
April was my best month yet from my reselling endeavours. I even managed to meet my own Gold Star mark which I set myself back in the January 2020 Summary where I introduced a goal mark system to track my own score. I honestly didn’t think I would see this mark for some time. G sits above A.
As you can see above the net profit per hour is still above $100 an hour for the second month on the trot combined with higher volume as well which I am happy about.
A side note on this: Part of me feels like a bit of a skite even publishing this number. I’ve even added it into the post title which feels click baity even though it’s not. After all, both where I’m from (NZ) and where I live (AUS) this sort of thing (skite) is somewhat frowned upon. That said, its here because:
- I’m proud of it, I had to learn a lot over multiple years and put in the effort and hard work to get this number. I don’t view this number as a boast, I view it as a reflection of my efforts for reselling activities and a reminder that this number always must be better than my day job.
- I want people to really think about their reselling business and the time they are putting in vs what they are getting out of it. Even better track and record so able to constantly identify areas for improvement.
- I want to put it out there to show what is potentially possible at least on a part time basis. Work smarter and more efficiently to make this number better.
Highlights of April include:
- A new daily reselling high score.
- Highest amount of sales for any month.
- Highest sell through rate for any month.
Sales

This month was out of control, I sold 128 items over the month vs 69 the month before on a sell through rate of just over 12% which is far superior to the previous 3 months which each sat in between 6-7%.
The Coronavirus was obviously a huge factor in this, people at home choosing to shop online. I did have a sale which ended early in the month and I followed this up with a 30% off book sale on my higher priced items. There were a few sales in there for sure which on a time basis were not worth the reward after the sale amount slashed it but these were only a few and the increased traction through the rest of the store seemed to pick up.
Had some solid sales this month with several items leaving at over $100.

Some interesting YouTube reselling conversations resulted in me joining the #puzzleclub and listing all of the puzzles that I had had lying around for a while. Cheers to 2AussieThrifters and The Mad Tatter for getting me motivated there. As soon as I jumped off the stream I listed 5 Ken Duncan Puzzles before I went to bed. The next morning I sold 4/5 within an hour. Strike while the reselling irons hot! Over the next couple of weeks I sold several other puzzles I made the effort to get listed. Would I still pickup Ken Duncans moving forward? Yes, but only for personal completion.

