eBay the Right Way
Learn how to sell on eBay the right way. Suzanne A. Wells has been selling on eBay since 2003 and has been an influencer in the eBay community since 2007. This podcast is designed for the full or part time at-home seller who loves the reselling process including the thrill of the hunt, rehoming used items, and building a home business they love. eBay is a way of life, not just a side hustle. Suzanne has been featured in Money Magazine, Martha Stewart Magazine, Women's World, and All You magazines as an eBay expert. You can find her on YouTube and Facebook as Suzanne A. Wells.
eBay the Right Way
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Music, hi, resellers. Welcome to episode number 194, of eBay the right way. Today's date is December 4. 2024 My guest today is Christina in Tennessee. Announcements, I have one announcement and one Christmas miracle story. First, the announcement is I am running a Christmas sale on my bolo books in my eBay store. I have a$10 off coupon code, which is S, S, U, Z, B, O, L, O, x, m, A, S, it's below the podcast that gives you $10 off. You can buy as many books as you like with this coupon. It's only good December 2 through the sixth, so a limited time offer, and again, the link to my eBay store and that coupon code are below the podcast. Now for story time, I love it when we see things in our life and in our eBay business come full circle. It makes me happy as a human being and a reseller, when items find the perfect home. So here is what happened last February, when I was preparing to move to the Midwest, I bought a long hooded puffer coat from Old Navy on clearance. I didn't have a coat for brutally cold weather. The coat went with me to Illinois, but I never wore it. Fast forward to July, when I returned back to the south. I actually used the coat as packing material to cushion some breakables. When I was moving back home, I hung the coat in my closet and forgot about it. Then in October, I thought, you know, I should sell this coat. I won't wear it here in the south, if it's that cold, I'm not going anywhere anyway. I'm fortunate to have set up my life in such a way that my schedule is 100% flexible and I can stay inside and work on my eBay, podcasts, lessons for my school, YouTube videos. I don't really ever have to go anywhere if the weather is bad, so I listed the coat on eBay, and the going price was$80 I probably paid half of that for it, and it was the perfect time of year to sell the coat, since we're heading into winter, so I priced it at $80 then last week, boom, it sold for full price. I was so curious to see where it was going. It was going to Bismarck, North Dakota. This was perfect. Someone living in North Dakota would definitely get a lot of use out of this coat, way more than I ever would in South Carolina. So this sale made me very happy finding a good home for this nice coat, and I made some money on the deal. I was telling this story to my sister Trina in Charlotte, who lost her husband last year, and she said, Oh, like the story about Jeff's drums. So her husband played the drums, and had a very nice drum set that was taking up room in their living room, and as his illness progressed, he was not able to play them anymore, but she didn't have the heart to part with them yet, so she was ready a few weeks ago, and she asked around, got some information from the music minister at church and some other people that know instruments, and came up with a price and put them on Facebook marketplace. She got a response immediately from someone who was traveling from Virginia to Charlotte, and he said he always looks on Facebook marketplace because there's a lot of good stuff on there. And unlike where he lives in Virginia, it's kind of rural, so he did not even negotiate the price. She put $2,000 on them. He came to her house immediately and paid her cash. And it turns out he's a music teacher, and this is how he buys instruments, used instruments on Facebook marketplace or wherever he can find them. So that made her feel great that these drums found a new home with someone who's going to teach music. And the guy even asked her for a copy of Jeff's obituary, because he wanted to know all about the guy who owned the drums that instruments carry an energy. And it just all worked out. So there are two sort of Christmas miracle stories about re homing items and feeling good about where they end up. Doesn't that make you feel all warm and fuzzy inside? I just love it when this kind of thing happens. Okay, enough of my Christmas miracle stories. Let's talk with Christina. Hello listeners, and welcome back. I have Christina with us today. And as always, let's start off with where you're located.
Unknown:So I'm located in Middle Tennessee, south of Nashville. Okay,
Suzanne Wells:okay, I lived in that state for a while. Okay, and so we're recording this on a Saturday morning. Are we interrupting any eBay activities this morning, like garage saleing or anything like that?
Unknown:I did not think there would be any yard sales, but there is. So I usually go every Saturday morning. So that's, I mean, it's okay. I can say I definitely
Suzanne Wells:have a pile Central Time. Is that right? Or are you Eastern? That's
Unknown:correct? Uh huh. Okay, central
Suzanne Wells:so you have, you're an hour earlier, so you still got time to make it. Yeah,
Unknown:I do.
Suzanne Wells:Okay, good, good. Okay, well, let's jump in with what brought you to eBay, and when was that?
Unknown:So I joined eBay the year I got married. In 2004 we had bought our first home, and I just was trying to get rid of some of my clothes, so I just started selling Lane Bryant. I was really big into Lane Bryant back then, and it was so popular, so I started selling that. And just basically I was into the Sims, computer game,
Suzanne Wells:oh. S, I m, s,
Unknown:yes, yes. And ironically, I found a few of those now, and they're worth a little
Suzanne Wells:bit, really. Okay, so for the listeners, if you don't know what that is, it's, it's short for simulated. It's like this family and you, my kids played it, and they were just, they were just fascinated with all the things it could do.
Unknown:It is awesome. Yeah, it was a great thing to do before we had kids. It was just fun to hang out and play in there. So I did that. I was looking for something for it, and so I think that's why I originally joined. And then I sold some CDs of mine, and, you know, just stuff like that. I definitely was just selling stuff around the house, and then just kind of I would buy through the years, but I stopped selling. I would just sell my stuff at yard sales. Or, you know, I'm a lifelong yard seller, so they high to a grasshopper. Was yard selling?
Suzanne Wells:You were raised, right? Yes,
Unknown:yes. We did not buy from the store if we could find it a yard sale. And I never really even thought about it. My mom was just very thrifty, so we always done that, and that taught me a lot of good habits for my family. But like I said, I kept my eBay account active by buying, you know, I would look on there probably about around the holiday season and buy something for somebody unique. And then my grandmother passed away last year, and there was some issues where we thought some stuff was donated with her estate that we didn't know about, and my local Goodwill is where we heard it was donated. So I started going there, and I found about found out about Google lens at that time, and I was using Google lens to try to find the air of the stuff in her house, because I knew what she had, and I wanted some. I'm very sentimental, so I just wanted some of her things for my own. So I would take pictures and see what, you know, where it was from, and then I was seeing how much it was selling for, and I'm like, wow, this is a lot. So. So,
Suzanne Wells:but at that time to rethink exactly how sentimental it was, yes, yeah.
