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doug@ebay
eBay Staff (Alumni)

Our theme this week is Refining Your Strategies. In our Main Story eBay seller Dave DiBartolomeo shares how he is refining his own business strategies. On Inside eBay we talk with eBay Events manager, Allison Engles about eBay Open 2019. We’ve also got The Buzz and your questions from the eBay Community! To have your questions answered on Selling on eBay, call us at 888 723-4630 or email us at sellingonebay@ebay.com.

 
Selling On eBay - Episode 30 – Refining Your Strategies with Dave DiBartolomeo, eBay Open 2019 with Allison Engles, The Buzz, and your Questions

Our theme this week is Refining Your Strategies. In our Main Story eBay seller Dave DiBartolomeo shares how her is refining his own business strategies. On Inside eBay we talk with eBay Events manager, Allison Engles about eBay Open 2019. We’ve also got The Buzz and your questions from the eBay Community! To have your questions answered on Selling on eBay, call us at 888 723-4630 or email us at sellingonebay@ebay.com.

Links

#ebaypodcast
#makingithappen
ebay.com/sellingonebay
ebay.com/meetups
ebay.com/community
ebay.com/payments
ebayopen.com
ebay.com/str/selecttech

Hosts

Griff, Audrey Tracy, Jen Deal, Doug Smith

Guests

Dave DiBartolomeo (eBay Seller), Allison Engles (eBay Staff)

Transcript

I'm Audrey Tracy.

And I'm Griff and this is Selling On eBay. Your weekly source for the information and inspiration you need to start run and grow a business on the world's most powerful marketplace. And this is episode 30.

Audrey, Hello.

Hello Griff.

So what's our theme for this week?

The theme for this week is refining your strategies.

So you may already have a strategy or two, we're talking business strategies that is, but you might want to consider refining them so that they are...

More impactful, more productive, more, dare I say profitable.

Ooh. Who doesn't like more profit?

Exactly. So to that end on today's show, we're joined by eBay seller Dave DiBartolomeo who will share his plans on refining his own business strategies.

And then we're going to talk with eBay Events Manager Allison Engles about get ready, eBay Open for 2019.

Woo-hoo!

The registration for which I think opens this week.

That's right. And how exactly does information about eBay Open align with this week's theme, refining your strategies Griff?

Well you might very well ask that.

I know I just did.

Well, eBay Open is the perfect place for any seller to collect all of the information they need in order to wait for it, refine their strategies.

Aha! You mean it's the ideal event for any eBay seller to attend, especially if that eBay seller wants to refine their strategies. There's a whole roster of workshops and presentations on all aspects of running a business on eBay.

That's right. And you also get to Facetime with a small army of eBay employees and customer support experts, not to mention other eBay sellers.

Yes, great networking there. And it's in Vegas, so there's that.

Yes, indeed.

Lot's of fun.

There's always that. Along with that, we have The Buzz with Doug Smith. We're going to do What's Hot with Jenn Deal this week. She's filling in for Liz Austin who's on vacation and some seller questions from our email box at sellingonebay@ebay.com.

Fantastic. I love it. Let's do it. Let's start the show!

Great! Okay. Alright, fantastic! Coming up first The Buzz with Doug Smith.

It's time for The Buzz and joining us for The Buzz is Doug Smith. Welcome Doug.

Hey Griff. Happy to be here. And, uh, just so you know, I did my homework.

Dare I ask what homework?

Well, you told me that I needed to work on my breathing.

Yes. I've come up with my own technique. I think you're gonna like.

I'm afraid to ask. What is it?

Okay. I breathe in and I breathe out. Then I breathe in and I breathe out. Then I talk at the same time to maximize my breath and talking like this. See what I did there?

Yeah, I do see a, it's not going to work. Anyway, what do you have for this week? Uh, deep breath.

Well Griff, let's start with some community volume from last week and then I have a couple of cool news items.

Oh good. No more bad jokes right?

Not yet. First up this week Griff, we saw some volume around Managed Payments. So another ecommerce site accidentally withdrew money from their seller's accounts causing some concern over our Managed Payments.

Really? . It was another ecommerce site though huh?

Yes. Yes. I could tell you what it rhymes with, but I don't want to mention it. What's it? What's it rhyme with?

Betsy.

Oh, okay.

Like Betsy Ross?

Yeah, I think so.

All right, so pretty similar. All right, so I'm, I'm intrigued. Go on.

What we saw on the community this week is that there's still some overall confusion around Managed Payments and a desire for more information. We sent feedback to the Managed Payments Team that sellers want more details and transparency about payments.

You know, sellers can find out all the Managed Payment info they need, including frequently asked questions if they go to ebay.com/payments but anyway, Doug, can you review the benefits of Managed Payments as we know them?

Certainly Griff. Managed Payments give sellers one place to sell and get paid and manage all selling and payment needs from within their eBay account. Sellers get simpler invoicing of eBay fees, all fees in one place on your eBay invoice. Sellers can opt into daily payouts direct to bank accounts and new ways for buyers to pay, such as mobile payments. Anything to add Griff?

There's some other things that may not be as obvious, but with our own payment system, we're then able to explore things like better reporting of sales. Single location reporting for example. It would make it a lot easier than having it on two or three different websites. And when a case is maybe opened up, it's easier for us to review that case from the beginning to the end and there's no chance of double jeopardy with another payment service who the buyer may go to, which we know happens occasionally. Just happened to a friend of mine.

Exactly.

All these things will make it a lot easier for buyers and sellers.

I love the more payment options available to buyers.

Oh, that's a huge one. I think a lot of us get used to using just one, but especially the younger folks. Well, you know, Aka Millennials, they're used to using a plethora. How'd you like that for a word?

I do like that.

A plethora of payment options, most of them mobile and it'll help with the buying on eBay. Again, a great thing for sellers.

For sure. Definitely. We've also got an item this week that drove volume on the community and in the news as well.

Oh Great. I want to hear it. What is it?

