How to Make Sure That Your Item Is Ready for Resale

Okay so you have clothing, shoes or other items that you want to sell online. You want to sell on eBay, Amazon, etc. but how do I get started? Here are my 3 steps to help make sure that your item is ready for resale.

First, make sure that your items are decent looking. This means no holes, stains, or animal hairs. You’d be amazed what poor conditions so many items are. I have seen a store on a resale platform where the seller says that because she owns a cat that all items will come with car hair! No SHE DID NOT! That’s unacceptable because no customer should have to tolerate that. I wash all of my items. Sometimes I dry clean them if the instructions say so. Just because it is resale doesn’t mean that you can sell anything.

Second, research your price for copywriting and fair market value. The prices vary from new to pre-owned (worn). I have sold both. In addition, please add if you have the original box but that gets a higher price. If you are selling pre-owned, the rule of thumb is pricing it 50% your original price. You also need to know how to write your description so that it sells. In eBay, the sold listings feature will help you see how much an item sells but also the words used to get the sale.

Third, photos are everything. Please photograph your items in a well-lit place. Lighting is very important because the first time your customer receives his merchandise is after paying. I normally take a minimum 3 photos (front, back and side). If it is a shoe, photograph the soles and inside the shoe.

Bonus tip – If there are stains or thread missing, divulge that information in your description. Also photograph it. The customer needs to know because it is all of perfect information and not practicing fraud.

Making sure that your resale items are decent, properly researching your items’ copywriting and fair market value and photographing your items in good lighting are my ways to ensure that your item is ready for resale!

I am a tall women’s fashion luxury consignment reseller. My motto is giving tall women ‘Neiman Marcus merchandise at rock bottom prices.’ Shop my store: www.ebay.com/usr/carljenkin_6

eBay Adventure – Tendering Fair Counteroffers

I have received an offer from a customer has already bid on a previous item that I’ve accepted. Counteroffers can be tricky. My rule of thumb has always been get 50% of the listed price. I mean I have to make a profit too. Besides, asking for 50% is not outrageous. The buyer is getting it for half-off. Moreover, in this particular situation, I’ve added combined shipping to this counteroffer. The buyer hasn’t paid for the first item yet; but, by taking my counteroffer, she’ll receive two items for the price of shipping one. I tender very fair counteroffers.

Shop my eBay store for the latest in tall women’s affordable luxury fashion. I carry Theory, DVF and Alice + Olivia. www.ebay.com/usr/carljenkin_6

Watch my most recent eBay livestream where I showcase my newest additions to my store!

eBay Adventure - The Invisible Hand

Most people know that I am an eBay reseller. Most people don’t know that I have studied and once worked as an economist. The invisible hand phrase was coined by economist Adam Smith. I have experienced my invisible hand moment today. I have a lull in my business and decide to photo and upload new merchandise renewed interest. I am thinking that no one is interested in my current inventory so why not add some new pieces. No sooner do I finish adding the final (seventh) piece, does my Kate Spade skirt sells! I am so giddy with excitement over this because it’s from the same bidder! Read about it here: https://carlarjenkins.blogspot.com/2017/07/ebay-adventure-its-principle.html. Immediately upon accepting the bid, I recall Adam Smith and the invisible hand statement. Economics strikes once again. This time with eBay!

More information on Adam Smith and the Invisible Hand

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Invisible_hand 

Shop my eBay store for the best in tall women’s affordable luxury: www.ebay.com/usr/carljenkin_6

Watch my all-new eBay livestream where I highlight 7 new items! 

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!

If She Can Do It, So Can I!

It is the day before Independence Day and I am chilling. I am still putting my brand out there (I know that people will take off by noon EST if they haven’t already) but haven’t looked at actually  doing hard. Yet, when I see somewhere whom I follow on YouTube put out a business video the day before a holiday, then it is high time for me to BOSS up and schedule this eBay YouTube Livestream and get to this money!

Moreover, I have done four Facebook Live videos discussing my July goals which I will upload on YouTube because people are watching them and I have a responsibility to provide my Facebook community to keep them updated. I mean I have written my July goals on July 1st. It is Monday and this is the first business day of July. My Facebook community is conditioned to the weekly Monday livestreams regardless of holiday except Christmas and New Year’s.

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 - 120 Days In

                This 30-day period is my slowest because I have taken myself offline after the Depop failure. I have emotionally regroup from that. I have only sold one item for $55; and, I am perfectly okay with that because eBay’s fees are super slow. The last thing I need right now is a heavy heart and high fees. I do think that I will reassess what I do regarding selling my clothes.

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

eBay Adventure – Here’s to Another Successful Week

                I am fresh off of receiving three sales. I have been successful implementing the webinar strategies and shipping same day as I receive payment. I attribute my success towards more than merely positive thinking. I have taken massive action. I have been thinking like a businesswoman. I am looking at the sales goals subtracting my costs of goods sold. This is why I have increased the domestic shipping cost for my gladiator sandals. That dim weight shipping cuts into the revenue.

