eBay the Right Way

eBay Seller Chat with Jason in Arkansas: From Mortgage Guy to Full Time Reseller with 2,000 Items 😳

• Suzanne A. Wells • Episode 243

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Suzanne Wells:

Hello to all you amazing resellers out there in podcast land. This is episode number 243 of eBay the right way. Today's date is November 12, 2025 and my guest is Jason in Arkansas. No announcements this week, so let's dive in. Hello listeners and welcome back. I have a Facebook slash internet star with us today. Jason, how are you doing this morning?

Unknown:

I'm doing well. Thanks for having me. Yeah, I get to talk to you.

Suzanne Wells:

I found you on Facebook in my insomnia scrolling one night, and thought, Wow, you have a big business. And I want to get into talking about how you, how you do all that. So let's start with where you're located.

Unknown:

So I'm in Fayetteville, Arkansas, in the northwest corner amongst the Ozarks. So it's beautiful here.

Suzanne Wells:

Okay, great. And when did you start eBay? And how did that happen?

Unknown:

Yeah, so back in August of 2016 my wife and I were living in Colorado at the moment, at the time in Denver, and we had taken a weekend to go into a mountain town to celebrate our anniversary. And my wife and I loved a thrift and I had sold on eBay before, just odds and ends around the house, electronics and things like that. But as far as, like, turning the clothing business on, I we had gone to a thrift store, and we were just looking around, and I found some pants that a couple pairs of pants that were, like, eight bucks each, and they were higher end outdoor pants. And I knew these were worth a lot of money, so I was honestly looking, I'm looking at them for myself, and I thought, if I don't like them, I'll just flip them online. I don't know why I had that thought, but I just did. It's not something I was doing at the time. And I ended up selling those, and they sold for an average of $40 a piece. And so that got me thinking, after those sold, what else do I what do I have around the house that I can sell, like clothing, or what am I not using anymore? And that's really after that weekend and those sales, I started going to thrift stores, and I was working at the time, but I started going to thrift stores to find stuff to flip, and that kind of started the clothing journey for me.

Suzanne Wells:

Okay, and so that was in 2016 so you've been at it almost 10 years, yeah. And is this your full time income? This

Unknown:

is my full time since 20 April, 2018 okay?

Suzanne Wells:

And talk about what made you take that jump to eBay full time, because that's a scary jump, especially if you have benefits and all of that.

Unknown:

