One brick at a time: Shannon Kramer on learning to succeed

[podcast_team]

eBay seller Shannon Kramer of Brickeology had never touched a LEGO in her life until adulthood but found the toys to be a great way to bond with her family and earn income as a reseller. Join us this week to hear about her most beloved LEGO sets, how she’s benefited from the eBay community, and why failure is a necessary part of success.
Episode Links:
Shannon’s eBay Store: Brickeology
Recurring Links:
eBay for Business Podcast
eBay Seller Spotlight Podcast
eBay for Business Podcast Listener Survey
eBay Seller News Announcements
eBay for Business Facebook
Community Chat with eBay Staff
eBay Seller Center
eBay Help
eBay Local Seller Events
Seller Hub
eBay Events

Georgea: Every seller has a story. I'm Georgea Mpampanis and welcome to our newest episode of the eBay Seller Spotlight podcast, where each month we spotlight sellers with a story to share with us. Our guest this episode is a Lego enthusiast with dreams of opening her own Lego store one day. Welcome Shannon Kramer.

Shannon: Thank you. Thank you for having me.

Georgea: So let's start off with a little background about your business on eBay. What do you sell?

Shannon: I sell Lego. Pretty much at this point it's exclusively Lego. It's used Lego sets, mostly highly collectible ones and some mini figures as well, which are the little Lego people. For those who don't know what mini figures are.

Georgea: How many pieces do you have right now in your store?

Shannon: Okay, so funny enough, it sounds like it's not a lot. I only have 28 active listings at this point, and that is down from, I think I had around a hundred at the beginning of December. It was clearly December was a very, very busy month for us. It takes a long time to put together a lot of the sets that we sell because they're very collectible and we almost always sell sets that are 100% complete and that means I have to hunt down pieces from wherever they may be around the country and buy them and wait till they get shipped out to me. So it's not like I can very quickly add in a whole bunch of listings into my store. So right now it's 28 listings.

Georgea: That's okay. It's quality over quantity, right?

Shannon: Yes.

Georgea: Can you remember when you first started selling?

Shannon: Yes, yes. I was not doing Lego actually. I started almost nine years ago. My son was about six months old. And do you want me to get into how I started selling?

Georgea: I sure do.

Shannon: Okay. So it sounds like this very dramatic story. I guess it kind of is. My husband and I had a motorcycle shop at the time. We were living in Portland, Oregon and we were just opening it and it was not going very well. Things take a lot longer than you realize. Things cost a lot more than you realize. And we had a six month old son and we were literally unable to pay our rent. We were upsetting our landlords and having to make choices at the grocery store because we really just didn't have enough money. I don't know exactly where the idea of reselling, how it popped up on my radar. I don't really know how I heard of eBay and that people were doing it, but I know that I did and I've got this idea that, okay, we need to do something because we need food and we need a home and all of that.

Georgea: So I had $60 to my name. I took $30 of it to spend on food and I took $30 of it to spend at the Goodwill bins. And I went and just followed my instincts of what I thought was either good quality or fashionable at the time. Listed it on eBay in the best way I knew how, which at the time I realized, wow, that was not the best idea. But I did what I knew and right away I started selling. And right away, within a few weeks we were able to go grocery shopping. And so I was like, okay, this is something, I have something here. And at the time, eight years ago, there was a really great and active reseller community on Instagram. And I plugged into that and was able to tap into a lot of resources from people who were further down the reselling line than I was at the time. And at that time, people were so, so willing to share and support and bring everyone along the journey because there was this idea that there's plenty for everybody. Whatever you're doing over in your city has nothing to do with me. We can all do well at this. And so it was definitely a time where information was shared with a sense of generosity and that's really what propelled me. And somehow with a lot of hustle, I'm not gonna say it was easy 'cause I had a six month old and I was taking him with me into the Goodwill bins and sitting him in the cart while I'm trying to sort through all this stuff, we'll call it stuff. Somehow I managed to build that up. And within about the first year or year and a half, I'd say we did over a hundred thousand in sales.

Georgea: Wow.

Shannon: That's not to say though, that's not to say that it wasn't without moments where I was like crying and pulling my hair out as to what am I doing wrong, where are the sales, why aren't they coming in? So yeah, that's how we started.

Georgea: I am not trying to trigger any PTSD, but can I ask you about the motorcycle business a little bit?

Shannon: Sure. So my husband is an incredibly talented motorcycle builder. I mean he is a genius when it comes to that. He is very talented with electrical systems and all of that. And he and I both actually have a big passion for motorcycles. And we partnered up with a very talented friend of ours who is still in Portland and followed our passion into that. And we even, our son is named after a very famous motorcycle racer. So motorcycles are something that we absolutely love. Just maybe don't do that as a business.

Georgea: I'm sure you were able to learn from that. Right? And that's probably why your business is so successful now. Can you share something that you're like, can't do that again?

