Working Capital

[roccotacodad54]

   Ok. I realize this will be buried soon enough but I just have to say something.

   I"ll preamble by stating that I only buy on eBay but was self employed for a great deal of my working life.

  I constantly see sellers complaining of 3 day holds or that they won't get paid until delivery etc.

   Working capital folks.

   In my self employed life I sometimes didn't get paid for work completed for 90 days or longer. I had to cover labor, materials etc. myself in the interum depending on the job. Yes sometimes I got paid immediately upon completion of the job but not always.

   I had to have money set aside that I didn't need for personal expenses for those 90 day holds or for disputes with customers in general.

   Sometimes I ran into dishonest customers and had to be able to keep business going while pursuing legal remedies etc.

   It seems to me if someone is selling online for needed capital they are basically self employed. A business model that incorporates working capital into it will make their lives much less stressful. I didn't have it at first but set aside part of my profits until a comfortable cushion was achieved.

   I know that buffer allowed me to enjoy life without undue worry and to sleep well at night.

   Just food for thought...........................

[heckofagame]

Good advice. Maybe in a perfect world. 

[roccotacodad54]

   Kind of my advice. It's not a perfect world and one is well advised to set up buffers against it.

   I had to learn the lesson the hard way when I was young that things don't always go as planned.

   Not trying to be overly critical, just food for thought.....................

[onefootflipper · Accepted solution]

I never understood that either. At this point I could literally get paid only twice a year and I would be fine. Even at the start once a month would have been just fine as well.  The only reason I get daily payouts is to get the money into interest bearing accounts and investments as soon as possible. 

Everyone should keep a baseline amount of money all the time just in case. I know, all of you are going to comment on how impossible that is for you. However I know real people in real life who say the same thing and I watch all of those people doing the exact same things that make saving money impossible. I actually have one friend who has been sharing 1 car with his wife for a year now because his car needs a thousand dollar repair, and that entire time they were having a cleaning service come by twice a week and paying for frequent food delivery. While other friends have purchase too much car or too much house and that is killing them. All to frequently I have even seen people bankrupting themselves with pets.

You entire life can change if you can just dig yourself out of those holes.

[wri-8727]

Why don't you sell? Make your missus happy roccotacodad54 by clearing out Ye Ole Curiosity Shoppe you call your study. If I had a study and a PC I would.

[12345jamesstamps]

When I was a wine director(Cellar Master) on cruise ships I got paid one a month.

It wasn't easy at first...but it got better...The all I can drink wine every day for free really helped.

One has to take the bad with the good.

Think I was drunk almost every day...🍷

[roccotacodad54]

   Yes it probably would make her happy to see alot of my "creepy" things go. I do enjoy my stuff though.

   It's worth keeping the things to me just to see the rare person that comes in here get lost in thought looking at them.

   Last one was an old friend visiting and after saying his name twice he kind of came back and asked where on earth did I find 6" sand dollars (on the wall in the nautical/ocean area). I told him I got them where we used to go to the beach on Baja years ago before things got wierd there (Sinaloa cartel). That brought back pleasant memories for us both. Renting a cabin, no senoir frogs or any of the touristy nonsense. Local cops in a small beach town happy with our "donations". LOL. Then he moved on to my antique bottle/apothecary stuff.....

   I did downsize 20 years ago when I moved back to the NW from S. Nevada. It was hard giving my stuffed grizzly bear to a friend. Miss that bear standing in the corner. $50 from an old guy having a divorce sale. An old large oak desk with large oak chair, deluxe with lean back feature and springs. Another divorce sale while visiting Huntington Beach. Lots of 1800's mining stuff found on excursions in the desert. Lamps, ore samples, even an old ore cart , that one was tough getting into the pickup. I just didn't have room for all of it. Only the small stuff. My friends scored................

[roccotacodad54]

   I also see where people effectively sabotage their financial stability. 

   I told a friend once he should drive a car/truck at least ten years after it was paid off to make buying a new rig worthwhile. His response, "Yea but I get tired of them". He also sold his house in a bad market once because "He was tired of it"

   I then pointed out that I was on my second engine and third transmission on my '68 Ford 3/4 ton Custom Cab and only sold it recently in 2021 because it didn't have seatbelts and am too old and don't feel like risking injury with all the careless drivers I see driving/texting. Bought a new F150 in 2009 that I'll probably drive until I'm unable. Put $13,000 down and paid it off early. Basic truck no fancy frills I don't need/want. I remember the salesman asking "You don't want carpet?" I replied "How can I hose it out after camping with carpet?" No electric windows to short out. No GPS, I know where I'm going. Etc. Etc.