Unknown:Well, at that time, I didn't know how to do soul comp, so I was just doing the Google wins, and I would say somebody wanted 150 for it. I didn't really know that it was selling for maybe 50. So anyways, I would pick up some stuff, and I just would hold on to it. And then I was like, I just start selling some stuff around the house again. So October of last year, I started selling, like, my son's old video games. He was real. He's 17 now. He's really into all the DS games and Pokemon cards and all of that. And I had no idea that they had value. So I started looking them up, and I had been selling them at yard sales and Facebook for nothing, so some reseller was happy.
Suzanne Wells:And how old is your son?
Unknown:I have a 17 year old son, he's a junior. And then I have a 12 year old daughter, she's in seventh grade. And then I have a five year old in kindergarten. He's, yep,
Suzanne Wells:so you've got, you've got a house full,
Unknown:I've got them in every school. Is what I said. He my daughter and son are in the same school now. My five year old and 12 year old, I'm thankful for that, because having dropped off of that three schools, so, oh,
Suzanne Wells:gosh, yeah. But they're, they're growing, so they're constantly outgrowing clothes and toys and school things. So you probably have a steady stream of things to sell all the time.
Unknown:Yeah, I do, and I have always been, like I said, a yard seller. So I rarely buy their clothes from a store. I mean, my daughter is getting at an age where she sees something that someone else has, and of course, you it's that instant wound. So I have been more having to go the store more than I was, you know, just to get hers and stuff every now and then, because she's good, she's making good grades. And we kind of say, okay, you can have something. So, right,
Suzanne Wells:right. So when you were growing up, how many siblings in your family? So
Unknown:my, my personal experience, this is going to be a little different, because I'm adopted. So I have siblings that I found when I was an adult, too, but my, my household growing up was my I had two older brothers that are significantly older than me, and then I have a sister as well, and I won't say that about her, because she will get me so but they were out of the house by the time I came along. So okay, so
Suzanne Wells:I was what I was trying to get at, was when you were yard sailing with your mom. I'm one of four siblings, so there was four of us within five years, so a whole bunch of kids all about the same age range. So I was just imagining, like going to yard sales, but it was, it's pretty much just you with your mom.
Unknown:Yeah, it was pretty much me. And then my brother lived next door, so I have my nieces that because he, I think he's about 20 years old. I mean, maybe not 10 years to me. So he had children that I'm super close to, and they were more my age. And so my nieces would go with us, and we just make it a Saturday fun day. We would go, and we would go eat breakfast at a local place and just spend the day together. And I absolutely loved it. And my youngest loves yard sales. So he will go up to a yard sale and say, Can I make a pile? So he is a yard seller. He gets it from me, for sure. So it's kind of, I love that
Suzanne Wells:you know that you were raised with that, so it's no big deal, because even now, I run into people who, like, have never been in a thrift store, where they would never buy something used at a garage sale. And I'm like, shoot, I don't care. You know you're going to have it five minutes and it's going to be used. So it really doesn't matter exactly, it is so much more economical to to buy use that I love, that you took that from your childhood and, you know, carried that with you into adulthood, and now you can make money doing it.
Unknown:Yeah, that's right. That's right. I started deciding, I was like, I'm going to start actually trying to get some stuff to sell starting this year. Because I was like, I'm not just selling around the house anymore. I'm running into too many good things that I could be reselling. So okay,
Suzanne Wells:so you didn't really start intentionally buying for resale until recently.
Unknown:Yeah, it was beginning of this year, because last year I had a house full, and I had listened to your podcast, and you know, you say, shop your home first, and I was going around Google ending my home, and just really needed to get rid of some stuff. So yeah, I had got rid of most of my stuff. I had bought a in December of last year. I bought a department 56 collection with the intention of keeping some of it. And then I was like, I'll just put it in the next yard sale, or put it in the next Facebook purge if it doesn't work out. And then I started realizing that they had value. And I was like, hmm. Mom, I should sell those every so I started listing those and selling those. So, okay,
Suzanne Wells:well, I I contacted you to come on the podcast because I started seeing your name on the money making Mondays a lot. And I was like, Well, who is this? Christina, what's your story? You want to talk about some things that you've sold?
Unknown:Yeah. So, like I said, department 56 is what I kind of jumped in with. I had bought those from, you know, for me. And I was like, I don't need all these. And so I brought them out to my dining table and just started Google lensing them. And they all have sold, besides the ones I've kept, I have a piece behind me that I kept you probably see. So, yes, yes, yeah, so, but anyways, that was something that I really enjoyed, and I love taking pictures of and I follow a lot of resellers on YouTube, some of them better than others, but they have taught me good and bad habits, so kind of I did not learn. I mean, it's not an easy road, so, but yeah, I could get into that later when my tips. Because when I first started, I jumped in, you know, full force. So, but the
Suzanne Wells:department 56 collection, you bought. How big was the collection? How many pieces? I think it's about
Unknown:20 pieces. Okay, that's pretty good, yeah. And she had the boxes with them, and they were still in the styrofoam. I mean, she'd kept them up into like a china cabinet on the shelf. So that's very helpful for shipping. It was awesome. I didn't
Suzanne Wells:put it in another box, or did you just ship it in the box?
