The Importance of Recognition

I have been an eBay reseller with a 100% customer feedback rating. I pride myself on receiving gold customer service stars. It has taken me over 90 days (3 months) in between my 48^th and 49^th gold star. I have made over 10 sales in the meantime. I admit that it is frustrating doing all of these sales, answering questions and uploading photos without any recognition for over 3 months. I am very happy that a buyer has acknowledged my work and customer service because these are the reasons why I do it. I am human just like everyone else. I just a tad bit of recognition along the way.

Shop the best in tall women’s fashion here: www.ebay.com/usr/carljenkin_6

The Long Path to My 49th Gold Star

I have been an eBay reseller with a 100% customer feedback rating. I pride myself on receiving gold customer service stars. It has taken me over 90 days (3 months) in between my 48^th and 49^th gold star. I have made over 10 sales in the meantime. I admit that it is frustrating doing all of these sales, answering questions and uploading photos without any recognition for over 3 months. I am very happy that a buyer has acknowledged my work and customer service because these are the reasons why I do it. I am human just like everyone else. I just a tad bit of recognition along the way.

Shop the best in tall women’s fashion here: www.ebay.com/usr/carljenkin_6

3 Reasons Why I Cater to Tall Fashionistas

A lot of people ask me why does my eBay store cater to tall fashionistas. Well, here are my three reasons why:

I Am A Tall Woman And Know The Struggle

I know. The struggle is REAL when you are a tall woman looking for fashionable clothing. I have decided to cater to tall women to help them find the right item.

I Want to Provide More Choices

Lack of choices is another VERY BIG PROBLEM when you are a tall fashionista. The first hurdle to find the right item. The second hurdle is to NOT look like everyone else. That’s why I am big on exclusivity. You won’t find the same woman wearing what I am wearing.

I Don’t Want Tall Women Getting Ripped Off

Society seems to want to charge us more than every other woman. Price discrimination is REAL. My store’s motto is ‘giving you Neiman Marcus merchandise at rock bottom prices’ . Being tall should not leave you broke!

Shop my eBay store here for the best in tall luxury fashion www.ebay.com/usr/carljenkin_6

eBay Adventure - Truth in Advertising | www.ebay.com/usr/carljenkin_6

I have received my 46^th gold star. A gold star is a positive customer feedback rating. I truly do this for the gold star because I am all about ensuring that the customer experience is the best! When the lady sales that my dress is as advertised, I am taken aback. I mean, aren’t all people doing truth in advertising. Then I remember my eBay experience where I have to deal with fraud and people trying to get refunds out of thin air. I have always prided myself on telling the truth and providing accurate product descriptions. If there is a hole or a rip, I photograph it and write it in the description (Full disclosure – the item that I have sold her isn’t ripped!). I am all about telling the truth because integrity is big and my buyers love me for it.

Shop my eBay store for the latest in tall women luxury consignment! www.ebay.com/usr/carljenkin_6

Watch my eBay fashion livestream to see my entire inventory: 

eBay Adventure – Keeping It 100!

                OMG! The good news just keeps on coming! You know that I have just written about how I have received my 40^th gold star (Read it here: https://carlarjenkins.blogspot.com/2017/07/ebay-adventure-receiving-my-40th-gold.html ). However, underneath this eBay tells me that I have received 100% positive feedback! I have nearly died and gone to the heaven. Although I love those 40 gold stars, it always irks me as to how I am wrongfully getting that 1 negative review. Yet, I am extremely happy that I have returned to 100% positive feedback because I am all about the customers.

 My customer mantra is:

•          Provide good quality merchandise – that’s half the battle.
•          Fair pricing – the rule of thumb is if the item is pre-owned (worn), price it 50% of what you’ve purchased it. For instance, a $500 pre-owned dress would start at $250.
•         Expedited shipping – I ship only domestic and global USPS priority mail.
•          Answer customers’ questions:
•       Livestream to enhance customer experience – I give my customers behind the scenes looks via Periscope and YouTube Live
•     Provide lots of photos – eBay is a visual medium. Your customer does not touch the merchandise
•          Honestly in product descriptions – I tell people where there is a whole, rip or tear in an item. It is all about being honest. Integrity is NOT for sale!

As always, shop my store for the absolute best in tall women’s affordable luxury fashion!

