Today I've updated my eBay Sales Log spreadsheet to version 2.1. Here's what's new...

Fixed a bug that was causing Final Value Fees to be calculated incorrectly
There was a bug in version 2.0 that was causing Final Value Fees to be incorrectly calculated for Fixed Price Format items for eBay Store Owners. This only affected eBay Store owners and only affected Fixed Price Format items. Version 2.0 was incorrectly using a Final Value Fee rate of 9.0% when it should have been using 12.0%. This has been fixed in verison 2.1. In most casees, this bug would have caused your Final Value Fees to be off by about $0.50 to $1.00. Thank you to the person who discovered this bug and e-mailed me.

Added a new column for packing materials
In version 2.1 I've added a new field called Packing where you can enter the amount you spent on packaging materials. This is a single-item cost and shows up right next to the Postage column. If you don't have a packing cost you could either leave it at $0 or fill in an insurance or handling cost if you have one. This amount will be subtracted from your total profit.

Added an Options tab where you can control which columns are visible
Many sellers have e-mailed me and told me that they wanted an easier way to only print certain columns or to only see certain columns on the screen. The old way of dealing with this was to right-click on the column you didn't want to see and choose "Hide", but doing that over and over again for so many columns and for so many months quickly becomes tedious. In version 2.1 I've added a new Options tab where you can pick and choose which columns you want to see and which columns you don't using checkboxes.

For this feature to work it requires something called "macros". Macros are little bits of program code hidden instead of a spreadsheet that add additional functionality. They're usually used whenever you need to perform a repetitive or complex task without user interaction. When you open the spreadsheet now you're most likely going to get a macro security warning which looks like this...

OpenOffice.org

Excel 2007

Excel 97

You will have to click the "Enable Macros" button for this feature to work correctly. Once you've got the spreadsheet open I would recommend setting an option so that you don't have to agree to that security warning every time. Here's how...

In OpenOffice.org:
1. First click Tools > Options
2. Then choose "Security" on the left-hand side
3. Then click the "Macro Security" button
4. If my spreadsheet is the only spreadsheet you use I would recommend choosing the "Low" security option which reads "All macros will be executed without confirmation.", then click OK.

In Excel 2007:
1. First click the Office Button in the top left corner
2. Then choose the "Excel Options" button
3. Check the option that says "Show Developer tab in Ribbon" and click OK.
4. Then click on the Developer tab in the Ribbon.
5. Click the Macro Security button (near the top left).
6. If my spreadsheet is the only spreadsheet you use I would recommend choosing the "Enable all macros" option and clicking OK. Although Microsoft says it's "not recommended" that's only for people who download lots of different spreadsheets from lots of different sources and are worried about getting viruses. If you know the person you're downloading macros from is trustworthly you can safely choose the "Enable all macros" option.

In Excel 2003:
1. First click Tools > Options
2. Then choose the "Security" tab
3. Choose the "Low security" option.

In Excel 97:
1. First click Tools > Options
2. Then choose the "General" tab
3. Uncheck the "Macro virus protection" checkbox and click OK.

Macros are not absolutely essential for the spreadsheet to function, they simply add additional functionality. If macros are disabled, the only thing that will change is that the checkboxes in the Options tab will cease to work, everything else will still work fine.

Added an Inventory tab where you can keep track of items by SKU
I've added a new Inventory tab which allows you to keep of your Inventory (the items you buy for the purpose of resale).

You can record:

-The date you bought the item
-The name of the item you bought
-Who you bought the item from (your "Supplier")
-The price you bought the item for (your "Cost")
-What you paid for sales tax (optional)
-What you paid for S&H (optional)
-How many of the item your ordered (your "Quantity")
-A SKU number (optional)

The Inventory worksheet is color-coded. The columns with a yellow background are what you fill in and the columns with a red and green background are what the spreadsheet fills in.

The SKU field is really important. A SKU (Stock Keeping Unit) is a word or number made up by you to better organize your items (it is not used by eBay or PayPal). If you assign the same SKU to multiple items it will aggregate their costs to form a "total" cost for that item. For instance, if you have 5 costs associated with 1 item you would enter all 5 separately in the Inventory worksheet, but you would assign them all the same SKU. The total cost for that SKU will show up under the SKU Cost field in the Inventory worksheet.

In each of the 12 monthly worksheets I've also added a new SKU column (next to Item #). If you enter a SKU into that field it will look it up in the Inventory worksheet to find the "total" cost for that SKU and fill it in automatically for you under the "Cost" column.

The Inventory worksheet will also automatically track the statistics of each SKU. It will record how many of them were listed, how many successfully sold, how many did not sell, and your sell-through rate.

If you've already purchased the spreadsheet you can download the new version at:

http://www.rolbe.com/download/

If you haven't purchased the spreadsheet yet you can do so at:

http://www.rolbe.com/2010/03/07/ebay-spreadsheet/

You can also find additional help by reading my User Guide at:

http://www.rolbe.com/guides/ebay_spreadsheet/index.html