The Real Measure of Your eBay Success: Are You Making a Profit?

People sell on eBay for a variety of reasons. Maybe you enjoy selling the junk around your house. Maybe you enjoy being part of the large eBay selling community. Maybe you are out to make some money and feel that eBay is the way to go.

For those of you in the latter group, selling on eBay is all about making a profit. After all, selling on eBay is a very time consuming venture for which you should be properly rewarded. If you aren’t making a buck, then you probably ought to be spending your time doing something else.

How do you tell if you are making money? We previously discussed the two different kinds of profits you deal with while selling on eBay. But what does all of this really mean?

It is all too easy to assume you are making a killing on eBay when you see your weekly or monthly sales volume in your Selling Manager. However, what you need to keep in mind (not to rain on your parade) is that what you see from within Selling Manager is just the raw information from eBay regarding the total of your eBay sales. You still need to subtract your product and business expenses from this raw data before it means anything at all.

Your Selling Manager numbers may make it seem like you will be ready to retire in a few months’ time, but reality may paint a much different picture. Let’s go over a hypothetical situation so that you can see what we mean.

Let’s say that you are selling a very large number of widgets at $25 per month and are seeing sales figures in Selling Manger of around $15,000 for the last 30 days. WOW, you think. At this rate you are doing about $180,000 in annual sales. This is true, but what does this REALLY mean?

This $15,000 worth of sales represents, in this hypothetical case, 600 sales of your $25 widget. Business is great! You are selling around 20 widgets per day and have never been busier. You are an eBay success story, right? Well, maybe not…

Competition between widget sellers on eBay is heating up. Because of this you have had to drop your widget prices down to the current $25 price that you are getting for this marvelous item. You used to be able to get the full retail price of $35 per widget, but since there have been a number of new competitors arriving on eBay selling the same widget, you have had to lower your price by $10 per widget to stay competitive. No problem, you think, after all you are still selling 20 per day.

Yes, 20 per day may seem like a very impressive number, but how much are you paying for each of these widgets? If the retail price is $35, then you most likely are buying them at wholesale for 50% of retail price, or $17.50. This means that you are making $7.50 on each widget that you sell ($25 sales price minus $17.50 product cost). Multiply this by the 20 widgets you sell per day, and you are realizing a profit of $150. Not too shabby, or is it?

Have you forgotten our discussion about how you figure out net profits? Remember that you need to subtract from your sales figure not only the cost of the widgets, but the rest of your business overhead. When you start adding up your overhead, even as an online seller operating from your house, the number can come as quite a surprise.

It pays to pay attention to the big picture when it comes to your eBay business finances. Know what your expenses are and make sure that you are clearing enough of a profit to more than offset your overhead.

In our eyes, the real measure of your business success is not how many widgets you sell, or how much feedback you accumulate, but rather the fact that you are making a decent profit and can afford to do more than just put food on your table. If you are going to work for yourself, don’t you deserve to be amply rewarded financially? If you are just looking to collect $14 per hour, go get a job working for the man.

You put blood, sweat and tears into your eBay business and you should be rewarded for your hard work. Find the right mix of products to sell that will allow you to make a handsome living. Otherwise, you might as well go get a day job at the local large corporation. At least this way you will have your weekends free!

Other articles you might like;

• Protect Your Company With Commercial Liability Insurance | Sacredcowtipping
• Internet Payroll Services – Things To Keep In Mind | Jollygoodfind
• Online Meetings Via Web Conferencing Services | Business - Report Pulse
• Small Office Phone System – What To Consider | Business - Educated Articles
• Commercial Liability Insurance Coverage Explained | Just About Information

Related Posts:
If You Sell on eBay, You May Be Losing Billions
OK, maybe the title of this post is a bit exaggerated. However, if you are one of the millions who sell on eBay, you personally are not losing billions but, as a group, eBay sellers are. A new study talks about
Chris Malta’s Personal eBiz Workshops
Chris Malta, founder and CEO of Worldwide Brands, the creators of the best wholesale directory (where you can find the perfect wholesaler or wholesale dropshipper for your e-commerce business), has recently announced he will be holding personal eBiz workshops. These
Selling on eBay is Real Work if You Want to be a Success
Let’s clear the air a bit before we get started. Selling on eBay is hard work. Being successful at selling on eBay is very hard work. Selling on eBay to make a full-time living is some of the hardest work
Finding the Right Product to Sell on eBay
eBay is chock-full of products that people are looking for. The problem is that eBay is also chock-full of people selling these sought after products. How do you create a business that is profitable? What kind of products do you
Setting Yourself Apart from the Competition by Creating Professional Listings
If you sell on eBay, your customers will most likely never set their eyes on you. Instead, the only thing that potential customers have to judge you by is your presence on eBay. Most likely the first place that people
Thank You for Subscribing!
Thank you for subscribing to the Lizard Wisdom newsletter! There is one step to go before your subscription is complete. A confirmation email has been sent to you with a link you must click on in order to complete the
Pay Your Taxes Like a Real Business
It has been said that the only two certainties in life are death and taxes. Of these, taxes are the only thing that you will have to worry about while you are alive, so let’s talk about them for a
Free e-Book: Successful Product Sourcing – How to Find REAL Wholesale Products YOU Can Sell Online
We have talked about how product sourcing is THE hardest part of running a successful eBay business. If you want to obtain eBay PowerSeller status, you most likely will be spending a great deal of your time finding the right
Finding a Dropship Wholesaler and Wholesale Dropshippers
Locate Quality Drop Shipping Wholesalers with Worldwide Brands Take advantage of Worldwide Brands NEW LOW PRICE! Worldwide Brands now offers their complete Product Sourcing LIFETIME Membership plus The Whole Sale Education Package for just $299. With this new, lower price, you
Six FREE Magazines to Help You Build Your Business
Not only are there a large number of emails/newsletters that you can subscribe to in order to gain knowledge to help you in your business, but there are also a number of magazines that you should subscribe to. Below, you will