Test a thrift shop's visitor funnel, repeat orders, owned-stock mix, paid sorting team and cash needs with a documented five-year retail Excel model.
Use this model to decide whether the merchandise actually sold can cover both a staffed retail floor and the work needed to buy, screen and prepare replacement stock. The documented workbook develops retail demand through visitors, buyers, repeat orders, units and prices; the worked case below uses a simpler total-order sensitivity and a separate stock-cash test.
Direct/variable/fixed costs, staffing and capital inputs; income statement, cash flow, balance sheet, scenarios and dashboard.
Scenario controls
Low, Base and High cases as described by the seller.
Inspection boundary
Current seller description and readable Revenue inputs; no native-file formula or fulfillment audit.
The exact product description and one readable Revenue Assumptions image were inspected. The image confirms the retail input chain and includes Clothing, Home Goods, Furniture and Consigned Items. This case removes the consigned line. Other outputs are seller-described; paid formulas, inventory accounting, compatibility and delivery were not tested. Product documentation and case sources · checked .
How the thrift store model builds revenue
The documented engine starts with physical store visitors and a conversion rate, adds active repeat-customer orders, then translates orders into merchandise units and category sales. Categories share one basket rather than receiving independent service or consignment volumes.
Count the relevant visitor base
Enter weekday visitor assumptions and the share becoming new buyers. Keep that native buyer-cohort basis separate from a measured total-store conversion rate that already includes returning shoppers.
Add repeat orders once
A selected share of buyers remains active for a stated lifetime and orders at the entered frequency. Inspect actual cohort timing before importing a customer file; do not add the same repeat transaction to both first and repeat orders.
Build the merchandise basket
Multiply orders by units per order, allocate a complete unit mix across owned apparel, homewares and small furniture, then use realized category prices. The mix is by units, so a higher-priced furniture line can contribute a different share of sales.
Translate net sales into contribution
Replace sold-stock acquisition, losses, preparation supplies, bags and payment costs before evaluating paid labor and premises. Use sales after expected reductions and refunds, excluding buyer-collected tax.
The native retail funnel is a planning starting point. The website calculator uses total completed orders, including repeats once, and does not reproduce native cohort formulas. The source consigned category is not appropriate to this owned-stock case. Donation-funded operations, consignor settlements, online fulfillment, repairs, classes and store expansion need separately supported mechanics; a relabeled price row does not establish them.
What to edit and what to look for
Read these planning areas together: extra sales only help when the retained margin, staffing and funding can support them.
Store visitors, buyers and repeat orders
Explains the readable retail funnel and its separation from the website's total completed-order sensitivity.
Inputs to replace
Visitors by weekday, launch and trading schedule
Visitor-to-buyer conversion
Repeat-customer share, active lifetime and order frequency
First orders and additional repeat orders
Outputs to review
New buyers and active repeat cohorts
Monthly first and repeat order flow
Traffic and conversion sensitivity
How to interpret the result
The website volume already includes repeat transactions once; it is not the native new-buyer input.
The displayed annual visitor example is not adopted as a validated operating calendar.
Exact cohort timing and paid-workbook formulas were not inspected.
Owned merchandise, units and realized prices
Connects a shared order basket to adult apparel, homewares and limited small-furniture categories.
Inputs to replace
Units per order and mutually exclusive sold-unit mix
Category prices after expected discounts and refunds
Owned-stock category selection and launch timing
Local evidence of comparable condition, size and selling prices
Outputs to review
Category units and net sales
Weighted realized basket
Mix and price comparisons
How to interpret the result
The source image includes a small consigned-items category, which this owned-stock scenario removes.
Consignment needs fee recognition, owner liabilities and settlements; gross proceeds are not interchangeable with owned-stock sales.
A ticket price or online listing is not evidence of realized sale, and buyer sales tax is excluded from revenue.
Stock cost, losses and selling contribution
Separates the acquisition cost of goods sold from stock losses, preparation materials, bags and processing.
