can sell lots for individually priced out as BEFORE I buy, opposed to just buying it then hoping for the best. Either way, sometimes buying lots can still be risky as you also have to factor in shipping costs, ebay/paypal fees, bad conditions, etc. But if you don’t take risks, you’ll never find out if it was worth it or not
