eBay the Right Way

eBay Seller Chat with Cathie in Canada: Incredible Sales - $100 Keychain, $300 Leopard Shoes, $375 Glass Thing 😳

• Suzanne A. Wells • Episode 240

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Unknown:

Hello, hello, everyone out there in podcast land. This is episode number 240 of eBay the right way. Today's date is October 22 2025 and my guest is Kathy, who is located in Canada. I do have an announcement this week. Once a quarter, I give you all an update on what I have added to the premium library. This is my online school for resellers. So as of today, October 22 2025 there are 652 lessons, for a total of 153 hours of education. In addition to those videos, there are audio files and PDF documents. Everything is downloadable, and you can keep it forever. You also have unlimited email support directly with me, as well as the option for one on one zoom calls when you need some extra help. All of that is included with your membership for only $20 a month. So here is what has been added since my last update in July, and I do add new content every week. Okay, there is a video about a funky, weirdo thing that happened within the USPS. This happened to me. It may happen to you. So I explained that. Talked about the eBay auto price drop feature pros and cons of that. The big lesson in August was St John clothing versus St John's Bay clothing. That is a 20 minute lesson. People get those confused, and if you're not a clothing seller, you wouldn't know. But even if you're not a clothing seller, you might want to start looking for this stuff when you're out in the wild, anywhere you buy your inventory, because this stuff is really high dollar, and it is quite different than St John's Bay. So that was a 20 minute lesson. We've also got what I call throwbacks, where they're older lessons, but the content is still relevant. So that's called Evergreen content, so just reminders of tricks and tips and little nuances about eBay that you might not know. So there are two of those. And then I also talked about the eBay automated feedback, that's when eBay is leaving feedback on behalf of the buyer, and how that's working. Okay? September, the big lesson there was a one on one zoom call tutorial regarding promoted listings. So if you're confused about those don't know what to do, don't know how to do it, that lesson is very informative. This was a very comprehensive lesson with a lot of details that you might not be aware of, members have found that very helpful. There is a keyword lesson. Keywords are very important in connecting with your buyers, knowing what they're entering in search so they can land on your listings. There's also a demo regarding something on the eBay dashboard that I sort of stumbled into that was very helpful as far as research and evaluating what you're doing right and what you're doing wrong. Also two throwbacks that month, September, getting ready for holiday, selling some specific and detailed strategies you can take to increase your holiday selling. And then we have a Q and A which is 30 minutes long, that is an audio file like a podcast, where I compile the students questions and answer. Them. So while some of these situations may not have happened to you, yet, they may happen in the future, and you will have a leg up on handling them. And so far for October, we've got a couple of throwbacks. One is preventing returns. Very important during holiday selling, what you can do to prevent returns. Also another keyword lesson, a very fancy French word that is gaining popularity in an esthetic right now, as well as another zoom call posted with the students permission regarding store categories and some nuances there. And I've got two lessons in progress right now. One is a collectible item that I learned about and had no idea they were so valuable, as well as an important detail when you are doing research on the app that you may not be aware of. So lots of great information there. I'm constantly adding new content, and I'm always available for my students. Whenever there is a question, problem, frustration, my guarantee is an answer within 24 hours. Usually it's much, much faster. So if you have not experienced a premium library, I challenge you to try it for a month and see what you can get out of it, because there really is something for everyone. Okay, commercial over, let's get on to the chat with Kathy.

Suzanne Wells:

You welcome back listeners. I have Kathy with us in this episode. And how are you doing this morning? I'm doing good. Suzanne, thank you. Good. Okay. And where are you located? I live in Kingsville,

Unknown:

Ontario, Canada. I'm on the we're right on the north shores of Lake Erie. Okay, actually, like 3030, miles south is Cleveland, okay, 30 miles north is Detroit. So we're in a, like, a funny little part of Canada that dips down most southern point in all of Canada.

Suzanne Wells:

Okay. Oh, interesting, yeah, we'll talk about that as far as how you do your business and sourcing and all that kind of stuff. Okay, so let's start off with how you started eBay, what got you started, and when that was,

Unknown:

hey, well, I retired little over seven years ago, and it was always kind of in the back of my mind that I would probably do something. I retired pretty early and, and I've always had a love of thrifting, yard sales, etcetera, so, and I worked in finance, so I feel like I had a good head for numbers and, yeah, so it just kind of went from there,

Suzanne Wells:

okay, so there wasn't one specific thing that made you think, I'm going to start selling on eBay.

Unknown:

Well, I just thought it, you know, it'd be a nice way to just have a little bit of a cushion, like financially. Mm, hmm, you know. And I'm, I'm surrounded by things that I like to change what I have so and just browsing on eBay and seeing what other people sold, I thought, well, I could find that, or I have that, you know.

Suzanne Wells:

So you started seven years ago when you retired.

Unknown:

No, I didn't, I really put it off. I started in 2022,

Suzanne Wells:

okay,

Unknown:

and I that was just kind of, I basically took, like, about three months, just, you know, getting into it, getting a bank account set up, watching podcasts, seeing how other people did things and just really, kind of trying to fine tune it before I jumped in with both feet.