Yeah, it is a scary jump, and that's something I didn't take lightly. Obviously, at the time, that's about a year and a half from the time I started to the time I ended up quitting my job, my wife was working as well. We were, you know, we had great jobs and we had great salaries, but they weren't, it's not like we were bringing in a ton of money, and so we were very careful. And, you know, checking in every once in a while, and I would share with her, you know, like, here's where my business is, here's how much I'm bringing in. I think, you know, the first, like, six to seven months, it was just, I really saw it as a hobby like this is fun. It'll bring in a few extra $100 a month, which will be great for us. And at the time, just like reinvesting all of my profits, I started off with 200 bucks. I reinvested everything back into the business. And so I sold one. I went and bought four more items. I sold those. Went and bought 15 or so. You know, I just continually churning more. And seven months in March is, you know, typically when people are coming out of, like, the slumber of winter and they're starting to buy again, and my sales like shot up. This was 2017, about six to seven months after I started, like, tripled from the month before, and that's when I started thinking, Oh, wow, maybe, maybe I can do this full time. Like, it didn't really, I didn't really think going into it, this will be a full time thing for me. I just thought, I'm having fun and just doing this. And so that's when I started the conversation of, can this be a full time thing? And I started reaching out to another. I had an entrepreneur friend who was very successful and not necessarily flipping clothing, but a different aspect of reselling and and he was just like, hey, you know, most people say or good point of advice is, if you can get 25% of your salary working a part time. Time hustle, then it's a good place to consider going full time. But for me, I'm a little more on the cautious side, so it's like, well, I really want, like, half of my income coming in. So my wife and I, we continue to talk about it, and we were just like, it's not we're not ready yet. We haven't even been through a full retail cycle. Let's just continue to see. So I waited another year after that conversation, I had started to build it up. At this point, you know, about a year and a half in, I had 700 items on online, on eBay only. And honestly, I was at work, and a friend of mine just quit his job on a Monday morning, he just had, he had it on Friday, and he was like, I'm done. And I was thinking, I want to do that. And so, you know, this had been a long going conversation. It wasn't on a whim, but just on this Monday morning, I went to work, and work had just gotten slow, and I had, like, four hours of work to do in eight hours, and I'm just sitting there with those extra four hours just trying to look busy and trying to, like, stretch out my work, and I'm thinking, Man, I really wish I could go build my business full time. Like, that's where all the excitement was for me. And I just, I had this feeling of, I need to quit my job. And so that day, and I took the day to think about it. It's like, William, when he quit his job, it created this like spark in me that was like, man, he did it, and I know he doesn't have any prospects, and I have something going over here. So I took the day, I talked to my wife, and she was like, you know, I trust you, and if you feel like that's the direction to take, then go for it. I talked to a friend and and then I basically said to my manager, hey, can we chat at the end of the day? And I had asked for a raise, like, a few months before that, so I thought they may come and they'd give me a raise, but I thought they're going to offer me more money to stay, because I was a piece of the business that was valuable, and, and they did. They were like, you know, if we can get you that more money, would you stay? And I'm like, No, I really my excitement for that job had left, my excitement for eBay was there and and so I quit. I put in two weeks notice, and I just remember waking up, you know, I quit. My last day was on a Friday. I remember waking up that Monday following and just being like, is this real? Like? Am I really? I don't have to go into work. I have to answer to anyone. Like, I get to do what, how I want to build this. I get to choose. And it was just really fun for me, like, those first beginning days. And it was also scary too, like you alluded to, it's because up until this point, I hadn't taken any money out, and now it's like, I have to now take a salary, and so that's gonna, you know, pull money out of the business, and I have to make sure I'm bringing in a lot more than that to keep going. So that was kind of the journey about a year and a half after starting. It is when I quit.

Suzanne Wells:

So what kind of work did you do that you left and you lost a passion for?

Unknown:

So I was in mortgage in the Denver market, I was a closer, and so I prepared, like the documents for a closing on a house. And, you know, I enjoyed it at first, but after three years doing that, I just kind of lost the lost the excitement for it. So,

Suzanne Wells:

yeah, it can be pretty repetitive, just the same documents, the same things, over and over again, and stressful because the people want the mortgage, but you got to jump all the hoops to make it work. So sometimes it doesn't work, and you have to tell them that,

Unknown:

yeah, it's when you've got someone expecting to close on a house on a certain day, and then something goes wrong, which didn't happen all the time, but it's just like, as a homeowner myself, I know like how exciting that is, and if you get delayed, it's just just kind of sucks the life out of that moment.

Suzanne Wells:

So the eBay problems are less significant. Oh, sure, here's, I'll just refund your money and you can go, yeah,

Unknown:

it's quite different. The Self Employed world is a quite different beast altogether. But yeah, a lot to think about,

Suzanne Wells:

yeah, and there's pros and cons. And pros are, you can work as much as you want, and you will reap the benefits. It's you're not making someone else rich, you're working for yourself. But then when there's slow times, or I call it being in the valley, it's all on you. You gotta figure it out. You gotta budget for the whole year with its ups and downs, and that's stressful. It's scary for people who have never done it just, you know, you have faith in yourself to make it work. So by the way, I always look at the backgrounds. I love your shoe setup. Yeah, that's pretty new. What are those black cubes? They're, yeah, storage

Unknown:

cubes. They got on Amazon. Relative. Of it inexpensive, but it just, yeah, I was storing them in bins, and I'm like, Man, I can get like 20 shoes in a bin. I can get like 40 shirts or clothing. So this was a much more efficient way for

Suzanne Wells:

me to do it. So they look for the listeners, they look like milk crates, but they're not, they're solid. So do they come in segments that you snap together?

