As at the end of October 2021 my wealth is 153.6bn ISK after paying 2.8bn to upgrade Omega for another 30 days for two accounts. My Wealth increased by 29.8bn in October.
This was therefore my best month to date, coming just after September which at that point was my best month to date.
It will be a long time, i think, before i get back to this level of monthly increase. Two factors really helped: 1) the very low tax rate which ended towards the end of October; 2) i made 2.8bn from Courier Contracts that failed (the way the maths work on my wealth given the level at which take out the collateral is that this is the effect of me selling everything in that contract instantly).
Sales of 167.4bn were a new record and the second time over 100bn for a month with the new alts at Rens and Hek contributing 46.5bn of sales on their first Omega month vs 18.2bn as Alpha in September.
Moving out of Structure Modifications
The decision at the end of July to move out of selling structure modifications due to fierce competition is paying off and almost done.
At the end of June i firstly reduced the prices on all these items in Dodixie and Amarr back to Jita prices and then a month later i transported them all back to Jita to sell.
I estimate i took 10bn mark downs to shift them. Most of that was in July. Shifting then back to Jita was a big help.
I have about 3bn isk of these items left to sell. So all but done really and i wont be talking about this anymore unless i take some last major writedowns.
Activity
I continue to come on once a day to update Sell orders and replace items sold. About 30-45 minutes.
I focused more on building up Hek and Rens both in terms of skills for the alts and items to sell
In all, i did an average of 5.4bn sales per day.
On the new taxation levels, to make 1bn profits per day after Plex costs of 2.8bn (two accounts to Omega) i would need to make 6.4bn sales per day. That said, i now am trading in the five trade hubs so it is not impossible but still a tall order.
I had at least one day where total sales were over 10bn isk.
Review of the October aims
1) Plex the account - aim number one all the time - done
2) Move out of Structure Modifications market - almost done
3) Revisit the Sales strategy - ongoing
4) Increase sales in Dodixie - done
5) Increase sales in Amarr - actually, Amarr sells fell
6) Review the Trading character in Rens to determine what best to sell - done
7) Review the Trading character in Hekto determine what best to sell - done
In all, the October aims were mostly met and i am now in a situation where the November aims will start to look quite different. More on that below.
Reminder of my Current Business.
I now operate with two omega accounts (paid for with plex) with six alts.
The main Trading alts sit in Dodixie, Amarr, Rens and Hek. Rens and Hek are new, so ramping up.
The other two alts sit in Jita and buys from Sell Orders, has these items couriered to the alts in Dodixie / Amarr and Rens / Hek who then put them onto these markets for sale.
The Jita alts also serve to sell items that i can no longer sell in Dodixie, Amarr, Rens or Hek. For example, the Jita alt is selling the Structural Modification items.
I focus on slow moving but high margin items. That keeps me away from fierce competition and i only need to sell an item once every 10 days to make good income.
For this side of my business, lets call it Merchanting or inter-regional trading, i want to generate income of 10bn isk per month after paying to Plex my account. As i ramp up my Rens and Hek alts i would hope to see this 10bn comfortably beaten.
My business model evolves over time. As my wealth increases i focus on higher value items. I had evolved to only buying items in Jita for over 100m isk but this restricted the items i could sell so now i am going back to 70m isk.
Next Steps
In November, i aim to try out manufacturing. Not really thought through the strategy yet but my top down thinking is that if i can manufacture items such that i can match the Buy price in Jita then my Trading operations can make more margin (vs buying from Sell orders i can now bring my input cost down to the Jita Buy order).
Alternatively, i can manufacturing in Jita and sell in Jita whilst accepting lower margins.
Lets see.
Analysis of Trading Profits
In total i made 167.4bn isk of sales in October which made me item profits of 42.8bn isk.
(item profit is the simply difference between sales done vs costs spent buying products, so before fees and taxes. Because i don't yet invest i don't make any allowance for items still in stock - in part because i don't track the cost per item spent).