Griff, you remember VCRs and VHS tapes?

I remember vinyl cylinders in the Thomas Edison days. Of course I remember.

I still have some VHS tapes in the garage. Do you?

I have actual VHS tapes in the house cause I occasionally put them in and watch them like of old classic movies.

Ah, mine are boxed up in the garage and you know what I plan to do with them?

Well you'd better do something cause they deteriorate.

That's true. So I guess I better sell them on eBay quickly.

Is that what you're going to do?

Yeah, they are in my eBay stack in the garage.

All right. So I know tapes sell all the time on eBay. So what's the big deal?

So a VHS player recently sold on eBay. We sell a lot of them, but this one was different. The seller thought it was a typical sale. Perhaps to some guy like you and me who are fans of 70s films, seventies filmmakers, Morrissey concerts.

Leave me out of that. I'm not a Morrissey Fan.

Sorry, I thought I'd slide that in. You know, I always get my references in if I can.

I don't know why, but there you go.

So seller Matt Shokrey posted a VCR for sale.

A machine that plays video and VHS tapes for you millennials. So this is before YouTube and it wasn't on your phones. Like your mobile payments.

Right. Mister Shokrey was diagnosed with cancer last year.

Oh, that's too bad.

He was unable to keep a job so he turned to eBay and found a selling niche. After surgery and treatment, he was doing well enough to work but stuck with eBay.

eBay changes another life story.

So two lives in this case Griff. So Mr Shokrey a few weeks after selling the VCR, which he thought was a typical sale, he received a letter. So I'll read some of the letter to you.

Okay. It was a letter or an email?

A letter. It was a letter and actually he talks about this. He said that he was watching a hockey game, I believe it was, and his wife went out and got the mail, usually Ads and bills and a hand addressed envelope stuck out.

With a stamp. A licked stamp.

With a licked stamp, I think.

Yes. Could you get any more old school?

I don't know.

So you open the letter and started to read it and it said Hi M Shokrey, I found many old VHS tapes recently and wanted to see what is on them and I realized I had no player. So I went to eBay for the first time and discovered your offer.

So at this point, Mr Shokrey paused the hockey game. I bought your VHS and you shipped it within a few days. The VHS looks new and unused. Amazing. I had some issues getting it going, which were mine and not the player. I'm 86 and perhaps not up to my game, but I do get there eventually.

Good.

And I did. And discover the VHS works perfectly. Thank you so much for your care, your efforts and your promptness. I watched tapes of my retirement party from 25 years ago, which I had never seen before. Geez. Where we young. Then a tape of my wedding with all the family and friends, many of which are no longer around. Then skiing, trips, kids growing up, travels, and most importantly, the gentle maturing of my family. Each one more fun than the last. All thanks to your generous selling of the VHS player. I thought you would appreciate how much someone has enjoyed your offer.

That's amazing. That's a great eBay story.

It is. And that's part of what I love about eBay is eBay stories like this. But in a touch of further surprise and delight, Mr Shokrey plans to reach out to the buyer and offer to digitize all of his old VHS tapes.

Now that's the way it's done.

Yes, yes. What a great story. And now Griff. Are you a basketball fan? Warriors? Lakers? Bulls?

No, sorry. Well, how about collectible sport's cards?

Not so much, but I'm a little peaked. My interest is a little peaked.

Well, we do sell a lot of cards of different types on eBay. And a recent sale was a big one.

Oh, was this the RuPaul drag race cards?

No. No, but uh…

Cause I collect those.

That almost made the cut.

I'm looking for Miss Vanjie card. If you find it.

I will, I will. I might have it in with my, uh, my Divine record collection. I was listening to him the other day.

Divine?

Yeah. Yeah. Walk like a man..

Oh, he did a record?

Yeah, a couple. Had some good tracks, but then it kinda got a little derivative.

He couldn't really sing. He sort of just talked and screamed.

I liked it though.

Well, He was a character. Anyway, back to trading cards.

Back to trading cards.

Imagine me dragging us back on topic.

Divine trading card. So a recent listing broke the record for the most expensive basketball sports card in eBay history. Well, a rare Michael Jordan 97 to 98 precious metal gem PMG green card. For those of you that know what that is.

I have no idea. I know what a green card is, but I don't think it's the same thing.

Different. I think we're thinking different things.

They're precious as gold.

Yes, but what did this sell for?

This sold for $350,100.

That's a lot for a card.

I had no idea.

Setting the record for the highest price ever paid for a modern day basketball card. And this is one of only 10 cards believed to be in existence.

$350,100. You can buy a house in Kansas for that.

And Michael Jordan probably does not get a cut.

Why would he?

Only 10 in existence.

That's a lot of money. I bet it's a lot of card.

It'll look lovely in that plastic holder.

No, no no. That wasn't why I wanted, so I could've sold it.

Oh, exactly. $250,200

I wonder if RuPaul's drag race cards will ever be that expensive, if there are any. If you hold them.

Drag racing, like with the cars, the funny cars on the tracks. Right.

You know you are so pretty. You don't know about RuPaul's drag race.

I know about RuPaul's drag race.

So you make a bad joke. You were winding me up for a change. Well, you got anything else, Douglas?

No, Mr. Griffith, that's all the news that fits this week. It was fun. Thank you for having me again.

You're welcome.

Coming up next we'll hear how one seller is refining his strategies in 2019 to take his business to the next level.

And welcome to The Main Story. Today in alignment with this episode's theme, refining your strategies we'll chat with eBay seller, Dave DiBartolomeo about his plans for 2019.

Now Dave sells electronics accessories under the name Select Tech on eBay and he was also a 2018 Shine Awards finalist. Welcome back to the show, Dave.

Thanks for having me again.

I chatted with Dave about his goals and he has four big ones for 2019. Let's talk about each goal and what's your strategy to get there. Okay. Dave, what's your first big goal for 2019?