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 - Holiday Promo Prep

                I registered for this Holiday webinar happening on Halloween for two reasons: 1) I knew that I would get something out of it from the teacher and 2) I had not had an eBay sale in 1 week. I needed to do something different to get a different result. It was first advertised as a lottery selection. If you reshared the coach’s Periscope and Facebook Live livestreaming content, you would enter a lottery to be picked for a free ticket. I never believed that pay thing because I was already enrolled so why would not I had been accepted. That was neither here nor there. I registered for the webinar. It was not like I was trick or treating (Sidebar : I did tell my father to go to the Heinen’s grocery store and pick more candy for the kids in the neighborhood). I might as well did some personal development plus this webinar could help my bottom line.

                I attended the webinar where I learned and laughed so much throughout. The coach gave us 30 ways to make money. I started taking notes because I knew that my eBay store would benefit from this. The light bulb came on : I would put several of my Kate Spade purses up for sale. Accessories were huge! Although women may not fit a size 12 shoe or dress, every woman wore a purse. That addition expanded my target market. That meant more money and I sorely needed that. Even though the webinar ended at 11pm, immediately I started photographing my items. I uploaded 2 Stuart Weitzman sandals and 5 Kate Spade purses. I was proud to had done that all before midnight. I knew that I was ready for tomorrow and more sales.

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 – Increasing Sales Report

                Thursday morning the only thing that I had to do was drop off my eBay order to the post office. Nothing more, nothing less. I went about my morning walk (I must process everything), breakfast and the usual stuff. The one thing I did not do was check my email because I would be reacting to someone that happened in the past and during the morning I focused on the present and future which were occurring today.

                Upon my returning home, I checked my email and saw two new sales. I was happy because people were noticing my store. There were so many eBay stores out there and for someone to buy from me was great. Since it was not 9am, I was all set to pack up these shoes when I received a message from the buyer. She told me to delay the shipment due to travel. I was okay with that because I received the money and she gave me a heads up.

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

eBay Adventure – Breaking the Ice

                Immediately after relisting my items, I received a sale. It was at night and completely unexpected. I was grateful even though it was $25 because someone decided to part with her money. You had to be grateful for that especially after a 3-week layoff. I hoped that this first sale created some momentum for my store because I surely needed it (and the items were piling up. Remember, decluttering was my original reason for opening the eBay store.). I still considered uploading some of my clothes to do another go round.

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

Depop Diaries - Closing My DePop Store

                Sometimes as businesspeople you have to make decisions. I have decided to close my DePop store after not selling anything in my store. I have been here for 6 weeks and haven’t made one sale; not, even with a Labor Day sale and extensive promotion. Below is my email to DePop to close my store. Now I have the task of finding another place to sell my clothing because I have a substantial backlog. I will try ThreadUp and some other places. I may even have to return to eBay (gasp!).

eBay Adventure - Keeping My Store Full

                I have promised myself to keep my online store full at all times. Honestly, there are days when there is nothing in there. Starting this week, there is always something in my store. It is very important to do this because some of my customers are looking for items. Today I will add more items into my store. I am coming onto the 90-day mark and although I have not sold over much over this 30-day period, I am very happy that I have become more consistent in keeping my store full. This week’s goals are:

• Keep my store full
• Ensure that I have over $1000 worth of item in my store
• Have at least 2 sales this week
• Seeing how to reintegrate my clothes since they are not selling on Depop

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

Depop Diaries – Labor Day Sale

                From today, September 3, 2016 to Friday, September 9, 2016, I am running a Depop Labor Day sales on select items. Below is a photo collage with the select items that are on sale.  PayPal ONLY!

First row (left-right)

Alice + Olivia blue sequined dress $125

Alice + Olivia melon ruched dress $30

LaRok sequined leggings $20

Second row (left-right)

Silver Michael by Michael Kors dress $50

Vince sequined dress $25

Enzo Angiolini slingback shoes $50

Third row (left-right)

Black Michael by Michael Kors dress $30

Black & Silver Michael by Michael Kors dress $30

Alice + Olivia silk floral maxi dress $200

PayPal email: carlarjenkins@yahoo.com

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

Depop Diaries – Loading Up on the Inventory

                Determined to generate my first sale on Depop, I have been loading up on the inventory as of late. In these past two days, I have added 8 new items. Below are the four new items that I have added to my online store:

Clockwise: Alice + Olivia silk butterfly maxi, $100; Ann Taylor Loft turquoise cotton maxi, $20; Alice + Olivia silk floral maxi, $125; and mint floral Ted Baker v-neck dress, $50. I have international shipping for both the Alice + Olivia maxi dresses. Now my online Depop store has nearly 20 items. By being diligent on my Depop store, I see myself receiving my first sale on this platform. I have put the same amount of elbow grease into my eBay store netting me over $2000.

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

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