Time

The time spent this month was definitely an improvement on March, I still would have liked to get more listed. I did find it difficult to manage working at home and getting items listed. Perhaps this is the new normal with a bubba for the moment.
Sourcing
No Sourcing completed for the month, sort of. I didn’t actually go to any Op Shops as they are still closed. I briefly used my Facebook Search Shove a couple times and made a couple of inquires on items. Both were a bust, one I was just too late and the other for some reason the guy did not reply to several messages even when I indicated I was keen to buy. Eventually he responded that they were available just not right at the moment. Bewildered I said ok let me know when they become ‘available’ and moved on. Perhaps it was Covid19 related but will probably never know. Outside of this I did not actively look nor have I posted my wanted ad yet.
I did purchase a bulk lot of choose your own adventure books. I am undecided whether to class this as actual stock yet as I want to compile the collection for Leela over the next few years (or maybe for dad to read with Leela). Anyway I paid just a little bit more than I really wanted to when factoring reselling but I didn’t have much choice as they were located outside my region and with restrictions on regional state travel here still in place I couldn’t pick them up. Still, I had a nice conversation with the people selling and they actually agreed to throw in some other similar books called twista plots as well. I could probably sell these and retrieve 1/3 of the cost leaving me with the choose your own adventures. For now these remain as a personal purchase.
Start Of A New Collection
A while ago I had found a Linkin Park tour T-shirt from 2007 in a rural thrift shop. Not long after Chesters death in 2017 I had the opportunity to buy a bulk lot of Linkin Park T-shirts but I couldn’t bring myself to do it. It’s funny, reflecting on growing up when I encountered a situation where someones favourite person / idol had died that they were affected so much. I couldn’t understand it at the time. They didn’t know this person directly, sure it was sad and often tragic in most cases but I couldn’t wrap my head around it. Chesters death however crushed me, I still vividly remember finding out off hand in a random conversation and I refused to believe it. I was also shocked just how shook up I was. Their music has gotten me through some seriously dark and shitty times and also really resonated with me through some great times. They are still are my favourite band. Chester’s death also forced me to reevaluate my own life again, after all how could someone who seemed to have conquered so many battles still succumb to the darkness and despair. I felt lost listening to any of their music and even found new meaning in some of there newer music in light of his death. After a while I couldn’t even listen to the music any more as every time I did I found myself upset. What was once a source of great strength for me had turned into anguish. I now finally understood what others had been trying to explain to me all those years ago.
I’m not sure what changed this month but I found myself pulled towards wanting to begin a collection of Linkin Park memorabilia. I already had the tour T-Shirt to kick things off so I began looking around the various platforms.
So far I have purchased a couple of tour T-Shirts one from eBay and one from Gumtree. The Gumtree one will be interesting as I paid via PayPal and specifically asked for a tracking receipt once sent. This was over a week ago. See what happens but I may have to open my first PayPal chargeback as a buyer already, just have that feeling about it.
I also came across a listing in another part of the country and convinced the person to send me these items. They haven’t turned up yet so I’ll wait to share what I got. In my opinion, a bargain, but what I will say is that it always pays to UpSource, ask the question, I’m also looking for X,Y and Z do you have any of these also? In the Choose Your Own Adventure purchase this question turn into FREE extra books to get the deal over the line. In the Linkin Park purchase it actually turned into other Linkin Park memorabilia shipped all together at an extremely good price.
An interesting query fell out of this, could it be possible to claim this collection as office furnishings as I intend to hang T-shirts etc… A grey area I am sure but will be following up with the accountant. I will also be posting a little more about creating collections using reselling in the future.
Listings
I did achieve some listings for the month but after selling so much the total store listings actually dropped by over 50. I just fell short of my minimum daily average goal for the month and also failed to list some of my higher value items that really should have taken priority, shoes for example.
I am reselling things faster than I can get them listed. Good problem to have I suppose. Just tricky to find that balance with working full time, packing what I’m already selling and spending time with the family.
I did have an extra day off scheduled for April but this got put on the back burner. With all of the Covid19 going on it seemed smarter to hang onto any accrued annual leave days for a rainy day… That said with things calming down somewhat I may be able to take the day that I have scheduled in May to attempt to get as many items processed as possible.
I finally got listed the vintage fantasy posters I have been siting on for over a year now. I have 93 at a cost of approximately 25c each and I just sold my first set of 5 for over $80 (figures captured in May revenue). Turns out they are actually vintage Lord Of The Rings so I don’t think I’ll have trouble selling them all over time. This should turn $25 into over $1000. Not to shabby at all but considering I only had to make one listing for all of them this should have been done much sooner.
The Death Pile
The reselling death pile still exists though it is shrinking relatively fast. For the moment I have listed most of the books and random sort of hard goods that I had stacked away. Remaining includes now: a bunch of PS2 systems and games, a box of random DVD box sets, old vintage cameras, various shoes, several guitar hero controllers and some other small items.
I also have a couple of tubs full of cards and other small items. Shrinking yes but still plenty to keep me out of trouble for this month and next.
Business Expenses
Paid entire years PO Box rental. Got this out of the way and accounted for the entire cost in this month.
Brought a new mouse to replace my old one I actually wore out and simultaneously upgrade my productivity. I wrote an entire post about the benefits. You can read here.
The remaining months business expenses relate to purchase of postage mainly – stamps.
A Return From Italy !
The end of the month gave me a return all the way back from Italy in the middle of COVID19.
Needless to say I had many questions as it was unclaimed.
I’ll cover this separately in an upcoming post.
May Coming Up
Both May and June last year were my best months for reselling in the year 2019. A significant portion of my store is geared towards sports related clothing and winter clothing, mainly jeans. I am hoping this year will be the same if not better than last. With there at least potential for some sport to resume later this year I may see some of these items begin to move. If not it doesn’t matter I am happy to wait and have also turned down a few low ball offers over the course of April related to sports memorabilia in particular.
Tax Time Planning
Tax time is fast approaching again and I need to get a handle on whether I should be looking to make some business related purchases in this financial year to reduce my gross business income. As I only implemented my current custom system on Jan 1 I have a hodgepodge of records to organise.
If you have any suggestions for what might be a good business purchase feel free to leave a comment below. I already have this year upgraded by mouse and keyboard, I already have 2x Thermal printers, I could prepay some postage in bulk, I.E stamps. I have been thinking about a new chair as my current one kills my back after sitting for a while.
The Multi User Access Permissions
I noted this in a recent eBay update and have been hanging out for this to be honest. I already outsource my photos for some items and this will allow the draft listings to be created also. This will allow me to stick to the best part of the process.