Here’s the formula:  Sales ($) for a given period of time/Average Inventory ($) during that time.

Here’s an example:  Sales of $36,000 in 12 months and Average inventory value of $6,000 during that time.

$36,000/$6,000 = 6 turns

Is 6 turns good or bad?  That depends on what you are selling.  If you sell donuts, 6 turns in a year would be awful.  If you sell industrial mining equipment, that might not be too bad.

You’ll have to investigate to determine what is reasonable for your industry and your business.

In general, with an Ebay business, the faster you turn your inventory the better.  If you can get your turns to be between 6 and 15 per year, you are doing really well at managing your inventory.

Inventory Turns helps you determine your holding costs for products.  If you have products that just aren’t moving, be ready to drop the price to clear it out.  You are better off having most of your cash in hand rather than in products that are just sitting on a shelf.

Learn from that deal and move on to the next.  Are these products out of season?  Is there a better alternative on the market?  Did the market price drop below what you were selling for?

There are lots of reasons for inventory to move slowly.  Dump it and move on.

Calculate your Inventory turns at least every six months to get a feel for how well you are buying.

When I took the leap, I realized that I had missed out on dozens (or hundreds, or thousands) of sales because I let fear control me.  Don’t let that happen to you!  Over the past several months, I’ve sold more items outside the US than in — the market is there.

Start out by offering just one or two items available to international bidders.  See how they go.  Get your feet wet and then decide if it is right for you.

Ebay does a great job of making the process simple.  The customs forms are mostly filled out with listing data.  All you need to do is print, sign, date, and ship!

Stop waiting and go international!