Unknown:So I put it in another box. Yeah, sure. Yeah, that that's
Suzanne Wells:recommended. So, yeah, I love it when, when you find things like that with the boxes, because you gotta wonder, well, how do they put it away after the holidays over what are they doing? And if you have the box with a styrofoam and it has, like, the little cutouts, where everything fits perfectly and is protected, right? You know that's, that's how it it's optimal if it's stored that way. But we all know things happen. So Exactly,
Unknown:yeah, so and I have a professional shipper that does my shipping. So I'm blessed. My husband has worked at the post office for about 12 years, so he knows how rough some packages could be treated because they are used, they are sorted by machines. So well,
Suzanne Wells:okay, I'm gonna, I'm gonna dive into that, since you brought it up because I did not know this. Um, gosh, we should have had him on with you for I'm sure he is he like a postal delivery or does he work in the post office? He's
Unknown:a postmaster. Oh, so he knows all the rules. Yeah, he knows all the rules. He says that is not media mail to me. Sometimes I'm like, well, it I thought it was, and it's like,
Suzanne Wells:no, what are some of his gripes about how maybe resellers are doing it wrong, things that we can do better, like, what does he just come home and goes, Oh, I can't believe somebody did this again. No.
Unknown:And so he doesn't have a whole lot of interaction with the packages. Okay, yeah, but he was a clerk before, so he knew you know how you needed to take care of stuff. It's like my biggest mistake when I'm shipping stuff and he's not helping me, if it's not glassware, I'm comfortable with obviously shipping it. But he says you need to make sure you're pressing down on that tape after you get it on the box, because it pops up once it gets to us, you know, temperature changes and all of that. So I've done that. I always double box. Anything glass always do because, like I said, machines sort them, and they get through in a bin. And if something tall fall or something tall and big and bulky falls on top of it. You're going with the best chance for it surviving. So that's the tips he's given me. So that's
Suzanne Wells:what people say. Is like, we get a lot of questions on the group about, how should I ship this? And really the the bottom line is, just imagine it in a bin with 200 pounds of mail packages on top of it. Is it going to crush? Yes, yeah, survive,
Unknown:yeah. And I just got a package delivered the other day of styrofoam coffee mugs, and they were crushed, and they were double boxed, but it was through ups, and the guy that brought him, he's like, I'm so sorry. He said something major happened to this during delivery.
Suzanne Wells:Oh, gosh, yeah, it happens through all the carriers. And then the other one is, don't wrap your packages in the brown paper. Like, that's an old fashioned thing, but that paper gets caught in the machines and it gets ripped off and like, you just wrote the address, or, you know, the label gets ripped off with it. Yes, yeah, that was the old fashioned thing. I remember people used to do that all the time with brown paper bags and stuff, but don't do that now.
Unknown:Yeah, yeah. And he also tells me always to put tape over my tracking. If you print a label, make sure you put. Tape over your tracking number, because he said that those get smeared by somebody like raining outside, and you you know, it just depends on what kind of inks on there, whether you can still read it, you know. And yeah, people
Suzanne Wells:think you shouldn't put any tape over your labels, but it can still scan with clear tape on it so it's not gonna affect it scanning. Yeah, you
Unknown:just gotta make sure it's straight, because I've had it crinkled before. He's like, they're not gonna be able to scan that, right? Yeah. So doing that, he's taught me a lot. I mean, it's helped me. And then my own personal mail carrier, she's picked up a couple things. She's like, you packed these, didn't you? Your husband didn't pack them? I was like, Yes, I do. She's like, Oh, she
Suzanne Wells:knows he's the postmaster. Yes, oh, gosh, yeah. I don't know if that's good or bad. Now
Unknown:I know. I'm like, Okay, I'm sorry. Like, don't
Suzanne Wells:judge me. I'm not the postmaster. I'm trying. Oh, so, yeah, you do have a professional packer and shipper. Mm,
Unknown:hmm, I do, yeah, I call him I mean, he's my ace in the hole, I guess. So.
Suzanne Wells:Okay, so do you? Do? You set things aside, like I'm going to get him to pack this one.
Unknown:Yes, I will. I have an eBay room established in our basement. Um, so I have a finished basement. We use my kids have a playroom slash, where we watch movies, and then my eBay room is connected on the other side of that. And I'll just holler from the basement, hey, this needs your help because he has no interest in that. This feels too much like work to him, I think so he he doesn't really have interest in helping me on the daily basis, pack and do all the things. But if I need him, he'll help me so well.
Suzanne Wells:I think after hearing this, many sellers are going to have husband envy, because you have this, you have this very experienced shipper for a husband, yes,
Unknown:yes, yes, it's good. Let me knock on wood. But I haven't had anything lost or damaged, or anything that he shipped. I shipped a coffee mug very early on. It was the M, M's 80s mug, and I was so I would love when I found it. And he wasn't available and I needed to get it out, so I shipped it. I double boxed it. The lady said it arrived in pieces. So
Suzanne Wells:did you fill the void with something
Unknown:I did? I don't know what I done wrong. The only thing I can think that may have happened is the box that I used was a little too small, the second box that I used, and maybe I crammed it in there a little bit too much. And he says, make sure you leave enough room to put some tissue and bubble wrap and all of that around in that other box too. And I didn't do that, but that was my only negative feedback, and it was I was so upset when I got it, but she didn't contact me. I mean, it was cheap, maybe$10 so she didn't contact me or anything. She just said it arrived in pieces.
