The first month sets the habits that decide whether you make money later. Most new sellers lose their first profit on avoidable things: wrong listings, bad packing, no cost tracking. Use this plan week by week.
Week 1: Set up properly
- Get your GST registration and a current bank account in the same name. Check the current rules with your CA.
- Register on one marketplace first. Learn it well, then add the second.
- Read the rate card: commission, shipping, return charges, payment cycle.
- Choose 3 to 5 products, not 50. Pick what you can source reliably and pack well.
- Write down the full cost of each product: purchase, packing, your time.
Week 2: Make good listings
- Take clear photos in daylight, with a plain background. Show size, back, detail and the product in use.
- Write a clear title: product, material, size or colour, use.
- Enter the correct weight and dimensions with packing. Wrong weight means wrong shipping charges for ever.
- Price after you have worked out the real profit, not only the price of competitors.
- Keep a short SKU code system, for example CATEGORY-COLOUR-SIZE, and never reuse a code.
Week 3: Run the first orders
- Check new orders every day and dispatch within the marketplace's time limit.
- Pack strongly. Use a sealed poly bag or box, and a clearly printed label.
- Take a photo or video of every parcel before dispatch for the first month. It is useful for disputes.
- Answer customer questions and messages quickly.
- Keep stock numbers updated, so you never cancel an order for no stock.
Week 4: Check the numbers
- Download the first settlement report and match it with your orders.
- Calculate profit per SKU, including returns.
- Look at the return reasons and fix the top one.
- Decide if you will use ads. Start small, and only on a SKU with good margin.
- Prepare the monthly GST sales summary for your CA.
Five numbers to track from day one
| Number | Why |
|---|
| Profit per SKU | Shows what to grow and what to stop. |
| Return rate | Your biggest hidden cost. |
| Payments pending | Cash is the lifeblood of a small business. |
| Ad spend and ROAS | Protects you from ads that eat the profit. |
| Stock left | Out-of-stock hurts your ranking. |
Mistakes to avoid
- Selling in many categories before mastering one.
- Copying competitors' prices without knowing your own cost.
- Mixing personal and business money.
- Never checking the settlement report.
- Spending on ads before the listing is good.
Seller Book helps from day one: upload your reports and see profit per SKU, returns, pending payments and GST summaries in one place, with free label tools for dispatch.
Let Seller Book do this for you
Upload your marketplace reports once. Seller Book shows your real profit per SKU, short payments and returns that never reached you.
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