Saturday, July 30, 2016

eBay Adventure – Controlling What I Can

                There is a silver lining in the middle of the fraud: my four packages are en route to their buyers. I can control my prompt customer service by shipping items the same day. I know that all of them are happy with the timely arrival. I mean it is not like they have done it to me. In addition, I am seeing an acceleration in activity with customers asking my product question. I am particularly intrigued because some lady has asked me about a dress. I have only sold one dress so having someone ask me a question has taken my mind off of everything that is coming on. My fortune will turn around very soon. I truly believe this!

Visit my eBay store here: http://www.ebay.com/usr/carljenkin_6

Tuesday, July 26, 2016

eBay Adventure – Staying the Course

                I awake this Monday pissed at the fact that my store has been hit by fraud. I still have to mail out these four packages. I get up very early at 5:30am (which is rare) to do my daily walk and baby – it is 81 degrees (Accuweather says that it feels like 89 degrees!). I can only imagine what 9am will feel like when I have to go to the post office.

                I combine the two purchases and one thank you card for my repeat customer. I am thankful that I have every tape and surplus boxes to mail so that I won’t have to go outside. Since I have so many boxes, I have to pack them into my rolling suitcase which works wonders. The suitcase makes it organized (I have noticed that I am one of the few people who have everything ready when I am in line at the post office.). I have noticed that because I am shipping to the West Coast, USPS wants more money. This means that I have to set a domestic shipping flat rate like I do with international shipping. I have to make a profit you know. However, dropping off all of my packages equal income generating activity which has calmed me down a little bit over those fraudulent buyers!

Visit my eBay store here: http://www.ebay.com/usr/carljenkin_6


eBay Adventure - Something Doesn't Seem Right

                Okay it was Sunday and 4 out of my 6 buyers have paid me. The two biggest buyers have not and this concerns me. I check them out and learn that they are NARU (no longer a registered user). What a bitch! These two users had me thinking that I made $1000 in sales. Moreover. I am pissed that this buyer makes me bypass the $300 cash in hand that I could have had on Friday. Hey, 60% was better than $0 and I still would had made my $1000 goal. Now I had to contact @askeBay on Twitter about NARU. I will either block them and/or file a fraud complaint because how did you hold up my money then quit eBay?! Just plain raggedy! Furthermore, I am a bind because I had plans for that money. Just remember, never plan until cash in hand! However, I did think that I will rebound from this debacle. Hey, this was a first time for everything but dang it why those fraudsters had to hit me? Below was one of the two NARU that bought my shoes. Well, I decided to look on the bright side: I had 4 sales which were income generating.

Visit my eBay store here: http://www.ebay.com/usr/carljenkin_6


eBay Adventure - The Sales Keep on Coming

                I have decided to keep riding my good fortune by relisting my other Stuart Weitzman shoes. I have received an email from someone about my hot pink Logoflame soles. Immediately I take the photo and send it back to her. She has placed a sale. This past Friday I received bids for both my red and hot pink Logoflame pumps. I accepted the hot pink Logoflame and made a counteroffer red Logoflame which was accepted. In addition, out of nowhere another pair of Stuart Weitzman pumps has sold at the buy it now rate. I am on fire! Also I have received a sale for my black flats. Moreover, I have seen that I have a new repeat customer. I am happy about developing a new clientele. In between Friday and Saturday I have sold 6 pairs of shoes. This has never happened to me. My biggest accomplishment is PayPal is releasing my money in less than 1 week. I know that this is because I always ship out my merchandise within 2 business days. I don’t care what the weather is (and it right now feels like 108 degrees in DC), I ship as soon as I receive payment. This is why I have 6 5-star reviews in less than 6 weeks on eBay. Hey, the customers have paid for the goods and shipping, why not just mail it out?! Finally, I have learned so much from operating this only store.

Visit my eBay store here: http://www.ebay.com/usr/carljenkin_6


eBay Adventure - Crossing the $2000 Threshold

                No sooner than I upload the two $500 shoes, people start looking at them. Also eBay message decides to go down in the middle of someone offering me $300 on the spot for one of them. Why me? Why must eBay go down in the middle of a transaction?! This cannot be my life! Yes, I am decluttering but hey the money is good (nothing beats something coming in!). Once eBay comes back up, I feverishly try emailing that buyer only to realize that two buyers have already made the $500 bid. This means that I have (once again) met my $1000 weekly goal. However, this is different because I have had the courage to sell them at a higher market value. Oftentimes, I have sold below market value just to get the money but this time I have priced my two transactions fairly. Below is the screenshot showing me crossing this threshold. My biggest lesson is to sell my items at market price instead of it being a fire sale. People will pay for it.

