We’ll also add some “fixed costs” for the cost of packaging supplies such as a mailer, paper and ink.
These will be our “variable input” cells that can change and drive the rest of the model. Let’s keep things simple here by focusing on the sales price, cost of item sold, and cost of postage. What a dilemma! Let’s use Excel to plot a course forward.Įven something as simple as shipping a package on eBay can include multiple costs and inputs.
So, you want to “bake this into” the final selling price to some extent while still pricing the item at a level someone will actually pay for. Consumers more or less expect free shipping nowadays, so it’s easy not to factor this into the final tally and end up losing money (not to mention your precious time, which I am sure you would rather not spend in line at the post office). If you’ve ever sold online before, you know the cost of shipping is literally a “make-or-break” input in profitability.
I’ve been a dilettante in eBay sales since college and, wanting to add a little more rigor to what I sell and how to price it, looked to the spreadsheet for guidance.
