Friday Q&A and find of the week

It's here once again!  FRIDAY!  Got a question?  Ask here and I'll try my best to answer it.

My find of the week wasn't so much something I found this week, but rather something I listed this week.  I've had it for a couple of weeks and finally got around to listing it.  It sold in a matter of hours.  It was an RIAA Gold Record for the song Cisco Kid by War, written by Morris "BB" Dickerson.  Paid $20 sold for $249.  Not a bad haul at all!

What was your find of the week?

One size fits all?

In my time selling I have tried many different methods to try and increase my sales.  I have done cheap .99 cent auctions, I have done sales and I have tried all of the different combinations of return time frames, free shipping, Global Shipping Program and automated returns.  I have also spent a lot of time studying other sellers to see what they are doing.  I felt there had to be a system that would get you the highest percentage of sales.  What I found did sort of confuse me.  Let me explain.

One would think that if you had a hot selling item, priced it in the middle of the pack based on sold prices and had 100% feedback and everything else with your account in pristine shape, you would sell that item rather quickly.  This is not always the case.  One has to wonder what causes one seller to get great sales while another with like items does not.  I have yet to find the reason for this.  Let me give you an example.

One seller I know of sells men's shirts.  Some are high end, some are mall brands.  Most are middle of the road brands.  He takes one picture of each shirt.  His description has no measurements and no description.  According to best practices, he should not have a lot of sales.  Yet he not only consistently sells shirts every day, he gets top dollar for them.  I have studied his listing habits and tried for one month to recreate it.  Yet my sales never even got close to his.  Not in price and not in volume.  So one has to wonder how he can sell like he does?

I cannot explain this phenomenon, and I know of other sellers who are very similar to him.  I do know that volume is a key in getting more sales.  I do know that free shipping and 30 day returns also get more sales.  But the notion that you need 12 pictures and a detailed description appears to be complete bunk.  If those were key factors in determining sales, then this seller and others like him would not have the volume and prices that they currently enjoy.

My point in all of this is to find what works for you.  Experiment and come up with a system that maximizes your sales.  Don't rely on what others claim works.  Use what works for you.  Find your system and stick to it.  I would still recommend using ebay's best practices, but try bending them a bit and see if you can find a system that will work for your particular situation and product.

When testing, only make one change per month.  You want to quantify your results, and making too many changes at once will give you some false data and you will not know the trigger that got the increase in sales.  Write down results and compare month to month so you can see trends.  It's these trends that can swing your sales into a much better position if you can recognize them.

Friday Q & A Find of the week

It's time for the Friday Q & A!  Got something you want to ask?  Post and I'll try to answer it.

I didn't do shopping this week, so my find was actually from a couple weeks ago.  I bought a vintage Sony Dream Machine alarm clock at a flea market.  Paid $5 for it, and just sold it for $59.99 + shipping.  Not a bad return.  Keep your eyes open for anything vintage Sony.  They do quite well!

What is success?

I am as guilty as the next person in throwing around the term successful.  Often people use that term without even realizing what it means.  Webster's defines success as:

the fact of getting or achieving wealth, respect, or fame.

But there are also other meanings for success:

the correct or desired result of an attempt.

What I perceive as a successful person, may not be what someone else perceives.  I have my goals that I want to achieve, and I will not consider myself a success until I have reached them.  But to someone else, they may view me as being successful.  The gauge each person uses for defining success can be very different.

For some people, just the act of selling something for a profit is success to them.  Others may see themselves as being a successful seller if they can pay off bills with the extra money they make from selling on ebay.  And still others may see success as making $10,000 a month on ebay.  It's all in the perspective of each person.  We as a society have bastardized the term into being something that it should not be.  I think people view themselves as a failure if they are not measuring up to someone else's standard.

Over the course of my life I have seen people who, from all outward appearances, are highly successful people.  But if one were to look under the hood so to speak, they would find a person so deep in debt they would have to be dead and buried to be relieved of it.  I have also seen others who look like they are almost destitute, yet have millions in the bank.  We get caught up in the material, flashy object syndrome and never really take a self assessment.

When it comes to selling on ebay I see people who put themselves out there as being successful, yet sell 1/4 of what I do.  That does not mean they are unsuccessful.  To them, being able to sell the items they have for a profit is enough for them.  It may not be enough for me personally, but that does not mean I am any more successful than they are.  It just means we have differing values we have assigned to success.  I think a lot of us tend to aspire to reach the level of other sellers we see who have high sales records.  But not everyone is in this game for that purpose.