Shannon: It took me a long time. I'd say only in the last eight years did I really learn that failure is actually part of the success process. And failure is your greatest teacher. Just because you failed at something does not mean that you're a failure. It just means that you didn't do well at that thing at that time. And with our motorcycle shop, we followed passion well before we, I would say made great business decisions financially. That's really the the best thing I can say about that. I don't regret opening the shop at all. It was a phenomenal experience. We had this really cool hybrid, we shared space with a coffee shop because in Portland, Oregon, everything is coffee and... So it's coffee and motorcycles, coffee and thrifting, coffee and oil changes, whatever it is. And so we had a really great hybrid space. We just didn't have enough runway financially to make it happen. And, and that's okay. That's really okay.

Georgea: And now you sell Legos. Can you tell me why Lego?

Shannon: Yeah. So, I always tell people that if you would've told 20-year-old me that in my forties, my biggest aspiration would be to open a Lego store, I'd be like, uh, no, I've never even touched a Lego in my life. I have no idea what you're talking about. Please don't go into the fortune telling business. When my son was three, he was given his first Lego set. Still at that point I'd never touched a Lego, didn't really even know anything about Legos. Actually, we don't say Legos. There's a whole, that's a whole thing. You say Lego, whether it's singular or plural. And I just so sorry to all the Lego people out there, I'm so sorry.

Shannon: I butchered. It was my fault. I started that.

Georgea: So he got his first set and from there he was just, it, it was, he's just like his dad. An incredible engineering mind. It was not a set for a 3-year-old, but he took to it so well. And I went into my local buy nothing group and I was like, Hey, does anybody have extra Lego? Because my son's really into it. So we got a giant tub of Lego from that. And I still really wanted nothing to do with Lego because to me it was just another thing I had to clean up. And we bought him a Star Wars Darth Vader transformation chamber set. And he roped me into building it with him. He's like, mom, will you help me build? And why would I not, why would I say no? Like, no, sorry, mom doesn't touch those. So I sat there helping him and then I was just hooked. We're a big Star Wars family. We're big nerds.

Georgea: Me too! I love Star Wars. A whole other conversation.

Shannon: Yes, yes. And welcome to our new podcast, . We just started going to our local Lego store and it just became a thing like very, very quickly for our whole family. It became this passionate thing that we do. And my son was just endlessly creative with it. And I'm not actually sure how the transformation happened, but here we are five years later. My husband and I teach Lego classes, summer camps, we run Lego clubs, we do birthday parties, we teach at home schools, we sell on eBay. We will always sell on eBay. I have so much love in my heart. I will forever sell on eBay. And now we want to open a Lego store. So that's how we're here.

Georgea: Okay. So you have your online store, or sorry, you have your online store. You're about to have your brick and mortar and there's so like an endless amount of Lego sets since the company have started that you can possibly sell. Do you have a favorite?

Shannon: A favorite..Oof.

Georgea: Yeah one, I mean if you have like two that it's like a deal where you can't pick between the two, that's fine.

Shannon: Okay. So I, I have to say there are a lot of sets that, because we do what we do and people give us Lego like that they don't want anymore. Or we buy Lego lots from people. There are so many sets that I've had access to that I've had to build that I would've never had any interest in. Just as walking around the store, I would've never looked at it and gone, oh yeah, I really want that. But we got a, it's called the Lego Ninjago Temple of Airjitsu and it's this giant set. It has some unique features, it has details, it's architectural, it has this really cool LightUp feature at the bottom. It has taken my breath away from the moment I saw it. I was so lucky I got to build it. I was so thrilled to sell it, but at the same time, kind of sad to sell it. So that's been a favorite, uh, that I would've never touched. And then I've been able to be exposed to vintage Lego or older Lego and somebody actually just gave us all these knights, like castle sets and it even had the box. And it was this complete castle from gosh, it was sometime in the eighties, I think. I hesitate to call that vintage because I was born in the eighties. I'm not vintage, but I, we got that and it was, it was so cool. It was a piece of history. It was so beautifully preserved. It was so fun. It made me feel like a kid. And um, I got to sell that and it sold for both of those sets. Sold for quite a bit of money, which was also a nice feeling. That makes me like the set even more. And then I will just say I never heard of them. And then somebody gave me a giant tub of Bionicle pieces and at first I was just dismayed looking at these pieces going, who locked up some creative people in a building ad then like let them out after six months. Because what they've come up with with Bionicle is just insane to look at, amazing to look at. Doesn't look anything like the Lego most people know and I'm very sad that they stopped the Bionicle line. But I am now a massive Bionicle fan and anytime I get anything Bionicle, I've kind of hoard it. I'm like, I must keep this .

Georgea: Maybe you can own the rights and take over . So obviously like just speaking to, you're very, very passionate about it. And you also have a really cool store name Brickeology. It really stands out when it comes to your inventory. So where'd the name come from?

