Ouch

So I'm doing my 2008 taxes this weekend. The personal part isn't so hard - two W-2s, some mortgage statements, few goodwill receipts.

The business part however...wow. I've easily spent 4 hours putting everything together (s0 far), and along the way, I've noticed the following:

1. The first half of the year was OK. My total sales and profits were on track to beat 2007.

2. Starting around August, everything tanked. Views and sales were DOWN. Big time.

3. Averaging the year out, my net profit actually shrank $2, about 10%.

So I'm starting to wonder...should I keep going? I'm going to report a loss for 2008 - I can deal with that, since it includes things like vehicle depreciation that don't really hit my wallet. But at what point do my profits become small enough to make this not worth my while?

You'd think that a resale business would do well right now - everybody wants a bargain, right? But I have two major problems going on. For one, more people are shopping "my" thrift stores, so there's less good inventory available. And for two - people are seriously bargain hunting. It's not enough that a brand new, designer pair of shoes is listed for 20% of original retail - darn it, that's still $50! They want it for $45, or $40...or even $20.

For the moment, I still enjoy my bargain and thrift hunting - so I'll keep at it. (And the jewelry business will stay open, just because I enjoy creating so much)