The bottom line is to not get caught up in the whole semantics of success, but to have our own goals and definitions for success that we strive for.  Reach your own goals.  For me, being successful means providing for my family, and not having to rely on debt to survive.  Your mileage may vary.

Are you in control?

Over the past 12 years, I have sold all kinds of items.  I have sold all kinds of conditions as well.  New, Used, Refurbished etc.  But there are some I had never tried.  Not because I wasn't curious, but because I really didn't feel comfortable giving up control of my business.  That's a good way to ruin a good thing!

Unfortunately, new sellers will often fall into some of the traps.  They hear stories of other sellers, or see the hype form websites and think they have hit pay dirt.  In one sense, they have, only it's not their dirt!  I have talked about margins in some of my other posts, but some people really do not understand what that means.  Margins also play a factor in this little joy ride we call reselling.

The first trap a lot of new sellers fall into is the drop shipping one.  There are a ton of sites out there who claim they can get you set up to drop ship on ebay.  Usually they charge a fee, and then the information is generally available with a little searching on google.  Then there are others who are an outright scam, or hook you up with less than reputable companies.  The problem is you have no control over any aspect of your business with the exception of your pricing.  They control when/if the item ships which can affect your status on ebay.  They can change their prices at any time, and you may or may not be notified of the change which can cause you to owe money on an item you sell.

The second trap is a fairly new one.  People will find items in the store or online and list them for sale on ebay.  When the item sells, they go buy it and ship it.  They only have to spend cash when an item sells and do not have to store inventory.  The problem there is you are not guaranteed the item will be there when it sells.  I have seen people find items on Amazon, list it on ebay, and when it sells they have Amazon ship the item to the buyer.  Again, you have no control over that inventory or the price changes.  It's a quick way of killing your ebay business before you really get started.

Margins are the next problem.  I know there are deals out there buying new, clearanced items for cheap.  However, it usually requires a lot of cash to be able to purchase the quantity needed to make a decent profit.  This is referred to as retail arbitrage.  While it is easier to sell new items, you don't make as much per item.  Let's say you buy a widget for $10 on clearance, and it sells for $25 new.  You also find the same widget at a yard sale for .50 cents, and used it sells for $18.  Now which was the better deal?  Of course the used one.  You are getting a much better margin on the used one than the new one.  Sure, $25 looks better than $18, but you are not making as much profit.

I'll keep this simple using round numbers.  Widget sold has a 10% fee from ebay, plus 2.75% + 30 cents paypal and the original cost.  So the math looks like this:

NEW WIDGET
$25 x 10% = $2.50
$25 x 2.75% = $.69 + $.30 = $.99
$2.50 + $.99 = $3.49
$25.00 - $3.49 = $21.51
$21.51 - $10 = $11.51 profit

USED WIDGET
$18 x 10% = $1.80
$18 x 2.75% = $.50 + $.30 = $.80
$1.80 + $.80 = $2.60
$18 - $2.60 = $15.40
$15.40 - $.50 = $14.90 profit

Clearly the used was the better deal.  The profit was nearly 50% more than the new one.  Knowing your margins is imperative is you want to be successful selling on ebay.  Knowing you have the inventory on hand that you are selling is also imperative.  You need to be able to ship as soon as the item sells.  I have ordered from sellers before who drop ship and it has taken several weeks to get my item.  Needless to say they no longer get my business.  Control your inventory and prices and you control your destiny.  Failing with either one of these can be disastrous.

Remember, you want to be in control of every aspect of your business.  Don't get sucked in to these great sounding plans without knowing up front what the pitfalls and potential problem areas are.  And certainly don't let yourself get caught in a situation where prices have changed and you are paying out more than what an item sold for.  That's a good way to cut your reselling career short.

Be Methodical

As I look back over the last 12 years, I can recall certain memories of selling and learning.  I remember trying to figure out what niche to sell in, and wondering how people found their inventory.  Most of that time I sold computer parts, with some occasional vintage toys.  The problem was I couldn't find reliable sources that were cheap enough to make consistent sales.  I never really thought about huge numbers of inventory.  I was focused on trying to find items that would sell, and sell quickly.

Now that I have a large store (over 1,000 items), I can see where my thought process was flawed.  I was approaching the business completely wrong.  I was so intent on finding home runs that I completely passed over bread and butter items.  It was something I had not thought of, and back then there was no facebook or youtube to do research with.  You bought something and hoped it sold.