Overall, sales rose by a massive 42% in October to be the best level of sales done since, well, the last month where i did 118.3bn, and that comes after a decent August where i did sales of 86.4bn.
For sure, Rens and Hek ramping up was a big addition but Dodixie and Amarr still managed sales of 98bn which was a combined record.
Dodixie sales were up 37% to 65bn and Amarr sales were actually down up 11% to 32bn.
Dodixie therefore hit a new record - not sure why but trading was bouyant.
Amarr though was surprisingly poor reflecting how competitive the Amarr market is. I need to go back to February to find sales that low when Amarr, for me, was almost half the size in terms of what i had up for sale.
Rens did 24.0bn and Hek did 22.5bn vs 10.3bn and 8.2bn respectively in September. So fully justified on upgrading these accounts to Omega.
I also invested 2.8bn into 1000 Plex again, - i want to build up a stock of Plex for a rainy day if i hit tough times and need to Omega the accounts. So i now have 2000 Plex tucked away = 2 months of Omege for my two accounts if required.
From these sales i made item profits of 42.8bn.
This therefore was an item margin of 25.5% (42.8/167.4) vs my target of 25%. So, my margins remain on track. This is calculated after the 2.8bn spent on the Plex as an investment, so they margins would have been better.
Since September 2020 the item margin range had been 28% to 32% up to April 2021 but since then as been in the 25-27% range. Nothing to be concerned about.
This month, i had two courier contracts which failed and therefore i was paid the collateral. I typically make my collateral = cost of items + 20%. Hence, the net profit to me was 2.8bn isk which, as it turns out once taxes et all are fed in, is about the profit i would have made had i been able to sell all those items. So, the 2.8bn is actually profit coming to me much sooner than normal had the contracts been successful and i put the items up for sale.
From this I then need to take a whole series of costs off before i get to my Business profits:
Courier Fees: i aim to pay 2% of sales value to the Courier = 2% x 167.4= 3.3bn
Sales tax cost me 4.5bn ISk (=2.7% of sales) - the Dodixie and Amarr characters are level 5 in Accounting, the Rens and Hek characters are building up their skills and so dilute the tax rate. The temporary reduction in Sales Tax was a help until it ended towards the end of October.
Broker Fees costs me 5.1bn (=3.1% of sales). Now, i can break this down into the initial listing fee of 1.0% (because i am Level 5 Broker Relations on both main characters and lets to make the sums easier exclude the Rens and Hek sellers for now) and therefore the rest is the cost of changing the price which is 0.16% a shot (i may have that 0.16% completely wrong!).
So, Listing Fee = 1.0% x 167.4= 1.7bn and so the Relisting Fee = 5.1-1.7 = 3.4bn which is 2.1% of sales.
This takes my 'Business Profits' to 32.6bn isk for October vs 24.5bn in September. This is what 20-30 minutes a day in October gave me.
So, the post-tax margin is 19.5% (32.6/167.4) which is the one of the highest levels i have achieved. Very much helped by the tax changes. I expect this to fall right back towards 15% in November. Perhaps more if i ramp up manufacturing - see below.
Fees and Taxes too up 7.7%. That will rise in November as the higher taxes come through.
And then from those 'Business Profits' i buy Plex for 2.8bn isk to extend the Omega by 30 days for two accounts.
That, therefore, is the roadmap from making 167.4bn of sales and seeing my wealth increase by 29.8bn as a result.
Items i am selling in Dodixie, Amarr, Rens and Hek
I sell blueprints, skill books, implants and ship equipment. Blueprints are making a come back - this may be because of school holidays and / or the end of scarcity coming. That said the market remains slow so there are not many competitors. For me, this was a good market in October, following on from a good market in September.
Implants are still doing ok - i am slowly expanding into more types and moving up the isk value curve. I used to focus on implants selling for at least 150m isk but now have pulled that back to 75m. Can be competitive at times and a very slow moving market. I have been known to see an item not move for 90 days and so i need to repost it (i should watch for this and just change the price slightly with 2 days to go to make for lower fees).