Suzanne Wells:

So Well, that was smart. Yeah, even though we, even if you try to prepare, there's still things where you're going to make mistakes. Yes, differently, it's but really jumping in is the best way just just start

Unknown:

doing it. I know I was, I was I over thought so many things, postage. I just studied and studied how to do postage and and then when I signed up, I found out you could buy all your postage through eBay, and I had no clue how easy it would be. You know, I thought, How am I going to calculate, like, things that go out of the country, and weighing things properly and everything? And it turned out to be so easy.

Suzanne Wells:

That part, good. Yeah. Okay, so let's talk about that is the can. In a post still on strike or whatever going on with

Unknown:

that? Yes, unfortunately, they are. It's over about two and a half weeks now. So you know, you get so excited about everybody talking about fourth quarter and how things are really going to ramp up towards Christmas and and then this happens. But I mean, UPS is very reliable, so and eBay has sort of directed us to use ups for anything right now. So okay, FedEx, I just find UPS rates are better in my area, so I stick

Suzanne Wells:

with them right now? Well, yeah, I kept seeing the notifications about Canada Post, and I thought, well, how are those poor people shipping their items if their post office is shut down?

Unknown:

Yeah, it's, it's really awful. I hope it gets straightened out. You know, they want higher wages. There's a ton of things like, they're they're still doing delivery to houses five days a week, and financially, I think that's not feasible any longer. You know, people just don't receive mail as often as they used to. You know, some days like, you get a flyer in your mailbox. That's it, you know. So, you know, that's something the government's kind of stepped in and hoping that they'll Canada Post will see that as a an option to continue, you know, better business. So I guess with like Amazon and online shopping, it is different. People don't receive as much in their mailbox. It's, you know, they don't know, right? People get built their bills online now. So really, you know, there's like, correspondence and flyers, that's really about it. You know,

Suzanne Wells:

I wish the USPS would quit with the junk mail I know I ever get, you know, is just all this, oh, we want to put on a new roof. Call us, you know, Windows and all the home stuff, right? Never bought from these catalogs, ever. No, everybody gets it. It's just in that zip code. So that would save so much money, I know prevent waste.

Unknown:

It is. It's just paper

Suzanne Wells:

waste and yeah, I just, I don't know why, in this day and age, we still get all that stuff. Because, I don't know, through email too,

Unknown:

yeah, you're still

Suzanne Wells:

getting the the junk mail there. Yes, maybe one day, yeah, okay, well, let's talk about things that you sell and what what your business looks like.

Unknown:

Okay, I currently have, I'm right around 450 items. So I worked really hard to get there, because when it started out like I was, I was gung ho to get right into it when I finally went through all the steps of setting it up, only to find out that I had a limit of 25 items. Oh, my goodness, it was a real I was really let down about that. But it didn't take long with communicating with them and getting a few sales that they increased it and increased it, and then, before you know it, it's, it's like, unlimited I can have unlimited items now.

Suzanne Wells:

So, oh, good, okay,

Unknown:

just this year I I signed up to have a store because over 250 items is when you start paying per item, each to a list. And it was 34 cents an item. So a store was $28 a month. And just doing the math, I could see that I wanted to list a lot more than that. So yeah, I signed up for that, and it pays for itself. So it's Yeah, yeah, yeah. Let me get this a few extra features of being able to run sales. And I'm not sure if coupons are a store feature, but you do get and then do you guys get the $25

Suzanne Wells:

supplies coupon with a store

Unknown:

I actually just got a$35 one yesterday. Yeah, I might have got one in the last quarter, but I didn't really pay a lot of attention to it, because I don't know, I don't know why, but I was shopping. I was looking last night to see what I could buy with that $35 so, oh, good. It'll be great. I'll just get some colored tape or boxes or whatever. So, right. So that

Suzanne Wells:

is a quarterly coupon, yes, okay, yeah, I'm glad that that y'all get that. I hear from people in other countries, and it's it can be different in every country, Australia, United Kingdom, depending on where you are, as to what perks you get with a store. So I think that coupon is the one everybody likes.

Unknown:

Thanks, yeah, yeah, I'll

Suzanne Wells:

use tape and mailers and all that stuff. That's

Unknown:

right,

Suzanne Wells:

yeah, yeah, okay. Well, what kind of things do you sell?

Unknown:

I sell everything, everything I've had, I mean, I, I don't go for clothes a whole lot, but I have put up like sports jackets, like, like jackets for sports teams and things that would attract that crowd. And found a few, just a few concert T shirts, some shoes, running shoes. That's sort of on the light end of all my listings, I would say more like collectibles. And, you know, I always try to, I don't know, I always try to think about what men might be looking for too, just to keep things rolling, you know. So I've put up coins, and I've got some followers that look for that. Okay, yeah, just a very wide variety. I'm really not afraid to chip anything big. I sold a like a lawn chair in a bag a few weeks ago. Okay, pretty big, yeah, so I don't mind that challenge

Suzanne Wells:

was it a vintage one with

Unknown:

no you're gonna laugh. It was, I went to a thrift store in a town nearby and found two folding lawn chairs that fit in their own bag, and they were from the Masters golf tournament in Georgia, yes. And as soon as I saw the green color with the little yellow flag, I thought, Oh, I think I know what that is, and it was. And so I put them up separately, and I've sold one already so

Suzanne Wells:

well, that's interesting. I wonder how, like, how they got up there.

