Enter the details you know. Optional advanced fields are kept separate so the main calculation stays easy to use.
How to use this calculator
- Enter your trip expenses and the amount spent buying inventory.
- Estimate realistic resale proceeds and the percentage of sales lost to fees.
- Open Advanced comparison to compare three trips and estimate the minimum inventory buying budget needed for another run.
How the estimate works
The key decision is not whether the trip finds bargains; it is whether expected net selling proceeds cover inventory cost plus the full trip cost.
The selling-fee percentage is applied to expected resale proceeds. Enter fixed selling, photography, packing, or storage charges in the travel/incidentals fields or include them in your broader cost estimate.
Frequently asked questions
Should inventory purchases be included as trip cost?Yes. The calculator treats purchases as cash invested in inventory, even when the antiques may sell over several months.
Should I use asking prices as expected resale?Prefer realistic likely sold prices after negotiation or markdowns. Asking prices can overstate future proceeds.
What is break-even resale value?It is the gross resale amount required to recover all modeled expenses after the assumed selling fee.
Does ROI include unsold stock?This simple forecast assumes all modeled inventory reaches the expected resale value. Unsold stock and carrying costs can lower actual returns.
Can I compare multiple sourcing trips?Yes. Open Advanced comparison and enter travel cost, inventory spending, and expected resale for Trips B and C. Their fee rate uses the same percentage entered for Trip A.
How is the minimum inventory budget estimated?It assumes future inventory has the same resale-to-purchase ratio and selling-fee rate as the current trip. If that ratio cannot cover inventory cost and trip expenses, no viable minimum is shown.