Suzanne Wells:Well, and this is for the listeners, sometimes newer sellers don't know that when you're shipping something that has a, you know, like a bowl or a coffee mug, that has a hole, a void, you gotta fill that. You can't just wrap it in bubble wrap. You gotta fill that with whatever crumpled paper. Or, I hate packing peanuts, because they get everywhere. But, you know, stuff like that, where, if there's pressure on the box, it won't break, because if there's that empty hole, that's what causes it to break, not that you know, the handlers are kicking it like a football. It's just you have to have something in that void for the counter pressure the whole shipping process. So, yeah, fill the void. Yes,
Unknown:yes, yeah. Okay. Well,
Suzanne Wells:what else do you have on your list to talk about? Because you posted a lot. I
Unknown:do. And so my favorite thing that I found was this Ringling Brothers coffee mug. So I bought it for my home. I love blue and white. I mean, this is what I'm drinking out of today. I love blue and white. And it just caught my eye. And it was a Ringling Brothers from Florida when they had their hotel, and it was demolished. And so all that China and everything was not saved, and I had no idea that it had any value. I bought it, and I brought it here, and I was going to use it for my coffee mug. And I was like, I'm going to Google lens that just to see. And those were selling between 40 and $100 but you only seen, like, two, and there was none. It was like, I was going to be the only new listing. So I didn't there was some plates that had sold. So I went in and I was like, Okay, I'm gonna list high because I'm the only one, and if somebody wants it, so I listed, I think I listed right under 100 for probably maybe two months, and no action. You know, didn't get watchers, nothing. I'm like, Well, this maybe is not as desirable as I thought. And also, I'm a turn and burn. I don't like to hold on to stuff. And so it was really making me like, What? And what in the world. And now I would probably keep it on there and just let somebody find it. But I decided, Okay, I'm gonna re list it when the 30 days was up, when it was gonna renew. I was like, I'm gonna put it at like, 69 and I immediately got watchers, and somebody had sent an offer maybe that same day for $50 and I just was like, Yep, I'll take it like, I paid like, 10 bucks for it, because I bought it for my house. And the lady was it was kind of like an antique purge that she was doing on Facebook. So I did pay up for it, but I bought it for myself for personal use. So I was like, I will, but let it go for 50 and it made it there. Got great feedback from it, and so
Suzanne Wells:good for you. Yeah, okay. And so what did it look like? Did it just have clowns or circus acro? Nothing
Unknown:about the circus at all. It was just, it had blue and white on it, and it didn't even say. It said the Ringling Brothers on the bottom hotel or something. But it was nothing. It was very unassuming. It wasn't, you would not think that it was worth anything. You would just have to, you know, pick up and look at the bottom and see where it was. It just happened to be something that caught my eye. And she didn't even call it out in her and she sells antiques, she didn't call it out as that. She just, you know, basically, was saying how pretty it was. So,
Suzanne Wells:yeah, those can be the best items. It's just, oh, hey, that's unusual. That's yeah, that's unique. I've never seen that before, yeah, if even an experienced seller, you might just see something. I sold a sweater this morning that was I listed it last night. I got it a couple days ago. It was a long black cardigan with this gold metallic ruffly stuff on the front. And the minute I saw it, I didn't even care about the brand. The minute I saw it, I'm like, New Year's Eve or holiday, somebody's going to want that. So it was this brand called Jack be quick, which is, it's it? Yeah, sometimes they're they're good, but they're, like, the sequin embroidered sweaters. And this, this didn't have anything other than that metallic. It was very elegant. And I was like, someone's going to love this. Sure enough, sold for full price this morning. And it was just, you just, know, sometimes, oh, that could be used for this. Somebody's going to love this for that purpose, and you've already got that going on. But as the more you do this, it's like, sometimes you'll come across things that you've sold before repeatedly. I know all the patterns for the land bathing suits. I'm like, yep, that's a lands and I know what? Before I look at the label, like, that's a Lands End pattern, because I've sold so much, but yeah, so to the listeners, like, don't hesitate if it speaks to you, and if it's that's different, that's unique. Some, some, I guess, influencer mentors, whatever other sellers even just say, like, you know, don't let your personal opinions interfere with what you're selling. And I disagree. I feel like, if you love it and it, you know, it's a striking, different, unique item. Like, hey, it's only a couple dollars. Go for it, you know. Listen to your intuition on that Yeah. And for me, it usually turns out, well,
Unknown:yes. And one of my favorite things to do is to go into Target or some of the stores and see what's popular in the stores, and then go back to the thrift shops and find you know, like, what, what's a date for that? Like, what's something that was original that they're trying to remake now and sell for 60 bucks when you can get it at a thrift store for five so, yeah, the trending
Suzanne Wells:stuff, whether it's clothing, home decor, anything you know trending doesn't just mean fashion. It everything you know, lifestyle stuff, and you're exactly right. Pay attention to what's trending. We had a few guests before you talk about that, that sometimes the brand doesn't even matter. It's what does it look like? This look this theme is trending. So yes, yes. EBay is very brand driven, but it's also these days, people, they don't want to look like everybody else. They want to be unique and different, whether it's their home or their fashion, um, and sometimes they don't care about the brand. They just want that thing that's these colors or the style or, you know, whatever the esthetic is yes,
Unknown:yes. And on that same line, I bought a vanity mirror for my, again, personal use. I went to the yard sale. It was a lady that was getting rid of most of her stuff so her children wouldn't have to, she said. And it was Circo wood. It was, I think that's how you pronounce it. Mate. And it was, it looked very again, unassuming, but was so I loved it. It was just had such a good style. So I put it on my vanity, and I was using it, and I was like, I'm going to list this, because me using it won't matter. And I was, I knew we were going to remodel our bathroom, and I was like, I won't need it. So I listed it, and the comps on it was really good, so it was somewhere between 40 and $60 so I listed it, I think, at about 49 and it sold almost immediately. So yeah, and I was thinking I listed it as mid century, modern Hollywood, you know, all of the keywords that you need to say. And yeah, it found its home so and I thought how happy that lady was at the yard. So she's like, I'm so glad someone loves this. I said, I love it, and if I don't, I promise I'll find somebody that loves it as much as I do, you know. So yes, we have a saying at yard sale. Yard sales. My oldest, when he goes, he does like yard sales, but he's more of a collector, so he's looking for the magic cards, like those are getting really popular again, like Pokemon is kind of going out, and the magic cards are taking their place. So if you see those, those are can be that can have some value.
Suzanne Wells:But we were, anyway, wait, what? What are magic cards?
