eBay Adventure – Pause for the Cause

                Okay I am the first to admit that having 4 sales in 5 days (one of those days was Veterans Day, a federal holiday) is time and energy consuming. You have to pack, write thank you letters and ship. Resale is hard work so I have taken a slight break Monday. All I’ve done is track my Saturday package. I haven’t relisted anything. I even let some things expire. I just take a break from the madness (It also helps that I am getting instant PayPal payments because now I don’t have to wait until the buyer receives her package to receive my money.)

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

eBay Adventure – Receiving My 15th Star

                I have working feverishly photographing merchandise to put in my store. There have been a lot of sales lately but I will keep all of my items ready for sale. I must keep a fully stocked store especially with these few weeks before Thanksgiving. After uploading new merchandise, I see a new rating. It has gone from 14 to 15. My heart flutters because I am truly honored that my customers view me so highly. I will remember these hearts because they say that they appreciate my customer service. I shop same day upon payment. Also I ship only domestic and global USPS priority mail so that my customers get their items ASAP! On a personal note, I am very happy that my overall rating increases to 92.3%. Haters take that!

                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 - 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 - 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

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 – Global Shipping Program

                I have listed some new merchandise receiving a brand new order. I have also received a new customer inquiry about the global shipping program. I have never heard about this program before so I tweet @askeBay to inquire. I think that it would be better if I call customer service so that they can walk me through it. I would love to sell the shoes to her so I have called eBay’s customer service line. The representative has been very helpful guiding me through the process. I have learned that I can select eBay Global Shipping for all of my items or just specific items. In addition, I have learned the eBay handles all of the shipping with the global shipping program and the company tries my packages as domestic items even when shipped globally (The customer inquiry comes from Germany). Once I have selected my specific item for the global shipping program. Hopefully, this customer returns and purchases it.

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

eBay Adventure – Controlling What I Can

                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!

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