June 2015 Financial Results from Selling on Amazon and eBay

Hello Everyone, the month of July is already half gone, and that means I am a bit overdue in sharing my financial results for June.  June was a roller coaster ride of a month for my business because I had my amazon seller account suspended, and some of my best sales days of the year.  We’ll get into the details shortly, if you missed any of my past financial results posts, you can find them HERE.

We’ll get started with how my time was spent during June.  I only worked on weekdays on this business for the most part.  I took 2 working days completely off during June, and worked the remainder of the days.  In total, I would say I averaged 40 hours per week on the business during June.  There was a little over a day of sales lost due to the suspension, and there was a majority of a day spent working on getting my account reinstated as well.  So not all time spent was immediately revenue generating.

Before we get to the numbers, there is one more topic to discuss.  My goal with sharing my financial results is to show what can be done, and is not meant to be seen as bragging or anything of the sort.  I want to show that working hard and sticking with your plan can pay off.  If the results turn out to be poor at any time I will share that too.

With that said, let’s get into the numbers for June.  I want to provide as much clarity as possible into what I am doing on a month to month basis (if you have suggestions for additions to these posts, please let me know!).  The format will be the same as last month and I will be sharing numbers exported directly from my InventoryLab account.  The numbers below will NOT be the exact numbers that go on my tax returns as there will be additional deductions not included here (cell phone, health insurance, etc.).  It’s also possible that I missed a receipt or 2 and the spending numbers may be updated slightly.  Also for clarity, this does not include any income from any other sources, it is simply my income from amazon and eBay.

June 2015 Financial Results

June 2015 Income
June 2015 Income

Now, the expenses for June:

June 2015 Expenses
June 2015 Expenses

These are screenshots of excel files exported directly from my InventoryLab account, which is the main accounting tool that I am using.  A couple of notes are that certain items will only show up in one of the time periods even though they occurred over the course of the month, in these instances look at the total number for the month.

Net profit for June was just shy of $24K for the month which was an increase of about $8K over May.  The largest driver of this was increased volume of sales.  Gross sales were up about $35K compared to May, and this was the main reason for the increase in profits this month.

Expenses were on the high side this month.  A couple noteworthy items, $1300 of the office expense amount relates to obtaining liability insurance for my private label product.  Commissions/wages was up about $2300 over the prior month, and this was due mainly to the amount of product sourcing that other members of my team are doing for the business.  For all of the details on how I outsource retail/online arbitrage checkout my ebook Outsourcing Sourcing.

Returns were a big number again this month, although as a percentage basis they were better than last month.  As with last month this is primarily due to the experimenting I am doing in the clothing and shoe categories on amazon.  Other than the aforementioned few expenses I have called out specifically, expenses were generally as I expected them to be.  If you have questions on other line items, let me know in the comments below.

If you want to see any of the subscription services that I use that makes up the amount above, as well as the main products I buy for shipping supplies, my resources page, has a complete list.

Now, let’s take a look at cash flow for the month:

June 2015 Cash Flow
June 2015 Cash Flow

Cash flow for June was significantly negative.  This negative cash flow was by design, as during the month of June I closed on a line of credit for my business.  I had known early in June that I was approved, and actually closed on the line of credit on the day before my amazon account was suspended.  In light of the suspension, and some risk analysis, I don’t plan to use the line of credit as much as initially planned for my business.  As a result, I will be doing less spending on inventory during July.

The majority of the negative cash flow relates to spending on inventory.  The office expense was up a good amount due to the private label insurance, as well as a closing fee on the line of credit.  My goal for July is to spend around $75K on inventory with total cash outflows of around $90K.  My plan is to maintain that pace for a couple of months and have a couple months of positive cash flow in August and September.

Now I will share some screenshots to provide some support for the above numbers I am sharing.  Please note that the amazon sales number will not be exactly the same as what is shown above, as the screenshot below shows all orders that have been placed (but not necessarily shipped), while the above numbers are only for items that actually shipped during the month.  Due to this the variance is to be expected:

June 2015 Amazon sales
June 2015 Amazon sales

Now, here’s a screenshot of my eBay sales:

June 2015 eBay Sales
June 2015 eBay Sales

Overall, this month was a roller coaster ride.  It was my highest month of sales and profit outside of Q4, which was awesome, but it also included having my seller account suspended.  I am very grateful that I was able to get that resolved and be up and running with relatively little down time.  During the month I also had my first sales of my private label products.  My launch was a bit derailed with the suspension, but I have been working on that more this month, and have been seeing some sales start to trickle in.  I will plan on sharing more of that journey in future posts.

Last item for today, is that I will be starting a very exclusive coaching program that will be launching soon.  The coaching program will be extremely hands on working with me and my team.  You will be provided an all access pass to my business, including products I sell, sourcing methods, weekly recommended sourcing schedules, regular coaching calls, and on demand access to me.  Essentially I will hold nothing back, and will do everything possible to make your business succeed.  In order for this to be a fit, potential candidates should be looking to grow their businesses to making a minimum of $10,000 in profit per month, and have access to spend a minimum of $10,000 per month in total on inventory and business expenses.  Only candidates who fit these criteria will be considered.  In addition, it will be geographically limited, and will be limited to 10 participants nationwide.   The coaching program will use similar to a franchise model, and the fee will be based on results to ensure incentives are completely aligned.  If you are interested in learning more, you can get a PDF emailed to you with more details as well as how to apply by clicking HERE.