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

Watch my latest eBay fashion video to see my newest merchandise!

eBay Adventure – Receiving My 40th Gold Star

                I awake this morning with the usual vim and vigor. I go about my day checking my eBay to see if a buyer has responded to my counteroffer (She hasn’t). Lo and behold I see it: my 40^th gold star! You don’t know the euphoria I always feel whenever I receive a new one! Below are my two blog posts about receiving my gold stars:

http://carlarjenkins.blogspot.com/2016/11/ebay-adventure-receiving-my-14th-gold.html

http://carlarjenkins.blogspot.com/2016/10/ebay-adventure-gold-star-for-you.html

A gold star on eBay means high customer service and that the seller loves my item! I grateful that the customer feel the same love that I display for my store and them.

Shop the greatest in tall women’s luxury fashion here: http://www.ebay.com/usr/carljenkin_6

Get a peek behind the curtain! Watch my eBay livestream showcasing the best in affordable luxury!

Shop my eBay Memorial Day Sale

                Hey everyone! I am wishing y’all a start to a happy and productive weekend. As you know, I am a luxury fashion consignment eBay store carrying all of the latest fashions at affordable prices. My motto is Neiman Marcus merchandise at near rock bottom prices. Right now with Memorial Day being right around the corner, I am throwing my own sale! I have discounted a lot of merchandise because I want my items to find a very happy home. I know that it is very hard for tall women to find affordable luxury fashion which is why I have opened my eBay store. This is the demographic I cater to and think of every single day.

I am extremely grateful at the reciprocity that I have received from you on Instagram. Today I have notified my audience that I will showcase my merchandise on Periscope and Instagram has placed nine of my 30 hashtags in its top nine! That is the ultimate honor! I have achieved this milestone because same day shipping, domestic and global USPS priority mail and integrity in pricing. These pillars are also the reason for my 97.2% customer feedback rating and 34 gold stars! I am all about customer service and helping tall women find affordable luxury fashion!

I am taking Memorial Day sale orders in between now and Thursday, May 25, 2017 at 12pm EST.

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

Follow me on Periscope at: www.periscope.tv/carlarjenkins

eBay Adventure – Keeper of my Word

                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.

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

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 – Receiving my 14th Gold Star

                I have been under the weather for the previous two days. It has been wrenched. I am just happy to have loaded up my store, done my Periscope and built rapport with people. My two packages have been shipped. When I feel better, check my eBay profile and see my 14^th gold star. I am extremely grateful whenever I receive these gold stars because I am honored that they truly love my stuff (I am getting teary-eyed even typing this because I am very happy that I have a successful store. 4.5 months into this eBay adventure!). Seeing this rating reinvigorates my spirit to be better and restock my store.

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

eBay Adventure – Wheeling and Dealing

                My eBay store activity has picked after these two sales. Also, I am happy that those weird midnight requests are gone. I have noticed something new that is happening to me. I am starting to receiving offers and counteroffers. This is a new trend so I am starting to flex my counteroffer muscle. In one such case, I have a brown embossed Kate Spade purchase where someone pitches me $35 for $75. I counteroffer $45. It is fair because half of $75 is $37.50. She has not replied but I am standing in my price and fairness. Since the beginning my counteroffer policy has always been ½ of the stated price. I am not bending over that. Remember, even though I am decluttering, this is a business. As a seller, my goal is to make a profit. I always tuck that MBA in the back of mind. It is the reason why I have made over $3200 in sales in 4 ½ months.

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

eBay Adventure – Foot Fetish?

                Now I was fresh off the holiday sales webinar feeling great. I had a full store and was about to retire when I saw that I had a message on eBay. I assumed that it was from one of my newer sales. Nope! It was from someone asking about the Rene Caovilla. These inquires were old hat. There were so many people asking about them. I even had people direct message me on Instagram about them; yet, they were still in my store. I relisted them at least twice. I opened up the message and here was someone telling me that I needed to photograph myself wearing the sandals. Yo! Was the person contacting me a foot fetish person?! It was 12:55 am after all. I shot the photo (no fingernail polish. No one got this at this ungodly hour of the morning!). I admitted that I was sideswiped by that strange request. I woke up later that day seeing the Rene Caovilla

Shop my eBay store: 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 - Racking Up Stars

                This past weekend and this Monday I received three orders from two clients. One in California and another one in DC. As always I shipped my orders within one business day. Yesterday I visited my eBay account to add inventory and saw my two new 100% customer ratings. Below is the photo showing it.