Skill books are a low income generator for me but there are still a few nice sellers. I suspect skills books are now my lowest income generator.
Ship Equipment is picking up again and remains a more opportunistic market for me. If it looks like making a decent profit, i put it up for sale otherwise i leave it.
Rigidly sticking to the 25% margin target. Courier fees and taxes used to take a whopping 8% which may rise again as the tax changes are in effect.
Dodixie Seller character
This remains my main character and has regained its slot as the largest seller.
I have now trained all the relevant skills to Level 5.
The skills relevant to Trading that i have are:
Accounting: Level 5; means i am charged 3.6% of the sales price on completed sale vs the normal 8%. The base used to be 5% and i used to be able to get it down to 2.25% - so Sales Tax (Transaction Tax) has gone up.
Broker Relations: Level 5; means i am charged 1.0% to list an item for sale vs the normal 3.0%. The base used to be 5% and i used to be able to get it down to 3% - so the Broker Listing fees have gone down.
Advanced Broker Relations: Level 5; means i can reduce the cost of changing the price of items i already have for sale. With no skill i would be charged 1.5% to change every price. Level 5 has brought this down to 0.20%.
Trade: Level 5; increases the number of items i can list for sale by 4 per level.
Retail: Level 5; increases the number of items i can list for sale by 8 per level
Wholesale: Level 5 (increased by two levels in January); increases the number of items i can list by 16 per level
Marketing: Level 3 (increased by one level in January); this allows me to set up Sell Orders in stations other than the one i am in; it also allowed me to look to increase my Contracting skills which i will need to sell my BPO copies from invention
Given the level 5 Trade, level 5 Retail and level 5 wholesale, i am able to post 145 items for sale (5 + (5x4) + (5x8) + (5x16)). With no Trading skills you can post up to 5 sell orders
I may have to train Tycoon which will give me an additional 32 slots per level.
Amarr Seller character (Tax rates quoted below not adjusted for recent changes)
I have now trained all the relevant skills to Level 5.
The skills relevant to Trading that i have are:
Accounting: Level 5; means i am charged 3.6% of the sales price on completed sale vs the normal 8%. The base used to be 5% and i used to be able to get it down to 2.25% - so Sales Tax (Transaction Tax) has gone up.
Broker Relations: Level 5; means i am charged 1.0% to list an item for sale vs the normal 3.0%. The base used to be 5% and i used to be able to get it down to 3% - so the Broker Listing fees have gone down.
Advanced Broker Relations: Level 5; means i can reduce the cost of changing the price of items i already have for sale. With no skill i would be charged 1.5% to change every price. Level 5 has brought this down to 0.20%.
Trade: Level 4; increases the number of items i can list for sale by 4 per level.
Retail: Level 5; increases the number of items i can list for sale by 8 per level
Wholesale: Level 2; increases the number of items i can list by 16 per level
Marketing: Level 2; this allows me to set up Sell Orders in stations other than the one i am in; i don't use this really
Given the level 4 Trade, level 5 Retail and Wholesale Level 4, i am able to post 125 items for sale (5 + (4x4) + (5x8) + (4x16).
This market is much more competitive so it is harder to find items to make a good sale - but is still very profitable.
Rens and Hek characters
I am training up the Rens and Hek characters.
In Rens:
Accounting: Level 5; means i am charged 3.6% of the sales price on completed sale vs the normal 8%.
Broker Relations: Level 4; means i am charged 1.4% to list an item for sale vs the normal 3.0%.
Trade: Level 5; increases the number of items i can list for sale by 4 per level.
Retail: Level 5; increases the number of items i can list for sale by 8 per level
Marketing: Level 2; this allows me to set up Sell Orders in stations other than the one i am in; i don't use this really
Given the level 5 Trade, level 5 Retail, i am able to post 65 items for sale (5 + (5x4) + (5x8)).