Unknown:

I know it's got to be someone here that maybe has someone in the family that they follow around to those or, know, yeah, I was talking to my uncle, my uncle who watches golf every weekend, I said, I told him about these lawn chairs. I said, you watch. I'm going to be mailing that thing back to Georgia. But where, where did they go? It just stayed in Ontario. The one, oh, they just stayed in Canada, okay, but the other one's still for sale. So, oh, okay. Well, that's a good call. Yeah. I thought that was interesting, yeah, so it wasn't, it wasn't a huge profit, like, oh well, medium. Like, I paid$18 each for them. I knew they would be priced a little bit more. And anyways, I sold one for $70

Suzanne Wells:

so, oh, that's great.

Unknown:

I was happy with

Suzanne Wells:

that. Yeah, three times what you pay? Yes, yeah. And so how did you ship them? Just get a big box.

Unknown:

I actually had bought a launch here in a bag from Costco months before, and I still had that box. Okay, it was almost tall enough, like it fit all the way around. It wasn't quite tall enough, so I ended up just, like popping another little box over top and then taping the whole thing together. And it worked out perfectly. So, oh, good. I just use brown tape to cover up, like some of the UPC codes and things on the box.

Suzanne Wells:

And so it collapsed into, like a cylinder shape.

Unknown:

That's right, lawn chair in a bag where it gathers that lawn chair I was thinking, like the big square ones. Oh, those folding ones. Yeah, right, yeah, this was the collapsible Yeah. Okay.

Suzanne Wells:

Well, aren't you smart? Well, I picked on you because I saw you posting on the Facebook group different sales, and I thought, well, we need to get her on the podcast and talk about some of her sales. So did you make notes of some of your higher dollar sales?

Unknown:

Um, yeah. Well, I mean, yeah, I guess I did. Yep. You said interesting sales as well. So sure, anything you want to talk about? Yeah, it's probably about, I don't know. I think earlier this year, maybe February or so, I was in our big thrift store here. Is called Value Village, but it's, oh yeah. I've been to those. Yeah. It's called savers in the US, apparently. Well, it was called Value

Suzanne Wells:

Village for a long time. Oh, was it? And I think it changed over maybe in the last five years, but Yeah, been to be a Value Village in my day.

Unknown:

Yeah, I've got three within half an hour drive of my Oh, lucky you, yeah. And I've qualified for the discount for a number of years now, so Tuesday's 30% off. Oh, good. And so I happened to be in there one day, and I was shopping around, and they had just brought a new card out, and I noticed this art glass parrot. It was probably about 14 inches high. It was very beautiful. And I thought right away, that looks like Murano glass, but the sticker was gone, but I could. Going to see the oval sticky spot, like where it would have been anyways, I checked it all over. My daughter was with me. I had her double check it for chips or, you know, I just wanted to make sure it was perfect before I bought it. Because even with the discount, it was $15 and I know that's not a lot, but I like to keep things like under $10 actually. Yeah, that's the challenge, right? You know, to make sure you have a profit. Anyways, I had it up for quite a long time, and I think I had it for around 425, after I did my research, and someone offered me three, $375 in the summer. So I thought, I am taking that,

Suzanne Wells:

oh my gosh, that is a good flip.

Unknown:

Yeah, that was a really good profit, yeah? And I, you know, I, you always hold your breath for those 30 days thinking like, are they going to like it? Are they going to challenge the fact that it may not be authentic or something? You know, once those 30 days go by, it's like, oh, now I can breathe easy and know that it's sold and and it was like, about 60 days after he bought it, he finally sent me a message saying how much he loved it and it was good, and loved the colors and everything. So, yeah, that was a good one.

Suzanne Wells:

That was a great one, absolutely, that's what keeps us addicted to eBay.

Unknown:

Oh, I know, I know. And just listening to other people's podcasts and and also YouTube, you know, videos, I kind of learned early what was popular. And you know, you follow along and see what like loses popularity in the new, big, hot thing. And when people start talking about the older digital cameras, I thought this is crazy, like I probably have, you know, two or three of them in a bag somewhere around him or from over the years. You know you might go on vacation and decide you want to buy an underwater one or whatever, you know. So anyways, I did end up having two of them. I sold them within weeks of putting them up. One I sold a little cannon digital for$220 nice, and another one for 199 so I thought that was fantastic. You know, they were just sitting doing nothing.

Suzanne Wells:

Do you know how old they were? They were,

Unknown:

I'm gonna guess over 10 years old, because I've used cameras for so long, or, I mean, my phone for so long, right? You know, the camera on my phone is where all my vacation pictures and things are now. So, yeah, I cleaned them up, took my SD card out and cleared my picture

Suzanne Wells:

off. They went. I have this habit of trying to profile buyers. Like, what is the buyer profile of somebody who buys a digital camera? What are they? Amateur photographer. Like hobby, hobby, a hobbyist, and they just like digital better than what you can do on your phone. Because I'm like you, I haven't used a digital camera in probably 20 years.

Unknown:

No, I know. Yeah, from what I hear, people are trying to get away from their phones now and getting back to that, just keeping it simple. And so I would love to know

Suzanne Wells:

if the listeners know what is a profile of a digital camera buyer, buyer. I love to know that because I like to understand my buyers and what they want, and you know why they want it. It's you remember it more.