Unknown:So it's like, it's a game Magic the Gathering is what it's called, and there's so many different decks and sets, and some of them are worth nothing, and then some of them's just worth, you know, absorbing an amount, like we're talking $300 for a card. And then, yeah, he had one the other day that's worth 30 and he sold it to this place where he buys, where he gets his decks. They build decks, and they have game nights, and it's just, it's becoming big, and he I said, Mom could have sold that on eBay if he paid you 30 for it. There's no telling what it's so I'm like, I was a little bit upset, but he's really bad. He'll say, Mom, can you resell this? He'll say that at a yard sale, and if you don't have a price, I don't like him saying that, because then I think people are going to charge me more. So I'd say, let's say, let's come up with a code word, and we'll say, do you think dolly would like this? Because dolly is big in Tennessee, we all love Dolly. Okay, right, yeah. I mean, your Dollywood, um, I'm not. I'm maybe about three hours. So okay, yeah, not, but we go quite often. But, yeah, we all love dolly here. So I thought, you know, my style is probably going to fit with Dolly. So say, Do you wonder if dolly would like, so that's kind of our code word, because he just blurts it out. And if, if it's priced, I don't care, but if it's not, people will definitely be like, charge you more. I feel like, right? So, yeah, yeah. So yeah, well, I
Suzanne Wells:think reselling is more known and more accepted now. But, I mean, you gotta realize people having these yard sales, they're just trying to get rid of their stuff. Yes, they can't be too, too proud of their stuff and mark it up, because they're gonna have it all left at the end of the day,
Unknown:right? Right? Yeah, that's
Suzanne Wells:knew how to sell it. Why aren't they selling it themselves? Right? Yeah, it just, it irks me when I, when I go to a yard sale and or state sale, and they have eBay printouts putting, you know, right next to the item, and they're for active listings. Yes, they're not even for solds. And they so, like, you guys don't even know I get what you're trying to do. You're trying to show what the market will bear. But yeah, you're doing it wrong.
Unknown:Unfortunately. Yeah, that's not, that's not a good practice if you want to get rid of your stuff so no one's gonna buy. I
Suzanne Wells:just, I just walk out. I just don't, I'm not playing that game. Just no, I gotta, I gotta be able to resell it. On the other day I went, I went thrifting, and it was pouring down rain the whole day. It was just a nasty day, but I was out of stuff. I needed more things. And I ended up going to four thrift stores, and the first three were just a total bust. I I'd never had a day like that where I walked, I mean, I bought, like, maybe two or three things at each of those first three stores. Just I was very disappointed. And then I got to the the last one, I'm like, Well, I'm just going to get over here, because I know this one is going to have stuff, and I hit the mother load. And so the lesson that day was, don't go to those other three anymore. That was like, a waste of three hours, right? You know, go to the one where you know you're going to find stuff. And I felt like, you know, this was a lesson. It was, it was leading me to where I needed to be. It just took all day in the rain and it was nasty, but, yeah, you gotta be able to to walk out if it's not right. Well, I mean, there were good things in there, but it was not prices I was going to pay. I'm not paying $12 for an Ann Taylor sweater. Yeah, you know, or, you know, that's not even cashmere. Or, you know, they had their home stuff, like pots and pans just marked up so high. I'm like, Yeah, this will probably be in here in a month at half that price, because no one's going to pay that in the thrift store. Exactly. Yeah, yeah. So anyway, back to your your scores, what else do you have?
Unknown:So I, like in the beginning, I always was picking up trinket items and selling those, and I quickly realized that that was a lot of work for me. So I don't, I will pick those up, but they gotta have a little bit of value for me to pick them up. Now, it's not that I'm really intimidated by the shipping of it, because I do have my husband, but it's just they are a lot of work, and if they're only making about 10 $15 it's just not worth it. So I have mainly switched over to shoes and purses. Now, I personally love shoes and purses, so that's something I already had knowledge of. So I just sewed some twisted X boots. I walk up to the yard sale and I see that twisted x I knew that was them. And I said, How much for these? I always make sure they're in good condition. And it blows my husband's mind that there's a market for you shoes. He cannot imagine that, because he just is like, I cannot imagine doing that. But I walk up and I mean, they look practically new. They said five bucks. And I was like, sold. So I sold those for 6999 plus ship and so, I mean, what did they look like? So they were just the ones that you pull on, like work boots. Oh, so
Suzanne Wells:it's a it's not a fashion thing. It's a work boot.
Unknown:It can be either. So the fashion ones look more like moccasins. So they're more like a fashion and that women wear those a lot, but the men's work boots, they are usually still told they're not always, but, yeah, they they have a really good resale, right? If you pick them up in good condition. So I'm usually where I shop at yard sales. I'm usually get stuff 10 to five bucks so it, you know, you know, not much so, and then sometimes I can even give them for a couple dollars. So even that's I've never
Suzanne Wells:heard of that brand, twisted X, uh huh, twisted X, okay, good to know. Maybe I have not heard of that either. So thank you for that.
Unknown:Yeah, I I enjoy selling, but shoes, they're easy to list, they're easy to ship. So I worked marketing on getting my average sales price up. Because in the beginning, like I said, I was selling like, these little trinkets, bone china, for, you know, $10 and I it was just so much work. And I was like, I want this to be fun, so I don't want to have to feel like that. So now I've got my average sales price up to 4334 and I was so excited. I was like, Are you good? Yeah, I'm doing better.