Now that social media is dominating the landscape, people have an enormous set of resources to do the research.  If you watch enough videos and participate in facebook groups, eventually you will weed out the chaff and find those gems worth looking for.  Unfortunately, this has also bred a new form of seller.  These sellers no longer do the research required to be a successful, long term seller.  They rely on others to do the work for them.  The problem with this is they never earn the knowledge and therefore don't grasp the longevity concept.

I belong to a lot of facebook groups.  I try to be helpful with new sellers, but too often I see people asking simple questions that a quick google search would provide the answers.  I also see new sellers chomping at the bit to list a ton of items as quickly as they can without doing the homework.  This is what causes the prices of great items to bottom out.  They invest a lot of money, and don't understand the sales cycle.  When sales slow down, the first thing they do is drop prices or run sales thinking their pricing is the issue.  It's not, it's just how ebay works or any other retail business for that matter.

The key to being consistent on ebay is to not give in when things slow down.  Instead of worrying about sales, take the slow time to list even more.  That way when sales pick up again you will have an even bigger increase due to the large amount of inventory.  Try and have items ending every single day, even if it is one item.  This more than anything will help you get those consistent sales.  The last thing you want to do is panic.  When you do you leave money on the table, and in some cases may lose money.

Be methodical in your listing.  Do research and don't rely on others to do it for you.  Knowledge that ins't earned will eventually lead to failure.  Too often I see people post in facebook groups things like "should I buy this"?  Or "what price should I ask for this"?  Why take someone else's word for it?  Why list something for $20 because someone told you to when a little research may show your particular item would sell for double that?  Set your price that YOU want to get for your item.  Some items take longer to sell than others, so don't panic because it's been 20 days and it hasn't sold.  I have had items take over a year to sell, but I did get the price I wanted.

Facebook groups are a great resource for networking with other sellers.  It gives you a chance to talk to other people who understand what you are doing.  It can be a great support system.  But it can also get you into trouble if you rely on them for your research.  Sooner or later someone is going to give you bad advice.  Unless you have done the research, you won't know until it is too late.  Additionally, if you are a new seller and are constantly asking simple questions you will alienate the experienced sellers and they will stop helping you.  Most experienced sellers want newbies to show they are willing to put in the effort.  Nobody likes a leech, and acting like one will not earn you any friends or respect in these groups.

Be smart, be methodical and earn the knowledge.  Some day you will have the opportunity to share your knowledge.  When that day arrives, you will inevitably run into the hand holding seller and will understand what I am saying.

Are you getting cash back?

In this day and age, ever dime you can get is important.  There are ways to earn cash even while you make purchases.  Knowing how to do this is key.  A small cash back reward can give you some free inventory if you use it right.  So how do you get this cash back?  Sit back and enjoy!  I'll tell you how!

When you sell on ebay, 99% of the people use paypal as their payment processing system.  But what most people don't realize is that you can actually get a paypal debit card.  Yes, that's correct.  You can get a debit card from paypal that let's you access your funds just like your bank check card.  Now the added bonus to this is that if you use this card as a credit card, you will earn 1% cash back on all of your purchases.

I use my debit card for all business related purchases.  I keep my sales cash in there for one week at a time, and always keep a $500 reserve just in case I run into a great deal, or have returns.  I have earned over $50 in a single month by using my card!  That's a good day of yard sale finds that is basically free.  Who doesn't like free?  But there is more to this than just purchases.

How many of you pay your ebay fees on a monthly basis?  STOP!  Don't do that.  Make payments weekly so the end of the month isn't a cash shocker.  The added benefit is that if you have a store, your discounts aren't applied until the end of the billing cycle.  So that means you will more than likely start the new month with a negative balance.  This means your first week of fees will be low.  But what about making payments via paypal?

If you have the paypal debit card, make sure you follow the link under your seller account to make a one time payment.  When you get to the next screen, select use a credit card.  Use your paypal debit card to pay those fees.  The cash still comes form your paypal account, but you get the added benefit of earning 1% cash back on those fees!

So if you are out to make money, then make all you can.  Use your card to your advantage and earn that cash back.  It's one way of getting back some of the fees you are paying them!

Friday Q & A and find of the week.

Post your questions about anything ebay related.

Find of the week was a Davis Mark 15 and Davis Mark 25 Sextant.  Paid $10 each and expect to get about $300 for the pair.  Already sold the Mark 15 for $149.99.

What's your find of the week?

Pay yourself first!

Our country is sitting on a fiscal cliff that can be devastating if you happen to be one of the people that get pushed over the edge.  We as an American society have gone from a cash based purchasing system to a credit based system in just over 40 years.  The amount of debt the average American has hanging over their head is astronomical.  A report issued just today shows the average family has $0 in savings.  So how can we change that?  Well, for starters you can begin to pay yourself first.

