I have the greatest parents in the world. No, seriously. I know everybody says that but legit mine are amazing. They've been together since they were teenagers and will be married 40 years next year. This is them:
My Dad is the friendly guy, who coaches his kid's sports teams and drives a school bus just because he loves interacting with the kids. He was raised by his grandmother and had little to no money. His mother was Native American and they never practiced any religion, but Dad has the best set of morals of anyone I know. My dad is the friendly type, who waves at EVERYONE as he drives by. His entire family is adventurous and extremely unique. Dad is loyal to a fault, emotional, honest, risk taker, extremely hardworking, lacks common sense and is the book smartest person I've ever met. His downfalls: his hoards junk and drinks too much Dr. Pepper.
My mom grew up 2 blocks from my dad, but with the exact opposite family structure. Mom is the youngest of 7 kids. Her Catholic mother was Irish and Catholic father was German/African American. She grew up in Catholic school; while my Dad attended the run down inner city, that was bombed as he was sitting in class. My grandpa owned and operated gas stations throughout Columbus, so money wasn't the biggest worry for my mom growing up.
My mom is much quieter than my dad, she prefers to sit and read all weekend. Her parents were not very outgoing or friendly for that matter. If relatives came for a visit, they would have all the children hide and turn off the lights; so they would think no one was home. Mom is nicer than her parents but very much a home body. My mom is also extremely hard working. She is more emotionally guarded, not much of a risk taker, very unselfish and giving; open minded and accepting; not dramatic AT ALL, wasn't the greatest student, but has common sense and street smarts for days. Her biggest downfalls: lack of self confidence and she can be too hard on herself.
My parents are both AMAZING and exact opposites in every way. I have a little bit of both of them in me. I'm book and street smart. I'm cautious but take calculated risks. Can be extremely outgoing; yet am a home body. I'm a Gemini and have taken on both personalities and skill sets of my parents. This causes CONSTANT internal struggles for me; even though I appear totally under control. The conflict becomes apparent in how I run my eBay business. At times I take risks like my dad and at other times I'm very cautious like my mom. Currently, I'm pushing myself to take more risks; as I tend to be cautious with anything money related.
I made the decision this school year to focus on my eBay business more and less on my part time job. My only days off were Tuesday and Thursday, so I gave up Wednesday as well. The three days gives me enough time to take thrifting trips.
Yesterday, I went on my first thrifting trip. I drove down to Leesburg, Florida and shopped at 7 thrift stores. The stores were alright and I should make some good money. Here is a breakdown:
Spent on items to sell: $99.21
Spent on items for myself: $12.74
Snacks: $2.79 (I couldn't resist some gummy bears!)
Gas: $10
Total: $124.74
Estimated eBay costs will be: $96
Estimated shipping costs: $125
Total expenses: $346.74
Estimated income: $959.00
Profit: $612.26
I believe the time cost will be around: 15 hours total. $50.86 per hour.
Generally, I make $40 on Wednesdays at my part time job. By taking the risk and focusing on eBay sales instead; I've greatly that number. I'll make more per hour than for the entire day working my part time job. These are the type of calculated risk, I would advise anyone making; if possible.
What risks do you take with your flipping business?
