eBay Adventure – Going for Dolo

                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!

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 – Weather or Not

                I have been checking the USPS mail tracker feverishly because one of my packages is going to Florida. As many of you know, Hurricane Matthew has wrecked the Sunshine State. Whenever I check the tracker, it says weather delay. It is all up and down my tracking notes. I will be the first person to tell you when I started my eBay decluttering process that I had no idea that I would have been shipping into the eye of the hurricane; yet, here I am shipping my order on Saturday directly into the middle of Hurricane Matthew. I just pray for everyone’s safety (including the postman!) and that my buyer receives her package unharmed.

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

eBay Adventure – Standing Up for Myself

                The person who tried underbidding me at $150 returned with a $200 offer. I accepted it because it was closer towards 50% ($225). I stood up for myself because there was no way that I allowed any buyer to undermine me! That was someone that you had to learn as an eBay seller. There were people out there trying to nickel and dime. It was mandatory to stand firm because this was a business and as a seller you must have a breakeven analysis and cost of goods sold (the cost to ship your product).

I brought up cost of goods sold aspect because it a vital part of revenue. In business sale – cost of goods sold = revenue. Cost of goods sold is a uniform price. The post office charged you, the seller, the same amount of the package dimensions regardless of sales price. Lowering your sales price meant a cut into your revenue. That was why I stood up and declined the $150 but accepted the $200 because I needed a buffer and to generate revenue! eBay was a business and the buyers would respect that!

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

eBay Adventure – Sometimes You Have to Walk Away

                Feeling great about my current momentum, I took to Periscope showcasing my sales and my new merchandise. Also I loaded the replay into my HootSuite redistributing it across all of my social media platforms. That was the behind the scenes work that most sellers did not understand. You cannot simply open a store. You had to do marketing and business development. Maintaining this blog and doing my Periscopes (converting some of my best into YouTube videos) were part of my marketing campaign. I would had been remissed thinking that my two newer sales were a result of my sharing my photos online, blogging and Periscope.

                Later Thursday night I checked my eBay to get the store link for a blog post. I received an announcement saying that I had a bid. I saw that someone wanted $150 for a new $450 item and I flatly declined it saying that it was too low. No one was getting me on a new item for 1/3 the cost. That was highway robbery. I would had entertained something over $325 but come on, now no one would get a Gianvito Rossi shoe for $150! Sometimes you had to walk away from a sale which I did. There might be a very real possibility that I would have to relist my item; and, I am okay with that because I had retained my integrity and sales policy!

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

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

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

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 – Increasing my Feedback Score

                Expedited shipping is paying dividends with my customer feedback store. I am officially at 90% (10 positive, 1 negative). I am totally surprised at the last 2 responses because they have come out of nowhere; however, I am extremely grateful for them. All I promise to do is to ship the same day that I receive payment. As I approach my 90^th day on eBay, I have centered my mission on ensuring the best shipping ever.

                As a relatively new eBay seller, I like customer feedback because I learn so much from it. During these past 90 days, customer feedback has taught me that I need more photos, priority shipping is great and to stand my ground against fraud and my return policy.

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

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

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 – 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 – New Inventory = New Money

                Buoyed by my first Depop customer inquiry, I have decided to dedicate more time and energy towards turning a profit. I have uploaded 4 new items: 3 dresses and 1 pair of shoes. I have also kept up with the cocktail dress theme. All three of my dresses are sequined. My shoes are too. I am making sure that my prices are fair but have also entered *no swaps, no returns* in the item descriptions. People have a tendency not to read my bio which also states that. Furthermore, I am considering a Labor Day sale this week starting either Wednesday or Thursday (I am thinking about running one on my eBay site too as to thank the customers for purchasing from my site.).

                Below are the four new items that I have added to my store:

You can buy these items 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

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