Each year I do set new goals. This year we have a really big one ahead of us. It's going to take a lot of planning, a lot of strategy to get it in place. But the number one goal is to move our business inventory from our home based business and move it into a national fulfillment center.

Ooh, that's a big deal.

It's a big leap forward. With a fulfillment center, we can reduce the costs and control the costs more so than using a warehouse system, which would involve leasing terms, employees, insurance costs, utilities, any other associated costs. Using a fulfillment center, we'll also have the ability to serve the buyer better and guarantee a two to three day time delivery by using a company with east and west coast locations. Many fulfillment centers will have locations around the country that'll meet today's shipping demands and expectations.

So that means that your buyers can get their items and three days or less with eBay's Guaranteed Delivery plus this fulfillment center, right?

Correct. Uh, fulfillment centers will have locations spread around the country. So if we have our inventory on the east coast, west coast, mid states, we're able to take in an order, have it sent to the fulfillment center same day and same day, they ship it out and get it to the buyer within two to three day’s time.

Now Dave, we know that there's a big fulfillment center that everyone knows.

Who shall not be named.

Is that the one you're using?

That's not the one that we're using. There's a lot of new fulfillment center companies that are meeting the needs of sellers where you don't have to use the unnamed inventory fulfillment center.

He who shall not be named. So Dave, for sellers who are interested in fulfillment centers. What process did you go through to find one?

It's really something worth looking into. If you're growing your business and you're getting to the point where you need a warehouse or employees, you can do an alternative business plan and run it through a fulfillment center. You'll be able to use their space, their employees, their technology, and even their shipping supplies and they will ship it for you. A lot of them can be found online. There's a lot of large fulfillment centers, Deliverr with two r's at the end. That's one that we'll be using. There is Ship Bob, Red Stag. There's a lot of large fulfillment centers with multiple locations that can fulfill all the two to three day guaranteed delivery times.

And why did you pick Deliverr with two R's?

I made a point to reach out to five different multi location centers. The fulfillment centers are really great for any size business, whether you're small, whether you're large, you can send in as little as a couple of SKUs.

You can send in as little as a five to 10 unique SKU items and only pay towards what's physically in the center. So you don't have contracts upfront, you don't have any minimum requirements that you would need to send into fulfillment centers. You simply ship it to their centers and they do the rest from there. It's a great solution for a variety of needs, like maintaining a business when on vacation, or expanding and not having that concern of hiring and training new employees.

Yes, it is expensive to hire and train and retain employees.

Don't we know it.

And then if your business fluctuates at all and you have to hire and, and let them go and hire and let them go again, that's not a sustainable model for a small business. So Dave, when do you think you'll be up and running with your new fulfillment provider?

The goal is to send in our inventory this month and have everything in working order by April.

Fantastic.

Very nice. That's a big deal. Congratulations.

What is your second big goal for the coming year?

Oh, the second big goal is always to stay on top of new product model offerings. Like you had mentioned, we do electronic accessories so there's product cycles,. Whether it's Apple, Samsung, Motorola, LG, they all have new models coming out at different points of the year. It's my job of staying on top of that and be in direct contact with my manufacturer, get direct specifications for new products coming out and have the accessories available by the time the products are released. For instance, the Samsung S10 models are coming out soon. We will have all the electronic accessories available. Whether it's screen protectors, cases, we already have everything in stock. We already have everything available. We have our listings up and we're ready when the product drops.

So this is the S1. Is that the one that folds that we saw the big story over the weekend?

It's not the fold one, but wow, that was a $2,000 model, so no, not that one.

I want it.

I'm behind the times. Apparently there's a phone that folds? Like the screen folds?

Yes. So Samsung announced a phone that is a phone that you unfold and it's a full, it's like a tablet, so you can use it as a phone and then if you want to use it as a tablet, the back screen, you unfold it and the back screen becomes a full screen. It's amazing. But it's like Dave said, it's going to cost a pretty penny. It's like $2000 bucks.

Of course, but whoever can spend $2,000 on a phone will probably spend lots of money on accessories too. And Dave will be ready. Right?

I will always be ready.

When you're constantly having new products come to the market, you must have a business strategy to match that. What is the business strategy?

Well, we identified a few products that sell very well and the strategy really is to update those products for each model. And get them ready and listed by the time the product drop online, we're there, we're ready. When they come to eBay, we have them on there listed and we're ready to send them out.

Pretty cool. so you have to plan ahead.

But he's always picking his winners, right?

Yeah, of course.

Doubling down on his winners. What happens when a new winner comes into the fold?

So you mean a new product that comes out that hasn't previously been released?

Yeah, like say you know, say that I'm, just making this up, but you have like four cell phone covers that are your bestsellers and then all of a sudden this fifth one comes in to your business. That's what I'm trying to say.

So it usually takes from the time the product is announced that they have a release date. We have direct contact with our manufacturer and we'll start discussing what we can create, what we can design and have together in time for the product to drop.

It seems like it takes a lot of planning and research beforehand.

Yes and you can't, can't screw it up.

And you don't want to buy accessories for the Windows phone. Does not exist anymore.

Not happening.

No.

Okay. So your next big goal Dave has to do with marketing and social media. Tell us more about that.

Social media is growing so fast and there's so many new platforms that keep coming out. One of the goals this year is really to do more integration with social media outlets such as Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Pinterest. And what you could do with them is you can really advertise your store and advertise your listings and drive that traffic directly to your store and listings. So one of the goals this year is a Social Media Manager or an agency. The goal was to do it correctly and have a dedicated manager to oversee everything.

Yes. So you want to outsource your social media marketing and you mentioned you're looking at either an agency or an individual. How are you approaching that hiring of that person?

Whatever's cheapest, right Dave?

No.

Oh Okay.

That does help, but you want somebody that really does have experience, you know, whether it's a private contractor that does social media full time, or whether it's an agency that can really lift all your platforms and integrate it with your eBay store. It's something that's really a full time job. It's not something you can do part time. You have to be on top of promoting different listings, sending out different advertisements for different products, seeing how they're converting. Are they helping? Are they hurting? There's a lot to it. So to reach out to different social media marketers and talk to them, see what they can offer and move forward if it's something that works with your business model.