Suzanne Wells:So if the we did a thing on the Facebook group where I showed the members how to find that information on your eBay account if you don't know where it is. So I'm going to tell everybody right now. If you go to your seller hub, and then you go under, you'll see your sales right there at the top. And you just click on the number, whatever it is, and it takes you to a page with a bunch of numbers on it. And you can adjust the time frame you're looking at, whether it's this month, this year, whatever you want it to be. And it will tell you your average sales price, you know, and and how many you sold. And it gives you a bunch of good information. And I was surprised that a lot of the members didn't even know that was there, that they could look at that and it tells you if you're trending up or down from the same time period before you know if you're comparing month over month or whatever. So yeah, those numbers, and so the sales price does include shipping. So it can be a little misleading if you're selling really heavy things with expensive shipping. Oh my gosh, my average sales price is $60 but you know it, it includes the shipping. So yeah, so just for the listeners to know where that is, that you can check on that and see how you're doing, because that's an important factor. And like you said when you started, you're just selling things $10 profit or $10 sales price and and then you get a bigger one. And you're like, wait a minute, maybe I should just focus on these higher dollar items a little
Unknown:bit more. Yeah. And this is not my, obviously not my full time job. So I don't really like to do the bread and butter items, because that's not really, you know, it's not, it's not paying my bills. So if it was, it would be different, obviously. So I just, I
Suzanne Wells:think that some of the guests on this podcast that like, have a full time job, you know, they're very. Very intentional and selective with what they sell, because it's a time thing. You don't have all this time to list all these items. But if you're, if this is your main source of income, or maybe you're, you're retired, or you're working towards retirement, or whatever, you know you have to be consistent with listing every day to get there. And, you know, I'm okay with items that sell for 15 $20 if I can sell five of them a day. That adds up. It sure does. Yeah. System that is, you know, the stumbling block for most people. They they have all the stuff, trust me. I hear about that all the time. Uh huh, yeah, it's just getting it listed
Unknown:dropped, yes, for sure, regular job. So I've always been in the finance world, working in banking and loans and lending. So I work for a commercial ag lender right now. So I've been there about five years. I'll be there five years, beginning next year, June of next year. So yep, I really enjoy my nine to five. Per se, it's it really fulfills me. I get really great customer interaction. I work with the best of the America farmers. So yeah, I really enjoy my job, so don't want to definitely not working to ever replace that so and then been do, I don't know if you got if y'all heard of that, but I use that for cross listing, and that has helped me, honestly, with listing, because I can create one. I do it on Sunday mornings. I just get up and I create my listings on there, and I upload it to there. Of course, I have to do the research myself, and I've already know that what I'm going to list it for, but I can create a template. It will cross listed across Macari, Poshmark and eBay for me. And it's so easy, such a I mean, I pay, I think, like,$40 a month. And it is, it pays for itself. It is awesome because I don't have to go in and create those listings myself anymore. And I love it. It's been great for me, and it's the only negative to it is that you can't you do much from the app on your phone. You have to do it all from here. So I actually have to be intentional coming here with my coffee and sit down on Sunday morning first thing 5am I morning person, so Wow, that is very early. Just knock it out. Yes, yes, very early. I'm an early bird yard seller too.
Suzanne Wells:Well, that comes in handy for that. Yeah. Okay, so you're, you're selling on eBay, Poshmark and Mercari, correct, that's right. How are your sales on the other sites.
Unknown:So Macari had a change recently where they knocked out seller fees and gave those to the buyers. So there's no seller fees on Macari anymore. Until you go to transfer your money, you have to pay $2 to have it transferred. So that's the only fee, and you can let that build up. I noticed a big decline in sales on that app when that happened, because buyers do not and most of the time, people are pretty savvy, and they'll see that it's listed somewhere else cheaper. So they'll go, you know, if they like it, they'll go to Poshmark and buy it, or they'll go to eBay and buy it. So my sales are, I've almost thought about not doing there, but I'm getting a couple a week, so I thought I'll just keep I mean, it's not a big deal. They really promote ups on Macari. So to ship ups, you get discounted rates to ship with them, and you can go up to about five pounds for 899 so it's good to do, to ship on there, heavier items and to list on there, it's gaming. Is it just anything? Gaming sells so quick, and cards and kids toys, stuff like that. And then I Poshmark, that's where I sell my shoes and purses and clothes. You know, all the it's trendy items is I rarely sell home goods on Poshmark, but most of my most of my good sales are from Ebay. I still I may have maybe three or four sales a week on Poshmark, but most of my daily sales are from eBay. So
Suzanne Wells:yeah, and did you say you do Facebook marketplace too?
Unknown:So I did that personally when I was selling just stuff off of my in my house, like I used to do that, and I still, I have been dual cross list to marketplace. So if it's a bigger item, I do list it there, but I haven't sold anything on there. You just get that. Hey, is this still available? Yes, it is. And then no response,
Suzanne Wells:right? Yeah, I can't get any traction on there either. No. So I don't know if it's, you know, I put some of my better, more expensive things on there to see, like, will this have any interest? And even buying is challenging, because I've had situations where I'm very interested. I'm I'm like, Okay, let's meet. And then they just. There's no follow up. You just you, and it's like, shoot, you know, I found that great, you know, needlework collection or whatever, like a really good thing, and then they don't meet you, or I've gone to meet them, and they don't show up, right? And it just got frustrating. And that's kind of what pushed me into doing more of the online auctions. Because, you know, when you bid, you're committed, and they're committed to sell it to you. So can be frustrating. And I see a lot of people on the group be like, Oh, I got this on Facebook marketplace. I really think it's different in different areas.
Unknown:I do too, yes, for sure, yeah, and I do Facebook purges. I will my friends purge I bought several items to resell. From those, I bought a Coach purse that was like 70th anniversary. I bought it for maybe $15 and I had sold it for 70 I mean, and I probably underpriced it because it sold immediately. And that's kind of a tall tale sign, but I went to a yard sale recently, and she had had a Facebook purge, and we wouldn't friends, so I didn't see it, but she sold Birkenstocks, her Birkenstock collection. So I bought her out. She was one of those that had in a dust bag so immaculate, and so I just sold I was looking at my they were the Moto boots. And I had bought those for $10 and sold them for 74 so, Moto B O T O, no, it's m o t o, oh. Moto like, yeah. Moto gotcha, yep, I Yeah. And I use those keywords. I put biker core, oh, there you go. Yeah. It sold almost immediately. And I do promote my listings. I know that's a whole nother topic, but I promote them at 2% of all of them across the board, and most of mine, when I went through my history. So sell with promoted listings. So I'm going to keep doing that, so it keeps working. So
Suzanne Wells:you're look, you're seem to be a very analytical person with your numbers, job, yes, that probably comes naturally. So you look at your reports and you see how successful your campaigns are,
Unknown:yes, yes, it makes a difference. Um, I, I looked, I think, a couple days ago, and most of my sales are coming from the promoted listings. And then also when I send offers, people are hesitant to send offers, but I let mine build up, and I will send them, and I get aggressive if I want it gone. And then sometimes I'm not, so you can choose, and that's really worked well for me, but I on on eBay, I will just flip maybe a 10 or 11, you know, build up. That's kind of my number. I don't want it to get past 11. And I send them all, and I do sell a couple from that. So I don't ignore those lockers. They're not always somebody trying to sell. So I think that's a good thing to do if you're newer, because I did ignore those in the beginning, because a lot of people seem to think that they're not serious, but I sell things that way. So yeah,
Suzanne Wells:well, and you know, there's several different opinions of promoted listings. Some sellers like, No, I'm not paying eBay another dime. We pay enough, uh huh. Or it's, you know, I feel like you have to experiment to see what works for you. Exactly. Some questions about that on the group this week and like, on the money making Mondays. Like, did you promote this? And I feel like sellers aren't really going to say, you know, because they don't this competitive, you know. And eBay will suggest the rate to promote it at. Sometimes it's 15% yes,
Unknown:it the the higher the percent means there's a lot listed. So I've picked something that's not necessarily something I should have picked. So that tells me why did you have that? You
Suzanne Wells:know? Yeah, looking at looking at active and how many there are of an item is really valuable information. It's not just about the sold. Because, yeah, okay, maybe 1000 sold in the last 90 days. But if there's 10,000 listed, what are the chances of your selling Exactly? Better to go with those unique Ringling Brothers mugs that yes, if they're like, aren't any of yes, because the more unique an item is, the more it's going to be worth, right? Yeah, there isn't something, the more it's going to be worth, yes. So I think sellers sometimes forget about that. Well, wait, let me see how many are out there, right? Yeah, no matter what your price is, and it's not always price driven, it could be they need it fast, and they're picking the person that's going to ship it the quickest, or that's close to them, you know, physically close to them. Or another reason, I don't know how much buyers really look at your feedback and all that stuff I do when I'm a buyer. I. I was shopping for something the other day, and the feedback was like, 91% positive, and I'm like, Well, what are they doing wrong? And it was all shipped. The wrong thing, bad communication, or slow shipping, stuff like that. So I don't I think every buyer is different based on what they look at, and some are in a hurry. And, you know, sometimes things sell the minute you list them. And it's, it's just because it's a new listing and it's at the top of search, and they find it and they buy it, and they don't even look any further.
