ADVICE, Guidance...I LOVE selling, but I've got to make enough money to get by...

[retromodernmarvels]

Hi, I could use the guidance & advice of some experienced eBay sellers.

I am fairly new to selling - I got started getting somewhat serious about giving selling on eBay as a way to earn a living a real go last October.  As I've gone along these past few months, I have had some sucess & found a great  deal of joy in doing this.

 I sell mostly vintage Mid-Century Modern collectibles (chrome canister sets, decanter/bottles, pottery, frameable ads, etc.) items as well as some modern items.  I feel that I am gaining a wealth of knowledge of what types of items to look for & buy & I am gaining speed in streamlining the actual listing process.  My sales have grown some over the past months, but fluctuate greatly.

I love having a business that is mine, I love the bargain treasure hunting & research & I especially LOVE the freedom of not being tied to a desk 40 hours a week.  Being a eBay seller has given me a great deal of happiness in working for myself & my daughter & husband have been so much happier too (it really is true that "a happy wife is happy life :~)...), so I REALLY don't want to give this up....

However, money is very tight right now & I have to find a way to kick my business into high gear & make a living in order to continue selling as a business & not go back to being a full-time slave to a desk 40 hours a week.  

I need to know what tools might be best to make the difference & give me the most "bang for my buck".

Any ideas, strategies, advice on what I can do to make this work would be more than appreciated!  

THANK YOU,

Dena 

RetroModernMarvels

[cathedralmoon123]

I am relatively new to ebay also. I highly recommend you check out more about "dropshipping", from this website" http://dropshiplifestyle.com/ and watch the video 3/4ths of the way down the page. It's not a scam at all, you see the owner of the site face-to-face, and begin to understand what all of this is really about.

HIS inspiration for doing what he does is from a book called "The Four-Hour Workweek", which is a bestseller and has been extremely influential for a lot of people. You can check out the author and book here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pV2hLYqRnvY

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HAJBnwBxAWs

audiobook:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Di5uHvyJw24

PDF:
http://www.meniskaskaimas.lt/static/uploads/file/The_4_Hour_Workweek.pdf

I hope this helps you.

In the meantime if you just want to stick to ebay and not get into dropshipping, I recommend going to a lot of clearance racks and goodwill stores. Bring 20 bucks a trip and go crazy, list that as soon as you can, and do it all over again as soon as you can.

As a new seller I've learned that it's vital to have the following things:
-Free USPS boxes ordered to my door of all shapes from the USPS website
-An order of bubble mailers of all sizes from any ebay user whos got a good deal
-An order of adhesive labels for the printer from any ebay user whos got a good deal
-A digital postal scale
-A lazer-jet printer

One of the keys I've learned is that ebay buyers really like to become repeat buyers, and so as an ebay seller, growing your base and listing something every day is really important.

Also, I am a total stranger to twitter, but holy **bleep** is it helpful for getting those views up! I went on there for about 2 hours and just followed a ton of major cool people in the media and such, not even random people, well known people and organizations, and not only did people follow me back, but when i share a listing right from the item page, i get about 30 views in about 5 minutes. I don't know how that works, but people seem to like to click on stuff on twitter! The views really help. So tweet your listings, and do it every couple days.

Ship same day if you can, but at least the next day. Be personable with the messages both through the messaging service on ebay, and the "comment box" on the paypal postage page.

Those are just a couple of things I recommend that are the basics. 🙂 Take care and I hope you like Tim Ferriss's book!

[oceanviewbeauty]

I think you have great advice! thanks for the pep, I love selling here at ebay, its given me a huge freedom, a lot of lessons learned and a decent small income. Now Im wanting to expand my business into bigger and more profitable items. Great ideas always help and give motivation, thanks for the links!

[retromodernmarvels]

Thank you for your reply & advice!  I will check out the YouTube Videos & see what dropshipping is all about.  Also, I never understood how Twitter or could be useful tool & I appreciate your explaination.  Sounds like you have had good responses from "tweeting" your listings.....who would have thought, right?

Do you have a separate eBay store for your dropshipping sales?  I will probably be able answer my own question once I watch the videos.....I know absolutely nothing at this point about dropshipping at this point. :~)

I agree about hitting lots of clearance racks & Goodwill with $20 & just keep it going.....I am fortunate enough that the area I live in has tons of great garage sales & estate sales from older people selling off their cool vintage stuff....so, I guess I've got that much going for me.

It's nice to hear from someone who is also new to selling on eBay & has lots of helpful advice to share!

Thank you!

[cathedralmoon123]

I'm glad to help!

