Yinka Ogunsunlade turned his lifelong love for fashion into a thriving eBay sneakers and clothing business. Plus, he’s done it all while still a full-time attorney.
Yinka’s secret to success is no secret. His obsession with what he sells and great customer service could propel any seller.
Check out Yinka’s listings at his aptly named store, Fashionably Legal.
7 Questions with Yinka Ogunsunlade of Fashionably Legal
- When did you start selling on eBay?
It didn't even really start with shoes. My mother would always get the most Christmas gifts. There were just a ton of items that weren't even open because she couldn't get through all the gifts. She didn't even remember where they came from sometimes. So to clear a space, I was like, “Let me see if I could sell some of these things on eBay.” This was probably junior year of high school.
I know she had a perfume set, and that was the first sale I made. From there I saw, “Hey, that wasn't hard. It was pretty easy to sell that.”
Right after I graduated from law school, I was looking at my surplus of shoes and was like, “I need to get rid of some of this stuff.” It was at that point that I said, “Hey, let's see how far I can take this.”
- What does a typical day look like for you?
A typical day is waking up and seeing if I made any sales or got questions from potential buyers. Immediately once a sale has been made, I locate the item, package it, and update my inventory.
Then I venture out to the post office, UPS, or FedEx to drop those packages off.
Then while I'm on lunch break from my day job, I do a little bit of sourcing at stores in the area to see if there's any new inventory to pick up.
Once I get back here, I immediately try and list those new items so I don't accumulate what they call a “death pile,” which is items you've never listed. You can't sell anything you haven't listed!
- What does community mean to you and your business?
The sneaker culture on eBay is pretty tight knit. Especially when I went to eBay Open and got to meet a lot of genuine people who are really looking to help you succeed.
I remember asking questions of sellers that I've seen on YouTube who were very receptive to answering my questions. It didn't feel like they were in competition with me or hiding secrets or anything like that. It was great to meet really quality people looking to help you grow your business as they continue to grow theirs.
I try and relay the same thing to other people. Anybody who asks questions about my business, I'm here to help. eBay is such a big and diverse platform that there's room for everybody to succeed.
- What’s your favorite quote— motivational or otherwise? Why?
For me, it’s kind of a play on Drake. Drake has a song where he says, “Started from the bottom. Now we're here.” He started at the bottom and obscurity, and now he's a big superstar.
I say, “Started as a hobby. Now we're here.” This whole eBay thing started as a hobby for me and now it's great to see the growth of the business, both financially and other aspects of the business— just that entrepreneurial spirit.
- What’s your selling superpower?
I would say my selling superpower is just the ability to respond quickly to questions, whatever the question may be.
It's after midnight for me when I'll get a question like, “Can you tell me the length of this coat?” Or, “How does this shoe fit? What's the insole?”
So I’ll just roll out of bed and take that measurement right then, because we live in an age when people want their items quickly. They want their answers now. And if I wait until the morning to answer, they may have lost interest or somebody selling the same shoe may have answered right away.
- What’s your process for sourcing or producing merchandise?
I source from local stores. There have been times where I come home with multiple bags and be like, “Yeah, I hit a big haul today.”
And I do a lot of online sourcing as well. There have been times when we’ve gone away for a weekend, and we come back and the front door will be stacked to the ceiling with boxes of shoes I’ve purchased. It's a good thing, though. I've really seen that through eBay the more effort and time I put into sourcing and the more items I list, the bigger my return is going to be.
- What eBay tool do you find most useful? Why?
My favorite part is Seller Hub. It gives you that broad overview of your items listed for sale. It has lots of graphs and charts to see how many impressions you have, how many clicks you're getting, and your sales conversion rate. I just love looking at those figures to see what I need to get better at and see which items are getting more views and how to convert more sales.
And I love seeing what I can improve on. If you just have numbers and you don't do anything with them, then they're meaningless. I'm always looking to get better.
Check back for more seller stories and tips throughout the year on our Announcements board, the eBay for Business Podcast, and our eBay for Business Facebook and YouTube.
This interview has been edited for concision and clarity.