Unknown:

Oh yeah, doing this with

Suzanne Wells:

that thing, and it is helpful. And, yeah, you're right. Not everybody wants the latest technology. I'll tell you, my iPhone. I got it in 2021 it's like, it's old in teenagers view, probably it's fine. It did what I needed to do. And I just, that's the way I am. I use things until they're not usable, right? I just don't constantly upgrade all the time. No, me, and I'm just more of a person that doesn't like waste and no, but yeah, this, well, it's like

Unknown:

your phone company sends you emails all the time to you know it's time for an upgrade and but that's just added onto your phone bill. When you I know you have the paperwork again, I know your budget all of a sudden. But really, the

Suzanne Wells:

I don't, I just don't do a whole lot on it, as far as what it's capable of. No me, I'll do use it as a phone and talk to people, right? Sting, check my email when I'm out. Yes, I have this terrible habit of when I'm unwinding at night, like watching TV, all this information is dropping into my head. I wonder, what about this? I wonder that. I wonder, what's the percent? And I sit there and Google things. Things watching TV just to satisfy my curiosity, because my mind never shuts off. I do like that part, but I don't like a whole bunch of apps cluttering it up. I don't anything I can do on the computer. I do, you do? It might be because of fat fingers and old person vision,

Unknown:

I know I text with one finger, and I look at my grandchildren, they all got their thumbs up there, and I'm like, oh my god, I couldn't imagine what my text would look like in the end, if I was using my thumbs well.

Suzanne Wells:

And I do use the speak to text, but not all the time. Sometimes I'm just tired of talking, and I don't even want to talk to my phone, you know, so enough about technology. I mean, I embrace technology, but only if I will have a purpose for it to have a whole bunch of stuff on my phone just because I can.

Unknown:

Yeah, I I feel like a lot of that went away when I stopped working, but I always surprise myself when something actually works when I try to do it. Right now, I just bought a label printer, and I'm having a heck of a time.

Suzanne Wells:

So oh yes, that is just maddening. Last week and was getting my internet and had everything arranged with AT and T they were supposed to ship my stuff and it be waiting at my door the new place when I got there. Well, yeah, there was a little bubble mailer there. All it had in it was two cables and a some kind of adapter. And so it was supposed to be the router, and you go on the ATT Smart Home app and just set it up yourself. And I called them, and I'm like, I got a package, but there's no router in it. There's nothing for me to set up. And so yeah, they screwed up, and they admitted it, and they're like, Well, how about if we send a tech out tomorrow morning first thing to set that up for you. And I said, Yes, that was like, no charge, because they screwed up. And i Great. One more thing I don't have to do. That's right. Technology does not work it. I kind of have a meltdown. Yeah, I have to have it. We have it's not like I just want to sit around and watch movies. No? Yeah, I gotta have it. It's your day to day. Sure enough, the guy came 830 the next morning and took care of it 15 minutes. It was just one more thing I didn't have to do. So that's router not arriving was like a blessing,

Unknown:

and the tech can do it with their eyes closed. Oh, I know.

Suzanne Wells:

And it wasn't even our like, Yeah, anything I can, you know, delegate to somebody else. I'm doing it. It's good, yeah? So anyway, enough about me. So you have any other sales on your list you want to talk

Unknown:

about? Well, one thing that came up in a lot of the videos that I watched to watch for these Queen embroidery hoops. Have you heard of Yes, ma'am, yes. And the more I thought about it like it just kept coming up on everything I watched. I thought, I feel like I have one of those because I have so many embroidery Oh, I went to where I kept those craft type things in my basement, and sure enough, there was one in there.

Suzanne Wells:

You are kidding. So that was the universe. Just like, hey, here it is, here it is. And then you're like, I got it,

Unknown:

and I sold it very quickly for $260 and that was very early on and when I was selling so that, you know, just something like that really keeps you going.

Suzanne Wells:

You know, yes, that is a highly sought after item. Yes,

Unknown:

and I'm always looking for them. Still, I don't know if I'll ever find a second one. But you know, when I go to the thrift store, I have about three main areas that I check first before I actually roam around. And you know, one day, maybe another.

Suzanne Wells:

Did you know anything about those Queen embroidery hoops? No, not at all. And do you know where the one you had came from?

Unknown:

Probably an auction box or something. Because I used to go to live auctions, like, like, 20 years ago, just for entertainment. They were on Thursday nights. And you know, you might see one thing, but you had to buy the whole entire box. So I I'm sure it probably came from something like that,

Suzanne Wells:

because I didn't know if maybe it was my great aunts and I know,

Unknown:

no, I don't think so. I never had anything left, like from family members or anything like that.

Suzanne Wells:

See, you just know what's hiding in your own house Exactly. Never learn enough about this business, because this happens to people all the time. They'll learn something, and they'll find it within a week at a grass or something, and it's yes, it's so on their radar before, yeah,

Unknown:

that Google lens is addictive, that's for sure. I'm sure you have that on your phone, because we all do, yes, I do have that, yeah, if it's, if it's a business app, yes, I will use it, yeah, but I just wish eBay would evolve to where we could search by photo,

Suzanne Wells:

that that would be a game changer.