I do not have another store, just the one I have now. I have only just started to get into dropshipping and am in the process of market research and getting ready. I'm not quite ready due to finances and my own struggles with my health. It's frustratingly slow-going for me right now, but I'm working on things slowly each day.

As for dropshipping, it's really amazing. The entire world basically runs itself on dropshipping now. Companies buy from wholesalers in bulk at a discount, and then resell individually at higher prices, and make a profit. Basically think of Walmart as one GIANT dropshipping company - and any business really. When you go to a restaraunt, that's just another form of a dropshipping company that's specializing in food and personal catering.

But, unlike Walmart, you don't have to abuse anyone or do "bad business practices" to make a profit and a good living. Honestly the vid on that dropshipping page from that man really rode it home for me. I haven't purchased his program at all but the video itself makes sense, and I haven't found anything online to suggest that his stuff is a scam. Plus, it's based on Tim's book, and Tim's book has helped a LOT OF PEOPLE. It's a revolutionary idea and it's in keeping with the internet. It's easier to rely on long-distance shipping (and those people get job security) rather than just catering to locals. Buying local is good, but it does not need to be the default to "support local business".

I know this might sound a bit controversial but, of course Tim can describe this stuff a lot better than I can, and I'm sure you can take it from there and draw your own conclusions.

Take care 🙂

[oceanviewbeauty]

Fabulous! kudos to you, it made my day and seems to come when I needed it too 🙂

[retromodernmarvels]

Thank again for the great info!  I will watch the videos & let you know if I pursue that route & have sucess.  It does sound interesting & certainly worth checking out. 

I have gone through health issues (advanced lyme disease) & spent many years feeling badly....I hope you have a good doctor that will help you get on the road to wellness.  I am thankful every single day to be feeling better & I hope you find yourself in that situation soon.

Much sucess to you & to all who are working hard to support their family & make a living from home!

[femmefan1946]

. I haven't purchased his program at all but the video itself makes sense, and I haven't found anything online to suggest that his stuff is a scam.

So you are taking advice about a program from someone who has not used the program?

Dropshipping is a scam.

Every single one of them.

You are competing with hundreds of other sellers also selling identical items with identical descriptions and identical pictures. On what basis do you compete?

For most sellers, it is on price, reducing already thin margins to .... nothing.

Remember that 'markup' is not the same as 'profit'.

And that is just the suppliers who do deal honestly with their re-sellers.

You have no control over the quality of the product. Unhappy customer.

You have no control over the quality of packing. Unhappy customer.

You have no control over the promptness of shipping. Unhappy customer.

You have no control over the shipping service. Surface shipping from Asia takes months. Unhappy customer.

Your items will be shipped from elsewhere. If 'elsewhere' is Asia, your customers may be faced with unexpected duty and sales taxes as well as shipper's service fees on their doorstep. Unhappy customer.

If there is a problem with any of the above, you take the hit, not your supplier.

Your customer will have to return the item to you or to the manufacturer to get the refund. Unhappy customer.

You have to persuade the supplier to refund you for the refund you gave due to their product. Unhappy seller.

All of which is quite negative.

More positive:

SELL WHAT YOU KNOW; KNOW WHAT YOU SELL

You are already doing this by concentrating on mid-century collectibles.

Be very aware of shipping costs.

Use Free Shipping whenever possible. Remember that Free Shipping means the cost of shipping is included in the price of the item and does not reduce your profits.

Use Calculated Shipping for bulky items, especially if you are shipping outside your own region.

Sell and ship internationally. Did you know the Canadian population is slightly larger than that of California?

Use the Global Shipping Program ONLY on items that sell over $50. For other items USPS First Class International includes Delivery Confirmation and carries up to four pounds of product.

[cathedralmoon123]

When running a website as a dealer/vendor for a company that has agreed to make that partnership with you, several of the things that you list that could make the customer unhappy are not your concern, they are the customers concern and problem, because they made the choice to purchase that product knowingly. They were fully aware of the issues when they made the purchases.

Obviously if you start seeing such a drastic issue with refunds and returns, you can choose not to be a dealer for that company anymore. Therefore, you at the very least have control over how you react as a dealer so you can at least assist with customers in some way in providing them access to a good product.

If they contact you about packaging, promptness of shipping, or the shipping service you can direct them to the website of the company and make it clear who was accountable for that. You can explain that they are not unhappy with you, they are unhappy with whoever else it was that was responsible for that, and therefore direct them to who they would need to speak to. As a licensed dealer, you should have access to who customers need to contact should they have any of these types of problems, otherwise you yourself should think twice about being a dealer for that company.

You have plenty of control. So please do not spread disinformation.

If every dropshipping service in the world was a scam, then our world would not be running right now. There is a huge occurrence of dropshipping, and rightfully so, as it is profitable and efficient.