There you go. Get somebody who is relentless about optimizing.

And optimistic.

And optimistic. Yes, that's good too. But what I mean is…

Optimistic about optimizing.

Right? Because the Social Media Manager is going to put two ads on Facebook and see which one performs better and then put more money behind the winner and then rinse and repeat forever. Correct. And you got to see that they are converting. So when you're driving the traffic to your listings are buyers actually purchasing the product? Or are they just clicking the ad and it's not converting. That's actually going to hurt you. So it's best to have somebody who has the experience to look at all the data and see what's working for you and what's not working for you.

That's right.

Now your business has a very meaningful charity aspect to it and I want you to share that because it's a very important part of doing business for you. What are some of your goals in the charity area?

Every year we're trying to increase the amount we can donate to our local charities. Once I discovered ebayforcharity.org I knew we had a platform to help with our local mission with the Ronald McDonald House. We incorporated the Make- a-Wish Foundation and also Saint Jude's Children's Research Hospital. All three of these are world class organizations that you can trust and know that the money goes to what it's intended to go to. You know with eBay for charity, we have the ability to raise tens of thousands of dollars a year. They go directly to our local chapter. We see the money being put to use. There was an expansion in our local chapter this year where they were able to add more rooms for families to stay in and update the kitchens so that there's private space for families to put their own food into different lockers and use different refrigerators and stoves. It takes a lot of the pressure and anxiety that the families are dealing with when they're traveling to different hospitals to care for their kids.

I hear you have two big projects this year you're working on when it comes to charity. Can you tell us about those?

We are really excited about the project we are doing with the Ronald McDonald House. We have a couple of volunteer companies that are helping us put this together and it will be with the Ronald McDonald House. We're going to have the Jesse's art carts. And with Jesse's art carts we're going to be able to serve families who wait hours at the hospital without leaving their child's bedside. The art cards will be fully staffed by Ronald McDonald House volunteers who have clearance to the hospitals, They will be able to wheel these around to different family rooms in the hospitals and there'll be fully stocked with snacks, coffee, paperback books, uh, arts crafts, and it'll be great for some family time while their child is seeking treatment.

I'm guessing that when you go through something like this, there's lots of waiting around. There's lots of needing to entertain kids. So this is a great idea.

There's a lot of stress just being in a hospital.

Of course. Yeah. And then you've also got something called the Young Artists Collection. Tell us about that.

The Young Artists Collection ties directly into not only our project with Jesse's art carts, but also what we sell, which is electronic accessories. We're going to have the ability to take the child's art and we're going to start with Jesse's art. She was really into doing art. We've done scholarships and now we're, we're taking it a step further. We're going to be able to take her art, screen it onto the cell phone case. We'll have a story card and product packaging and we're going to sell these and the money is going to go 100% right back to the Ronald McDonald House and our Jessie's hard card project. So it's going to be a sustainable funding model that we'll be able to keep the art carts growing. We're going to be starting in 12 hospitals here and who knows how far we can take this. But we're going to be able to do is select different child's art, screen it on to the cases, have a story card about the child interests their backstory and not only is art therapy is something that can help kids, the cases themselves will be going back to the very sources that are helping them.

And for listeners who might not be aware of who Jessie is, can you explain who that is?

Jessie is my sister in law. She had child lymphoma. She fought a good fight for about 13-14 years. And through her memory, we are able to actually help other families going through the same thing and maybe make things a little bit better for them while they're going through such a difficult time.

Thank you, Dave. That's wonderful. From everyone here at eBay. Thanks for all the great work you do on behalf of charity.

Yes, thank you, Dave. You have got some pretty lofty goals for 2019 and we wish you all the best. And where can listeners learn more about your business and your charity work?

Our Charity work can be found on the Ronald McDonald House. It's RonaldHouse-snj.org. That's the southern New Jersey website for the Ronald McDonald House. And we're also found on eBay. ebay.com/str/selecttech.

Excellent.

Well thank you Dave.

Wishing you all the best in 2019. We'd love to check in maybe in six months or so and see how things are going. I want to hear about the fulfillment center and I want to hear about the Young Artists Collection.

We've been speaking with Dave Bartolomeo about his goals to take his eBay business to the next level in 2019. Coming up next we'll hear about eBay Open 2019. Can't wait.

Welcome to Inside eBay. Today we're talking with Allison Engles. She's the Senior Manager of Seller Events. So you probably know what we're here to talk about. She's going to tell us about one of the most highly anticipated annual seller events of the year. It's eBay Open 2019. Welcome Allison.

Thank you. Happy to be here.

Okay. We want to know all the details. So for those who may be new to this whole thing, what is eBay Open and what can sellers expect at this event this year?

Open is biggest and best seller of end of the year. It's three days of seller immersion to help take your business to the next level. You get knowledge and knowhow and connections with other sellers.

And what else?

And of course you have the Shine Awards. At eBay open sellers will attend general sessions where they'll hear from our leaders, workshops, which are educational sessions on specific topics. And we have our Biz Booths that are GCX team will help staff. They'll help look up your account and give you specific advice on how to grow your business. We also have seller panels where you get tips and advice from other successful sellers. And of course our open studio, our broadcast space where you can see our Facebook live show.

That's just all at the event. I'm sure there's one thing missing.

Of course.

And that would be?

Our parties! Where you can blow off some steam and have some fun. I mean it is Vegas. Come on.

So every Open I've been to has just been fabulous. And is there anything new or different this year for the folks who have attended in the past?

Yeah, it's a similar format from last year, but what's different is new insights, tools, program updates and exclusive announcements. Get all the news first at eBay Open. It's like a health check for your business. Something you've just got to do If you're selling on eBay. Sellers tell us that they find the event valuable. 90% of the attendees left eBay Open last year feeling empowered to apply what they had learned for their business as soon as they got home.