Unknown:

It's on the eBay app on my phone, but it's not nearly as. It doesn't bring up enough. It basically just skips right over it, whereas Google lens finds it

Suzanne Wells:

every Yes, you know, one more step to go look

Unknown:

on Google lens, right? Yeah.

Suzanne Wells:

So, okay, so you are listing on eBay Canada, yes. Have you ever listed on

Unknown:

eBay USA? No, no, I don't know what the what the difference would be, or advantage would be.

Suzanne Wells:

Well, just a larger audience, if you had like, let's say that Queen embroidery hoop, if you listed it on eBay USA, you would reach, you know, people in USA, and maybe at a higher price because there's more customers

Unknown:

in addition.

Suzanne Wells:

And it'll say, you know, that you're located in Canada. So I used to sell on eBay United Kingdom. Oh, did you a long time ago? Like, yeah, 2009 maybe it was kind of the thing that we would Americans were selling on that site, selling American products that they couldn't get, okay? And yes, eBay UK was the largest in Europe at the time. So you just have to go on that site to list your item, and it has to be listed in their currency. Okay. Oh, anyway, I've talked with some Canadians that that do that kind of thing. So it would be listed in two places, I guess if you all right, Canada and then United States. Just something to think about if you have high dollar item that you maybe wanted to get the maximum price for.

Unknown:

Do you think that's because some people, like people in the US as an example? Do you think they shop strictly in the US? First of all, before

Suzanne Wells:

there's a filter, there's a filter you can pick for item location, okay? Worldwide, North America, us, okay? I usually, when I'm shopping, I usually choose us, just because the shipping is going to be less, right. You know, the mailing is buying anything collectible or really expensive or anything like that. Okay, but I don't know something to play around with. I know Sherry, who's been on the podcast. She is in

Unknown:

the Halifax I have her.

Suzanne Wells:

Okay, so you did hear that podcast? I did. Yeah, okay, so maybe reach out and friend her in the group, just for more information about that, I think pretty much everything she sells is on eBay Canada, but I don't know if she's ever played around with

Unknown:

across board selling on the USA site. Okay, might be some floor. I don't know. I do have a like, I sell to the us all the time, right? Yeah, okay, when people find the things, of course, right, yeah. If, if people are specifically shopping in the US, they see what you mean, yeah, it would be, and they might be filtering you out, right, right? Just, just a thought, yeah.

Suzanne Wells:

And I've also talked with people that live just right on the border over in Canada, and they they drive in to drop off their packages at a US Post Office or one of those postal stores, whatever, right? Just because it's a larger audience to sell to,

Unknown:

yes, yeah, but that could be a hassle. Yeah, I don't know. I don't drive into

Suzanne Wells:

the post office all the time. Might be right? Yeah,

Unknown:

it's just too easy. I have the post office and UPS within five minutes my house.

Suzanne Wells:

So eBay is directing you to use ups during this time where your post office is kind of off the grid. Good for them, yes, for them, for suggesting that and helping you guys figure out how to keep selling. Keep

Unknown:

selling. Yes, well, I have had a few things sent back because of the new tariffs and customs and everything. Are you do you know? Are you up to date on that? Pretty much really well, there used to be what was called de minimis, and anything that went across the border that was under $800 just kind of flew through and didn't get stopped for anything extra, and that has now been eliminated. So I still get a feeling that customs, you know, randomly post things in and lets others go through. Because I haven't had complaints from every single sale that I've had in the USA, but a few I have, like someone bought a porcelain figurine from me a while ago, the value was about$52 and they said ups. Ended up billing them another $32 for processing and tariff so, but I haven't heard that from everyone, so I still feel like it's a just luck of the draw.

Suzanne Wells:

I want, I guess it depends on the item. Because, don't you have to declare what it is if it's going out of the country.

Unknown:

Well, I like, it must be in the code for UPS, like, I don't see it printed on the label when I say, but it must be in the code somehow, I see you do have to fill in, like, the country of origin, so where the item was made. Okay? You know, China's a big no no for for a lot of reasons, but I had mailed a belt out a couple weeks ago, and it was a pretty high sale. It was close to $60 and the person ended up refusing it at the other end because UPS charge and and now that's been going on three weeks now, and I still don't have it back. So like UPS is probably swamped, because our postal system is down, right? This item's out there floating around somewhere.

Suzanne Wells:

Well, I hate that for you. So if you can identify that a certain type of product is having this issue, can you just say shipping to Canada only? Yeah.

Unknown:

I mean, I almost feel like forewarning buyers, if I see they're from the US, you know that they may be hit with something else. But as I said, you know? I mean, there's some people that are probably, you know, money isn't a problem, and you know, they want the item. They just want it, and they'll pay whatever, right? So I don't hear from them, you know? But, yeah, I sold a set of six forks to someone in California, and same thing, it got caught up in that and came back to me, and that was $90 that was a $90 sale. So, oh no, those ones hurt.

Suzanne Wells:

Yeah, they do. So how often does this happen?