Unknown:

Yeah? So you've got to assemble the whole thing. They're all like, I don't know what the material is, but you just kind of snap them together and you create you can build it however. You need to customize it. So I just did one big, giant cube, but you can obviously tailor it to your office or your room and space. So yeah,

Suzanne Wells:

and I like to see everything so I can find it quickly.

Unknown:

Yeah, that's the benefit

Suzanne Wells:

clear bins or something like that, where you just got the shoes set in there, so you can find them in a hurry. How many items do you have in your store now?

Unknown:

So I'm hovering around 2200

Suzanne Wells:

Okay, yeah,

Unknown:

so I'm about maxed out on the space that I have to store all of that.

Suzanne Wells:

So yeah, and is it just you? Does your wife help? Do you have employees or

Unknown:

help? Just me, Nope, just me and my wife. She works from home as well, but she's doing her own thing. Works for a company, and it's pretty much just me. So okay,

Suzanne Wells:

well, wow, that's you've really built a big business for one. I found you on Facebook, and I like the way you do your reels. As far as you know, here's a brand, here's what I paid, here's what it sold for. And you're not paying just$1 for things you're picking up. That's the way our good wills are here in South Carolina. It's, it's $5 for shirts, pants, sweaters, all of that. And you're not old enough to go on senior day, so you don't get the discount. A little bit helps there,

Unknown:

but I love it when they ask though, you know, it's like, okay, if it's not obvious, well,

Suzanne Wells:

that's when you say, Well, do you think I'm a senior? Yeah, exactly. They're like, well, let's give you a discount. Yeah. What year were you born? 1981 Okay, so you got a little ways to go there. Yeah? Okay, yeah. That's when you wear a baseball cap and some readers, and you look up, because a lot of information on social media about reselling is going to the bins and getting stuff for 50 cents. And you know, you you have a business model that's a little different. Your upfront costs are a little bit more, and I'm kind of on that trajectory too. As far as it's plentiful, it's out there. I can flip it, but I can't change the price. I've got to pay what they're asking or figure out a way to get a discount, whether it's a senior discount, or do your good wells, do the color sale each week?

Unknown:

Yeah, they've got one color that's half price every

Suzanne Wells:

week. Okay, right? So they're all different down here in South Carolina, they do, they do the half price color sale. It starts on Sundays, but then on Wednesdays, they start pulling that and putting everything in a certain section, that is $1

Unknown:

Okay, that's great. You

Suzanne Wells:

can find stuff and you know, it's it's a different situation when you can get it for $1 like you might not pay $6 but I'll pay $1 for it some of you definitely

Unknown:

opens up a lot more options and opportunities with

Suzanne Wells:

inventory, right? So what is your strategy when you are out picking?

Unknown:

I mean, even saying that, I remember when I moved here, back to Arkansas, which is where I grew up, shirts were like, 399, 499, they've since gone up since then, it's more. So, you know, I have a lot of bread and butter stuff that's just boring stuff to sell, but I sell enough of them a day and, you know, they bring in anywhere from seven to $15 profit. That's kind of the range for those. So that's the that's the bulk of things that I sell those seven to $15 and I seven is more on the low end. I'm really not shooting for seven, but it happens. I really want that like 12 to $15 range. And then, of course, you're going to find home runs, and you're going to find things that sell for 65 or 100 or you know, but in order to buy in quantity, I really have to focus on some of those items that just don't bring in as much. And I think in the past, I looked more at per item, like I'm going to make $8 on this, or I'm going to make 12. Now I see it more as I spent eight or then that would be high. I spent five or six to make 12. So I doubled my money and. Think getting out of the what's each item going to bring in? To be more like, Okay, how much cash flow am I bringing in? How much? I mean, honestly, if I could take my bank account and invest that and make two to three times that, and then that would be great, but it's a matter of finding the items and and also being smart when you're looking. So I try and stay out of, like, I don't really think about the cost. I mean, obviously cost comes in, as you know, it's a factor, but it's more so finding those items that are higher, higher end, so that the margin is there and they sell faster. And so I stay away from a lot of, like, mall brands, and stay away from a lot of mainstream stuff, just because it's so flooded, even things like Nike and Adidas. I mean, there's so much stuff out there with Nike and Adidas, and I'm very particular when it comes to what I'm finding, so if I find something that I know is worth 30, I'll gladly pay six or seven or even maybe a little more. So yeah,