Inputs to replace
Accepted-stock purchase cost and inbound costs
Unsold write-offs, shrink and supplier credits
Preparation consumables and selling supplies
Tender mix, checkout tax and processor terms
Outputs to review
Sold-goods margin and retained contribution
Variable-cost sensitivity
A bridge from net sales to fixed-cost coverage
How to interpret the result
The documented COGS and OPEX percentage inputs are not an inspected item-level inventory ledger.
Ordinary markdowns are already reflected in net selling prices; only cost losses enter the separate stock-loss allowance.
Merchant apparel payout policies do not certify a national thrift margin or homeware/furniture acquisition cost.
Paid buying, processing and shop coverage
Makes the workload behind saleable stock visible alongside the salary and shift budget.
Inputs to replace
Owner floor and administrative work
Lead, associate and intake hours, pay and employer costs
Offered items, acceptance yield, processing time and refusals
Public cover, breaks, opening/closing and relief
Outputs to review
Paid staffing requirement
Handling-time and floor-coverage checks
Payroll changes when intake or sales exceed the scheduled workload
How to interpret the result
This workload test is the StartFigures case, not a certification that the native payroll sheet schedules individual tasks.
Refused goods still consume paid inspection time, while small furniture requires safe handling and space.
A trained shift lead does not replace every owner buying, compliance and cash decision.
Opening uses, inventory and available cash
Distinguishes installed setup, deposits, purchased stock and operating liquidity.
Inputs to replace
Installed bids, lease deposits and local setup costs
Opening inventory at acquisition cost
Supplier payment, any holding period and sale-release dates
Ramp losses, extra stock and reserve restrictions
Outputs to review
Opening funding allocation
Reserve test for cumulative operating losses
Additional inventory-cash stress
How to interpret the result
The cash-flow and capital reports are seller-described; no native inventory-aging or legal-hold subledger was verified.
The opening-stock allocation is not charged again as first-month goods sold.
The operating result is not a full bank-cash forecast and excludes financing, income taxes and distributions.
Five-year statements and alternative cases
Relates the documented financial reports and scenario controls to a single-store operating decision.
Inputs to replace
Retail traffic, conversion, mix and prices
Goods costs, payroll, recurring overhead and funding assumptions
Low, Base and High inputs
Local evidence that changes the operating format
Outputs to review
Seller-described income statement, cash flow and balance sheet
Scenario comparison and management dashboard
Break-even and financial-summary interpretation
How to interpret the result
Planning-area titles describe useful decisions and are not a certified native tab inventory.
The StartFigures constant-dollar case does not reproduce the seller's expansion forecast or investment returns.
Reports based on editable assumptions do not establish financing approval, formula accuracy or successful paid-file delivery.
StartFigures worked case · U.S. · illustrative assumptions
From sales assumptions to operating break-even
This website example combines a realized sales amount per sold unit with daily throughput. It makes the operating threshold easy to inspect; the purchased workbook uses the more detailed revenue structure described above.
$32.00 per completed merchandise order × 65 completed merchandise orders/day × 6 days/week × 4.33 weeks/month
$54,038 revenue/month
Monthly revenue × 58.0% retained contribution
$31,342/month
Less fixed payroll and overhead
$24,500/month
Operating surplus before financing and taxes
$6,842/month
Volume-only sensitivity · same $32.00 per completed merchandise order, 58.0% contribution and trading calendar
Volume case
Completed merchandise orders/day
Mature monthly operating surplus
First operating break-even month
Lower volume
45
−$2,802
Not reached within 24 months
Base volume
65
$6,842
Month 6
Higher volume
70
$9,253
Month 5
At 58.0% contribution, $24,500 of monthly fixed costs requires $42,241 in monthly realized sales: at least 51 completed merchandise orders per trading day at $32.00 per completed merchandise order. The assumed ramp first covers those monthly operating costs in month 6.
The worked order combines a shared merchandise-unit basket and net category prices. No delivery fee, donation income or consignor proceeds are included. The basket has to survive actual markdowns and comparable local alternatives.
Variable cost includes purchased merchandise as it sells plus inventory losses and selling costs. Opening stock remains an asset until sold or written off; extra buying can consume cash independently of the displayed operating result.