One thing we American's are good at is living up to our income.  By that I mean that no matter what our income is, we always manage to make ends meet.  Most people have no clue where they spend their money each payday.  They wonder why they are broke and in debt.  One reason is we have shifted into a instant gratification society thanks in large part to credit cards.  It's easy to charge it and fool ourselves into thinking we will pay it off when the bill comes, which of course generally never happens.  So what do we do about this?

The first step is knowing what you spend.  Make a log and write down every single penny you spend for an entire week.  Even if you drop a quarter into a gumball machine, write it down.  At the end of the week, look at what was spent and what was it spent on.  Chances are there will be several things on that list that you really didn't need to purchase.  You justified it, just like the morning cup of Starbucks or Dunkin Donuts coffee.  But you really didn't NEED it.  So take those type of purchases and add them up.  That is the amount of money you just blew for that week.

Now suppose you cut those things from your weekly routine.   Let's just say one cup of coffee per day.  Instead of buying the coffee you make it at home.  The cost is pennies per cup.  An average cup of coffee coffee from Starbucks or Dunkin Donuts will cost you about $5.  For a 5 day work week you would save $25.  Doesn't sound like much does it?  But in 4 weeks that $100.  In one year that is $1,200!  If you put that money into a money market at, let's say .85%, at the end of the year you would have $1.205.54.  In 5 years you would have $6,131.45.  And that is just from cutting out the $5 cup of coffee.  Imagine if you could do $50 per week in savings.  In one year you would have $2,411.08 and in 5 years $12,262.90.  Now I don't know about you, but $12,262.90 is just about enough cash to buy a brand new car!

So, once you find areas to cut back spending, you can begin to pay yourself first.  And what do I mean by that?  Well, remember what I said earlier about living up to our income?  If we can automatically move $50 a week into a money market account, we will never see that money.  We will adjust our spending habits to cover the loss of that money.  What you want to do is to be able to put at least 10% of your paycheck into one of these accounts before anything else is paid.  If you want to achieve financial freedom, then you MUST do this.  If there is one thing self made millionaires have in common, this would be it.

Really be honest with yourself and do a complete budget for your home.  Write down what is a necessity (mortgage/rent, utilities, insurance, car payment, etc.).  Then add about 10% to that number to account for swings in purchases such as groceries.  now subtract that from your monthly take home pay.  Divide the remaining number in half, and direct one half to an interest bearing account or money market.  The other half is for discretionary spending.  If you have bills that fluctuate (i.e. utilities) or that come in quarterly payments (i.e. insurance), do the math and figure out what it would be if broken down to a monthly payment/average.  Work to be able to set up another account where you can transfer that amount to this account.  now when those quarterly bills come due, or the high winter gas bill you have the cash to pay it and it won't break the bank.

There are other ways to do this, but this is the method I use.  I have been able to live comfortably and at the same time save about 6 months worth of salary.  Everyone has something they can cut back on.  Make the choice to change your habits.  Don't let the banks own you.  The less debt you have, the more power you have!

How long to list for?

There is a lot of debate on how long you should have your listings set for.  A lot depends on what type of listings you are doing.  Auctions are different than buy it now, and you can't list for more than 10 days on auction.  So does it really matter what time frame you select?  That really is something only you can answer.  However, I can share my experiences and what I have tried.  I know what works for me, and maybe it will work for you as well.

When I did auctions (I still do on occasion) I always did 7 day auctions.  I used to run one every single night.  I did ok, but it was while I was learning how to sell consistently so I wasn't listing high end items.  Auctions allowed me to make some cash on the lower end stuff while learning.  What I did find out was that Saturday night was the best night for ending auctions for what I was selling.  That was followed by Tuesday and Thursday.  I had sales the other nights, but not with any volume.  Now if I run auctions, I have them for 7 days, ending on Saturday night around 9pm EST.

As I migrated to a store, I initially set my listings for good 'til cancelled.  I got sales most days, but I still had dead days.  I ran like this for about 9 months.  Then I read that you should do 30 day listings.  Using good 'til cancelled just relisted the item and you fell further down the search results withe very relist.  Doing 30 day listings renewed those listings every 30 days.  The benefit of that is it appears as a new listing every 30 days.  The down side is if you had any watchers, they were no longer notified that you had relisted the item.  I found that by doing the 30 day listings, I was reviewing my listings every 30 days.  I could adjust them, or redo them.  I was constantly reminded to look at them.  I found my sales were more consistent and stuff that had been sitting for 9 months started to move.

