Clocking in, clocking out

[bigdeals.etc]

How many hours would you say you actually work on ebay and ebay related stuff on average in a given week to help your sales (I'm not counting messing around in this board like I'm doing right now).

If I really had to guess under what I would think "normal productivity" would be, I'd say I work 25-30 hrs a week. But since I sometimes go at snails pace, it stretches to about 30-35 hrs.

[chapeau-noir]

60 hours/wk -  I sell on several websites and have a lot of fiddly work because of what I sell (oftentimes vintage clothing/kimono that need some restoration) and my work conditions (difficulty taking photos so they all have to go through post).  I'm cutting down to part-time pretty soon, though, as a big bill will be paid and I'll be on my feet more again from an accident last spring, and that means going up to the mountains more - no computer, no phone.

[mcdougle4248]

Right now, as little as possible.  Just enough to keep a store open, maybe 10 hrs a week.

[alcoforever]

Never kept track of hours per week but did know that each item listed took about an hour total.   That included sourcing, photographing, testing, listing, packing and shipping.   My typical week I would list between 30 and 50 items.

[ekmadonna]

Way Too Many!

[inhawaii]

I have a ful time job that i work 40 hours a week at. 

I would say i spend about 2 hours a day on my ebay business.

[chapeau-noir]

---

@inhawaii wrote:

I have a ful time job that i work 40 hours a week at. 

I would say i spend about 2 hours a day on my ebay business.

---

Speaking of clocks, that reader board clock you have for sale is pretty wild!  Can you program it to say GET OUTTA BED YOU LAZY PHART! and things like that?

[southern*sweet*tea]

It depends.

April through October, just a few minutes a day, unless I have stuff to ship, then it's maybe 15 minutes.

In the winter, off and on all day long. Like today, it was cold and the ground is like oatmeal, so I've spent most of the day researching and listing on another account. I got in a big box of stuff, and it's just sooo much fun researching it all!  I'm having a ball! Taking the pictures stinks, I hate that. Writing up the descriptions and actually listing is okay, I can do that fairly quickly.

So...if I had to assign an actual time, probably around five to six hours today, most of it researching and photographing. 

[inhawaii]

I need a alarm clock that gives you an electric shock.  Do they make those?  LOL

[nuclearomen]

idk.. A LOT... my pc is always on, ebay is always up, and I'm constantly multitasking with ebay in the mix... but to be fair I sleep next to none, few hours here and few there and though my account is up I'm not always "on the site" and doing other stuff... 

[kathieskorner]

Currently it probably averages out to 2 hours per day.    Prior to 2019's sales decline when I was listing more because I was selling more - twice that.   Kind of hard to get motivated to create new listings when sales are so sporadic.

[luckythewinner]

---

@bigdeals.etc wrote:

How many hours would you say you actually work on ebay and ebay related stuff on average in a given week to help your sales (I'm not counting messing around in this board like I'm doing right now).

---

About 1 hour each night packing and shipping.

About 2 hours a week creating new listings. 

About 1 hour uploading from Turbo Lister whenever there is a listing special. 

[mr_lincoln]

@bigdeals.etc   That's a good question ... I think maybe I will keep track of it for a couple of weeks.  There are many aspects of time invested in the business model:

1. Travel time to and from live auctions

2. Research time and participation in online auctions, then travel time to pick up winnings

3. Cleaning, repairs & photo shoots

4. Creating listings

5. Packaging sold items and labeling

6. Trips to the Post office

7. Accounting for quarterly reports and year end income tax

[csbbct]

In addition to all the photographing, listing, working with the buyer, packing, and shipping, for my inventory it requires searching for local auctions, driving sometimes 3 hours to get to the auction, 3-6 hours sitting at the auction waiting for my items to come up, all with the possibility of coming home empty-handed.  So, after all my expenses I'm lucky to make $3-4 per hour selling on eBay!  I do it because most of the time I love it and thankfully it's not my primary income source!  My heart goes to the sellers who are trying to make a living here.

[ersatz_sobriquet]

Your answer mr_lincoln is the most honest for anything used. NIB items I've listed have been a breeze, especially in multiples. What a huge difference. A few easy photos and write that multiple listing and have those flat rate envelopes handy and forget about it and watch them sell.

Then there's that rare antique lace tablecloth, that from stains to repairs to washing to drying to extremely difficult ironing to photographing to researching, can take up 10 hours easily on that one item, if not more. And that's why that tablecloth costs $1,000.00...besides the rarity.