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!
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!
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.
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.
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.
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.
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!
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.
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.
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.
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.
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!
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.
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.