If you use 30 day listings, don't use relist when the item ends.  Use sell similar.  Ebay will assign the item a new item ID and treat it as a new listing.  This ensures you always have a new listing instead of a relist.  The goal is to have something ending and being relisted every single day.  Now with Cassini, the rumor is that it knows when an item is the same item even if you use sell similar.  What I do is massage the title in an attempt to trick Cassini into thinking it is a new item since it no longer has the same title.  You can do the same thing with your photos.  Just click the add/edit button and change the contrast/brightness by 1.  Save, and now Cassini thinks they are new images so it must be a new listing.

As I said in the beginning of my post, this is what has worked for me.  I have spent 3 years playing with different ways of listing and so far this is the method that gets me my consistent sales.  I can't tell you this is the end all be all for listings as I don't sell in a ton of categories.  Other categories may have different results from different methods.  But as far as I can tell with the categories I do sell in, this works.

Don't be afraid to try different methods.  Experiment and find what works best for you.  And don't take what others say as gospel for listing either.  They may not be selling what you are selling.  As the saying goes, if you keep doing what you have been doing you will continue to get the results you have been getting.

When do I open a store?

I see this question being asked a lot in online groups and forums.  There is an easy answer, but with ebay changing how the pricing works it may be confusing for some.  How many items should I list before it becomes advantageous to have a store?  What level of store should I have?  Should I commit to a long term agreement?  What is the upside to having a store?

I approached my store a little differently than most.  I didn't base it on how many listings I had.  I looked at my sales, which at the time were around $100 a week.  So after fees I was getting about $80 a week in my pocket.  Not a lot in the grand scheme of things, but I knew where I wanted to go with my business.  I decided to bite the bullet and go for the Premiere store right off the bat.  The reason I did so was because I knew that in one week I could make enough profit to pay for the store.  I also knew that if I were paying that much I would be motivated to list more to make up for that hit to my revenue.

With the latest announcement, ebay is trying to boost their auction listings.  The free ride for buy it now listings for non store owners is all but gone.  So if you are trying to build a business with steady income, you now need to evaluate a store even more than ever.  So what are the advantages of having a store?  I'm glad you asked, especially if you are a new seller.  When you first start selling on ebay, they are going to impose limits on how many items you can sell per month.  This is going to fluctuate depending on what category you are selling in.  You will be restricted for 90 days.  So is there any way to speed up that process?  Possibly.

When I decided to sell in a niche category, I also decided to create a new account to do so.  I had limits placed on me even though I had been selling for years.  I set out to try and get those limits raised as quickly as I could.  The one thing that helped me convince the CSR to raise my limits was by opening a store.  Ebay wants to see that you are a good seller, and that you are serious about selling.  By opening a store they saw that I was committed to selling on ebay.  Now my limits didn't go up a whole lot, but they did go up.  I called them once a month for three months, and each time they raised my limits.  I'm not saying that this will work for you, but it did work for me.  Your mileage may vary.

There are also advantages in opening a store.  For one, you now qualify for top rated status.  Getting that status is a bonus because with it you get a 20% discount on shipping fees.  You also get a bump in search results.  Additionally, you get offers for free listings that a non store owner doesn't get.  As your level of TRS goes up, you also get things like priority phone support.  When I call in now, I get right to a CSR with no waiting.  You also qualify for a monthly mentor call.  Ebay has seasoned sellers who will have a 15 minute call with you, one on one, to go over your store and listings and provide advice on improving your business.  It will take time to get to a TRS status, but it is so worth it!

Don't look at the monthly fee for a store as a negative thing.  Look at it from the positive side.  Don't worry about the monthly fee.  I'm sure you can sell one or two items a month to cover that fee.  Look at the benefits you will gain, which are far more valuable than the cost.  So do yourself a favor if you are serious about selling.  Get your store and start getting the benefits associated with it!

Anyone can do this!

It's a popular misconception that the people who are successful at selling on ebay were raised to know how to spot valuable items.  While it does happen, it is not always the case.  Most sellers learn by trial and error.  Others start with something they know and expand from there.  I am a part of the latter group.

I wasn't raised by parents who went to yard sales or scavenged antiques.  I was raised in a lower middle class family that really didn't have much.  We were just this side of poor so expendable income really didn't exist.  Up until I was a teenager most of our clothes were given to us by other families in church.  So how did I manage to figure out what to sell on ebay?

