The Joy and Pain of Online Marketing

On 12/6/2005, I opened up an eBay store to sell two board games.
I missed the Christmas buying season, but I had a thirty-day free trial, so what the heck.

I bought advertising, posted on forums, updated my signature and wrote about the store in my blog.
Over the course of 90 days, I sold four games.
It was exciting, but the reality of the numbers told a different story:



  • Income

    • One game gave me a gross profit of 11.99 and I sold one.
    • The other game gave me a gross profit of 6.99 and I sold three of these.
    • Total gross profit = 32.96.
    • After subtracting per unit fees charged by eBay and PayPal, the adjusted gross profit = 21.53.

  • Expenses

    • eBay store 15.95/month x 3 = 47.85
    • Advertising fee: 17.00
    • Total expenses: 64.85

  • Net Profit/Loss

    • (43.32)



On 4/6/2006, I closed the store.

I needed to sell three times as many games (assuming the same 3:1 ratio) to break even.

My solution is to focus on marketing the games through my Thumbs Up Games website, where I can eliminate the recurring expense overhead.

I learned that, if I am going to sell on eBay, the profit margin has to be larger, or the demand has to be greater.

Not a bad lesson for 43.00.

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