The full roster pays owner management, sales shifts, incoming screening and processing from opening. The workload test includes offered goods that are refused. Beyond the tested volume or intake range, add paid capacity before extending the same straight-line threshold.
The first-year annual forecast and calculator use the same launch ramp within rounding; subsequent years hold the mature base constant. The operating threshold measures cost coverage before depreciation, financing and income taxes, not investment recovery or available distributions.
Year 1 operating EBITDA is $11,587; Year 3 is $82,107 on $648,461 of revenue (12.7% margin). The opening allocation is $150,000. Operating break-even does not recover that investment, and EBITDA does not establish cash available to distribute.
One physical retail shop owning the secondhand merchandise it sells.
An operator able to test store traffic, repeat behavior, realized baskets and category costs.
A buyer who needs linked monthly planning and scenario reports, while maintaining item records and supplier evidence separately.
Adapt the structure when
Remove the source example's consigned category and reconcile the remaining owned-stock unit mix.
Replace sample buying, payroll, price, timing and forecast assumptions; do not adopt the source visitor totals without inspecting the calendar logic.
Add a dated item/stock schedule for legal holds, acquisition payments, markdowns, losses and release dates.
Rebuild the format when charity donations, consignment, online resale, paid services or additional stores become material.
Start with these edits
Fix the ownership and accepted assortment
Define what the shop buys, what it refuses and when title transfers. Confirm local used-goods rules and keep this case's no-consignment boundary before editing financial inputs.
Test a paid intake batch
Record offered and accepted units, acquisition cost, processing time, rejected goods and likely realized prices. Use the result to replace cost, yield and labor assumptions together.
Rebuild demand and the roster together
Measure local visitors, completed orders, basket and peak hours. Confirm that scheduled staff can cover the floor while replenishing the sold merchandise; additional buying volume needs additional handling time.
Stress stock cash before presenting returns
Compare cumulative losses and extra inventory purchases with unrestricted reserve, then add actual taxes, funding, debt and replacement spending. Reconcile statements before relying on any payback or valuation output.
Both products in one cart
Model + Business Plan
Write the strategy and test the assumptions for your thrift store together. Update the narrative when you change the forecast.
The Business Plan uses Word and the Financial Model uses Excel. The online illustrations use this website's scenario data and may differ from the purchased files.
Listed file format
XLSX
Editor
Microsoft Excel
Editing
Adapt forecast assumptions in Excel. Check the selected version's forecast length, worksheets and formula permissions; the online illustrations use a separate scenario.
Other software
Compatibility with alternative editors has not been verified.
Delivery and terms
Review the product description, delivery details, license and final total in Shopify before paying.
Does this workbook start from an entered sales total?
The documented Revenue inputs use a visitor-to-buyer funnel, repeat cohorts, order frequency, units per order, category mix and prices. That is more specific than entering a single annual sales number, although the paid formulas and exact cohort timing were not audited.
Can I substitute the website order count for native visitor traffic?
No. The website sensitivity uses completed retail transactions with repeats included once. Native visitors and new-buyer conversion form a different input base. Translate measured customer activity carefully and inspect the workbook's timing before entering it.
Does the workbook track every used item and its legal release date?
An item-level buying, aging, safety and release ledger was not verified. Keep those operational records separately and reconcile their cash and cost totals to the planning model. A percentage goods-cost assumption does not replace them.
Is the source consignment category included in this case?
No. This case sells owned stock only. Consignment requires recognized fee income, consignor balances and payment timing; using the full customer selling price as ordinary merchandise sales would overstate the shop's retained revenue.
Are the StartFigures figures copied from the purchased workbook?
No. They are an independently authored and labeled planning case calculated with the website's shared functions. Seller examples confirm the retail format, not local demand, acquisition costs, achievable margins or investment returns.
What needs checking before I rely on the statements?
Replace all inputs with your own verified operating evidence, inspect the native calculation chain and reconcile inventory, payroll, taxes and funding. Document descriptions and input imagery do not establish formula accuracy, software compatibility or successful paid delivery.