By trade, I am a computer guy.  When I started selling on ebay I sold what I knew, computer stuff.  I expanded to electronics from there as a natural progression since the two are somewhat related.  I dabbled in other areas just from selling what I had around the house.  I sold off and on for about 8 years.  About 4 years ago I decided to really put an effort into selling on ebay, and for the first time really started learning what sells.

I started by being mentored by a friend that sold shoes full time.  I was reluctant at first as I did not want to intrude into his territory.  But after some coaxing, I finally jumped in and started selling.  I spent my spare time learning the brands that sold for a higher dollar amount.  After about a year, I was finally comfortable in knowing what brands to look for.  Not every one will take this long, but in addition to learning brands, I also wanted to learn ebay inside and out.

As a natural progression, I added in clothing.  I did the same thing with clothing as I had done with shoes.  I researched brands and I talked to other clothing sellers.  I applied what I had learned about shoes to the clothing and sure enough, I got the same results.  Now I am expanding into vintage and collectibles.  I am applying the same selling principles to this as I did clothing and shoes.

The point here is if you are willing to do the work, you can be successful with ebay.  It is not an easy, get rich quick venue.  Anyone can make a few bucks with ease on ebay, but to have consistent and sustainable income requires work.  Nothing worth having comes easy.  If your goal is to make a substantial income on ebay, then do the work and learn what you need to know.  Don't take the easy road and rely on what others tell you.  Sooner or later you will get burned.  Deal with facts and do the research yourself.  It will be worth it in the long run.

One of the best ways to learn about products that sell is to look at what others are selling.  Look at sold listings.  You'll see items that do well and something will get your attention.  Follow sellers you feel are doing well and track what they sell.  All the information that you need is right there on ebay.  There is no secret sauce when it comes to identifying items that sell and sell well.  If you do the homework and keep building your knowledge base of sell-able items, you will start to recognize them when you are out sourcing.

I have taught several people how to sell by using these methods.  It does work, but you have to do the homework.  It's not going to jump into your lap.

The sky is falling!

For the last 12 years I have watched as ebay has released new seller updates.  And for the last 12 years I have heard sellers complain about how bad this update is and how it is going to kill their sales.  Yet here I am 12 years later, still selling and making more than ever.  So how can all of the doom and gloom projections be so wrong?  I think there is more to this than most people will admit.

We are creatures of habit.  We detest change.  It is in our nature to not like change.  We like familiar, we like things to be simple and methodical.  So when something new comes along, like ebay seller updates, we immediately sound the alarm.  Everything we are comfortable with is now being switched up and it scares us.  It's the unknown and we are afraid of the unknown.

Rest assured ebay is not going to implement something that is going to cause them to lose revenue without having done a lot of studying on the effects of such moves.  Yet I have consistently watched as normal, sensible adults turn into foaming at the mouth, scared rabbits darting to a fro trying to convince everyone else that the end of their selling career is just around the corner!

The best thing you can do is to take things in stride.  Is it going to be different?  Probably, but if you wish to continue to be a part of the ebay selling world then you need to adapt and roll with the changes.  If you are already doing what you should be doing, then there should be nothing to worry about.  make sure your listings are accurate, make sure you take plenty of pictures, provide excellent customer service.  Doing these things are what ebay is pushing all sellers to do, so if you are already doing them the updates should be no big deal.

Don't get sucked into the feeding frenzy that inevitably ensues after ebay releases these notifications.  It will do nothing more than get you stressed out for no reason.  Do the right things and treat your customers the way you want to be treated.  After all, it's not personal it's just business.

Friday Q & A and find of the week

So continuing on with the Friday Q & A, ask away.  I also thought I would add in the find of the week.  One item I picked up that had a great return.  Feel free to share yours!

My find was a Panasonic flip clock radio.  It's the same model that was used in the Back To The Future movie.  Bought it for $1.  These are highly desirable clocks.  I searched completed listings, and 100% of them sold!  I expect to sell it for around $200.  Not a bad return!

What was your find?

International Sales

A lot of people are afraid of international sales.  But is this worry warranted?  Is it better to use ebay's global shipping program?  Is it better to go it on your own?  Who pays import taxes?  I think there is a lot of confusion and people either won't sell international, or use GSP because of that fear.  So is all of this worry warranted?  Read on and make an educated decision for yourself.

When I started I did not sell international.  After a few months, I decided to try it.  Back then it was cumbersome and not very user friendly.  But I did get sales, especially on old technology items.  I pretty much stayed in the realm of priority international because I was too afraid of first class international since there was no tracking information for it.  But, as I found out later, I was leaving a lot of sales on the table because of this fear.