  We just re-did the suspension and outer oil seals on our 2007 Pontiac G6. It will be good for some years to come.

   I also know people that are too lazy to cook dinner. Really? I eat waaaay better than them for less money cooking for us. For what they pay for crummy delivery I can eat a steak dinner (buy on meat sales, foodsaver & freeze) with great sides from our garden.

   The same people are always complaining they can't get ahead.

   As was once said "If you find yourself getting into a hole, put down the shovel".........................

[onefootflipper]

Tend to buy vehicles about 15 years old. They have stopped depreciating at that point, but are not nearly old enough to have the sort of  "old car problems" that my 84 Mercedes and 86 minitruck have.  I then usually drive them 4 years, sell them for most of what I paid for them if they haven't fallen apart on me, and buy something else. That takes well care of the "I get tired of it" thing.

[roccotacodad54]

   Sounds like a good strategy.

[sreu3058]

It helps tremendously if everyone in the same house is on the same frugal living plan…

Not always the case, of course, ha!

[sin-n-dex]

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@sreu3058 wrote:

It helps tremendously if everyone in the same house is on the same frugal living plan…

Not always the case, of course, ha!

---

I remember my dad telling me once he used to try to make his clothes last longer and save money by not replacing things. And then my mom would come home with a new pair of shoes (which she didn't need because she had 20 other pair) and say to my dad "so what do you think of my new shoes?" And my dad said all he could think about is he had one pair he was trying to wear until they fell apart, and my mom feels she needs another pair because there's money being saved in the bank. Must have frustrated him tremendously having to support the family, but eventually they split over differences.

I think I inherited traits from both parents... I use things until they break and buy things I don't really need... but I figure it's my money that I earned so I'm allowed. (I'm not married anymore, something to do with me not wanting to support a spouse who had no interest in getting a job... it's kind of like when I got a good job he felt he didn't have to work anymore).

C.

[wri-8727]

It all sounds good but you

sidestepped the question. 

I'm a junk collector but now that I don't have a pick-up anymore my collecting has been curtailed. Lots of old logging camps around here that are always good for finding a Pruex jug or two. I found an old bombing range for sale once in southern Oregon and I said to Her let's buy it and I'll get a metal detector. NO. OK, how about a mining claim? NO. Some people are just no fun so I'm stuck on the farm 24/7. Heck, I don't even get Christmas off):

[stainlessenginecovers]

Most sellers are profiting.

Most profits means taxes.

Being 'self employed' by selling on ebay (even if part time) means 15.3% for Self Employment Tax on profit, not to mention the possible 5%, 10%, 20% Fed Tax, and another possible 3%, 5%, 9% (like in Cali) State Income Tax. 

So, if you sell $20k in 6 months and profit $8k, you should have about $2k 'saved' for taxes. 

Borrow from that for your 'pending' $$. 

By the way, Amazon holds sellers money for about 20 days after delivery by the time a seller sees the $$.

[roccotacodad54]

   I guess the answer is that I don't like selling things, mine or in a retail setting either.

   When I get rid of my stuff I almost always give it away rather than deal with the disgruntled or thieving buyers.

   I intend to give my gun safe contents to the grandkids (3) and leave instructions to draw straws for who goes first second and third on a rotating order. 2 boys (men) and 1 girl (woman) and she will probably score well. Some nice vintage jewelry in there as well as vintage guns and blades geared toward feminine tastes.

  A mining claim is cool to have. The state geniuses in charge put a moratorium on claims here.

  My grandfather had a sawmill/logging camp on the Klickitat river south of here. No road (gravel/logging or otherwise) access. I talked to a guy that said he saw what appeared to be some sort of old encampment by the river while steelhead fishing about where it would have been. Getting him to take me there in his jet boat is on my bucket list. I never met grandpa but I've seen pictures of him in buckskin leathers with obligatory fur hat in winter. He cut railroad ties for the railroad back in the day and I guess they floated them down the river.

  He retired as a mailman later when they told him he had to drive a vehicle and could no longer deliver on horseback or with his wagon (skis on it in another picture, buckskins & hat) and mules in winter....................