I got to tell you, I've been to every event and these are fantastic. They're not as big as the old eBay Lives, but that's their upside because it's more intimate at the same time there's close to like 2000 people. So give us the logistics if you would Allison. What are the dates? Where is the venue this year?

July 23rd through the 25th were back in Vegas at Mandalay Bay. We're excited to be back there. Space worked well for us last year, so we're going to make it even better this year.

So now with the announcement of registration opening and more details, what about the Shine Awards? Is it time to get started for those?

Yes. For those of you who don't know. Shine Awards are our yearly small business awards where we recognize the best and brightest on eBay. This year we'll have live audience that will help decide the winner via real time voting. Sellers we'll call for your small business story shortly. Stay tuned on that.

I'm sold. Where do I sign up? Oh wait, I can't, employees cannot, can't get in on the action.

Not yet.

So where do I go now to sign up?

At ebayopen.com. We have early bird pricing available until April 11th. Get there soon. Early bird pricing and reduced hotel pricing expires on April 11th.

And when we say expires, it expires!

Yes, it does.

So if you're a procrastinator it's going to cost you money if you register after the 11th of April.

Yes it will.

So don't procrastinate. You know, we should have a workshop at eBay Open for procrastinators. How not to procrastinate. This workshop will open in 10 minutes.

I love it.

Show up in two hours. Well I want to thank you Allison. It's great info. It's always exciting when the registration opens and I'm sure again, it's going to be a great event and if you've never been to eBay Open, take it from me. You got to go! Save up your pennies. It's in the least expensive venue possible, right? So we really do save a lot of costs and the fun and the knowledge you'll have as well worth it. Take it from us.

Thanks Griff for having me and I hope to see everyone in Vegas.

We've been speaking with Allison Engles about eBay Open 2019. Yay. Coming up next. What's Hot.

Now while Liz is out of the office, our good friend Jenn Deal Customer Marketing Strategy at eBay is paying a visit to talk about What's Hot on eBay in March and April. Welcome Jennifer.

Thanks Griff. It's great to be here again. I love when Liz is out of the office.

You do?

Well, I love getting on the show and taking over and then you know...

I had no idea.

She has no control over what I say.

I'm sure she's listening in so keep that in mind.

Sorry Liz.

Tell us a little bit about What's Hot this year or this month actually.

So it's not the weather, but at least across most of the country. But coming out of winter and into spring brings a lot of reasons for buyers to shop across multiple categories. And actually so many categories that might actually be a shorter list to talk about what's not really selling. But we're not going to do that. We're going to talk about what happens at this time of year when buyers are preparing for renewals.

Renewals. What's renewals?

Well, it's refreshing their closets, homes and cars really. When I tried to think of like how do I package this, I really thought about the mindset of the buyer and what they're doing right now is purging the old and finding new things that spark joy.

Oh, how very Kondo of you.

Thank you. So I'm a quick overview of things that people really do shop for in March and April. And this is really to prompt sellers to think about what to list in this timeframe. March is actually a peak month for baby items sales. Yeah, there's two months of the year when this happens and March is one of them.

Whats the other month?

September. Yeah, and baby item sales. It's great time for any of the baby category. Strollers, onesies, bottle-feeders, safety kits, breastfeeding kids, et cetera.

What else is renewable?

Well, people are thinking about fixing up cars with new parts and accessories, especially after the long winter months and harsher road conditions. They often shop for wheels and tires, brakes, pads, all the things that come with breaks, the rotors and disks. Light bulbs, windshield wipers and fluids. And I call out some of these things because parts and accessories is such a large category and you have things like fitments and a lot of car enthusiasts are going to be looking for their parts and special replacement pieces that they're going to need for their project cars that they're going to start working on as soon as the weather gets better.

Makes sense.

Absolutely, and then the big one that's top of mind, especially for me, tax refunds and consumer electronics or smart home gadgets go hand in hand for buyers. This is the time when many retailers will also be having sales in these categories.

And they have the sales specifically because they know tax refunds are coming and people spend the money.

Actually they're having sales because of March Madness.

Oh March Madness.

Yeah, exactly cause lot a lot of large screen TVs like 55 to 60 inches specially will sell and that time frame. But for us, we actually do see the reason driving these sales behind high ticket items is because people get a tax refund.

And to be clear, these are categories with potentially big price tags. So cars and babies are not cheap.

That's right.

Especially if you get two of them.

They are worth it though. Cars and babies.

I won't argue with that. What else do you have?

Well actually just a quick tip on the tax season sales. The average tax refund in the US if you are getting one is about $2,800. That's why people are thinking about what they're spending. Other categories like home and garden we'll see spikes for. Indoor and outdoor, kitchen needs, furniture and bedding. Again, kind of change of the season, refreshing what's been in the house and finding new things. And then a big one that I want to talk about that I think a lot of us kind of forget about but are super important are special occasions and events like prom, anniversaries, birthdays, Easter, and Mother's Day. These are all things that prom purchases across multiple fashion and beauty categories.

Those are coming up.

And those are coming up. Exactly. And then spring events like St. Patrick's day, Easter, Passover, and spring break. Also we'll see some spikes in sales on items and media travel and party and home entertainment.

Okay. Let's break down a few of these. Let's talk about for example the special events coming up soon that buyers are already planning and shopping for.

So special events like birthdays, weddings, anniversaries, et cetera. They are great reasons to buy new clothes and refresh a beautification regime, right? So proms start to happen in March among high schools across the nation. Anniversaries are particularly popular in April in the south, and except for a few days in September, almost every day is a relatively common birthday

. Why September?

Well, there's a little graph somebody did.

It's hard to do graphs on radio.

It's hard to do graphs on radio, but um, but really it's, if you kind think back to what was happening nine months or so before September, it was really cold winter months. And people like to cuddle in the cold winter.

And cuddling we know leads to babies.

Sometimes it does.

Okay. Go on.