It took me a long time to really figure out the whole international shipping thing.  When GSP showed up, I was an early adopter.  However, I started getting messages from international buyers that GSP was tacking on $20 fees to the shipping charges.  It was having an affect on my sales.  It was at that point that I really dove into understanding FCI, and dumped GSP.  It really wasn't the scary unknown I had thought it was.  It was actually a good thing and has allowed me to increase my international sales exponentially.  So what is the best way to do it?

To start with you are going to want to use a 3rd party to insure your packages.  I've found that shipsaver is an integrated app available on ebay that will allow you to ship FCI and insure your packages.  Most of what I ship I can insure for $1 or less.  There is a list of countries that you are going to want to exclude as there is no insurance coverage for shipping to them.  Just set up your exclusions under the international shipping section and you are good to go.  Search google for shipsaver country exclusions to find their list.

For FCI shipping, you are going to print out a full page shipping label.  Half of it is for your records.  So cut the page where indicated, sign and date at the bottom and affix to your package.  You are good to go.  If you are sending via priority international, you will be printing out two pages with a total of 4 labels.  One of these is for your records, and will be noted as such at the bottom of the label.  The other three are to be signed and dated, then put into a USPS customs form envelope and attached to the package.  That's pretty much it.

I have my shipsaver profile set to automatically insure any international package.  I don't have to think about going in and manually insuring the package.  one less thing to worry about.  As long as your package is under 4 pounds, you can ship via FCI.  Note that you cannot use priority packaging to ship via FCI.  I normally set two options for international, both FCI and priority if the item is under 4 pounds.  If it is over, then I only offer priority.

Don't let international shipping intimidate you and cause you to lose out on potential sales.  You'll find that the majority of international buyers are far better than domestic buyers.  You will have very few issues with them.  If a package is lost, your insurance will pay you for that lost revenue.  Since I have been shipping FCI and using shipsaver, I have not had one package come up missing.  I have shipped all over the world and have had no issues.

Don;t leave money on the table, and don't lose sales over the GSP program.  Trust me, you'll be glad you opted out of it when you start seeing those sales rolling in!

Never Stop Learning

If you're like me, you weren't raised in an environment where you were exposed to antiques and reselling growing up.  I never really saw value in anything unless it was something I needed.  So how did I manage to get where I am reselling on ebay?  how do I figure out what sells or doesn't sell without having that type of background?  Hopefully this post will give you a guide to grow and expand your knowledge.

The old saying that knowledge is power is never more true that when you are a reseller.  Knowing the value in something used or old can allow you to make some serious cash.  But what if you have no clue what items to buy?  What if you simply don't know where to start?  Does scouring yard sales and thrift stores leave you overwhelmed?  Don't feel alone in this.  many of us successful sellers started out just like you.  But over time, we gained knowledge by doing our homework.

One of the reasons I tell new sellers to sell things from their homes first, is it gives them exposure to several different categories.  The best thing to do is to gather together items you would normally put into your own yard sale, and start researching how much it would sell for on ebay.  As crazy as it may seem, some of the oddest items sell really well.  A lot of people really do not know what they have.  You may find you have an item you know a lot about and it actually resells for a decent margin.  Don't pass an item up simply because you don't think it is worth anything.  As the old saying goes, one man's trash is another man's treasure.

So once you have depleted the items in your home and you are ready to venture into reselling, where do you start?  By now you should have at least a few items that you now know sell well.  These will be the items you will naturally seek out.  But don't stop with just those items.  Use your time wisely and start researching what has sold on ebay.  One way of doing that is to simply browse the sold listings.  If you see something that peaks your interest, then start narrowing the sold items down and see how well it actually sells.  Seeing an item selling for $100 is way different than seeing 100 of them sell for $100.  There are times that the right item showed up at the right time for the right buyer and the item sold for good money.  It may never sell at that price again.  You have to make sure there is a track record of consistent sales before taking off and investing in the item.

Even after selling for over 12 years, I still find items I didn't realize sold for good money.  There is so much out there to pick from that it would be impossible to know every single item that sells well.  I constantly research other sellers as well.  I will seek out sellers who are doing better than I am with sales and see what they are selling.  I also look at their listings to see how they list.  What kind of photos are they taking?  What kind of descriptions do they write?  These all help me decide not only what to sell, but how to sell it.  I am constantly revising my listings and shooting to get everything to peak performance.

Don't find a few things and think that you are set for selling.  Ebay trends have wild swings.  You will go from making $500 in one day to selling nothing the next.  One month you will be on top of the world, and the next you will be trying to figure out who turned off your store.  It's just ebay and has always been like that.  If you can diversify then you run a greater chance of not having as great an impact on those swings as a niche seller might.  now that's not to say that all niche sellers go through this as some do not.  It just depends on a lot of factors as to whether you will be a part of that group or not.