Suzanne Wells:

and I think that's most of us that are pickers. You see the big sales, the big scores, but even those people that have regular big sales, they have their bread and butters. You have to have that. I think you have to mix for the momentum of the business. Some days all you get is a couple of$15 sales. But you add that up over a year, and that's significant. What would you say you specialize in? Or is there anything?

Unknown:

Yeah, so that's a great question. I started off with men's outdoor gear. I was in Denver, which is a mecca of outdoor gear. I mean, I was finding a lot of Patagonia, North Face and just even more obscure brands than that, and that's where my passion comes from. And so I've expanded since then. But even coming back to, you know, as long as inventory isn't an issue, finding enough kind of coming, you know, I've zoomed out, and I'll continue to learn other brands and other departments, but I really get excited about outdoor gear. It's what I feel like I know more about. And when I list it, I'm more excited when I find something that's just like, I know the value of it, and I know why it's important or why it's valuable. And so that's, that's where I want to stick. So I don't do a lot of women's clothing for that reason. That reason. I did at a time, but I just got to where I was, like, I'm not excited about this. And for other reasons, I just dropped it for the most part. And so even just talking the other day with a friend about coming back to more of a specialized in outdoor gear, and again, I'll always have the bread and butter stuff, but focusing the emphasis on that. So if I had to, if I had to niche, that's what I would say,

Suzanne Wells:

Well, you've built your business up, so now you can coast along a little bit. If you want to change products lines, experiment with different things. I see you sell a lot of shoes.

Unknown:

I do, and you know, they're not fun to take pictures of, but I definitely love when the sales come in, because you're looking at a higher sales price,

Suzanne Wells:

right? Yeah, so and it's what you're able to find in your area. So, yeah, you kind of stay away from breakables, you so you're more,

Unknown:

yeah, I did it one time. I would sell my I had mugs, and I didn't do a lot, but, you know, I looked for mugs, and I'd look for, like, plate sets, like a set of eight plates that were all the same. And I just got to where I was, like, why am I doing this? They're heavy, they sit, they take up so much space, and then you got to worry about them breaking. And I had a few instances, and I'm just done with these. And, yeah, you can find a plate set that sells for 100 bucks or so, or 60, but at the end of the day, I'm like, again, it goes back to I'm not excited about this. I'm going to leave those behind, but I still look for the occasional like, Starbucks, you are here, mug, or some of those things that can sell.

Suzanne Wells:

What the big scores are, but you hit the nail on the head there with you have to be excited about it. You have to like it. And yeah, we had who was it? Holly on a few weeks ago, and her specialty is VCRs. She sells other she doesn't do any clothing. She doesn't like clothing, which is good, that we all like different things, but she does VCRs, and she talked about how she tests them in the store, and she has an older TV at home, so she can hook it up and test it and put a test video in and send a that test tape with the item when she sells it, so they can ruin a pre tape instead of one of their own, if that's going to happen, and so that's what gets her excited, or whatever the specialty is. And I've been doing this a long time, and I've I switched around a lot and really got into ephemera over the last year, but it sells really slow. And. Huh? It is a lot of work. If it's a collection of things like letters or a whole bunch of pamphlets, you know, you take all the pictures and research it. It's a lot of research, if you don't know it. So I'm kind of gravitating back towards clothes and shoes now, while I moved and I'm in a different area. That is, let's just say I am near TEGA, K South Carolina, which is the most affluent city in Oh, wow, I'm not in it. I'm next to it, yeah, and that was on purpose for this business, because you've got some good, good sources there. Yeah, the estate sales are going to be better. The garage sales are gonna be better. The thrift stores are better. I scoped it all out so it does matter where you're located, like, how good the pickings are, but, yep, I don't, I don't know what I'm gonna get into and experiment with Nick I'm with you on, like, clothing you just, you kind of just know. After a while, you just know, okay, this LL Bean pull over you're wearing, you know how much that sells for, and you don't have to think about it a lot. And I heard a term the other day. It's called decision fatigue. And I think I got into that with all these new products, the decision of how to price it. Do I want to sell this? And I kind of want to go back a little bit to what I know so I can just coast along and it's easy and it's fast, and do that again for a while, and kind of give my brain a rest. Yeah? So what kind of things have you experimented with, other than breakables that you were just like, yeah, that's not for me.

