This document provides an overview of the business strategy and operations of Finger Lakes ReUse, a nonprofit organization that operates reuse centers in Ithaca, NY. It discusses the organization's mission to reduce waste and promote sustainability through reuse. It also summarizes the various reuse programs and services operated by Finger Lakes ReUse, and how the organization tracks sales, supply, and pricing of reused products. The document examines strategies for procurement, pricing, and goals to maximize sales and revenues while achieving its social and environmental goals.

1. Economics of Finger Lakes
ReUse
Chris Pletcher, Deputy Director
Finger Lakes ReUse,
Decon+Reuse 18
Finger Lakes ReUse, Inc. © 2018
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2. Summary
• Overview of Finger Lakes ReUse
• Business Strategy of ReUse Centers
• How We Track Sales & Supply of Product
• ReUse Center Economics - Supply & Demand
• Budgeting & Setting Production Goals
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3. Mission, Goals and Values
• 501(c)3 independent private nonprofit social enterprise based in
Ithaca, NY
• Triple Bottom Line Mission Statement:
To enhance community, economy, and environment through reuse.
• Goals
• To reduce waste and poverty,
• create jobs and
• provide job training through
reuse activities
• “Caring” Values
• Safety
• Respect
• Resourcefulness
• Vision
• Helping build and be a part of a thriving reuse infrastructure
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4. Triphammer ReUse Center (2008)
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5. Ithaca ReUse Center (2015)
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6. Deconstruction (2009)
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7. eCenter (2010)
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8. ReSET Job Skills Training
Program (2013)
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9. Ithaca Fixers Collective (2012)
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10. Donation Pickup & Delivery
Services (2013)
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11. ReUse Community Fund (2017)
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12. Community ReUse Center
Template
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13. ReUse - Next Ten Years?
• Expansion of Ithaca ReUse Center
• Upcycling
• Creative ReUse Programming
• 3rd ReUse Center
• Appliance Refurbishment
• Refrigerant Removal
• Mattress Recycling/Refurbishment
• Vehicle Sales
• Attended Donation Sites
• 4th ReUse Center
• Team Building Hosting Services
• Clean-out Services
• Paper Shredding
• Bicycle Refurbishment
• Additional Educational Programming/Classes
• 5th ReUse Center
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14. Why are we so focused on growth?
• We want economic self-sufficiency for our core operations.
• We want to support as many jobs as possible.
• We want to have the greatest reuse effect as possible.
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15. Procurement Strategies
• Create a One-Stop-Drop-Off for all things reusable
• Create a Convenient and a Pleasant Donor Experience
• Take Everything
• Don’t be Picky
• Everything has potential value
• Maintain a functional and clean intake/processing area
• Every item has a clear place to go
• Defined systems for sorting, processing and pricing
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16. Sales Strategies
• Offer Greatest Value to our Customers
• Focus on Volume
■ Better to sell 3 at $10 than 1 at $20
• High Product Turnover
■ What’s the opportunity cost of non-selling inventory?
• Aggressive Discounting & Sales Events
• Transparency on how we set prices and discounts
• Maintain a shop-able and accessible retail space
• Deliver Excellent Customer Service
• Don’t Be Greedy
• Make it fun...for workers, customers, donors...everyone
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17. How we track our sales revenue
• Utilize Quickbooks Point of Sale
• Broad Departments: Appliances, Books, Building Materials,
Computers & Peripherals, Electronics, Furniture, Housewares,
Lighting, Media, Textiles & Tools
• Most have a price point and department
■ Ex. Building Materials $10 or Furniture $35
■ Most get tagged with color tag with barcode
• Some items are unit priced:
■ Flatware, Cabinet Knobs, Cords/Cables, Screwdrivers, etc...
• In our budgeting process, we project monthly and annual sales
• Based on that budget we set daily and weekly sales goals
• Sales are evaluated against our goals and prior performance
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18. How we track our production
• We receive all our products into an inventory system
• Both unit priced items and items with price tags are put
on a receiving voucher
• It’s not our goal to have a record of our inventory - our on
hand quantities are far from reality
• But by recording items on a voucher, we know the
potential sales value that was priced
• And we’re able to know that we priced and stocked:
• $700 of electronics today or
• $2,000 of tools last week or
• $20,000 of textiles last month
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19. Supply & Demand
• What we price and what we sell has a direct relationship?