The bottom line is never get comfortable selling the same things.  Sooner or later you will have that sharp decline and that is when most people panic and start trying things like having sales, dropping prices, etc.  If you diversify you stand a better chance of not having to go through that.

What's your wage?

Many people start selling and see some quick money and start dreaming about how much they can make.  They go from selling items around their house to buying and selling items.  They see where they made maybe a couple hundred dollars and try to equate that to their real job income.  But many do not realize they may be working for less than minimum wage.  So, how can you tell?

To really understand what kind of income you are making, you really have to track your time.  How much time did you spend sourcing?  Did you have to clean anything?  How much time taking pictures, writing the description and doing research?  These are all factors that need to be considered in addition to all  of the fees you are being charged.  So, let's do an example.

Let's say you are spending your Saturday going to yard sales.  You spend 4 hours going around buying items.  You buy 12 items.  Now, let's say one item you bought for $1.00.  You clean it by simply wiping it down.  Maybe a minute there.  You find the time it takes to take and edit pictures, create the listing, put in the description and research pricing takes 1/2 hour.  The item sells for $20.00.  So let's break down everything from a time and cost perspective.

You bought 12 items in 4 hours, so your time spent per item is 20 minutes.  You spent 30 minutes getting the item listed, so that's a total of 50 minutes.  You bought the item for $1.00 so your gross profit was $19.00.  Now you have ebay fees (vary depending on category).  We'll use the high end since a lot of people sell in the clothing category.  Your fee is 10%, so deduct another $2.00.  Now your gross profit is $17.00.  Your paypal fees will be 2.75% plus 30 cents.  So that equates to 85 cents.  So now your net profit would be $16.15.  So now we would divide $16.15 by the 50 minutes, which gives you 32 cents per minute, or $19.38 per hour.  Not a bad hourly wage.

Now if you offered free shipping, your hourly rate is going to go substantially.  Too many times I see people sell something for $9.99 and think they did well.  Even if that item was something they already owned, and did not purchase, they would be making about $8 or $9 an hour.  Again not bad but very close to minimum wage.  So they key here is to minimize the time spent per item and to sell for a higher price.  The higher the price, the higher the hourly wage.  You should account for any time spent on ebay, whether it was spent listing, shipping or doing research.  These are all labor areas and should be accounted for.  You should also account for any shipping materials purchased.  You need to factor in as much as you can so you know for certain you are making a profit that is a sustainable one.

Knowing your numbers allows you to see areas where you may need improvement.  The longer you sell, the more efficient you will become, and thus the better hourly wage you will make.

Clarification

After having some discussions with people on this blog, and in some of my groups, I thought I should expand on a particular issue as it pertains to selling.  What I advocate in my blog is what has worked for me and others I have taught to sell.  It does not mean this is the only way to sell.

Having been a seller since 2002, these are the methods I have found that work for me.  I cannot guarantee they will work for you, but I can tell you that you will stand a better chance of succeeding if you use my methods as a guide.  How you sell, and what you do is largely determined by what you sell, and your margins.  It also depends on what your goals are.  Some people want to replace their full time income while others just want some extra cash.  You have to determine what your goals are and what makes sense for you to sell.

Obviously if you have access to inventory that is in high demand you will not need to carry a large inventory.  If you do not, then a large inventory can help keep your sales consistent.  By the same token, if you are looking to make a substantial income, you are probably going to want a larger inventory.  Everyone's goals are different, and I cannot speak to each and every type.  I can speak to what has worked for me.

What I set out to accomplish with my blog was to put out real, relevant information so people could see the reality of selling on ebay.  Not a bunch of hype and spin to get you to buy something.  This does not mean that I will never offer anything, it just means that I am not going to put out teasers for "secret" information to entice you into spending money on something that there is no secret for.

I have people who have asked me to be a consultant for them, and I have not yet decided if that is a route I wish to pursue.  That decision will be based on not only demand, but also if I have the time to accommodate.  My primary goal is to sell on ebay for as long as I can, and hopefully continue to provide insight into how I do things and provide guidance as best I can.

I am still on the road, but felt I needed to put this out there so people don't think I am preaching that this is the only way to sell on ebay.  Have a great week, and list away!

Friday Q & A

Even though I am traveling over the weekend, I will have access to the internet so I can still answer questions.  Post away, and have some great thrifting trips this weekend!