In honor of Veterans Day, I am
throwing a Veterans Day sale.
As the proud daughter of a
Vietnam vet, granddaughter of a Korean Conflict and World War II veterans,
Veterans Day holds a lot of importance for me. From now until Saturday, November
11th, shop my store and get all of the discounts. I am carrying
Theory, Gucci Stuart Weitzman. I give you Neiman Marcus merchandise at rock
bottom prices!
Although I have been writing eBay
Adventures for over one year and doing eBay YouTube Livestreams for over two
months, it has never clicked with me until this week that I should include
photos in my blogs. I am thinking that people want business knowledge and to
watch videos. That may all be true but I do think that my readers want to see
the clothes up front. Also maybe they aren’t going to view the entire video. So
here are some of the photos from my collection.
I
have noticed as of lately that people are emailing me after the sale. Yesterday
is the same. I received an email for my Stuart Weitzman Dunkirk boots saying
that she would pay $75. I quickly relisted changing it from auction to fixed
price. I gave it $100 fixed price emailing her back then returning to sleep.
This
morning I see 2 bids: 1) for $90 and 2) the other $75. Well, I have kept my
word accepting the $75. Although the other bid is $15 more but I am kept my
word. Integrity is very important to me as a businesswoman. It is the best way
to run my shop.
I
awake a little perturbed about that brown embossed Kate Spade purse counteroffer
falling through. I am feeling some kind of way about it. I carry on about my
day but on a chance I check my account. Low and behold my second pair of Stuart
Weitzman snakeskin Backview gladiator sandals. My items have been selling like
hotcakes. I am very proud to take the action from Halloween Monday’s Holiday
Promo webinar (Read here: http://carlarjenkins.blogspot.com/2016/11/ebay-adventure-holiday-promo-prep.html).
Furthermore, I am very happy that I have stood on my price raising my domestic
shipping price for all of gladiator sandals. I have been hit with the dim
weight at the post office ($45, I will never forget that!). I have learned from
the webinar that I should never apologize for raising my prices because I am a
businesswoman. Wal-Mart doesn’t apologize; and, because I have not felt too
sorry to raise my domestic shipping price. The customer has purchased them
anyway. I am proud to have stood my ground regarding my prices because items
are flying off of the shelves!
After
the success of my other Instagram boosted posts, I’ve decided to shoot my own
eBay Instagram ad. Normally I use the eBay Fashion logo but fearing copyright infringement,
I shoot my Stuart Weitzman and Gucci boxes, I upload the photo then click on
promote only to be told that my photo had to be in landscape! Great! What a
waste of copy! Now I have to shoot the boxes sideways leaving enough space for
my eBay store URL. That’s a lot of energy to do again so I wait 3-4 days
focusing on my current sales and new store merchandise (I have to make money
regardless if I post an ad).
I
return to photograph it in landscape, go into Picmonkey to put my URL on the
photo then upload it t Instagram. Finally, the system lets me promote my post
for $5 (I am a very cheap person. I have to see what this ad does with $5
before I spend $10). Shooting my own ad is a big step for me as an
entrepreneur. I am creating my own products’ ad campaigns. Not too shabby for
someone who had just converted her Instagram from personal to business only one
month ago!
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.
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!
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.
Some lady saw my Stuart Weitzman Gladiator sandals and said 'very few people could pull that look off' Very true. I chose the gold over the black because the former was a showstopper! I had garnered a whole lot of attention with these!
I know that I have not written for
over one month due to all of the craziness surrounding my life. I have been in
survival mode.I am fighting for my job
so I’ve been busy and booking life coach appointments left and right.During all of the madness, I’ve poured out
all of my emotions to her.In one
session, I talked about how I really wanted a pair of winter boots that I saved
for but was afraid to purchase them because of my current situation. My life
coach told me not to suspend my life.I
didn’t know what tomorrow would bring. She was right. I bought the Stuart
Weitzman tan nubuck 5050 suede boots one month ago, traveled to the Montgomery
Mall Stuart Weitzman store to have them sprayed (If they messed them up, I’d
get a new pair), and kept on with the rest of my life. At that time, I was
finishing up Bits of Thread’s fashion illustration class because I was working
on drawing my fashion line. I was proud that unlike this summer, when life
punched me in the gut, I didn’t buckle continuing the class. That showed my
resiliency. Fast forward one month later and everything is starting to work
itself out. I am on the cusp of finding a new job and a new career field. My
life coach was right, I couldn’t put my life on hold over a temporary setback.
Below are my new Stuart Weitzman tan
nubuck suede 5050 boots from 20th anniversary collection:
I have taken full advantage of this
week’s Memorial Day sales stocking up on shoes. I need more shoes for the
summer and what better than Stuart Weitzman, my favorite brand! Neiman Marcus
has both sandals ½ off. I snap up the tan and brown ones. Net-a-Porter sale is
a Godsend because I love these Giuseppe Zanotti metallic leather sandals. I’ve
been waiting for 3 months for them to go on sale. The minute that Net-a-Porter’s
summer sale hits the US, I hop on them. It took 2 hours of tweeting
Net-a-Porter and refreshing both my desktop and Blackberry to enter my credit
card information but I claim victory and the Zanotti sandals! Amazingly,
Net-a-Porter ship them the same day arriving to my home on Wednesday. Here is a
photo of all of them!
Stuart Weitzman Arriba in Tan and Cocoa and Giuseppe Zanotti Sandals
Checking out Facebook this morning
telling people Good Morning before traveling to my Bits of Thread class, I see that
Nordstrom Tysons Corner will have a Stuart Weitzman spring trunk show from 10am
to 5pm. Thankful that I don’t have
anything else after my class, I rearrange my schedule to include it. I love Stuart Weitzman because I have narrow
feet. This is the best designer
ever! It also helps that the metro isn’t
doing weekend track work. This allows everyone to get to where they need to be.
I arrive at Dunn Loring metro station, hail a cab to Tysons Corner arriving at
Nordstrom. Riding up three escalators to
the Salon Shoes section, the department has two tables full of Stuart Weitzman
merchandise. This is nirvana! I meet the
trunk show representative who is nice and courteous. She compliments me on my Prada sandals but I
tell her that these are Stuart Weitzman silver Itsybitsy sandals (I have to
dress for the occasion especially since it is warming up this weekend.). Below
is one of the tables showcasing the jellies and my silver Itsybitsy sandals.
Last
night I decided to eat dinner at J and G Steakhouse was I needed the hipster
ambiance and the W hotel didn’t disappoint.
Dressed in my Adrienne Landau mixed rabbit fur coat, Stuart Weitzman
croc embossed over-the-knee boots and Ann Taylor Loft skinny jeans, I walked
down 15th street NW. Once I hit the lobby, there was a female
guitarist named Heather Renee serenading in the lobby. This was a first for me; but, maybe, it was
because I probably hadn’t gone there on Friday. At least in recent memory. I arrived to the maître d’s desk promptly at
9pm but he told me that ‘there would be a small wait because we are cleaning up
tables right now’. Small my butt because I sat in the lobby watching March
Madness and listening to Heather Renee until 9:27pm!
