Monday Mumblings: Some Financial Choices Are Hard to Explain!

Having been "scraping bottom" (financially) for many years, I am well aware of the idea that "everything counts," and I pretty much live by that philosophy.

I do my best not to be dismissive of little things. It's a bit like the infamous "loose coins under the couch cushions" that eventually end up paying for a pizza.

So I found myself looking at my stuff on eBay — as I tend to do on Mondays, which is always a "shipping day" after the weekend — and got momentarily sidetracked into looking at what one of my colleagues (in the "postage stamps for collectors" trade) was selling.

Thus, I noticed that this person has a large number of listings out there for sale — which led me to scratching my head — nothwithstanding the fact that I just finished claiming that "everything counts."

This person had dozens — if not hundreds — of items up for sale for $0.98 each + a domestic (USA) shipping charge of $0.70.

It stuck out enough that I thought "let me do the math on this," because I just couldn't get it to make sense.

Knowing what I know of eBay and selling costs and processing costs and postage and supplies I couldn't help but end up at "Why bother?"

On the income side, we have:

Selling a stamp: $0.98
Postage fee: $0.70
Total Income: $1.68

On the expenses side, we have:

eBay listing fee: $0.25
Sales commission: $0.24
Postage COSTS: $0.63
Envelope: $0.10
Supplies/item protection: $0.10
Total Expenses: $1.32

Net profit: $0.36

Technically speaking, I suppose we could make the argument that "a profit is a profit."

But knowing what I know about the whole process after some 25 years of doing this gig, this person is ultimately paying themselves way less than minimum wage.

And you'll notice in the above that I didn't include "Cost of Goods Sold." This guy is not getting the old stamps he's selling for free.

Which made me think about some of the other sellers online I have come across who sell things like music CDs and books for $0.99 each and free shipping!

Again, it makes no sense because they are essentially paying people to take the products, because the shipping is going to be way more than the 99 cents.

Either there's something I'm missing about "how to do business," or there are people in the world who simply don't care whether are losing money on their projects.

Of course, these kinds of things are great if you're the consumer; just not so great when you're the merchant.

But before I go too far overboard in my bafflement, I should also add that I am what the broader world might describe as "a lousy consumer." What I mean is, yes, I am that person who'll drive to the supermarket and only buy the "loss leader" on "$5 Friday."

Referring back to the above scenarios, likely the sellers that have me baffled are relying on the people buying the 99-cent books and CDs also buying something at full price, in the same order. Because otherwise it truly doesn't make sense...

Does it?

Maybe your shopping habits are different... I realize not all people view things financial through the same eyes. I just find it odd.

Odd enough, incidentally, that it dragged me "off topic" from the post I'd originally intended to write!

Thanks for visiting, and have a great week ahead!

Comments, feedback and other interaction is invited and welcomed! Because — after all — SOCIAL content is about interacting, right? Leave a comment — share your experiences — be part of the conversation! I do my best to answer comments, even if it sometimes takes a few days!

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Created at 2023-06-20 00:20 PST
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