Selling my online store, what else can I do?

[DoolallyTap]

Good grief, shame on some of the posters here insulting the OP.

The guy is 74 for crying out loud and looking to sell his mum and pop business. Ok it might not be for some of you, it might be a lifestyle business some don’t like fair enough but to respond with some of these posts is a total disgrace frankly, and now we have some ridiculous “Willy Waving” contest from two alpha posters trying to prove a point - knock it off, it’s embarrassing.

@DoolallyTap i hope you find a buyer to take over, conditions are tough at the moment and you may need to lower your expectations on stock at value and what you want for the goodwill but it’s a business someone might want to add to another retail shipping business they have if they have capacity and time to add. Good luck to you.

Thankyou for your kind response and for highlighting the arrogant bullies with their negativity.

 

[Lucan Unlordly]

and now we have some ridiculous “Willy Waving” contest from two alpha posters trying to prove a point - knock it off, it’s embarrassing.

This thread for right or wrong reasons has had 5000 views and is in the top 15 numbers wise - over the past 2 months. Whilst the tempo and content has taken a bumpy route (Guilty as charged your honour) if you can't glean anything more than 'Willy Waving' from the discussion, maybe you should have piped up earlier and made a more positive contribution.

 

[KeithGreen]

In addition to my previous suggestions, may I also suggest changing the wording of your ad. In particular take out the bit about a valuation of £84k as I think that will put off potential buyers.

Also, mention that it is relocatable, spell out the sq. footage needed for storage. And perhaps make it clear that your £28k net profit is as a sole trader.

 

[zomex]

And the biggest risk of this business has come to light. My biggest concern of starting the business:

It was fun while it lasted. Also you guys who said this is a job not a business were 100% correct. A lot of manual work for very low margins. A lot of dead stock because naturally only 10% of designs are actively selling.

This is why I started my own site instead of even dreaming of spending money buying this business.

 

[Paul Kelly ICHYB]

How did you (allegedly!) infringe their IP?

 

[zomex]

How did you (allegedly!) infringe their IP?

Good question, who knows

There are a ton of sellers selling these charms. I was doing well on Etsy and eBay 5 star reviews. But ultimately they have bias over which sellers they remain active.

Either way the margins are too low. 99% of people were ordering 1 charm at a time which after fees and postage was a £0.60p gross margin. That's before taking into account time.

I did have a few orders of 5ish charms. They were certainly well worth doing but as I say 99% of people ordered one at a time.

 

[Pish_Pash]

I always wince when I read such threads (as they seem to bring out the worst of the forum)....but in amongst all the vitriolic posts/forum rage is some good advice.

my first question (if I was a potential buyer) would be to hone in on the stock you have on hand, questions such as these spring to mind....

How many different products do you carry?
How much quantity of each product line do you hold?
how much did each product cost?
How many days would it take to clear each one down.... to zero (i.e. quantity of each product divided by the 'average daily sales' for each product (let's say a window of the past three months),

If your supplier is overseas & you're bringing in via sea, then my stance here is any product that would take more than 7 months to clear down is vastly over stocked (i.e. if it's a reasonable seller), or pretty much dead stock if there are barely any average daily sales for the past 3 months. (I'd use 4 months instead of 7 as my benchmark if you're bringing in via air)

only then could I establish the value of the stock to me.

My feeling is most of your stock is dead (that would be borne out by the above line of questioning)

(some other pertinent questions ....how fast can your supplier replenish - is he/she in the UK or China? If overseas, Do you bring in via air or sea? How are you ordering currently ....using what stats (i.e. how do you know how many of each product to order from your supplier each time)

Your business carries a fair amount of risk (low barrier to entry (copycats), copyright infringement claims ...even potential shutdown by your cart software), because of that - to my mind - a multiple of x2 is for the birds ...I'd be thinking something along the lines of 0.8X net profit + 'value of the stock to me' (& frankly, from what I can see reading through the posts likely to be in the order of a couple of £Ks )

 

[DoolallyTap]

Interesting to see this post is still receiving response. Amazing just how negative, arrogant and bullyish so many of the respondents have been. No doubt all the Mr Big Business massively successful entrepreneurs who find time to pass comment here will deride the buyer. Among the cynics and sceptics there are others with positive mental attitudes willing to investigate, discover potential opportunity and make informed decisions.

All the topics Pish Pash raised have been discussed, dissected, analyzed with seriously interested parties. Even you, Pish Pash, after the relevant questions, decide to throw in more negativity without any knowledge or facts to justify making.
There was significant interest in the sales offer and the site plus stock was sold in January for very close to the asking price.[/QUOTE]

 

[Chris Ashdown]

My opinion is 99% of posters are not helping the OP, but just playing with words.
The op has basically a store just like a market stall, he put in his 4 hours a day and has a turnover of £x amount and now wants to retire with some money
The site which he is selling is tiny and I guess a limited market so value probably in the £5000 range. we have seen the site what he sells and whilst a breakdown of stock turnover would be appreciated all the majority of other posts are not relevant, they are for off forum discussion. not bullshite on semantics
Unfortunately this forum has lost its friendly and helpful advice since its expanded over the years

 

[Gecko001]

Can you find someone local to buy this business, as they will be able to get some help from you in person when handing over, and also they will be able to trust you more when buying. Seeing your stock, before handing over their hard-earned money, will also give them confidence in what they will be buying. At the same time, when meeting prospective buyers you have to be careful that someone does not just want to find out your suppliers etc and other commercially sensitive information, so that they can set up for themselves.

 

[fisicx]

@DoolallyTap has sold the business.

 

[Gecko001]

@DoolallyTap has sold the business.

Thanks for that. It seems that DoolallyTap got a good price for their business.

 

[Pish_Pash]

All the topics Pish Pash raised have been discussed, dissected, analyzed with seriously interested parties. Even you, Pish Pash, after the relevant questions, decide to throw in more negativity without any knowledge or facts to justify making.
There was significant interest in the sales offer and the site plus stock was sold in January for very close to the asking price.

Genuinely wasn't meaning to be negative (unless you define it as querying in more detail about the stock)... but I'm pleased you sold it - I'm guessing whoever bought it got more info than we did (I sell about 150 products & have all this type info I mentioned per product line to hand - it's essential info for an online business .....& essential for a buyer)

 

[TCH]

sold in January for very close to the asking price

good for you DoolallyTap

if you have got a new business up and running, and sold off, you have not lived in vain

 

[DoolallyTap]

Since retiring in 2007 this was the 4th micro business I have built and sold. Already got another one ready to go and building another now.

 

[Pish_Pash]

I'm 74 and really want to quit,

Hmm - really?

got another one ready to go and building another now.