Unknown:

I mentioned women's, and I still sell women's. I'll look for like, women's shoes sometimes, like coats and jackets and things like more outerwear that kind of go in that outer outdoor world. But I used to say, it's fun. I was preparing for this, and I was looking over like, previous sales spreadsheets and just looking like items I've sold, and kind of re familiarizing myself, and I sold a lot of women's jeans, and I would just get a lot of returns, because, you know, women's sizing are different, and you've got a few different sizing types, I guess, and then you've got,

Suzanne Wells:

oh, jeans, you've got all The different waistlines. You've got the different, you know, inseams, and are they flared? Are they skinny, and so many variations. And you're right, yeah, we got to try them on, yeah.

Unknown:

And, I mean, there's definitely, there are people that are very successful with it, but I was just like, I'm getting more returns. They're taking longer. I'm not getting as much money. And so I just, I stopped women's jeans for the most part. I'll occasionally go down that aisle, and I don't look at every item. I'm just looking quickly at the tags. I'm like, okay, that's like, a $50 pair of jeans. I'll take that one. But right the $20 you know, I'm leaving behind on women's clothing, trying to think what else, yeah, that I used to do, like electronics, VCRs and DVD players and things like that. But, yeah, it comes back to breakable storage heavy. You got to test it and so, yeah, let those things go.

Suzanne Wells:

Well, I saw posted on your, Facebook. It was a red was it Nike

Unknown:

trail hat? Yeah, that was a recent big score for me.

Suzanne Wells:

And did you sell it yet? Or you were just showing did sell it for like, $100

Unknown:

i I sold it for 80 I took a best offer within 12 hours of listing it, yeah, but I had several watchers on it, on multiple platforms and and I thought, You know what? I paid six bucks for this. I'm not going to try and get greedy and make 100 I mean, I could wait and get that one, 110 sale, or I can just get 80 now. So yeah, crazy to me that that hat sold for $80 within 12 hours.

Suzanne Wells:

So yeah, you're more of a turn and burn, which why get in there? Yeah, there's so much out there. Yeah, and it's, it's never going to stop this flow of products into are you mostly thrift stores? Or do you do garage sales? Yeah,

Unknown:

I love yard sales. It's just, I find them in this area harder to be consistent with it and find great stuff. And Denver, every Friday, when it was great weather, I would go and I loved it. That was my favorite day, because you're getting out, you're outside, Denver's Sunny, it's great weather, and you're talking to people, but also, for the most part, you're getting really good deals. I mean, two bucks for a shirt that's better than the thrift store at five. So, yeah, and finding, like, those more Rare, unique pieces, because a lot of times people are just like, I just need it out. I don't care how much I get for it. I just want a couple bucks, yeah?

Suzanne Wells:

Or, you know, buy one, get three free, whatever. Get rid of this,

Unknown:

yeah? Or you just grab them. Bunch of stuff. And you know, you're kind of adding it up in your mind, but you just throw it in the on their little table and say, How much for all of this, you know, and make a bundle deal. So I love the yard sales. That's what I would do if I could. But here it's just not as it's not as consistent.

Suzanne Wells:

Yeah, that's true. It all depends on where you are. What are some of your biggest scores in your eBay career.