That’s all I have for today, if you have any questions or comments, please let me know below!

31 thoughts on “June 2015 Financial Results from Selling on Amazon and eBay”

  1. Ryan,

    Just learned about you from the episode you did on SPI with Pat Flynn. Thanks so much for sharing your knowledge. It’s also cool that you’re from Minneapolis as my wife and I live in NE Mpls. Anyways, just starting in on reading some posts and wanted to thank you for teaching others!

    1. Hi David,

      Thanks for stopping by and leaving a comment. Very cool that you are in the Minneapolis area as well!

      Best Regards,
      Ryan

    1. Hi Nick,

      All of my sourcers are independent contractors, but they are out in the stores just about every day Monday through Friday.

      Best Regards,
      Ryan

  2. Hey, enjoy reading your posts – could you comment on how you went about signing up for liability insurance on your PL. I am at the point now where I would like the insurance coverage and do not know where to begin. Thanks!

  3. Hey Ryan and thanks for your inspiring blog. Do you have any advice for finding a product to sell via FBA from China. I’ve been looking on Aliexpress but it feels like looking for a needle in a haystack searching for a profitable item to sell. I have narrowed my search down to simple, non-electrical, small items with not too many moving parts and that already have a decent rank.

    1. Hey Kody,

      Thanks for the comment! At this time I don’t, but I am considering adding some content on that in the near future.

      Best Regards,
      Ryan

  4. Thank you for the awesome service you provide Ryan. What is the best way to contact you for a partnership? Best

    1. Hi Brian,

      The coaching is designed to teach all of the sourcing methods I use, which currently include: retail arbitrage, online arbitrage, wholesale, liquidation, and private label. My private label experience is a bit limited currently, but as the program goes on I will continue to share my results.

      Best Regards,
      Ryan

  5. Ryan,
    Thank you for the information you provide. When I first started selling online I was using inconsistent and unreliable sources to obtain products. After following your posting for quite some time I have slowly ventured out and have found more reliable sourcing methods. Keep it up! It is always great to check in and see how you are growing.

    Thanks,
    Joel from Duluth MN

  6. Hi Ryan,
    How do you get your cashflow statement? I have looked around in Inventory lab and cannot find that option. Do you prepare it manually?

  7. Ryan, what do you use to list and manage ebay listings? My current tool marketplace advisor is going out of business, and I’m looking for help in choosing a new provider. thanks so much

    1. Hi M,

      I just use the eBay mobile app. My volume is very limited on eBay so I haven’t found the need for a separate service.

      Best Regards,
      Ryan

  8. Hey Ryan,
    I just landed on your website and you really rock! Congratulations on all the information you share with us!
    I and my partner are about to start selling home improvement equipment on amazon using fba. We are a UK based business and we haven’t sold anything on amazon before. So I apaologize if my question will seem silly: We cannot conceive how after someone purchases our item on amazon a retail receipt is issued. Does amazon issue them or we as an amazon seller?
    Your experience is so important in this matter!
    Thank you in advance for your answer!

    1. Hi Maria,

      Thank you for the kind words! Once someone purchases an item, they will be emailed a receipt for the purchase directly from amazon. Hope that helps!

      Best Regards,
      Ryan

      1. Of course it does. And thank you very much for your answer. But let me take it deeper: How I as a business somehow “show” that I have sales? I mean, If I sell my products on Amazon and I use FBA for my orders’ fullfilment and Amazon sends online the retail receipts for my sold items, when do I prove that I have sold my goods?
        How is it possible as a retail company not to be obliged to issue a receipt according to the law if Amazon, as you say, sends online its own receipt?

        *Sorry for my long description

        1. Hi Maria,

          You are provided a significant number of reports within your Amazon seller account. Proving that you have sold items shouldn’t be an issue.

          Best Regards,
          Ryan

    1. Hi Kitty,

      There is a small amount of marketing expense in the office expense category, but I do very limited marketing for most of my products. The majority of the traffic is from amazon customers.

      Best Regards,
      Ryan

  9. Hi Ryan,
    What incredible growth! Still, even with adversity the plan is working. Sent a request to be considered for the franchise model. Would love to work with you.
    Thanks,
    Jim

    1. Hi Jim,

      Thank you! Great to hear of your interest, I will be going through the emails in the next couple of days, so you can expect to hear from me soon.

      Best Regards,
      Ryan

  10. Hey Ryan. What a month, huh? June was my highest gross month also, outside of Q4.

    I got some nasty emails from Amazon in early July that have scared the piss out of me. Policy warnings and what not. Ugh.

    Lastly, you mention Private Label insurance. I have been searching high and low. Is that something you’re willing to talk about or point we/us in the right direction?

    Thanks!

    1. Hey Chris,

      What a month indeed, great to hear it was a good sales month for you as well. Here is my contact that I was able to get product liability insurance through:
      Larry Allred
      Broker, Veracity Insurance
      O: 866-395-1308
      D: 801-216-8276
      F: 801-763-1374
      larry@veracityins.com

      Hope that helps!

      Best Regards,
      Ryan

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