Currently the Hek alt has 24bn of items for sale vs 10bn in September and i think this can go higher.
In Hek:
Accounting: Level 4; means i am charged c4% of the sales price on completed sale vs the normal 8%.
Broker Relations: Level 4; means i am charged 1.4% to list an item for sale vs the normal 3.0%.
Trade: Level 5; increases the number of items i can list for sale by 4 per level.
Retail: Level 4; increases the number of items i can list for sale by 8 per level
Marketing: Level 2; this allows me to set up Sell Orders in stations other than the one i am in; i don't use this really
Given the level 5 Trade, level 5 Retail, i am able to post 57 items for sale (5 + (5x4) + (4x8))
Currently the Hek alt has 23bn of items for sale vs 8bn in September and i think this can go higher.
Courier Contracts
Each night, i get home from work and determine what i need to sell in Dodixie and Amarr, and now Rens and Hek. I tend to focus on one location per night unless i need to courier over 1.5bn isk of items to both locations. So Dodixie one night, Amarr the next. Keeps my time on Eve to a manageable 45 minutes which includes looking for potential new items to sell.
To look up prices in Eve I am using Eve Tycoon which seems to have more of the latest items in its market browser. I used to use evemarketer but i just got used to Eve Tycoon.
Each night i courier about 2 to 8bn isk of items from Jita. The total cargo volume is 10-250m3 per shipment. So small but valuable items. But this allows the couriers to use small, fast ships with much less chance of being ganked. So there is always someone willing to pick up the contract quickly.
I pay a generous 1.5 to 2.0% of collateral as fees. I am more interested in getting my items onto the market quickly than penny pinching on distribution costs.
Nothing, yet, todo with my Eve Business ventures but just noting that in December i set up a website site
eveeconomy.com which takes the monthly economic data provided by CCP and visualises it in chart form.
Loads of charts and more i can add.
I need to work out how to render the charts faster - right now they are accessed from a google drive given that is the way i have worked out how to update multiple charts at once quickly.
Let me know what you think and what else i should add.
Outlook
November will have seven aims:
1) Plex both the accounts - aim number one all the time
2) Move out of Structure Modifications market
3) Increase sales in Dodixie
4) Increase sales in Amarr
6) Increase sales in Rens
7) Increase sales in Hek
8) Try out manufacturing (this is new)
The daily sales in October averaged 5.4bn.
If i assume i need to make 10bn + 2.8bn income per month (=12.8bn) and i assume i can achieve 15.0% margin then i need to make monthly sales of 85bn and so daily sales of 2.8bn.
So far i have achieved this in December, January, March, April, August, September and October.
Current wealth is 153.6bn ISK made up from:
- Plex held as an investment 5.8bn ISK
- Items in hanger for sale 0.9bn ISK
- Buy orders on the market 0.0bn ISK
- items for sale 161.1bn ISK
- less a 20% provision 32.2bn ISK*
When i add up my wealth, I don't count assets I use in the course of my business such as ships, fittings etc nor do I add back any expenses such as skills purchased etc. The wealth I disclose is made up of items that are ISK or are in the process of being converted to ISK or are used to generate isk that can be readily resold back onto the market. Any ships or skills or fittings etc i buy are counted as expenses in that month.
* I take a 20% provision against the items I am selling. Eve calculates wealth by adding up the value of the sell orders hence it is possible to increase your wealth by buying an item for 100m ISK and putting a sell order for 120m ISK (in this case your wealth would increase by 20m ISK). For me, I want my wealth to be calculated at cost. I know that the value of my sell orders will likely fall over time as I update my orders downwards as competition reduces their prices before my items are sold. Hence the 20% provision is my best guess as to what the maximum reduction I would need to make to my sell orders as a whole before they are sold. In an ideal world I would value my sell orders at the value which I bought the items for.