Unknown:

So the biggest clothing item I've ever sold was I paid six bucks for a very long Burberry, like wool trench coat, very heavy. I mean, it's a beautiful piece, and I didn't really know Burberry at the time. I mean, maybe I'd sold an item from them. This was at, like, a store that I every time I would go there, I'm like, do I really want to go here? Like, it's, you know, those thrift stores where it's like, they're dingy. The lighting is horrible. It just, it's not put together. Well, it almost feels dirty when you walk in and it's just like, and then you have another store that's like, really well lit. It's put together. Things are organized a certain way. And it's like, okay, you know? So this was one of those places that I always question going there, and they've since shut down. But couple years ago, a couple of years ago, I found that Burberry coat paid six and it sold for like, 475 Oh, yeah. But and with clothing, it's just like, it's just like, it's harder to find those pieces. I mean, even, like $100 scores, because, you know, there aren't a lot of people that that market for $100 clothing items and up is just not as large as, say, like, electronics or things like that. So that was my biggest clothing score.

Suzanne Wells:

Did you get feedback on that item? Or did you ever hear from the buyer?

Unknown:

I didn't hear anything, which was great. I mean, you always, you know, cross your fingers and hope that you don't get that coming back. But yeah, turned out really

Suzanne Wells:

well. Funny, how you get the backlash from the lower dollar sales. Like, yeah, hold something for $9 the other day, just to get rid of it. Well, this is a little faded around the hem and all. I'm like, Really, just refund their money and go away. And I've sold many St John pieces, which do you know what that

Unknown:

is? I don't find it very often, but yeah, yeah, and you

Suzanne Wells:

got to be careful, because it can have moth damage. You got to hold it up to the light like a cashmere sweater and see. So I sold several pieces of those in the last few months. Never heard a word. So it is weird. You get the complaints from the lower dollar sales. And no news is good news, as far as I'm concerned,

Unknown:

exactly yeah, that 30 day hits, and you're like, All right, we're good, right?

Suzanne Wells:

Yeah, I had one the other day that that timed out. It was an empty perfume bottle. And I sell those. I get them for dollar or two, and they sell for 25 to 30, depending on really is. People use them for decor, or they collect perfume bottles and, you know, there's nothing in it. It's empty. Find them at estate sales or behind the counter at thrift stores like and that's just a product line I've gotten into. But problem with people reading the title, because this has happened three times now in the last six months. They buy an empty, it's like, Chanel or a high end bottle, and they get it and they're like, well, there's no perfume in here. And I'm like, You're exactly right. It was an empty bottle. What's the problem? And they were like, well, it should have perfume. And I said my No. It says empty. In the title, it says empty. It's in collectibles, under bottles, and it's in the description, it's empty. It's for collecting. I don't know if they're just not reading, or they see the picture and they just buy it right away. But this has happened three times. They opened a return and they didn't send it back. And I don't know if they were just embarrassed. Yeah, they were embarrassed that they didn't read it or so you just, you're just watching, like, 29th day, are they going to be shipped back. No, it timed out. That's a win. Yeah?

Unknown:

Yeah. You gotta, you gotta count those small wins, you know. You gotta get get excited about stuff like that,

Suzanne Wells:

yeah. So, as a large clothing seller, how many returns do you get a month? Because that's one fear that people have of getting into clothing, is that, oh, there's so many returns. So what is your experience?

Unknown:

I don't know the number. I mean, it's hard to guess. I would say probably less than 20. I mean, I'm selling 250 items a month, certainly more than that back in the day. But, you know, I hover around that three and a half to four and a half percent. Percent return rate. And so, you know, it's a part of business, and it's gonna, there's always going to be people. My wife and I joke, because she's like that. She buys stuff, tries it on, and sends it back. And you know, that's part of the process, but there's always going to be those people. And so I think, you know, it certainly it's not fun when you've got a $80 item and they do that return request, you're like, man, wish that was a $20 item, but it's going to happen. And sometimes, you know, you get it back and you list it and it sells for more money than it did the first time. So you know, you're and especially around like January, I find a lot of returns around January, when people get stuff for Christmas, or they bought something as a gift that didn't work out, and they're going to return it. So yeah, I mean, you got to look at it as it's just a part of business. Every every retail establishment factors and returns, and they factor in loss at some point. So you obviously don't want a lot of those, but

Suzanne Wells:

we call that return, youary,

Unknown:

yeah, exactly. That's the first time I've heard that one.

