Can I make a full time income?

This post is coming from a simple discussion on one of my facebook groups.  A lot of people want to sell full time, but don't seem to know how.  It really is an easy concept, but it is one of those things that just buzzes over peoples heads because they over think it.  Once you break it down into manageable data, it really is simple to figure out.

Everyone's situation is different as are their sales models.  For the purposes of this post, I am going to generalize and keep things fairly simple.  Once you understand the concept, it's real easy to port the information over to your situation.  My example will be making a few assumptions based on average sellers and sales numbers.  While there are a lot of us who are above these numbers, it does reflect what the averages are.  So, here we go.

To put yourself into a position to sell full time, you need to make sure you understand your profit margin.  The average runs about 60%.  So out of each sales, you get to keep 60 cents per dollar.  So if your item sells for $20, then on average you will profit about $12.  Our analysis will be based on that sales number just to keep things simple.  I would venture to say that the average seller would need to sell about $4,000 per month in order to sell full time on ebay.  So, based on the 60 cents per dollar profit number, you would expect to see $2,400 as money in your pocket.

So, how do you get to that amount?  Well, it's purely a numbers game.  If we are selling our product for $20 and we want to reach $4,000 in sales, then we need to sell 200 items per month.  In ebay terms, you generally will sell about 10% of what you have listed per month.  So to sell 200 items, you need to list 2,000 items.  Now you can see why the name of the game is not just listing quantity, it's listing quality.  Take the same $4,000 and an average sales price of $40 and you only need to sell 100 items and list 1,000 and so on. You get the idea.

For me, I average about $39 per sale, and have around 1,200 listings active.  I average around 153 sales per month.  As you can see, my numbers are pretty close in line with my example.  If you want to sell full time, then do the math and figure out where you need to be.  Don't be throwing darts in the dark.  Set your goals and work towards them.  It's ok to start small until you figure things out.  Gradually raise your prices by buying more desirable products.  You'll find things a little less intimidating once you understand how things work.

It's not rocket science.  There is no secret.  Hard work and knowing your numbers is all it takes.  So go out there and make your own way!