                I pride myself on providing high quality customer service in the form of answering questions, taking a lot of photos and shipping the same day as payment received. Doing these three things enabling me to have not just one sale but have multiple repeat clients. 

eBay Adventure – Firing Your Bad Customers

                I have received an email from a customer who wants a discount on an already worn, discounted item. I have told her that I could not honor her request for 3-4 reasons. Below is the synopsis of my response:

                Thanks for the correspondence and concern but I will not give you a discount and these are my 3 reasons.

·         First, the stilts price was originally $100. I agreed to your $65 best offer bid. That was already a 35% discount.

·         Second, I also extended my shipping deadline to accommodate you because you were on vacation. My normal shipment was 2 business days. I shipped on Saturday which was not a business day and outside the original scope of what I did for my other customers. You mentioned vacation after purchase.

·         Third, my description clearly stated worn and I priced my merchandise as such.

·         My store policy clearly stated no returns. I made no misconceptions about the material or my policies. I had accommodated your shipping request and accepted a deeply discounted item.

I had a situation like this before and eBay sided with me because I made no misrepresentation. Also you would have to explain to eBay how your telling me that you have been on vacation post-purchase would be in your favor. All of our correspondence was through eBay and that would be used in the decision-making process.

What I have learned throughout my 120 days on eBay, that sometimes you have to fire your customers because they are trying to take advantage of you. As a seller, never become a doormat!

Visit my eBay store at www.ebay.com/usr/carljenkin_6.

eBay Adventure - Gold Star for You!

                After a 3-week layoff, I have returned to eBay and what awaits me but a gold star next to my username?! I am beyond ecstatic because this means that I am moving up the ranks. Furthermore, since my last sale, I have received two more 100% ratings making my return that much sweeter! Below is the gold star:

I have returned because I have regained clarity. I admit that the whole Depop situation was a bummer. I have worked hard on selling my clothes but it hasn’t worked out on either eBay or Depop; and, then also, I need some cash flow. I like have another income stream so I have uploaded my shoes adjusting some of the prices. I will upload all of my shoes onto eBay by Wednesday night because my goal is to carry over $2000 worth of material (I am currently at $1150).  

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

eBay Adventure - Tracking Global Shipping Program Like Santa Claus

                I admit that I am intrigued with the global shipping program. I have always shipped my own packages. I like being in control and have read horror stories about eBay sellers using the program but receiving bad feedback due to mismanagement. This is how eBay’s global shipping program works. First, I mail the package to the Kentucky warehouse. Second, eBay warehouse’s confirms receipt reissuing you a new tracking number. Third, the customer receives the package. I am happy to announce that my first global shipping program package has arrived at its destination!

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

Depop Diaries – My First Customer Inquiry

                Okay so I have not been on Depop because I am not receiving any sales. eBay has been generating money so that’s where my attention has been; however, today, I peruse the app and notice that I receive something in my inbox. Well, what do you know? There is a question about bidding on my dress. I am willing to accept a lower rate (above 50%, of course!) with full shipping. I am very happy about this because my store is starting to make traction; and, my goal is to move as many clothes as possible. Depop is part of my decluttering process. eBay is moving my shoes at a fairly fast clip; but, I still have piles of clothes that I have not worn in a long time that I have not been able to sell on eBay. I hope that the lady returns to Depop because I am anticipating my first sale on this site.

Visit my Depop store here: https://www.depop.com/en-us/phenomena

eBay Adventure – Fees Don’t Fail Me Now

                I receive my monthly fee statement and nearly have a heart attack because it is higher than last month (Darn fraudsters! See here: http://carlarjenkins.blogspot.com/2016/08/ebay-adventure-fraudsters-are-back.html ). I have called eBay customer service to remove the $1000 because I am being charged fees. The $1000 in the red is being counted as payments but it is fraud (As of today, eBay still has not removed it so I will call again because the last thing that I need in my life is paying fees due to fraud. Yuck!

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

eBay Adventure - Expanding Shipping Options

                I have relisted the global shipping item that the customer wanted. She returned and placed a bid which I accepted. Even before she pays me (she has two days), I tweeted eBay’s customer service account to learn more about its global shipping program. What I have learned is that I do the same thing as before: ship it priority but only this time, I ship to the center not the customer. This means that I am relinquishing control of shipping. I am photographing my merchandise in the box as an insurance policy because my customer will not blame me for the middleman especially since she has selected the global shipping program option. However, I am very happy to make my first sale this week.

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