And before we get to the good stuff, here is my disclaimer:
My income reports are not created to brag about the amount of inventory I have sold or how much profit I am bringing in each month. They are created to show the progression through the selling process and to motivate the readers that they can also produce the same results (note: I do not guarantee any results and all of my recommendations and examples are my own personal opinions). You will notice that I started off with very little in terms of investment dollars and you will also see when certain new ideas worked and when others did not. I am always open for questions and I will try to be as transparent as possible (but I am not an accountant, nor do I ever want to be one).
Here we go for month #4 (also known as June):
This month was a little different than last month. I finally started to see sales pick up (it’s amazing to see what happens when you increase your inventory levels). This is the first month that I actually turned a profit and I am excited with the results that I am seeing with sourcing at a retail level (I am hoping to get into wholesale, liquidation, and online sourcing in the coming months).
I have only two services that I subscribe to currently:
Amazon Professional Selling Account: $39.99
UPS Smart Pickup: $10.50 per week
I intentionally keep my overhead extremely low to allow keep my money going into inventory (there is no need to pay for a warehouse when you have a front room).
Here are the sales numbers for the month:
Since I was able to get more inventory into the system, my sales numbers jumped up. This increase in inventory occurred due to the following:
1. I am getting a lot better at finding items in the stores. Especially at Walgreens.
2. I am streamlining my processing by the additions of a barcode scanner, tape gun, and boxes from Home Depot.
3. Practice makes perfect.
As for the amount I invested into inventory for the month, that number is: $4,640.67
Amazon paid me a total of $8,968.99 during June, so I am in the green $4,329.32. This profit is going to cover the losses I incurred during my first 3 months.
Overall, here is where I stand since I started selling online:
I have invested a total of $9,395.39 into inventory and I have received a total of $10,122.76 back from Amazon. On the books, I have profited $727.37 minus my others costs including milage, packing supplies, and UPS Pickup. This number does not include the 500 items I currently have sitting in an Amazon warehouse (which have the estimated profit of $5,000). The process of reinvesting my money into inventory has given me inventory in the warehouse and the ability to all of my bills at the same time. It is the same concept of “playing on the house’s money” that can be seen in stock investing and gambling. I am covering my costs (eliminating risk of losing my personal money) and using the profit to make additional money. If I were to stop sourcing and sell all of the inventory, I could regaining the majority of the profits.
But for now, I am going to let it ride.
CW