Shannon: So it is, and everybody does this, it's Brickeology, which we're working on. Don't forget the e. So right now our, our motto is Life, Love, Lego. And I think we need to change it to, don't forget the e because it really, it happens everywhere. The way we came up with that was just picture a big storage tote full of loose Lego and then somebody hands you a stack of instructions and you have to sit there digging and figuring out like, what do I have here? And at some point my husband and I were like, we're like archeologists with Lego. And then it was like Brickeology. That's what we are. It's with Lego bricks. We are Lego archeologists. So we are Brickeologists. That's how we got there. And then further what we do is people will give us random things and you take out this one little tiny Lego piece that looks super unique to you and you go, what is this? And you take a photo of it, you go to Brickognize and then it'll take you over to BrickLink and that'll show you this piece could have come from all these sets. And you're looking and you're going, Hmm, I have something that looks kinda like that. I have something that looks kinda like that. And then you have to piece together these sets from nothing, much like an archeologist pieces together, pieces of history, bones from a dinosaur, pieces of a culture, all of that. So that is what we do.

Georgea: Very, very interesting. You should start teaching that in like universities get their diploma in Brickeology. I'm signing up. I'll be your first student. That's amazing. Okay, so switching gears a little bit. You are a 2023 Up and Running Grantee. So what were you able to do with your grant money?

Shannon: I am still blown away that that happened. Even though it was months ago, we were able to buy inventory. We were able to, it was a small thing that I was able to do, but we actually homeschool with our son. And a small thing I was able to do was get him a little iPad so that he could do his schoolwork pretty much anywhere that, that's a big, it's a small thing but it's a big thing. Wouldn't have been able to do that had the grant not come through. But it's really finding inventory these days for what it is we do is challenging. Especially where we live. It's not the easiest thing. And so being able to do that and just to have certain things for the business, it's like this little minutia of do I have enough business cards? Do I have enough packing paper, you know, like bubble wrap because I ship all my sets assembled and very, very carefully packaged. So being able to go in and say, I need more of this. I have the money. I can buy those things. That was such a nice feeling as a small business owner.

Georgea: And I'm sure it kind of connected you to the community a little more. So what was one thing you learned from the eBay community?

Shannon: Oh, consistency. Consistency. Consistency. More consistency. Which is really funny because when I started I sold a lot of clothing and shoes. That's really all, you know, clothing, shoes. And if it was something that it was electronic, 'cause my husband's very talented with that, he would fix it and we'd be able to sell it. And then we segued into Lego. But at the time when we were doing clothing and shoes, all the eBay sellers that I knew were all about saying that it's about consistently listing no matter what list consistently. And so at the time I was able to do 20 listings a day, but now that I am in a different position, I don't have the ability to list as much as I would like to. But that doesn't mean I can't be consistent on the platform and other ways and eBay values that. And I think that's a really important thing as a seller. And then I will just say one other thing. You are rewarded when you have integrity as a seller. And it may be in very small ways. Like if a customer reaches out to you because there was a small issue with their order or whatever it is, making sure that you have transparency in what you're selling, that you're not trying to get something over on anybody. Your customers value that so much. So you use your photos to communicate everything you can. You use your description in your listing to be as forthright as you can, as opposed to like making people know that you don't take this credit card and that credit card. People don't care about that. People want to know more about what am I buying? What's the condition that it's in? Where'd you get it? How long have you had it for? Is there something wrong with it? Tell them those things. And that is, I think, what is the consistency and the integrity are the two things that I've learned the most from the community and have given me the most success as a seller.

Georgea: I love that the community is out to help one another, which is amazing. Where can listeners find you in your store online?

Shannon: Brickelogy.com. So it's Brick and E and Ology. So don't forget the E.

Georgea: Don't forget the E.

Shannon: Do not forget the E. It's the new logo. I'm gonna put it on a T-shirt. I'm gonna do all the things. We're gonna have sweatbands, everything. I'm gonna sponsor a 10 K Run. Don't forget the E. Yeah, . So it's just Brickeology.com.

Georgea: Cool. And IG? Any other social platforms, all the same?

Shannon: Instagram is the same, Facebook is the same. Luckily we are able to be the same across all of those. I am so inconsistent with Instagram. I have got to get better about it. I'm in that weird age group where it wasn't part of my teenage or formative years. It came to me like after I was done with college and I still have not adapted to the importance of social media.

Georgea: That's okay. You'll get there and then your business will explode even more. That's awesome. Thank you so much for joining us today.

Shannon: Thank you so, so much for having me. I so appreciate it. I absolutely love eBay and everything about eBay and if you sell on eBay, just keep selling on eBay. It's a phenomenal platform.

Georgea: Shannon Kramer sells under the store named Brickeology . Shop her store for Lego sets ranging from pop culture to vehicles. We hope you'll join us in our next episode where we'll shine the spotlight on another seller with an amazing story to share. I'm your host, Georgea Mpampanis. Jim Griffith is our Editor In Chief. The eBay Seller Spotlight podcast is produced by Libsyn and podCast411.