Where'd all my profits go?

[pigeonpicker]

I sold a graphic t shirt for $20 plus shipping.

By the time I buy the cheapest pen and envelope at Walgreens for $7. Drop it off at the post office with first class for $6. I'm left with a $5 profit. 

[djvp53]

I was thinking of something like this: https://www.ebay.com/itm/314080905708

I don't know if they are particularly good but I'll bet they'd do in a pinch.

[dariudaudery_0]

If you want to take things like pen, envelope into account - price your items higher.

Allot of sellers do that if there are additional expenses.

If your item(s) is not profitable - sell something else.

[josephb555]

If you sell the item for $20 and it will cost $7 for shipping the customer should pay an added $7 for shipping. When you receive the money you should receive $27, this way the customer will pay the total cost of shipping. On the listing page be sure to fill in the amount for shipping.

[simply-the-best-for-you]

A 10x30 unit is huge.  I'm an established seller, who's been selling for decades & I just upgraded to that & I have a DH who makes a great salary.  Up until a few months ago, I had a 10x10 unit.   I would start small.  Not only are the large units pricey, but the prices go up constantly.  I'm lucky my unit only increases once or twice a year, but I had another unit once for something else & they increased the price every 60 days.   

[katzrul15]

Most storage units have pretty good timed lighting.  Find a small indoor temp controlled one - get a small table and take pix in your unit.

[onlinecentral]

Maybe a high powered expensive large flashlight or two would be good enough to take the photos.
I used expensive lightbulbs for indoor photography for years.
Now I snap the photos outdoors, in the shade, on a sunny day.

Here are the numbers for the YouTube seller you are going to emulate.
43,765 Active Listings
5,012 Sold in 90 days
1,671 Sold in 30 days
3.8% Sold per month
26 Month supply of inventory

We don't know if that 3.8% percent sold monthly is:
a) Mostly newly listed items.
b) Pulled equally from all the inventory in storage acquired in 21 years.
If I state that 3.8% another way, 96.2% of items you buy this month will not sell this month.
You need to adjust your expectations to not include Instant Gratification since you will be getting paid in a future month or year.
You are going to have to figure in the cost of Storage Unit Rent. An expense some of your competitors don't have.

While the gross margins are good, the 3.8% is just okay. I am not discouraging you from pursuing your dream. Just giving unsolicited advice for your planning and forecasting.

[yuzuha]

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@onlinecentral wrote:

If I state that 3.8% another way, 96.2% of items you buy this month will not sell this month

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And stuff that doesn't sell needs to be stored somewhere, which then takes up space that you can't use for NEW inventory. That's also something that needs to be taken into account.

[toppopticpops]

You're selling 3 dollar shirts for 20. Using a new pen each time you make a sale. Buying an envelope? Usps has free shipping boxes and all that they deliver to your house for free depending where you live. You could erase half your cost easily. 

[soh.maryl]

By saying that the OP  "should receive $27", you are implying that he pays no fees and no shipping cost.  The OP is an experienced seller, but a newbie would take your message as the truth and might be surprised and upset at the total he receives after eBay takes out the FVF.  

[simply-the-best-for-you]

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@katzrul15 wrote:

Most storage units have pretty good timed lighting.  Find a small indoor temp controlled one - get a small table and take pix in your unit.

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Slightly OT, but can you explain what you mean by that?   I have 2 units & neither of them have any light.  I was also hoping one day to be able to take pics in the big one, but the light in the back of that is horrible.  Nor are there any outlets in the halls.  What do you mean by "timed lighting"?   TIA.  I'm trying to consider all the possibilities now.  

[djvp53]

Some storage units have lights that are on a timer. I could set the timer in my old storage unit to give me up to two hours of light. It would have been horrifying to use for photography though because it was a fluorescent bulb.

[itsjustasprain]

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@djvp53 wrote:

It would have been horrifying to use for photography though because it was a fluorescent bulb.

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You should find that your camera has a White Balance setting that lets you specify the light source, so the camera 'knows' how to correct the image for accurate whites, shades and colors. Cameras usually default to a best-guess 'Automatic' setting, but you can change it to Tungsten (for incandescent lights) or Fluorescent light, as well as Sunlight, Cloudy, Underwater and so on.

The full range of choices depends on the camera, but most all will offer a Fluorescent setting.

[pigeonpicker]

Bigger storage

And trash items that can't sell in 1 or 2 years 

[simply-the-best-for-you]

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@djvp53 wrote:

Some storage units have lights that are on a timer. I could set the timer in my old storage unit to give me up to two hours of light. It would have been horrifying to use for photography though because it was a fluorescent bulb.

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@djvp53   Thank you.  Do you mean the lights in the hallways or are there some with lights in the actual units?   Just curious b/c I've only seen ones with motion sensor lights in the hallways & yes, it's awful lighting, but also it won't begin to reach the end of a 10x30 unit either. 

[pigeonpicker]

Outdoor storage units

I'll take the picture on the street if I have to.