Okay. So things to think about when you're looking at special occasions are outfits like gowns, dresses, cocktail dresses, semi formals. Very specific to prom season. If you're a seller in this category, hot dress styles this season are the Glam ballgowns really laced long, elegant, ballgowns styles. Those have come back. Velvet, detailed gowns, intricate embroidery. I think it's just a lot of zing is coming through these days versus simple. The metallics, Greens, and then dramatic back styles like the cutouts, the studded and the strappy.

You described my closet to a T.

Ooh, fancy. You could resell on eBay.

I could but I wear them so there's that. What about shoes?

So shoes are important for special occasions. They're totally important because they make your outfit sometimes, but they also go with you all night and you have to look good and great. Because shoes are sort of a person's preference, What I'm going to suggest is, or what I'm going to call out as the hot item are actually the things that sell consistently. And these are hot styles under $75 in the classic nude, black and red pumps and heels and strappy shoes in that three to four and a half heel height. Chunky, strappy also sells well.

They are back in style?

They are.

If I live long enough I could sell those things i've had in my closet.

They are, yes, and they're very good for an all nighter and a special occasion. Along those same lines, flats and slip ons and Teaks for those that swap out.

What is a Teak?

Teak is actually a brand of a flat ballet shoe that you can carry with you.

A ballet shoe? So I could go to dinner and then Pilè?

You could and then of course you want to just accessorize yourself with fashion and hair accessories and undergarments.

Of course. Foundation wear is always important.

Foundation wear. Yep, shape wear strapless bras. Those are key.

People need their Spanx.

They do.

And then finally a few call outs for beautification and gifts for special occasions. We have seen a lot of new launches in the makeup lines and those tend to sell out fast in stores and hit online marketplaces like ours. So you want to look for the or resell the pallets, the concealers and contour palettes. Bold lipsticks are back foundations and makeup brushes are a really popular. Tanning sprays are also popular at this time. And then nail care kits, the OPI and Essie lines are ever popular. And then skincare and face masks and hair masks, which I assume isn't great nourishment before the events actually happen.

So we talked a lot about fashion. Are there any other non fashion categories that are hot this time of year?

Yeah, absolutely. Even in some of those categories I talked about where there's special occasions around birthdays and anniversaries, you are looking for giftable items. You're also looking for things around spring break, which pumps for travel and, and uh, things along those lines. So luggage, travel kits or…

Barf bags.

If you need one. Sometimes the airlines don't always have them in the back of the seat or they are not re placing them.

If you are going on spring break you should carry one around with you all the time.

This is true. This is probably a best practice that we should all know. In the media category in particular. A few things are coming up here, new releases in hard back and paperback fiction and nonfiction. Like Michelle Obama's Becoming.

Bestseller.

Yeah. That's a best seller. And then also topping the list. James Patterson, by the way.

I hear he and John Grisham are still top of the charts.

That's right. James Patterson actually cowrote The President Is Missing last summer with Bill Clinton.

Oh, I heard about that. I wonder if it's any good?

I think it is. In those categories think about travel accessories. You know what maybe a clever one for St. Patrick's day is the Kegerator.

What is a Kegerator?

Usually it's popular.

Oh the refrigerator?

It's like it's a refrigerator. It's a keg basically that sits near or next to your barbecue. And by the way, barbecues and grilling accessories will start to become more popular in sales as as we get into April.

And we should remind our audience is the reason why we do this is to spark some ideas about what you should be looking to source right away. Whether you're out at a thrift store or you've got a deal with a supplier. This is just some tips on what is going to be popular based on the marketplace data that we have year over year and what you should be sourcing to sell on eBay for success.

That's right.

Jenn, It's always a pleasure. Thanks for stopping by.

You're welcome.

We've been talking with Jennifer Deal. She's joined us this episode for our, What's Hot segment. Coming up we have some questions from sellers. Don't go away.

And we're back and this week we have some questions which have been submitted by the community at community.ebay.com. You can have your questions answered on Selling On eBay to the best of our ability.

Just call us at 888-723-4630 or you can email us sellingonebay@ebay.com or you can go to ebay.com/sellingonebay and use our feedback question form. So you've got three options there, right, Doug?

That's awesome. Yes.

Joining us today is Doug Smith. Doug is going to read some of the questions that came in through the community and then I'll do my best to provide some answers based on my 23 years of experience of answering questions for eBay sellers.

Off the top of his head Ladies and gentlemen.

Flying without a net.

All right, here we go. Or without Frankie without Annette.

Our first question, Griff is from Bella Gotti. I'm a new seller on eBay. What does it mean when people are watching my items? Should that tell me some information pricing wise, what does it tell me?

Welcome to eBay Bella Gotti. It sounds like you may not have really bought much on eBay. And that's always a good thing for a new seller to do. You can always find stuff you need, right Doug?

Yes, definitely.

If it's something small. So buying something on the eBay marketplace and understanding the marketplace from the buyer perspective will help you as a seller, including this feature. Watchers are buyers or other eBay members who have found your listing and on the listing page there is a button where the potential buyer can say, I want to watch this item. And that means it goes on a list which is compiled in my eBay and they can visit that list and see all the items they're watching. I use this feature all the time as a buyer. I love it. Cause I'll find something and I think you know that items pretty cool. I don't have the money this week or I'm waiting for the price to go down or I'm doing a little research, I'm going to watch it and then I'll come back and perhaps buy it later. So a watcher is somebody who shown enough interest to actually click on your item in a list of search results. And then in the item page actually say, I want to keep this one aside so I can either buy it later or watch what happens. So they're watching the item.

And I love that feature. And there are no surprises on my watch list. But I love that it's on my eBay homepage. It's always there. It reminds me of what I've looked at.

Yeah. So we've had the watch feature for years on eBay, almost 20 years now. And it isn't until recently that we made some significant changes to it or not changes, but actually a sort of enhancements. And if you go to your selling page, Bella Gotti in my eBay, there is a page for your active listings. And on the active listings there's a column that says number of watchers, if the item has a lot of watchers, that's indicative of some interest.