Unknown:Yes, exactly, yeah.
Suzanne Wells:I don't think, I don't think there's any one size fits all for promoted listings, I think you just have to figure out your comfort zone of of what percentage you're comfortable with and track the results. Mm, hmm.
Unknown:I agree. Yeah, I agree. I definitely have found that and then and just finding trendy items like that, like I said, I those Birkenstocks. I found sandals at that same yard sale, and they happen to be sold out everywhere, so I was able to buy them for five bucks and sell them for 76 so for you, yeah, and they looked like no one had ever put them on. I mean, she was just immaculate with her shoes. And she's like, I have a problem. I just buy them and then set them in my closet. I'm like, Okay, I'll buy your problem.
Suzanne Wells:You just wants the shoe stores like, I don't wear these. Yeah, I don't look at them.
Unknown:I know I regret not getting her number. I'm like, I should have got her number at least. Friended her on Facebook. She said she purchased these. Why is noone buying on there? So I was thinking,
Suzanne Wells:Birkenstocks are a different animal, because I've seen sales like, either posted on the group or just when I'm doing the research, and they can look really gross, uh huh, really disgusting, like the foot bed has the footprint on it, and they look terrible, and they still sell. If
Unknown:you want to take the time, you can sand those with sandpaper to get that off really Yes. So yeah, if you want to have you clean them that way, and you just have to be a careful, careful around the size part, but just kind of take more care around there. But yeah, you can clean those with sandpaper and get them looking like they don't have someone else's feet in them,
Suzanne Wells:right? Yeah, I always wonder about that, like, what's going on there? But we're not going to go into that part of the dark web. Yes, yeah,
Unknown:I don't know about that. So I'm always, if I'm going to do that, I will clean them. But those didn't even need it. They were immaculate. Like I said, great condition. So and then that kind of brings me to the only so this whole time, I have never purchased a box. Of course, I have to purchase tape, but I always source and get boxes from the Dollar Tree. When you go in there, they will have a, you know, a buggy that is just full of boxes that they are and they love. They just want you to take them. So I will load up on those. And they're all different sizes, and that's what I've been using to ship in. And this past week was the first time I ever had a Buy Box, and I had listed a Lego, a rare edition Lego, and every single listing had free shipping on it. And that don't love free shipping. I'm like, Oh my goodness. So I was like, I'm gonna have to do it to stay competitive. And, yeah, it was expensive to ship. So that was a learning curve. I'm like, I should have really thought about this, because it was hard to ship. It was heavy and it was very long, so I had to go buy a medium sized moving box to fit it. That was the only thing I could fit it in. And then UPS was the cheapest, and it was like 25 bucks to ship it, and I still made a good profit. I had paid $10 for it at a yard sale and sold it for 89 so, I mean, I may, I did fine, but I was like, no wonder. I mean, the price is so high you have to pay so much to ship it. So, yeah, I learned about that. I was like, oh. And I was hopeful that I wouldn't have to buy a box, but I was like, I almost made it a year without having to buy a box. It's pretty good. So, yeah, yeah. Well,
Suzanne Wells:Amazon comes in handy for that. Just, you know, if you're you're an Amazon orderer, then save those boxes. I can't recall having to buy a box either. Well, I did buy some from Uline for Christmas ornaments. Okay, they're like a seven by seven cube, because when the post office switched over to ground advantage, I quit using the priority supplies, because most things get sent ground advantage and it's cheaper. I think those boxes were, like, 10 cents a piece was it wasn't a big deal, but, yeah, that was a game changer when they switched over to ground advantage, because you can offer that and priority. You can use anything for priority. You don't have to use the priority supplies, as you know. Yeah, but for ground advantage, you cannot use the priority supplies, right? I did have a couple slip through when that first changed over. I'm like, oh shoot, I use a priority box, and it didn't come back. They didn't really care. Maybe they gave us a grace period to learn the new system. But, yeah, I have neighbors and friends that save their boxes, and that's, that's something you really don't have to pay for anymore.
Unknown:No, no, and it's good. I mean, my oldest is very that generation loves they're wanting to save the environment, which I'm all for. So he loves that I can do something with these boxes that I'm getting on my porch all the time.