Visit my eBay store here: http://www.ebay.com/usr/carljenkin_6


Thursday, July 21, 2016

eBay Adventure – Sucking It Up

                My two goals are to declutter and make money on eBay (I mean, I am learning how to operate an online store which is a must for an entrepreneur.). I have been putting off selling my most expensive shoes. However, after putting up all of my white dresses on eBay and receiving no sales (I guess my customers are only interested in my shoes), I have sucked it up and put my two priciest pairs of shoes on eBay. Here they are below:

Gianvito Rossi black lace sandals

Zanotti gold mules



I will have to find another avenue to sell my clothes. I am very serious about decluttering and need to sell these clothes. I will check out other sites and even some thrift stores. I will sell everything that I no longer wear because it would be better served with someone else wearing my stuff. Here is a collage with some of the clothes.

My white sale dresses


eBay Adventure - Rebounding Emotionally

                Last Saturday I decided to awake full of hope and promise instead of staying in Friday’s funk because I did not make a sale the past week. I also transferred my newly released money from PayPal to my bank account because I had to shift my mentality. I knew that there would be more money available instead of holding onto my current money. That meant that I was blocking my ability to earn more because I was focused on my current money. No sooner did I do those two things than I received my first sale. Also my repeat customer contacted me about some shoes. Immediately I came out of my funk. Entrepreneurship is a roller coaster ride and I am along for it!

Visit my eBay store here: http://www.ebay.com/usr/carljenkin_6

Sold these Stuart Weitzman adobe Rialto Flats

Sunday, July 17, 2016

eBay Adventure – Digging Down Deep!

                It has been a very hard week. I have not made one sale on eBay and as a newbie, I am discouraged. I have to report this because it is all about transparency and telling my readership the truth. Yes, I have earned over $1000 but come July, my sales have been stagnant. I have been in the dumps in the entire week. However, Saturday I have decided to do something that I can control which is project management course creation. In addition, I have transferred my PayPal money to the bank account and purchased the two cardboard boxes in anticipation of my future sales. DC’s weather is 90+ degrees and I don’t want to be running in around in a heatwave buying boxes. Furthermore, with the PayPal, I have released the money because I feel that I will receive more. I have stopped thinking that this is the only money that I will received. These two energy shifts have produced my first eBay sale.

Visit my eBay store here: http://www.ebay.com/usr/carljenkin_6


Sunday, July 10, 2016

Learning from YouTube

                I watched Roberto Blake’s ‘Top 5 Tips for Starting a YouTube Channel video. I subscribed to his YouTube channel because I learned so much from him. Here was the video below:



My biggest takeaway was looking at the YouTube dashboard. I never thought about this but I took his advice and learned so much from my own dashboard. I honestly did not look at my dashboard because I had only two subscribers. Unlike my 780 Pinterest, 600 LinkedIn and 1375 Twitter followers, I didn’t feel that I needed to be emotionally invested. However, when I learned that someone on YouTube TV watched my video and that people were watching my videos through Pinterest, I reconsidered YouTube. Its dashboard did have a whole lot of good information on growing my YouTube channel.

                I am creating more videos for my Teachable platforms and I am using YouTube (and Google Hangout) as storage. I do want to make more videos independent of my webinars to communicate and share my project management knowledge. I am leaning towards reshooting my project management plan Teachable webinar. 

eBay – Learning from Constructive Criticism

                This one is two days late because I have become an Amazon bestseller. I am an Amazon bestseller in two categories! I have learned this on Friday. There will be another column just on this. Anyway, here is the latest eBay installment.
                I awoke Friday morning to a new order. I truly needed that because I had not made a sale since the Fourth of July. Also I accepted pending offer shipping out three orders. I made some income on Friday. Also I received a message from an international buyer criticizing that I shipped my merchandise in a too big box and that there should had been some paper in it. There was a lot of shifting around from the United States to Europe. Okay, initially I felt bad but hey, this was my first international shipping. When you knew better, you did better. I would incorporate this feedback into other international shipping.
                I did not make my $1000/week financial goal but this week would be different. My Nine West shoes were selling so now I will resell them along with my regular shoes. In addition, I will add new Stuart Weitzman pumps to my store. Currently, there are only 4 items selling. By the end of Sunday, I will have around 15 items on sale. Now, it I could only had gotten my clothes to sell better.