Unknown:

Where? Well, that just came into effect the like, August 29 I think it was okay. And I've had about, I'm going to say three or four, okay, so not a lot, like I said, it's a pretty small percentage. But when it's a high sale, it tends to, you know, you've, you know,

Suzanne Wells:

any kind of return, yeah,

Unknown:

just $100

Suzanne Wells:

item coming back, like you

Unknown:

finally found someone that actually wanted it or needed it for their set or whatever, and then it just doesn't work out. So, yeah, yeah, it's just

Suzanne Wells:

the, I I call it occupational hazard. I know there's things that we have to deal with. And yeah, I do sell. I guess it's 50 to 60% clothing still, just because, and people just shy away from clothing so much because of all the returns. And it's like, well, not really, because it depends on how you do it. If you okay, if you put measurements, they may not read them. Or, you know, how clothing is, you got to try it on. I know measurements aren't going to solve every problem, but it's something you can do proactively. Another one is they might say they're going to return it, and they don't, because, you know how life is busy and, oh, this package got piled up on the dining room table. It's underneath everything. Or they just don't want to fool with it, or they don't know how to print a label, right? I've gotten all kinds of reasons.

Unknown:

Then the time goes by, yeah,

Suzanne Wells:

and then then it times out, and there's nothing we can do because it won't do it on the eBay workflow. So they, they can ask eBay if they'll step in, but really, I get maybe only one return a month, if that's really not actually get back to me. Yeah. So. So I don't want to say that returns are the kiss of death with clothing, but no people that are a little hesitant to delve into clothing, that's their first concern. Oh, there's going to be all these returns. And it's like, and it depends on what you're selling, if you're selling a vintage Lily Pulitzer maxi dress, and it doesn't even have to fit. It's for somebody to hang in their shop window, or that type of stuff on vintage clothing. Yes, I don't think you're going to see as many returns, because people maybe aren't actually wearing

Unknown:

it. No, and they're not going to find them every day. Yeah, you can't.

Suzanne Wells:

They're not making them anymore. No, no, yeah, that's just my my spiel on selling clothing is all bad,

Unknown:

and you do really well with bathing suits, don't you? I do well with

Suzanne Wells:

swimwear, and usually it I don't. Maybe three or four returns a year. Yeah, didn't fit, and I get that with I'm that way if, if I try to buy clothing online, it better have a return policy, because I don't know if it's going to fit. Usually what I do if it doesn't fit is I just resell it on eBay and make more than I paid anyway.

Unknown:

Really, some people would probably just like, give it to a friend or a family member, right?

Suzanne Wells:

So that, or they do return it, but they pay, you know, $8 shipping. One way, they pay $20 for the item, and they're paying $8 shipping back to me, so they're just out. And as a finance person, you're like, why do people do this that's not looking at what they're paying for the shipping both ways, or they don't care? Mm, hmm, or, I don't know, but it baffles me, like you're out$16 and you have nothing to show for it, right?

Unknown:

Right? It was like, the point they didn't want that bathing suit,

Suzanne Wells:

right? So in the finance world, what, what kind of job did you

Unknown:

do? Well, I worked for the municipality, and I don't really know if that's what it's called in the States or not, but my own town, like, I started out a at a utility company where we did billing for electricity and water for all the customers, and then it ended up being wrapped in with the actual municipal like the township office, okay? And then I was more into billing for taxes, so we billed for property taxes and did collections and balancing and all that type of thing. So like, city government. Yes, that's right. Okay, yes, perfect. Okay, yeah. Well, it's great that you have a head for numbers, because you need it in this business. Oh, yes, I like everything to know. It really bothered me at first, how they I couldn't understand why the fees were so much, until I finally figured out that they charge you on the postage as well right edge. And so many people like I see people writing into your group, even that said, you know, I don't understand why this fee is so high. And someone always jumps in and tells

Suzanne Wells:

them that, yeah, it's the IRS. They're tracking money in and money out. Yeah, count that as earnings. Yes, it's plus the shipping. But it's your job as entrepreneur to keep up with what you spent on shipping so you stuck that out, right, right? It's not all bad,

Unknown:

no, it's just

Suzanne Wells:

those numbers. When you pull up your sales numbers on eBay. A lot of people don't factor in, oh, that includes the shipping. So, yes, really not as high as it looks like. That's

Unknown:

right, yeah. Take the shipping off. Take the eBay fees off,

Suzanne Wells:

right? Yeah. But where else? Where else can you buy a glass parrot for $15 and seller for, would you say? 365, 375, 75 like, where else can you do that?

Unknown:

Nowhere, not at a yard sale. No, right, exactly.

Suzanne Wells:

So, okay, do you have any more sales on your list that you want to talk about?

Unknown:

Well, one of the places I buy from is, I know you've talked about the auctions that you do here at auctions online. We have a local company that wells, I guess they're across Canada and the states. They're called Max sold. Yes, they're they have them down here too. Yeah. So it's all online bidding for about a week, and then you have to show up at the place to pick things up. That's how it works here. I don't know if those are the same ones that you get involved in or not.

Suzanne Wells:

I have not. There weren't any really close to me, and just haven't delved into that.

