XD30 – Day 14 – Money in My Sock

Goodness! Here I am thinking that I have stretch my money all the way until the end of this week only to learn via voicemail that one of my parents has watched my YouTube videos and is giving me money to upgrade my ‘presence.’. Immediately I tell everyone on Facebook because my parents are 65+ and they are critiquing my YouTube videos! How many senior citizens are doing that?! Exactly! Also I check my bank balance and see that there is way more than what’s in there yesterday. I can breathe just a little (I wish I would have known a little earlier else I would not had cancelled that meeting because I thought that I was dirt poor. That’s another blog post though.). Furthermore, PayPal says that my echeck has cleared so now my other money isn’t held up. I transfer that ASAP! Today truly feels like the wheels are churning.

                I am still putting a lot of new items into my eBay store to start summer off on the right note. I also want to move as much merchandise as possible. I have started doing eBay YouTube Livestreams and will do one later today because YouTube gives me another audience and storage options. I can also embed these videos online. I particularly love the screenshare feature because then all I have to do is plug in my webcam, show my eBay store and roll! I am still pushing myself to earn more money than I did yesterday!

eBay Adventure - All Hail Instant Payment PayPal

                Resale is not an easy business. I have been doing it for 5 months. I have listed, relisted, negotiated, fought fraudsters, checked ungrateful customers and been surprised by shipping weight more than once at the post office. Throughout it all, I’ve written thank you cards, purchased materials and shipping the same day as payment. All of this toiling and seed planting have reaped me a bountiful harvest: I now qualify for PayPal’s instant payment.

                This blessing ranks right up there like manna from heaven! Liquidity and solvency are important to every business. Instant payments mean that I can transfer the money to my bank. I achieve liquidity because these transfers are cash infusions. Also with cash on hand I stay solvent by paying my bills!

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

eBay Adventure – How to Make over $3200 in eBay Sales

I decided that for Nanowrimo (national novel writing month) to write about my eBay Adventures. I perused my seller dashboard (the first time in at least one month) and saw that I cumulatively sold $3231. That was astounding given that I had started this June. I sold 30 items. I was extremely happy at my progress. Now it’s story time:

Resale is Rough

                Selling on eBay is hard. I had to take September off because I was so drained. Although you look at the sales numbers thinking that this is good, it is very hard fighting bad customers, nothing selling and fraudsters. I am happy to have rebound

Constant Improvement is Key

                When I first started, I did not know what the proper box dimensions were. I shipped everything in the same box. Now I was wiser, I bought boxes that saved me money. The white boxes saved me hundreds of dollars in shipping.

Change Your Global Shipping Price to Above $50

                I learned this the hard way. Initially, it was $40 but after a couple of Paris global USPS priority shipments and I upped that price to $50. $10 was a lot of money to part with when your global shipping was $45.

No Global Shipping for Lower-priced Items

                Anything under $125 dollars was US only. There was not enough return on investment to make it globally. I was glad that I established that rule in the beginning else global shipping would eat all of my profits.

Be a Stickler for Customer Service

                I have always learned from my customers and shipped the same day as payment. I felt that if they paid for it, why not ship it the same day. Also I expanded to shipping on Saturday ahead of a holiday because people want their stuff. Doing this has a wonderful side-benefit: PayPal releases your money faster. I am now receiving instant PayPal even before I ship the product. PayPal trusts me so much that I automatic receive my money allowing me to transfer it into my bank account. It feels good to be rewarded because I have stood on these shipping the same day at payment receipt. There are some people who make hundreds of thousands of dollars yet PayPal still holds their money until their customers received their merchandise. After 4 months, I deserve this.

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

eBay Adventure – Making Money on Labor Day

                Labor Day is a federal holiday where I have done absolutely nothing (and I am proud of it!). I know that I am an entrepreneur but I am all about having days off! Labor Day is Labor Day! So you can imagine my surprise when I receive a bid for one of my shoes. Immediately I accept the bid and this being a repeat customer pays the same day. I ship the item Tuesday morning (Income generating activity always come first in the morning!). This is the very first time that I have made money on a holiday. In addition, I am very thankful that PayPal has released last week’s money on Labor Day because I need all of my money no just some of it!