Suzanne Wells:

Okay, yeah, that was a when I was on Amazon selling that was a big issue. Was their return policy was extended over November through February, I think, and returns could happen within 60 days of purchase, or something like that. Oh, wow. So yeah, that was the old give the gift for Christmas. You got it on Amazon. You paid too much for it. Then after Christmas, everything levels out, and the store has the stock again. So they they return the one to Amazon, Amazon and go buy the cheap one locally. And that was just, you can't fight it. But I think, well, I know as a clothing seller for over 20 years, clothing just sells better with the return policy. And if, if you're going to do clothing, you have to have that, because I know as a consumer, I'm not buying it without a return policy. I don't want to be stuck with it. I usually don't return it. If it doesn't work, I sell it. And this is just part of the business is returns are going to happen now. Do you put measurements on your clothing? Yeah.

Unknown:

So this is actually a recent change for me. In the last like five weeks, I used to just type the measurements in the description and I would get those. You know, you're always gonna have someone who doesn't read the description or on the mobile app, it's kind of hard to find that eBay should really put the description where you don't have to click into it. You can see it. But I recently switched into now pictures of my measurements, because most people look at pictures far, you know, greater people look at pictures over the description, and so, yeah, it's, it's kind of, you know, you got to get used to a new way to do something. I've got to now take extra photos, but I'm not typing anything really in the description, so it kind of washes out. But yeah, you're right on with returns. And I do the same thing too, when I'm buying and I buy on eBay and Poshmark, if I see a salary that doesn't have returns on clothing, I'm like, Okay, you're my last resort. I'm not going to you unless you're the only one that has it, because you don't want to get stuck with that item. I guess Poshmark is different because they don't it's not really a return platform, but right on eBay, I'm definitely looking for returns of that option,

Suzanne Wells:

well, in the problem, which is actually an opportunity for those of us who do provide measurements, whether you're typing it or showing a picture, is a lot of sellers don't answer. And I've had this happen to me as a buyer. Talked about this before, and I have a brand, a thing that fits great, and I want it in other colors or something, but you got to verify the measurements, or if it's used clothing, it could be stretched out, or it could be shrunk from being washed improperly. So I'll ask, and I get nothing. I get, I don't even get we got your question. We're out of town. We'll get back to you day after tomorrow. I don't get anything, so you got to wonder, how many buyers are just not looking at those items. Like when there's no measurements, I'm not going to bother to ask because I'm not going to get an answer anyway. Or if they they have asked and they're waiting for an answer, and then they find yours that has the measurements. I just think it's a great proactive step to sell more clothing to have your measurements on there. And I'm transitioning to that photo of the yardstick on the clothing too, because it's just faster. It's so much faster than typing, yeah,

Unknown:

