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How do you all stay organized?
 

Im doing well with a half dozen stealth accounts selling a few items each a month. Id like to add another six accounts for the upcoming christmas shopping season but am having trouble with the accounts I already have. I am trying not to overlap what I sell too much on any accounts, etc but to be honest its getting more and more difficult to keep everything straight. As an example even keeping my IP addresses in order is becoming a chore having over 1500 IPs saved in a spreadsheet so I dont overlap. Its becoming more difficult to find a fresh IP all the time.

Id like to lay out my organization here and open it to ideas and discussion. As well as gaining a better understanding of other techniques Id like to hopefully get some insights from those old pros around here we here about maintaining hundreds of accounts. Which to be honest boggles my little mind

I hope Im posting in the right spot, if not mods please feel free to move this to the appropriate area. Here we go...

I run a different Vmware machine for each account using WindowsXP to minimize resource requirements. This has worked well and seems more secure to me than simply changing logins. However I am considering switching to a cloud based VPS type setup and would then use different logins on the same virtual machine. The only problem I see here is no dynamic IP like using my home router allows. Im open to thoughts here...

So far Excel has been my tool to stay on top of things but Im hoping to find something else. Shopping for ebay inventory management software has been a nightmare. Basically because they charge a monthly fee per account which shatters my profits and whole strategy of diversifying the portfolio into several accounts. Or will it? Is there a smart, capable management system out there that can be had for say $10 per account per month? Im done beating my head against the wall and would love to hear thoughts from the community on this. It doesnt have to be fancy but showing sales from different "consignors" or something representing different accounts would be lovely so it would all tie in together.

Another galling issue Ive had with inventory management software in general is they always want to stick a static price on every item and my items sell for a few bucks different price EVERY time. So I found myself creating a new SKU for every sale, not saving me any time at all, etc.

So these my friends are some of the issues Im running in to. Im certain Im not the first one to come across these issues and sincerely hope an interest is taken here and perhaps a lively discussion crops up over different tactics and techniques. Without giving away too much of course!

Keeping track of 1500 ips for only 6 accounts? A fresh ip every time you log in?

I don't think that's necessary. From what I understand, what you don't want to do is use the same ip on any of those accounts but you don't have to have a fresh ip every time you log into one of your accounts. I may be wrong here, but that is my understanding.

Wait until a more experienced member verifies this.

Some of the approaches from other users are mentioned below. I'll look up my inventory program



http://www.aspkin.com/forums/multipl...cel-sheet.html


http://www.aspkin.com/forums/multipl...readsheet.html

how would you be able to control what ip address you get?

You can't unless you are using a private vpn with unique ips for each stealth account. That wasnt my point. My point was you can use a repeated ip on an account, you just cannot use that same ip on another account.

Actually I do understand what your saying, but for those who don't understand here is the scenario:

Account 1: IP. 222.222.222.01
Account 2: IP. 222.222.222.02
Account 3: IP. 222.222.222.03
ETC.

Account 1: IP. 222.222.222.01 (Repeat)

So it's feasible to get a repeat IP and use it with the previously used account.

This could actually be useful if I go the cloud route. I could order 1 IP per account and swap between them so thank you for that idea.


Keep the ideas flowing folks. I think were getting somewhere here.

I disagree. I have to agree with the OP on this one. If you gave him a 4 word reply and he does not understand then your message obviously did not help.

I don't know how you deal business but when my clients ask me something I am direct, honest, and very straightforward with them. I do not have time to act like Confucius and neither do my clients.

As to stay on topic with the thread. If Excel has been your tool that helps you the most in keeping organization, then find a book or youtube tutorial and learn more on being more efficient with Excel. For example, you could set-up your spreadsheet so that when you paste a new IP address and it matches an IP that you have previously used, the box will turn red and match you to which account you used has had the same IP.