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

eBay Adventure – Learning from Earning

                These past two months have been an extreme learning curve for me. I have gone from zero to pro (at least in my own mind). I have handled a disgruntled customer, two fraud complaints and fielded many customer inquiries. Also I have learned the importance of photography and timely shipping. My same-day shipping philosophy is the reason why PayPal releases my money 2 days after the buyer receives his merchandise versus 30 days like in June. I have learned a whole lot from my two months on eBay. Until June, I did not think that I could sell over $2000 in merchandise by myself. I have always had a job so being able to move 2 Gs’ worth of merchandise is very big for me. Now I know how to properly operate an online store, fulfillment, customer service, marketing and eliminating fraud. As always, you can visit my store:

http://www.ebay.com/usr/carljenkin_6

eBay Adventure – Class Act

                I have been writing eBay Adventures for a while and I love sharing my journey with so many people on Instagram and other social media channels. I have discussed with my coach how I have sold over $2000 in 60 days, combat fraud and bad customers trying to soil my reputation, she says that I should create my own eBay course. I think that this would be a great idea pricing it at $37; of course, I will give way more content and behind the scenes of creating a store, linking your PayPal, what to pick and how to accelerate PayPal releasing your funds (I have managed to go from 21-30 days to 5-7 days in less than 2 months!). My goal of this course to kill the learning curve! I don’t want anyone to go through the same mess that I have gone through. I don’t want anyone to un-learn all of the crap that I had to while reading resources. This course will solve all of this.

As always, I will still keep writing eBay Adventures because I love my community so much and am happy that you will continue sharing my journey with you!
Visit my eBay store here: http://www.ebay.com/usr/carljenkin_6

eBay Adventure – New Merchandise = New Sales

                Yesterday I added some new merchandise onto my eBay store. I felt that it needed an overhaul and new blood. I added three new Stuart Weitzman shoes including the Saxony sandals. I promoted it on social media (Periscope, Twitter, Blogger and Instagram). This morning out of nowhere, I receive a sale. It also comes from a new repeat customer. I am very happy about it. I will ship the item tomorrow (I have no boxes and it is currently a DC heat index of 115 degrees). The great thing is that PayPal will release my money in one week.

                I am also thinking about relisting my Stuart Weitzman and doing video to highlight my merchandise so that people can see it. I am upping my livestream video game because I think that this is paying off. There is still over $2000 worth of merchandise in my decluttering process. I will move them.

                This new sale has been a learning experience about strategically using social media to generate sales. In addition, I will keep promoting my eBay store on Periscope. I know that I am getting a lot of reach out of it. I am very happy that I am off to a great start to this 30-day cycle.

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

eBay Adventure – Rebounding with Revenue-Generating Activities

                Monday morning my first order of business is going to the post office to ship my eBay order. It is a revenue-generating activity so it is first on my list. I cannot ignore this. I am awaiting another PayPal payment that is overdue but she promises to pay me as soon as she gets off of work. Hey, whatever. I just know that my birthday is Tuesday and I am not shipping anything until Wednesday. Technically, this buyer is beyond the 2-day pay period so I can cancel if she gets funny. Also, today summer has decided to return. Once again in DC it is over 90 degrees so I can get particularly cranky when it is humid.

                I arrive at the post office bright and early (9:10am) and am the third in line. Later this afternoon, the second buyer pays. Immediately I write my thank you card (I always express gratitude with my purchases. They can go anywhere else yet they have decided to pay me.) and the shoes. I manage to ship my second order around 4:30pm meaning that it will arrive to the buyer this Wednesday. This order was one of the shoes which the fraudsters ‘ordered’ but then left eBay. I regained some money out of the situation.

Visit my eBay store: 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 - 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