                This eBay was a closet decluttering process. I had to let go of some many shoes that I was attached but I had to because I had not worn them in over two years. I will price them appropriately and let them go. Furthermore, I have been looking at the Let go app. I reviewed Poshmark but there were too many con artists and snooty customers giving bad reviews.

Visit my eBay store here: http://www.ebay.com/usr/carljenkin_6

Stuart Weitzman Order Ready to Ship

Friday, July 08, 2016

eBay Adventure – Crossing the $1000 ($1001 to be Exact!) Threshold

                Hello, community! I am happy to announce that today I have crossed the $1000 threshold on eBay today. I have accepted the $20 bid for the Nine West animal print flats that I love so much! They are cute and have to relist them because obviously people don’t like them as much at $60 versus $30 best offer (I have accepted the $20 bid). I have put my stuff on eBay to declutter my place. I have learned so much from this experience. Being grateful that someone likes my stuff enough to buy it is my biggest lesson. Secondary lessons are listening to the voice of the customer and responding to client emails. I love communicating and sharing information with people so answering questions are right up my alley. 

Visit my eBay store here: http://www.ebay.com/usr/carljenkin_6

Sold - Nine West Animal Print Flats


Crossing the $1000 threshold has accomplished last week’s goal. This week is to earn another $1000. I believe that I offer the goods and great customer service (even in 90+ degree heat, I ship out my merchandise in two days) to reap another $1000 this week. This week is different because I am (finally!) selling my Nine West shoes. Moreover, right now I have received a $40 bid for one of my Stuart Weitzman T-bar shoes. I will look into it. I am just happy that people want my stuff. Thanks for reading!



Monday, July 04, 2016

My eBay Adventure - International Commerce

                Although this Monday is Independence Day in the United States, the rest of the world is going to work. I am happy to announce that the United States Postal Service (USPS) is delivering my Stuart Weitzman order. I mailed it last week. It was the first time that I ever completed a customs form because it was being shipped out of the United States. Below is the screen capture showing my package’s travel from the US to France.




Tomorrow I will mail another package to France. This woman is my first repeat customer (I know!? I have only been doing this since June 15th and I already have a repeat customer, in France no less!). I cannot wait until my first full week in July sales. 

Visit my eBay store here: http://www.ebay.com/usr/carljenkin_6

Saturday, July 02, 2016

My eBay Adventure

                I have been on eBay since June 13th (officially selling on June 15th). I am a true newbie at this. I have managed to sell over $1000 worth of merchandise. I have learned a whole lot from this eBay experience and operating an online store. Here are my lessons learned:
·         Upload at least 4 photos when it comes to shoes – I have received 2 emails from customers who ask me for more photos regarding products (1 of them has sold).
·         Give the customers what they want – I have uploaded a lot of my dresses and clothes but have sold only 1 dress. All of my sales have come from my Stuart Weitzman shoes so I keep putting them out for sale.

·         Customer service is big! – I love emailing my customers and writing thank you cards because they communicate and share energy and ideas. People truly love that personal touch; in addition, I am happy that people want my stuff. I want to send good juju their way.
·         Social media is huge! – I shoot a video for Instagram. I have also posted my shoes and eBay experience updates. Furthermore, I have created a Pinterest board. I will keep promoting via Instagram because I receive the most activity.
·         Transferable skills – operating this eBay store will help me promote my Carlarjenkins.com and Expandyourpersonalbrand.com online shops. I know how to market, which items to stock and how to provide customer satisfaction.


Here is my video discussing how (at the time) I sold over $700. 






I will earn another $1000 next week through learning these lessons. Moreover, I will keep decluttering my space and learning more about operating my online store.

Visit my eBay store here: http://www.ebay.com/usr/carljenkin_6