Definitely.

And in the past sellers would say, yeah, but I want to market to those watchers. And just recently we have a feature now that allows sellers to send best offers to all their watchers on an item. So it's another way to help boost sales.

That's awesome.

Yeah, so that's what a watcher is. The more people watching an item that shows there's a lot of interest in that item and it's probably going to sell.

All right. Our next question is from Bought Before. Would eBay consider more product options for our free shipping coupon? I'm up to my ears with tissue paper, bags, vox tape, et cetera. Would like to see actual shipping supplies like tape, similar to Scotch labels that we can use to print shipping info on. Thanks.

Hey Bought Before, I'm with you on this one. I would love to see more options in the selling shipping supplies. For those of you who aren't sure what this means, if you have an eBay store then you have as part of your subscription or every quarter, I'm sorry. Yes. Every quarter. A coupon that you can use to purchase as a credit from the eBay store that is licensed to sell branded shipping supplies. They have the eBay brand on them. There is a limited number of items in that store. So I'll take that to the shipping team and see what they say. I can't make any promises, but it's a great suggestion.

Good feedback. All right. Three Milli Four on the new USPS package rates for 2019 with eBay shipping labels, are we sellers still able to ship packages that weigh up to a pound by first class, a heavier allowance than the retail limit of 13 ounces?

Yes. It's called a commercial first class rate and we we do with arrangement through USPS make them available to our sellers. So yes, you'll still be able to select first class domestic package for a domestic shipping option for any item up to 16 ounces or one pound. That made a big difference for me selling shirts. Because there's that little gray area between 13 and 16 those three little ounces, lots of shirts I had to ship priority. Now I can keep the price down by shipping first class, so yeah, that's still available.

All right.

We're doing pretty good so far. We are, yes. You haven't stumped me yet, but that could happen.

Maybe this one.

Let's hope.

Generally I do not offer returns because of costs. There are some items that I would consider offering return on but would not want to give 30 days. If we stated that we do not offer returns, but put in the description that we would honor a 14 day return under our conditions, et cetera, et cetera. Would eBay honor that?

So I would have a question for you. I don't know what it is you sell, and I don't know how long you been selling on eBay, but you say you don't offer returns and you say it's because of the cost. My question would be back to you, would you shop with anyone who would not take a return from you? What if you get the item and you're just not happy with it? Are you okay with that as a buyer? I'm going to assume not unless you're a masochist. But I think the thing to ask yourself is why would I do that to my buyers? So even an item that is perfectly described and perfectly photographed and is a reasonable price, sometimes the buyer might get it and they just might not be happy with it.

Now, I can't speak for you, but I can say as a seller, I really couldn't sleep at night knowing that I was making my buyers unhappy and not taking the returns. So whenever I sell anything, this is just me. And sometimes I sell very heavy items like big room sized oriental rugs. I always say you can return it within 60 days if you're not happy with it. I pay for return shipping. My return rate is no different than anyone else in my categories. So I run in clothing around 3% to 5%. And for the other items, I really haven't taken a rug back in years. So I would, my word of advice would be rethink this idea of not offering returns. I can guarantee you it's hurting your business. You'll see you will sell more. And the other thing is a business owner, you need to track your costs.

So when you start taking returns you need to track how much they cost and what I do because there is a cost to taking returns. You will get some items back and it may end up coming out of your pocket. And like for example, I always pay for return shipping. I just want my buyers to be happy. I don't want them to feel like when they shop with me, there's a risk that if they don't like it, it's going to cost them money. Nowhere else in the Internet does that happen. Why should it happen at my store? But what I do is I'll track the cost of returns and then using that information for say the last year, I'll take that number and then anticipate with the same number of sales, I'll have the same return rate and I come up with a figure that I can, an incremental tiny amount that I can add to the price of all my items, which quote unquote self insures me and helps recoup the costs of taking returns to make buyers happy. That's the priority. You have to think, am I in business just to make money? So who isn't? That's an obvious one. Very few people who start a business to lose money, but am I in business to make people happy or unhappy? That's the question. And if you're refusing to take returns, that's, that's a setup for making some buyers unhappy and no buyer deserves to be unhappy. You talked about offering saying you don't take returns and then as the option you choose and then say we would honor a 14 day return policy under conditions, blah, blah blah. Why would you do that? Why do you want to make your buyers jump through hoops? You either take a return or you don't. So I would not advise that. It's confusing and it's also not going to help you in search because if you check the option for does not take returns, there are tons of buyers who when they shop on eBay, they filter those out. Because it's a filter option on the side of search results that says, show me only the items that take returns. If you stated you don't take returns, your buyer isn't even seeing your items, so you're not even in consideration.

Well Griff, I've worked with you for more than two years now and you are very consistent. And you know back to the eBay Radio days, I've heard you say a couple of things over and over. Put yourself in your customers and your buyer's shoes. And whatever level you're selling at, you need to think of yourself as a business.

Right. You have to, and you have to gauge your cost and expenses. You have to monitor them and track them as a business so you can manage it properly. Just assuming that it's going to cost you money that you can't recoup is a really bad headed business move I think.

And you sell clothing and rugs?

And fragrance and some collectibles. I'm reaching retirement age and I'm thinking about Marie Kondo in my own life.

There you go. Back on eBay it all goes.

So toupees are fairly small and cheap to ship, is that correct?

Yes, but I don't own toupees.

Oh, not that kind of rug.

Yeah. We were talking about floor rugs.

A room size toupee I thought you were referencing.

Oh Doug.

But when you do give it away, say goodbye. Thank it for its service. And if it doesn't give you joy...

Doesn't spark joy.

If It doesn't spark joy. Give it away.

I'll tell you what does spark joy, getting these questions from sellers. Thank you so much for sending these in.