I agree with you on one note - it's good to have a good working knowledge and passion for what your selling.

[femmefan1946]

Obviously if you start seeing such a drastic issue with refunds and returns, you can choose not to be a dealer for that company anymore.

If you are selling on eBay, you are subject to eBay's standards.

If your DSRs drop below 4.3, due to buyer complaints, you are no longer an eBay seller.

If you build up violations, you are no longer an eBay seller.

And read aboutt the new 'defects' policy, which can be draconian for small sellers.

You can drop any supplier you like, but if you can no longer sell on the world's largest auction site, you're not really further ahead are you?

I would suggest ignoring the internet when searching for suppliers.

Go to the Yellow Pages.

Because it takes so long to publish the book, and I do mean the paper book, the listed companies will have at least six months of business behind them.

Because they are local you can also check their reputation with the local Better Business Bureau. (Admittedly a vastly over-rated organization, and I speak as a member.)

Look for companies dealing in your area of expertise. Look for manufacturers, importers, jobbers, liquidators, wholesalers, etc.

Make an appointment and visit.

You may be asked for a sales tax number. These are free but your local political representative 's office can help you if your phone book does not have Blue Pages for government numbers. (Here in Ontario I would send someone to the office of her Member of the Legeslative Assembly. )

Companies get rebates on the sales taxes they remit when they sell to re-sellers. A company that does not ask for your sales tax number is selling to you retail.

At first you will have to pay upfront for your product. As time goes on you will be allowed to pay later and later, though 90 days is about as long as most businesses will allow.

Using a dedicated credit card allows you 30 days to pay for your stock before you have to pay your balance.

I've been in retail for, gosh, over 30 years, selling by mail and  B&M, everything from cast iron woodstoves to collectible postage stamps.

I would never suggest selling anything that the seller does not have in her hands to describe accurately, pack securely, and ship promptly.

[cathedralmoon123]

That's all well and good, but the world is changing very fast and doesn't need to do business "the slow way" to get it done. With all due respect, this man that made dropshiplifestyle.com and the man who wrote the 4-hour Workweek that is working for thousands of people are not speaking out of their butts. If you follow the steps outlined, you will make a good business that sells good products and almost 100% of it will be automated.

As for comparing the legitimacy of these practices to whether or not you meet ebay's standards, I'm not even going to get into that ridiculousness aside from saying that ebay doesn't set standards, the walk the line between independent companies and small-time sellers. It's easy to outgrow ebay and their extreme limitations if you really want to make it big.

Just because you don't have your hands on the merch does not mean you will fail all of the time or even a majority of the time. There is always risk - always - no matter who is doing the shipping. When both the company and the dealer pitch in, as they would do if they want to sell their product and keep customers, it works just fine and is an excellent way to do business.

[retromodernmarvels]

Hi Femmefan1946,

I truly appreciate your insight....I will say that your pointers are a lot more along the lines of the guidance I was seeking.  

One of the aspects I enjoy most about selling on eBay is offering items for sale that I love!  I like knowing that I was the one who got out there & found the item for a price that would allow me to make a profit, did the research & offered it for sale to others who share an appreciation of  the same "awesomeness" about the item that caused me to buy it in the first place.  There's something about that shared appreciation that I find rewarding.

I have been blessed with a very good memory & I enjoy taking in so much knowledge as I go through this process....I have found that with each item that I research, I am learning about not only that specific item, but many times I am absorbing helpful info about the most desireable & valueable items in that category as a whole.  This makes "picking" at estate & garage sales that much easier & gives me more bang for my investment dollar.  When I first started trying to find items to sell, I bought some things for a low price that could be resold for a profit, but I have learned now that some things will not sell for enough profit to justify the time invested to make sense.  Let's face it, there are things out there that are cool & will eventually sell, but you'd have to sell a million of those little things to get by & that's not sensible...at least not for me! 

I am using the knowledge I am collecting in "mental library" to make better choices.  Recently at an estate sale, I noticed a unique vintage pottery mermaid & I immediately had a faint memory of seing this same kind of piece in researching another piece of vintage pottery & that it was a desireable & valueable item.  I did a quick eBay search on my phone & found my instincts were correct & that the mermaid was a Royal Hagaer piece & was most definitely worth buying for the $5 they were asking for it.  Woo-hoo!

It's those sucesses that make me feel best about what I'm setting out ot do.  It feels like what I should be doing, but being person who is organized & great with time management is not something that comes naturally to me.  I think where I need the most guidance is help finding some good procedures & systems that will best utilize my time & (hopefully) maximize my profits.