• In 2017 we priced $1,468,979 in used materials
• And sold $993,629
• Our sales were 68% of our pricing production
• In 2018 YTD we’ve priced $1,173,495
• And sold $825,374
• That’s 70%
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20. Sales / Pricing Relationship
Finger Lakes ReUse, Inc. © 2018
Ithaca ReUse Center Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug
BldgMaterials & Tools 75% 83% 78% 100% 103% 67% 93% 115%
Furniture 93% 71% 82% 68% 73% 86% 74% 94%
Housewares & Misc 71% 75% 80% 64% 70% 78% 80% 84%
Electronics &
Appliances 36% 73% 57% 57% 61% 45% 64% 85%
Computers &
Peripherals 62% 75% 82% 76% 119% 52% 76% 95%
Total 64% 75% 74% 72% 78% 65% 77% 94%
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21. Sales / Pricing Relationship
Finger Lakes ReUse, Inc. © 2018
Ithaca ReUse Center Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug
Housewares & Misc 71% 75% 80% 64% 70% 78% 80% 84%
Electronics &
Appliances 36% 73% 57% 57% 61% 45% 64% 85%
% too high (over 90%)
● production not keeping
up with sales
● need to increase
production
● and/or raise prices
% too low (under 60%)
● sales not keeping up
with production
● need to improve
merchandising
● and/or lower prices
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22. Sales / Pricing Relationship
● Why 70%, why not 100%?
● Don’t we want everything to
sell at full price?
Where does the 30% go?
● SuperReUser Discount - 10% off
● Staff/Volunteer Discount - 20% off
● Color Tag Discounts
○ 25%, 50%, 75% off
● Special Sales Events
○ 25% to 65% off
● Other discounts and bulk deals
● Non-selling product pulled for
waste or scrap
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23. Setting Goals for Staff
Finger Lakes ReUse, Inc. © 2018
Shopping Carts or
Items Priced
Budgeted Sales Revenue
Potential Retail Value
of Priced Product
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Sept 2018 - IRC Share Sales Pricing S/P% Carts Items
BldgMaterials & Tools 23% $3,797 $4,027 94% 27 786
Furniture 17% $2,728 $3,137 87% NA 142
Housewares & Misc 32% $5,304 $6,966 76% 46 2,146
Electronics & Appliances 19% $3,056 $5,134 60% NA 190
Computers & Peripherals 9% $1,448 $1,920 75% NA 42
Total 100% $16,333 $21,182 77% NA NA

24. How Many People? (aka Production Costs)
How many staff
hours does it take
to price $7,000?
How many people
does it take to
operate our store?
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> ?
It depends on
> how much in
sales we want
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25. How Many People? (aka Production Costs)
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IRC - 2018 Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul
Budget $53,776 $54,348 $58,546 $59,596 $59,432 $68,081 $75,531
Sales $50,909 $52,845 $64,150 $66,123 $72,900 $61,990 $68,844
Actual/Budget 0.95 0.97 1.10 1.11 1.23 0.91 0.91
Labor Hours 1,044 1,259 1,500 1,571 1,505 1,384 1,223
Sales/Hour $49 $42 $43 $42 $48 $45 $56
1 Retail Hour of Labor = $45 in Sales Revenue
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26. How Many People? (aka Production Costs)
Finger Lakes ReUse, Inc. © 2018
Current Staffing at
Ithaca ReUse Center = 8.8 FTE
Should we hire 1 person or 2 people?
1 More 2 More Difference
Weekly Staffing Need FTE 8.8 9.8 1.0
Staffing Need w/PTO FTE 9.8 10.9 1.1
Weekly Staffing Costs $7,850 $8,675 $825
Weekly Expected Sales $15,919 $17,685 $1,766
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Chris Pletcher, Deputy Director
chris@fingerlakesreuse.org
Finger Lakes ReUse
Thank You