Suzanne Wells:Absolutely, yeah. And I love that, that generation cares. They do. They do, yeah, four things. They're gonna have to clean up all of our plastic in the ocean and all that stuff that we did in our generation thinking that plastic was so great. You know? The thing that gets me is, I think we need to go back to regular dental floss, those pick things everywhere, on the ground, that's gonna, that's gonna be a problem at some point. Those used to be the pop top cans, you know? And that was a problem, and then they fixed that, but anyway, kind of this is the pet peeve edition, yes, okay, well, we've just about made it to the end. Did you have any final tips that you want to give the listeners?
Unknown:No, I think my biggest tip as far as when you're looking for stuff to sell is when you're at a yard sale and you see something new in the box, make sure you scan that barcode and see what it's selling for. You know, had listed on money, making money that How to Train Your Dragon. It was $1 and I never would have thought that would have sold for what it sold for. I got it here,$49 it was 4999 and I'm like, wow, how in the world is something like that. But also had monopoly Lord of the Rings game, I'd say I did at the yard sale, and I paid a couple dollars, and it sold for 40 bucks. So,
Suzanne Wells:so the How To Train Your Dragon? Was that a game or a book or what?
Unknown:No, it was a movie. So this was an action, okay, movie, yeah, it was a movie. So,
Suzanne Wells:yeah, I know it was a movie, but the item you sold, oh yeah, it was,
Unknown:it's like a little figurine, right, right, yeah, okay, yeah, because that was, that was, yeah, back, okay, it was not, it was called the Toothless figure. So, okay, yeah, and it just happened to be one that was really popular. So I scan, and I have found so many new in the box games that, you know, are worth something. If something's new in the box, I'm going to take the time to go ahead and scan and see what it's selling for. And I had Yankee Candles, same thing. I ran into a bunch of those, and they were discontinued. Cents, and picked that up for $4 I sold it for 40. So it was like, just, yeah, it's easy. And it that still had it sent. So my biggest thing is just take that extra time to look it up, if you even if you don't think it because that dragon was covered in dust had been in somebody's addict look like. And I was like, wow. Okay, so just taking that extra time and then not buy up a bunch of things that in the beginning, don't create that death pile, don't get that started. I was going to, I guess I thought I was going to do retail arbitrage. I don't know. I had followed someone on YouTube, and they gave me bad advice. They said that was the way to go. And I went to Dollar Tree and bought them out on Little Pet Shop figurines. I ended up giving them away to like, local donation centers, you know, for the children, um, toy drives and stuff. So
Suzanne Wells:Well, the the problem with retail arbitrage or wholesale or anything like that, that's easy is how many 1000s of other sellers are going to be doing it too. I mean, it's it's work to go to yard sales and find those unique items and go to thrift stores and make good selections of items that eBay is not covered up with. And I learned that doing Amazon from 2009 to about 2014 and that almost bankrupted me, because you're just everybody's out there doing it, and you're buying all this inventory and sending it in to FBA. And if you can do it, other people can do it. So that's when I decided to get out of the the race to the bottom, they call it. I lost a lot of money on inventory I couldn't sell, and went back to eBay to do more unique and collectibles, because that's that's really where the money is. You'll end up chasing your tail. Doing retail arbitrage, because just think about dollar dollar tree, which should be called dollar 25 tree. Now, how many of those are there in the United States and Canada, and how many sellers can go to those stores and get the same thing?
Unknown:Yes, yeah, that was a huge mistake. And well,
Suzanne Wells:no, it was a learning curve. Yes, yes, I know. I know, for the the rare mugs and the toys and that kind of thing that it, it's more work doing those one at a time items, but you're not going to lose money. And you know, it's like the Yankee Candles. If they're discontinued, you might those are slow sellers. I do those too, but if they're discontinued, they're only going to get more rare. Yeah, they sit in your closet for a couple years. Yeah, and when they sell, it's a good sell. Okay?
Unknown:Well, it's good to know that they are some that said they said a while because that I've only sold a couple, and both of them so really quick. But I think, like I said, I was the only listing for both scents. So it was velvet Woods was the scent, and apparently it was hard to find at the time that I listed it so well,
Suzanne Wells:that's their business model, along with Bath and Body Works, is creating these scents and only having them for a short time, and then you fall in love with them, and then you can't get them anymore, and so you go to the secondary market of eBay or other online sites, and you can get them, but it's going to cost you. Yeah, that's their business model is to constantly have new scents coming out. Sometimes they'll bring back an old one, but they never smell the same.
Unknown:Yeah, yeah. And I mean that basically. And then don't miss the free boxes at yard sales, I found several things in free boxes, those little Hello Kitty pockets back in the day, I found several of those, and they were in a free box. She said, please just take them all and ever they sold between 30 and$60 a piece, these little lockets that used to lock, you know, diaries, because people are buying back their childhood, as you say so. And there was a diary spotty Dotty, that's from the same line, Hello Kitty, you know, that had been written in on the first page, even, and it sold for 3499 I'm like, nice, how in the world, so just kind of, that's what. Yeah, it's the
Suzanne Wells:nostalgia. And, like you said, bite back your childhood. And even some items aren't from your childhood, they're just things they don't make
Unknown:anymore. Yes, yeah. So that free box, definitely take the time to look through it and take it with you and donate the rest. If you don't, don't have the time there to do it so
Suzanne Wells:well, I'm sorry you had the retail arbitrage experience, and it can work. It's just sometimes you don't know how much to buy, and then you're stuck with it. Yeah. And if you have that discontinued Yankee Candle, somebody, at some point is going to want that. Yes, yeah, you might, you might have to wait till you're the only one that has it. Yep, that's your 10 for sale on eBay. You know, those might have to sell out before you're the only one. But it does happen. So yeah, anyway, I will let you go and get to your yard sales or whatever else you're doing this morning. And thanks again for joining us, and we will see you on Facebook group. Alright,
Unknown:thank you. Thanks. Have a good day, alright,
Suzanne Wells:okay, no parting words this week, since my story was at the beginning next week, my guest is Stephanie. She was just a delight to chat with. She has close to 5000 items in her inventory, all hand picked. You may have seen her sale on the Facebook group or my Facebook business page for some fabrics, she sold for $900 incredible sale. So make sure to join us next week for that conversation. Keep listing and stay focused on your business. Happy Selling everybody. Bye, bye for now you