Unknown:

Okay, I've gotten into quite a few of them, but you do have to go pick your items up on. On the set day afterwards. So there's a city about 30 miles away, and there's quite a few there, but there's actually a lot locally as well. So one of the things I bought, I was kind of thought was interesting. I watch it down to the wire, you know, to see what people are not bidding on like,

Suzanne Wells:

exactly, so I was getting neglected, yes,

Unknown:

yeah. So the very end, I ended up winning a bid on a set of silverware. It wasn't very large. It was only 18 pieces. I think there was, like four sets of four, and then a couple serving pieces or something. But so I got the silverware and the box that came in for $8 it turned out to be Reed and Barton, which is like popular right now, yes. So I sold the flatware alone for $75 and then I just recently stole the storage the silverware box for $48 so it turned out to be a really good flip. So what

Suzanne Wells:

was your total investment on that $8 and your total sales were

Unknown:

75 plus, basically 50, so $125 so excellent. Yeah, for you, that turned out

Suzanne Wells:

really good. And I wonder why here I am again, trying to figure it out, like, why that was neglected. Was it?

Unknown:

I think it was the photograph. It was sitting in a corner on the kitchen floor. It might have had some placemats with it or something, but it just didn't like if it would have been up on the dining room table the pictures even, I think someone would have paid more attention to it. But okay, you know, that has a lot to do with what catches people's eye, you know? So, yes, it was

Suzanne Wells:

so important, that's all the advertising they

Unknown:

have is right? It was a dark little corner of the kitchen, and there it was, and it turned out to be very profitable. So that was a good one. That's wonderful, nice. Yeah, you saw that key chain? I put it on your 100. Yeah? Talk about that, yeah. So I was at that was from Value Village. The key chains are just on hooks around the jewelry section, and, okay, I'm kind of in a habit of just looking through those, because for quite a while I was getting all of the little hang I don't know what they're really called on coach purses. They put those little, I think they call it or Yeah, yeah, yeah, charms, yeah. So there were quite a few of those showing up, and I sold, like, five of those grouped together for about $75 and, you know, probably didn't like I picked them up in baskets at yard sales and, you know, Value Village. So, yeah, I found this one at Value Village, and I ended up paying, I don't know, total of about $3 for it. It said Porsche on it, okay, when I looked closer, when I got home, I found the sterling silver mark. It was made in Italy, and I saw quite a few that had sold for pretty good money. So I put it up for$250 just to feel, you know, just to put the feelers out, right? Would catch anyone's eye. And someone in New York offered me 100 and I thought for a $3 investment, there you go. It's yours. So that was a very good one.

Suzanne Wells:

And the item again, was, what kind of FOB? A

Unknown:

Porsche,

Suzanne Wells:

Porsche, right? Okay,

Unknown:

sterling silver FOB Made in Italy, and it was surrounded by mahogany, which is apparently what the steering wheel and the dashboard, I think, are made.

Suzanne Wells:

Yes, okay, so

Unknown:

it all kind of tied in anyways. It just was the right person

Suzanne Wells:

find Yes. Good things come in small packages, don't they?

Unknown:

Yes, that was a good one. Yeah, good for you.

Suzanne Wells:

As far as your your eBay business, do you have certain goals set for how big you want it to be, or how much income you want it to produce, or anything like that? Are you just more? I'm retired, and I'm just having fun with it.

Unknown:

Well, it is basically for fun. I when I started out, I hoped that I would maybe make about an extra $300 a month profit, okay, sort of set my goals kind of low, just to you know, and it's turned out to be, most months is between 500 and$1,000 profit. So very good. I'm very happy

Suzanne Wells:

with that, yeah, and I like that you talk in terms of profit,

Unknown:

yeah, yeah, it really is. I've got quite a few items up on consignment for family members. Okay, I take, kind of settled on taking, like 33% when I say something for them. I'm pretty happy with that, and it's. So now people are bringing me things, which is good. I sold some runners for my daughter a few weeks ago. She had bought them at Value Village. All her kids wore them, and then we sold them for $300 what were they? They were this special. It was a collaboration between Adidas and I can't remember the designer's name, but they were they, so they were a leopard print, and they actually have a tail, a leopard tail, off the back of the shoe. They're like, three dimensional, almost, okay. And anyway, someone found them, and, you know, wrote that they've been looking high and low for them, and there was the right size. And so that was a good one.

Suzanne Wells:

Did they sell for your asking price, or was it an offer? Uh,

Unknown:

no, I actually had reduced it a few times. I started out listing them, I think about 450 because quite a few had sold for that price. But they were, oddly enough, they were, like a man size five and a half, which was, like, really small. Yes, you know. So it either have to be like a small man, or that would be like a lady seven and a half, which is the kind of average. And okay, pretty sure it was a woman that bought them, and so she said she'd been looking all over for them. So, and they don't make them anymore.

Suzanne Wells:

So your daughter had the leopard shoes, and you had the Queen embroidery

Unknown:

hoop, and, yes, I know the stuff just sitting Yeah, have you had

Suzanne Wells:

to turn anybody away that wanted you to sell something like you just didn't want to deal with it? Not

Unknown:

that I can think of. Oh, good. No, no, I'll, I'll sell just about anything. Really, I'm not, you know, I love doing the research. And when I started out, I had little sheets of paper. I did all my research. My daughter would laugh at me. I'd have, like, listed prices and sold prices, and I'd like try to pick a price in the middle and and now I just kind of, you know, look online, and I do a lot of like, when you find something that's sold and it says, sell this yourself, so you write the title switches over. You know, the listing kind of starts for you. I use that quite a bit now, okay, I didn't before. I used to go right from nothing and make my title and all the specifics and everything. Now, how do you factor in the consignment with taxes and what you've actually earned? Well, I would end up like, whatever I pay the person who owns the item. I would put that as the sale price, okay, what I pay them, and so my final profit would just be like my 33% after all fees and, okay, sometimes I put extra insurance on a high priced item, so you can't really factor that into the the postage amount, you know, for the

Suzanne Wells:

customer. So your IRS, I don't know what it's called there, Canada, revenue. Okay, so do you get a 1099, from Ebay?