To learn how to do this will take time and initiative on your part. THIS is how you "show the door" to someone rather than give a random quote to gain a post on this forum.

this forum is not here to spoon feed people. if everything is written out in a step by step manner then all the current methods will become unusable because they are too publicly known. it's called stealth for a reason. there is a priceless amount of information here, people do not seem to take any risks. it seems all the people who complain are the ones who hang around and make no contributions at all, just seeming to take and not wanting to give.

I understand what you are saying and I agree with you. However, my point earlier was to show that you you can still help someone without giving them all the information. You simply direct them to the proper path. I've seen many posts where people just spout random messages to gain posts. I don't see why people just can't simply respond "There are many questions that you have that are answered in this forum already. Please take your time and search for this information yourself and you will most likely find the answer."

I mean literally its a true answer and it leads them somewhere. Giving a random quote doesn't help anyone...

Opening and closing of doors is done by aspkin.
Avoid forgetting that.

:focus:

Any of you use any programs for your inventory?

have used Quickbooks for years, it is very easy to use and does the job

Sorry I missed the whole post after my rambling! I am not sure what you mean that they software wants to stick a static price to things? When you enter inventory you enter a bill, choose an item and enter the price and when you invoice you choose an item and the price you sold it at. am i missing what you are trying to do?

My point here is that most inventory software Ive tried is geared more towards a web store with fixed pricing. I might sell 6 of the same trinket online but with auction format I get a different sell price every time. The software doesnt understand several prices for the same item. Which makes sense if you were running a POS system. Why would the price of twinkies vary every time one is sold? It doesnt make any sense. But given the auction style format it would be handy to be able to edit pricing in an easier manner. So thats what I was saying.

I am trying to teach myself Quickbooks. I am also learning more about Excel and thats going well.

Excel is nice because you have a lot of search options. IF you`re more geared for old school operations, notepad works fine.

Does your current inventory software let you create an invoice? I'm sure it must. From there why wouldnt you be able to change the sale price? You can not expect the price of ANY item to stay the same for good. Markets fluctuate, inflation happens. PM me if you want

My eBay and PayPal is integrated with AS/400 - Cost me about $300 to have developed. Well worth it considering it also works with my mc9090 scan gun for inventory control.

I create a new item within AS400, which allows me to send it to eBay. If an item hasn't been sold within 2 weeks I get a notification that tells me to adjust pricing (which is what I have to do as someone starts selling at a lower price, or something like the title wasn't specific enough with keywords)

I can add more inventory with a quick scan
delete damaged inventory or if I have to send a freebie
see where inventory is located (which is unnecessary as my warehouse isn't that big)
When I get down to 20% of inventory, it tells me to buy more.
Tells my profit per item, how much I made per day, week, months, etc.

Its also connected to my label printer so I can print out SKU tags, which are scanned for inventory control.

So, if I get 50 new Lion Stuff Animals (or something), I can go to my tag, scan, adjust tag from 10 which is what I had as inventory to my new total inventory amount of 60 (10 + 50) and then it will update my eBay listings' quantity.

My new software will allow me to put an item into auction format with a click of a button. It will take 20 items, then put them as a 7 day auction listed at a specific time, and then list another every couple hours or days or whatever variable I need to avoid market saturation.

Now the above sounds like a slick setup. I could use something like that.

Jim your Quickbooks is it the premier version that handles inventory? Or does QB 2012 Pro handle inventory as well? The wholesaler premier looks kind of slick but Im not sure I need that expensive software when the Pro might do...

I started with QuickBooks payroll ages back.

QB 2012 PRO handles inventory. It has the limitations you spoke to.

Maybe consider QB 2012 Enterprise Solutions. Intuit made some workable amendments.
(According to my quartermaster ;))

Since you are worried about costs, consider the free download off Intuit's site.
Little to lose imo.
:clap:

I have always used quickbooks enterprise solutions. It has just about everything you need to do business and if you feel you are missing something there are lots of add-ons