Mileage Tracking for Resellers (What to Track + Simple System)

Why mileage matters (even if you don’t deduct it)

Reselling often looks like “cheap buy + high sell,” but real profit depends on the hidden costs that eat margins. Travel is a big one: sourcing trips, pickups, drop-offs, and post office runs add up quickly.

Tracking mileage gives you two benefits:

• Profit clarity: You see whether an item was profitable after travel time and fuel-related costs.
• Operational clarity: You identify which sourcing routes, stores, or pickup zones are worth repeating.

What mileage to track as a reseller

The easiest way to avoid confusion is to track mileage by purpose. Here are the most common reseller mileage categories:

1) Sourcing trips

• Thrift stores, clearance stores, auctions, estate sales, yard sales
• Wholesale pickups
• Storage unit visits (if tied to inventory work)

2) Pickups and deliveries

• Meeting a seller for a buy
• Delivering an item to a local buyer
• Returns or exchanges tied to inventory

3) Shipping and business errands

• Post office runs
• Buying packing supplies
• Printing labels, drop-offs, or carrier pickups

Pro tip: Add a short note like “Sourcing: Goodwill + Ross” or “Ship: USPS drop-off” so you can audit or review later.

How to log mileage consistently (without turning it into a chore)

The #1 reason mileage tracking fails is friction. If you need to remember details days later, you’ll forget. Make it simple:

Option A: Log trips in real time

• Start odometer and end odometer (or miles) + purpose
• Keep notes short and consistent

Option B: Log trips at the end of the day

If you’d rather batch it, do it the same day—while your stops are still fresh. Set a recurring reminder (5 minutes).

How to allocate mileage to items (so profit per flip stays accurate)

Some mileage is item-specific (a pickup for one item). Other mileage is “shared” (a sourcing trip where you bought multiple items). To keep profit numbers realistic, you can allocate mileage in a simple way.

1) Item-specific trips: assign directly

If you drove to pick up one item, attach that trip to the item’s record. This gives the cleanest profit calculation.

2) Shared sourcing trips: allocate by item count

If you went to three stores and bought 10 items total, you can divide miles by 10 and assign a portion to each item. It’s not perfect, but it’s consistent—and consistency is what makes your numbers comparable.

3) Shipping runs: allocate by orders shipped

If you drop off 12 packages, allocate the trip mileage across 12 orders. Again, the goal is consistent, repeatable tracking.

Common mileage tracking mistakes

1) Waiting until the end of the month

You won’t remember routes, purposes, or which trip was business vs personal. Track daily or weekly.

2) Tracking miles but not the “why”

A quick purpose note is what makes mileage useful for profit analysis and auditing. “Sourcing” vs “Shipping” matters.

3) Not connecting mileage to profit

Mileage is only powerful when it changes decisions. Add it to item-level cost (directly or allocated) so you can see true margins.

4) Overcomplicating it

Perfect is the enemy of done. A consistent simple log beats an advanced system you don’t maintain.

A weekly mileage workflow (5–10 minutes)

1. Log trips as you go (or at end of day): date, miles, purpose, quick note.
2. Once per week: review total miles by purpose (sourcing vs shipping vs pickups).
3. Allocate shared trips across items/orders using your chosen rule.
4. Check your margins: identify trips that don’t pay off and adjust sourcing strategy.

Next step: connect mileage to real profit

Mileage is only one piece of the profit puzzle—but it’s the piece most resellers ignore. If you track purchase costs, fees, shipping, supplies, improvements, and mileage in one place, your profit numbers become reliable—and your sourcing gets smarter.

Recommended next guides: How to track real profit • Reseller expenses checklist • Spreadsheet vs software