Paper bags, eBay lessons and a few random thoughts

Yep, it's pretty much what the title says. :)

I just wanted to blog a bit about some things I've learned in the past couple of months (and some things I've known for awhile longer, too).

(Photo courtesy plasticpledge.org)

So, most of my readers know that when I go to the grocery store, it's always my rule that I take re-usable bags with me. On occasion, I will purposefully leave them at home, or bring only one or two for a big shopping trip in order to specifically ask for paper bags. (I never, ever ask for plastic. It's garbage filling our landfills that run out of space every day. They are not useful for anything at our house, and we just throw them away, anyway. Wasteful). 

Some of you are probably wondering why I - a very cost-conscious shopper who saves anyway she can, including using re-usable bags to get a "bag discount - would opt for paper bags. Please allow me to explain. 

This picture shows my recycling in our dining room.


The picture above is an example of what I use paper bags for: mixed paper recycling. If your family is anything like ours, you've got way more recycling than you've got garbage. And I don't necessarily consider that a bad thing. However, I think it's silly to waste money on a "recycling center" of sorts when you can just use and re-use paper bags. They are mixed paper too, after all. Plus, you can spend $5-$105 on a plastic bin set up that I will then have to wipe down on a weekly basis, and will take up way more space. No thank you. This is much better and practical.

Now this is another example: Mailings.

Another purpose I use paper bags for is mailings. Generally, these are things I sell on eBay (as pictured above), or things that are too big for Priority Flat Rate Shipping (best, fast, and cheap service). All I do is cut the bottom out of the paper bag, and then cut it along one folded edge to create a long banner-like layout, flip it inside out (graphics down, so they are hidden to the outside - you cannot ship something with graphics on the outside), and wrap whatever I need to in it. I use packing tape to ensure things stay in the package, and I usually also wrap the package in some kind of heavy newspaper-material paper underneath the paper bag, just for added security. 

 

And now for something completely different - a note about selling on eBay.

First of all, if you sell on eBay, you are legally obligated to report your earnings when you file your taxes every year. So, you have to have all your receipts and tracking of all that you've sold and what you've made. (Trust me; eBay doesn't do a good job of keeping track of this for you - I do it myself, and it's way clearer and easier when I have it laid out that way, anyway). 

 

When you sell on eBay, you have to charge your buyers shipping. This is something I learned recently about that: You can claim the shipping charges as a deduction from your earnings on eBay on your taxes. Here's the reasoning: Let's say you sell an item for $12.00. The shipping charges are $6. The buyer pays you a total of $18. Your earnings then reflect $18. :)

Additionally, you need to keep track of your mileage to and from the post office for every package you mail. If you're like me, you ship immediately (or as close to immediately as possible). That means I make a lot of trips to the post office each week. I don't do it for the mileage write-off, trust me. It's also wear and tear on my vehicle. But realistically, I want to be a good seller on eBay, faithful to my promises to ship promptly. So this sometimes means I have to ship several times a week (I really sell a lot on eBay!) 

 

So, another somewhat random tip that I want to share with my readers before I close for the night is to keep good records. If you have a home-based business of any kind, make sure you know what's going on with it. If you have employees, please don't take this as a suggestion to micromanage your employees. What I mean is, keep an eye on incoming and out-going expenses, know what works and what doesn't, understand how to improve and when to implement change, and by all means - take advice from others. Don't ever be too prideful not to. This is one of the best things I've done for both my eBay selling and my etsy shop. I have a good friend (you know who you are) who mentored me to some extent as I started my etsy-ing journey, and hers came to a close. Without her faithful, blunt honesty, I would not have improved in the least, and would have had no success. Truly. 

 

That's all I've got for tonight. :)