We're very excited. You know you have multiple options now and we're very excited about the feedback form and we love your questions. This same seller has another follow up. When you were talking about relisting versus similar. You did not answer whether or not eBay pushes your listing down If you use relist item.

I don't know where this is coming from. We don't push items down.

We want you to sell.

Yes. So if you have an item and you relist it and it is a multiple quantity item that has a history, some of that history pulls over, right? So you can do it that way, but you should use these for what they say. They're called sell similar, one option and realist. If you have an item that you're relisting, use relist. Don't think about this search thing. You're picking up urban myths about eBay's algorithm. So just use realist if you're relisting the item and you're just going to a few changes there, if any. And if you're selling a new item to eBay, use sell similar to make it easier for data entry, right? So I use sell similar when I, when I'm going to list another shirt. But I do that for the ease of listing. I don't do it because I think I'm going to get some bump or pushed down in search. That's just not true. Stop believing and listening to all of the urban myths out there about eBay's search algorithm, how it works, and just use the tools as they're intended. And if your listings are optimized, a word we use lots and you've got a good deal and good photos and great customer service and taking returns.

There you go.

Then you'll make these sales.

Let me ask you this, since I have you, that's our last question, but let me ask you this Griff.

Sure.

So urban myths, eBay urban myths. I have a favorite that I'll share, but I would love to know your favorite eBay urban myth/conspiracy.

Oh, I had one for years. I don't hear it that much though.

Which is what's your favorite? And then I'll tell you mine.

Rolling blackouts.

Rolling blackouts. Yeah, I have heard of that one.

This was a big one for years. And I and I always when someone would bring it up, I'd say, you really think that's what we do? So let me get this straight. We're a business, a publicly owned company with investors. And you're saying that our business model is built on hiding your listings. How does that benefit us? How does that benefit anyone?

I have seen that one, I have seen that one.

Just so to reiterate it. It's totally, it's totally not true.

It is not true. We do want you to sell.

So my favorite, and this was told to me by a longtime eBay employee, he said that, uh, there used to be going around a rumor that eBay has satellites that circle the earth and track sellers data. Is that true Griff? Do they launch here from San Jose?

Yeah, there's a pad on the roof of building 6.

Is that what that is?

Occasionally you hear that rumbling noise and smell a lot of jet fuel. We've just launched another satellite.

I thought you were scootering around the parking lot.

I have to admit that is one crazy urban myth.

Are we spreading it by mentioning it on the air?

Maybe so.

It's like "They wouldn't talk about it if it wasn't true."

Main Street, the big labeled roof with the big eBay logo. That opens up and that's where we launch the satellites.

We do it when no one's looking, the neighborhood’s all asleep.

I just got this picture of you like Slim Pickins riding on the front of a rocket with your cowboy hat.

Yee-Haah!

If you guys get that reference we’ll be impressed.

Yeah we will. Well, this has been fun. Thanks Griff.

That's all the questions we have this week, Doug, but keep them coming in. Remember if you have questions and you want them answered on our podcast, you can call us at 888-723-4630 or you can email us at sellingonebay@ebay.com or you can go to ebay.com/sellingonebay and you can use the feedback question form you can find on that page.

All right, that's it. Thanks Griff.

Coming up the end of the show.

And that's our show for this week.

We hope we got you thinking about how you might refine your strategies, but if we didn't, don't despair. We will continue with our theme, refining your strategies on next week's episode.

Excellent. Now, who's on deck for our next episode Audrey?

Well, we'll visit with eBay seller Maria from The Stylister and eBay's Chief Marketing Officer, Suzy Deering. They'll share their point of views on how eBay sellers should utilize a refined marketing strategy to help grow their business on eBay. You won't want to miss it, especially if you like learning how to be more profitable.

There's that word again.

Which word? Profitable?

Yes, that's the word its music to my ears.

I like it too. Plus it's what ties us all eBay and eBay sellers together. If you ain't profitable, we ain't profitable.

Or something to that effect.

That's right. Speaking of effects, when you don't call the show and has a profound depressive effect on poor Griff, so cheer him up. Call us on our hotline at (888) 723-463.

That's right. Call us at (888) 723-4630 you can call at anytime of the day, any day of the week. You can leave a question or comment and we just might put it on the air.

And if the very thought of hearing your own voice on air sends a shiver of panic down your spine. Don't worry. We got you covered with our very own email address. You can send your questions if you prefer. It's sellingonebay@ebay.com that's sellingonebay@ebay.com.

So I have a question for you eBay seller. Does your spouse look at you with a mix of concern and pity because you have no life outside of the one you live in your garage or basement or or wherever it is you spend your waking hours running your eBay business. Well then put his or her mind at ease and go join a local eBay seller meetup in your area right now. At seller meetups, sellers share tips, stories, insights, and even a little commiseration and a lot of nosh. You can see meetups that are scheduled on our special eBay community page for meetups at www.ebay.com/meetups.

And don't forget to tune into our weekly live video stream on the eBay for business Facebook page that happens every Wednesday at 12:30 Pacific time. Go to facebook.com/ebay for business.

(Knocking sounds) Hey Babe.

Hey Babe. What's going on?

It's closing time, Babe. Time to roll the credits.

Okay. Absolutely. I love it.

Director of community, Brian Burke, Community Manager and Technology and News Editor, Doug Smith, Marketing Strategists, Liz Austin, Editor and Chief and Cohost Griff. That's you script Writer and Cohost and Top Girl Audrey Tracy. That's me.

Selling on eBay is produced and distributed by Libsyn and podCast411.

That's a wrap.

Really? I thought it was more like a mink stole, but I like it, don't you?

Yeah, it looks great.

It looks great on me.

It looks good with your curlers in your hair and your lipstick and your cigarette. It's a good look.

Cup of coffee. Go visit the girls. Have a little fun.

Have a little fun.

Is there white wine?

There could be. Talk a little gossip.

Screech as loud as we can.

Howl with laughter.

Oh my God!

I love it!

I love it!.

It's Great. Okay.

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