While I have gained some speed in the actual listing process, I feel that I could get faster & maybe there is a better way to make sure my listings get the most exposure & sell for the best price they can.  There are so many apps & online programs that charge a monthly fee & for me that feels a bit overwhelming....it could be a big time-suck to wade through so many options to find the system that meets my specific needs - when I really need to focus on listing stuff & bringing in money & so I can keep this going.

Is there a great tool, app or system that you or anyone else is having big sucess with that you could share with me?  I need a good way to track my inventory, manage my time & speed up my processes.

I pack my items very carefully & it ends up taking up a lot of time....any pointers there too?

Any good sucess stories of how you "made it"....or at least knew that you could make enough to survive doing this? 

Your help & advice is greatly appreciated!

Dena @ RetroModernMarvels

[phoenixfabulous]

It's been amusing to read the back and forth posts in this thread - and without specifically pointing fingers I felt for the sake of any "newbie" reading this I'd chime in and give my two cents - I just couldn’t resist.

(a) if it sounds to good to be true .... it usually is - that's a saying that crops up all the time in life. Sure every once in a while you run across an unbelievable deal that’s valid - but how many times does that really happen. Do your research and use your common sense !

(b) If it was that easy - everyone would be doing it ....... think of it sort of like a magic pill to loose weight - do you think that really exists? Do your research and use your common sense !

(c) By looking at the feedback ratings and accounts of the posters in this thread - the sellers have very different ebay experience and background - and both giving advise on how ebay works .... selling product ...... customer relations ....... who do you think is giving more accurate information? Do your research and use your common sense !

As a final thought - Do Diligence !! ...... Do Diligence !! ...... Do Diligence !!

....... for any venture - protect yourself by doing lots and lots research, using common sense, and following your gut - it's usually right.

[mrobind42]

For once I agree with you! Drop Shipping is a scam and has ruined many ebay businesses. I, too, am new to selling. I started in october and sold a grand total of 6 items until December. I have worked my butt off to be top rated! I was going to try drop shipping, Before I did I ordered from the drop shipper. What I got was cheaply made, took weeks to get and the customer service was terrible. There are other drop shippers, the legit ones charge a fee, and it's not cheap. You have absolutely no control over stock outs, when the items ship, or what condition it's going to be in. And all of that is going to be put on you. Your seller status will drop, no one will buy from you as the negatives keep rolling in, and then you will definitely be tied back to your desk...again.

The second thing is...you have to run it as a business. You have to keep records, you have to understand the difference between gross profit and net profit. You have to determine what profit margin isgoing to keep you afloat and stick to it.

Shipping supplies...USPS is free for priority boxes and padded envelopes. Finding the cheapest supplies on ebay is not always best, you get what you pay for...

Save EVERYTHING....if you order something, save the packaging, if the padded envelopes or boxes are in good shape, reuse them. The dollar store sells bubble wrap, if you live near a newspaper see if they sell or give away their remnants. The remnants do not have ink on them and the paper is light. 

Above all else...STAY AWAY FROM DROP SHIPPING

[mrobind42]

That's all well and good, but the world is changing very fast and doesn't need to do business "the slow way" to get it done. With all due respect, this man that made dropshiplifestyle.com and the man who wrote the 4-hour Workweek that is working for thousands of people are not speaking out of their butts. If you follow the steps outlined, you will make a good business that sells good products and almost 100% of it will be automated.

How much are you paying for this information? My mistake #2. These people make their money off fools paying for this advice. Drop shipping is NOT going to help you outgrow ebay. It's just complete lack of common sense to put your business reputation in the hands of people you do not know, with merchandise you have never seen, and YOU are responsible for all of it.

As far as it being the buyers responsibility...YOU put up a pic and a description of an item you have never seen and the customer depends on that. So how exactly is it the buyers fault for buying some junk YOU sold them? It's your fault, and guess what...you won't be in business long.

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@cathedralmoon123 wrote:

That's all well and good, but the world is changing very fast and doesn't need to do business "the slow way" to get it done. With all due respect, this man that made dropshiplifestyle.com and the man who wrote the 4-hour Workweek that is working for thousands of people are not speaking out of their butts. If you follow the steps outlined, you will make a good business that sells good products and almost 100% of it will be automated.

As for comparing the legitimacy of these practices to whether or not you meet ebay's standards, I'm not even going to get into that ridiculousness aside from saying that ebay doesn't set standards, the walk the line between independent companies and small-time sellers. It's easy to outgrow ebay and their extreme limitations if you really want to make it big.

Just because you don't have your hands on the merch does not mean you will fail all of the time or even a majority of the time. There is always risk - always - no matter who is doing the shipping. When both the company and the dealer pitch in, as they would do if they want to sell their product and keep customers, it works just fine and is an excellent way to do business.

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