$100 Growth Project Update

Posted by Jeremy on May 21, 2009 under $100 Growth Project | 3 Comments to Read

We have recorded our first sale from the $100 Growth Project and it comes in the form of a 2006 Bowman Originals Nolan Reimold Buyback Auto #/419.  You may recall that the auto was purchased off of Sportsbuy.com for a total of $8.60 shipped.  I put it on a one week auction once Reimold was promoted to the Orioles.  Though he got off to a slow start, the O’s power hitting outfielder blasted his first HR last night and has raised his MLB batting average to .302.

I licked my chops anxiously anticipating the reaping of an exponential profit.  Monitoring the auction this morning, I saw that the auto only had a couple of bids on it and was sitting at $6.70, but I wasn’t panicking as there were 12 people watching it, giving me the utmost confidence that it would get some furious last minute bidding.

Fast forward to 6 PM…..I stare in disbelief as the auction ends at a measly $11.00—about 20 bucks less than similar auctions had ended at over the past couple of days.

What went wrong?

With Ted Williams-like hindsight, I can assuredly say that putting this on as a fixed price auction would have been best, and in doing so, I would have assured control over determining the profit margin that I received for the card.  Instead, I opted to gamble on Reimold’s ability to make an initial impact for the O’s.  While he played well, it wasn’t enough to increase the demand for this auto.

Still….this aberration is ridiculous.

I thought that until I did the difficult examination of my eBay Feedback Rating.  Over the past 12 months, I had a couple of negative feedbacks and a few delays in shipments.  As a result, my star rating took a major hit, leaving me looking like an unreputable seller.  This fact could have affected potential buyers’ willingness to place high bids on my products, in favor for those that looked like safer purchases.

This episode serves as a reminder that your reputation as a seller is extremely important.  Like any other industry, satisfied buyers tend to be more reserved in praising good service while those that receive poor service are the most vociferous critics and can have a detrimental effect on the business.

Lesson learned.

After crunching the numbers and letting eBay and Paypal each take their pound of flesh, I find that this sale still rendered a profit.  $1.46 to be exact.  Measly as it seems, we’ll take it and move forward.

As of today here’s the status of the project.

Cash On Hand: $ 26.71

Inventory:

• 2007 Bowman Chrome Chris Coghlan Blue Refractor Auto #/150
• 2005 Bowman Chrome Draft Nolan Reimold Refractor Lot (X15)

Where do we go from here?  I am already examining some potential buys.  Have some input?  Give a little blurb in the comments section below.