Unknown:

I don't think I did. No,

Suzanne Wells:

and you may, you may not have made enough to get one, because they keep changing the threshold anyway. Okay, but you do report that, so you're just deducting it out. Yeah, portion, like a real estate agent, you know, whatever portion you like for fees and fees commission, right? Okay, yeah.

Unknown:

Well, I did. I did take the December summary statement and, like, use those numbers, and then, you know, took off, what my purchase prices were, and things like extra postage I might have paid. So, okay, I did a lot of that so

Suzanne Wells:

well I knew you'd be on top of it as a finance person,

Unknown:

I don't know. It goes away after you stop working, though, like I I can't figure out spreadsheets and things like that that other people use. I do a lot of manual stuff works for me. So you

Suzanne Wells:

do what works for you, and you don't have to do all that anymore. No, good. Okay, I was just going to

Unknown:

tell you about one thing. I did an auction on just one item, and I've never done one again. I just don't feel like it went very well. I just, I don't know the right way to do it. I think I need to watch more tutorials or something. So I put a pair of boots up for auction. They were fry boots, and they're very popular. They were selling all over eBay for between seven and $800 right? And I had found them at a yard sale for 10 I thought, I thought I could wear them with extra socks, but they just weren't comfortable. They were just the wrong size for me. So I put them up. And what did I do? I put a I think I put a buy it now, of a little bit higher, and then I started the auction at 400 100. I thought I would be happy with 401 person bid, and that's what I ended up getting,$400 no one else got in on the auction, and no one came along and bought them so well,

Suzanne Wells:

just a little tricky. Sometimes it's trial and error. And did you put a reserve on it, or you just started it at the lowest price you wanted?

Unknown:

What would a reserve be? Well,

Suzanne Wells:

I don't like them, because it's okay. It's like a hidden price that the seller wants. And so let's say you started it at 200 but you weren't going to let it go for less than 400 so 400 would be your reserve, but the buyer doesn't see the amount. So these online auction companies do that, okay, say reserve not met. And I just think it's confusing. I don't like it. Just started at at the lowest bid, you'll take right get only one bid, and we'll let it go. And just in my experience, auctions are better for items truly limited in number, and you just let the market decide what it's worth. So it was something that was too saturated, maybe not that specific boot itself, but fry boots. You know, everybody wants, everybody wants a deal, and bidding $400 on your first bid is kind of like, the buyer might be like, Well, I'm not doing that. I want a $50 starting bid. But you wouldn't let it go for that, right? It does take some practice. And you know, maybe your autographed items, or a rare sports jersey, or those leopard shoes, yeah, like that where it is truly limited in number. It was a limited edition thing, and you're going to let the let the market determine the price. So, yeah, just it takes practice, but yeah, it's not like it used to be with auctions, auctions all the time, and I just go with a price and best offer on everything, and just me too that way you could get feedback from the buyers without selling it too low. So let's say you put 400 on those boots with best offer, and then you you just kept getting offers around 200 Okay, well, that's what, that's what they're going to pay. So now,

Unknown:

right, right, yeah, yeah, experimentation,

Suzanne Wells:

yes, it does take a lot. So we have gotten almost to the end here. Do you have any final words for the listeners as somewhat of a newer seller.

Unknown:

Go with the flow and keep learning. Like, you know, all the YouTube videos I listen to weekly and the podcast that I listen to, there's just little tips from from everybody. Everybody does things a little bit differently, but you can take all of that information and, you know, use it to your best advantage. So that would be my advice. I

Suzanne Wells:

like that. Yes, you never, you're never going to learn everything. No, pick up some new stuff every day in a year, you will be so much further ahead. So that's great advice. So what are you up to this afternoon?

Unknown:

Oh, probably just playing with me eBay. It's a rainy day today, so we had our last hot day yesterday. It was it was 84 I went swimming in a friend's pool for the last time. They're closing it today.

Suzanne Wells:

That's not bad for in Canada, swimming in

Unknown:

October, I know. Well, we took pictures, we put the date on them and made sure we'll remember that good for you. I'm glad you're enjoying your

Suzanne Wells:

retirement and doing some fun things just for you. Yes, so Well, thanks again for coming on and informing us about all the Canadian stuff, and we will see you on the group. Keep posting those items.

Unknown:

Okay, thank you. Suzanne, nice to meet you. Next week, my guest is Mary, who sells on many different platforms, and she will give us an overview of the pros and cons of the sites she uses. I know a lot of listeners out there are interested in learning about other sites you're already reselling. Why not expand your offerings to other sites? So very informative interview there. Okay, thank you again for tuning in every week and listening to this podcast and telling your friends about it. And there's always an open call for anyone who wants to come on the podcast, just contact me through email or Facebook and we can talk about it. I hope you have a profitable and product. Day on eBay. Talk to you next week.

Suzanne Wells:

Bye, everybody you.