PSA: Don't swipe recklessly for others

[rileywiles23]

The whole goddamn Lakewood Monsey BP to start with.

So you have an agenda here....

In actuality alot of people from G**Damn Lakewood, Monsey, and BP have done very well in the E-commerce world and continue to do so

[rileywiles23]

(Chareidim just don't seem to get the difference between Gross Margin and Net Income)

Now we're just going to hate on religious Jews?

[YesThatsMe]

So you have an agenda here....

In actuality alot of people from G**Damn Lakewood, Monsey, and BP have done very well in the E-commerce world and continue to do so

כל הכבוד

I just don't know any of them. Have a few acquaintances in the line and they all complain, bitterly.

[YesThatsMe]

Now we're just going to hate on religious Jews?

No No No you read me wrong. A lot of guys who want to do "dealmaking" just don't know the basics, and especially in this נקודה.

What it's like out there I can't tell you, בתוך עמי אני יושבת.

[Mordyk]

Name me 10 guys who have made it in e-commerce, non PL, without owing the whole world money.


I did tax returns for Amazon guys. $10MM in sales with 1% margins is considered good.

I have seen 15% net profit.  But obviously there are those that make it and some that dont

[YesThatsMe]

I have seen 15% net profit.  But obviously there are those that make it and some that dont

That's good. But how much revolving inventory? DIO?

Before investor pref's and splits?

Suddenly 15% becomes 2% or less.

Are we really in business for that? Is growth sustainable?

Unless your money has no cost, NO!

[aygart]

No, they saw cards as an alternate funding source.

Simply couldn't do basic accounting.

How does that mean it is not a ponzi scheme. They were borrowing from one to pay the other their returns. That is a classic ponzi scheme no matter what they thought the underlying business was or how profitable they felt it would be. Similar things can be said about most ponzi schemes.

[rileywiles23]

כל הכבוד

I just don't know any of them.

Maybe your actually the one living in lala land

[Yammer]

STAY AWAY FROM E-COMMERCE, THE MARGINS ARE JUST NOT THERE!!!!

You are so wrong...

+

How does that mean it is not a ponzi scheme. They were borrowing from one to pay the other their returns. That is a classic ponzi scheme no matter what they thought the underlying business was or how profitable they felt it would be. Similar things can be said about most ponzi schemes.

While I'm not familiar with the details here, He clearly wrote in the email "email" that it was first to pay off bad investments and then later to repay itself...

[chevron]

That's good. But how much revolving inventory? DIO?

Before investor pref's and splits?

Suddenly 15% becomes 2% or less.

Are we really in business for that? Is growth sustainable?

Unless your money has no cost, NO!

Come to my dinner tonight, we should talk.

In my early ecom years when it was all drop ship, I was happy with huge volume and slim margins.

When i started in house, I had no idea the huge overhead costs, lack of basic p&l etc over the years you learn how critical it is to know exactly how much cash is on hand, how much stock is on hand, how much you owe and how much is owed to you.

Suppliers always come first, you better have a good business plan. That's not saying you don't owe money or be owed.. but it's not sustainable to operate on razor thin margins.

[chevron]

There is great money in ecom, but revenue is not profits. 10MM in sales just let's you spend, credit card points fund nice vacations but are not income.

The first focus has to be on profits, is it profitable? Unless you're making what it takes to pay your business and personal expenses, it's just draying around.

[chevron]

No No No you read me wrong. A lot of guys who want to do "dealmaking" just don't know the basics, and especially in this נקודה.

What it's like out there I can't tell you, בתוך עמי אני יושבת.

Lots of experience in problem flipping cellular related products, got burned a lot.

Also it's a far cry from flipping stock or brokering deals than actual e-commerce.

Losses from returns add up, it's one reason I changed my business model.

If you make 5$ an item and sell 100, you did not make 500. On 10% return rate, depending on cost of the item and how you resell it, you can have broken even or lost on the other 95 sold

[S209]

I have friends making very good money with retail arbitrage, with great net margins. There are people who suck at every business, @YesThatsMe it seems you know a few too many.

Duh. There are dozens of people that I know making massive profits in PL. Some just make a living, some make millions.
So eccomerce is more alive then ever.

it's fine to say "stay away from retail arbitrage".
Or even better, generally don't sell retail with not enough gross margins to cover basic overhead or even direct costs.. but only morons do that anyway... I agree there are way too many morons with asinine business plans. It frustrates me to no end..

But I would not steer people away from eccom. It is an industry that litterally finances and supports huge segments of our community. It has a very low bar for entry, doesn't require formal training, and can scale up rapidly. Many succeed.

+1

[churnbabychurn]

I have friends making very good money with retail arbitrage, with great net margins. There are people who suck at every business, @YesThatsMe it seems you know a few too many.+1

Not buying group people?

[YesThatsMe]

I have friends making very good money with retail arbitrage, with great net margins. There are people who suck at every business, @YesThatsMe it seems you know a few too many.+1

Or we have different definitions of "good money" when it comes to risk vs reward.

Try running a forward IRR and NPV on any of your friends e-comm biz and you'll see.