yeah. And I think too, like, that's a really great point you brought up about the buyer, the seller not getting back. And I'm sure we've all had that experience where you're like, I mean, I'm the same. I recently had like, a few T shirts that I was trying to buy, and I was looking at measurements like, I was like, I want, I don't just want the size. I'm a taller guy. So I need more of that large, tall. So I was looking for length, so I get that. But also, like you, think about, think about it from a seller's view of this is your chance to communicate with a buyer about your business, and every word you say is going to communicate. You know, obviously some gets lost in tone, because how much can you get from a message? But you can get a lot more than nothing, and so, and I guess what I'm saying with that is you have a way to communicate professionally and politely and generously and show them I'm trustworthy. You know, with this sale, so if you choose to buy from me, I'm going to ship what I say. I'm going to ship I'm going to ship I'm going to ship it on time. Like people get all that from a message, and if that message is just kind of sloppily typed up and maybe even has like a rude tone, that person may go, I don't want to buy from you, because maybe this tells a larger story about the other you know, how you run your business, and whether this item is even a good item. And so I recently had a buyer. This has never happened before, until last week, guy reached out. He was overseas, and he was like, I don't really buy on eBay, you know, and I don't know why, but maybe it was just this first experience. And he said, I'm good with your item. I'm good with the price. Can you just respond to this message? And I knew what he was asking. He was like, I want to hear your tone. I want to hear your how you respond, and if I didn't respond, I was going to lose the sale. And it was like a 35 $40 item. So I just said, Hey, thanks for reaching out. I totally understand your concern. I just want you to know, like, if you choose to purchase this, I'll ship it with an I gave him basically my policy, and I did it in a very professional tone, so that he knew I'm someone that's trustworthy. And if he and then he went and bought it, like, right after that, he was like, thanks so much. So, I mean, he was just really wanting to know that I wasn't, that I was trustworthy, and that's why he needed to hear from me. So only that's only happened one time, and that was last week, but I think, you know, I don't respond to every, every person that sends a message. There's some that I don't respond to because I'm like, I can tell this person is really particular, and that could translate into a return request later. So if I sense that, I may not respond, but I'd say 60, 70% of the time, I'm going to respond and try and tell the story of that item so that it helps them make their

Suzanne Wells:

decision. Yeah, I've had two of those, what I call the side eye customers, like, what? Yeah, in the past week, one was asking about some pillows, and she goes. Well, I really love these, but do you think they will fade if I have them out on my porch in direct sunlight? And so my my answer was, I really have no idea. I can't guarantee anything. My guess is that any product left in direct sunlight is going to fade. So unfortunately, I can't, I can't promise you anything one way or the other. So, and then the next one was somebody who was purchasing something they needed this weekend. Now this was last night, Tuesday night, and she says, Can you guarantee that I'll have this by Saturday. Okay, I don't even know where she is. Like, are you one zip code over? Where are you? So I'm in South Carolina. She's in New York. I said, unfortunately, I always start with that. All I can guarantee is when I will ship it, once it's in the hands of the USPS, I have no control over the speed or the date of delivery. Anything could happen. Tornado could go through your town and there's no mail delivery. You know, that kind of stuff happens. So I answered her back with, I can't guarantee it. All I can guarantee is what I can do. And and she said, Well, I really need it by Saturday and all this stuff. And I said, that's your call if you want to take a chance on it. But what I really wanted to say was that wonderful phrase, your inability to plan does not create an emergency for me. Then I thought, well, the next thing she's going to say is, can you overnight this, which involves going somewhere ups, or however you're going to do it, that's my time. And so you're going to have to pay for the overnight fee. And then I'm probably going to add a handling fee on top of that, because I got to go do this for you, and it was a $40 item. So I've learned to back away from those. The sale is not that important, because I guarantee if it didn't arrive on time, there's going to be bad feedback, there's going to be all this stuff, even though I told her ahead of time, no, I can't hear. Guarantee that. So I'd rather not have those kinds of situations. Have you had stuff like that come up?

Unknown:

Oh, yeah. And I had someone that was fine with, it's more hard. It's harder to, well, I'll just say I had someone that was like, Can you send this faster? Because I do ground advantage. And I'm like, Yeah, I can do priority. I can do express, I mean, if you're willing to pay for it, I'm, I'm happy to do that. And I think they it's just harder to figure out, how do you get that payment then, because you either have to, like, recreate a listing, you know, it's not like, you can, you can't really say, like, here's my paypal send me 15 bucks to cover the difference, because eBay doesn't allow that to go through.

Suzanne Wells:

But, well, they do. I asked that question. I had a back and forth thing with a buyer, and they wanted a refund, and then they realized the item really did work. They weren't operating it correctly. And I asked on the eBay Facebook page, I said, how they want to pay for this? I've already refunded them. I don't see a way to have them pay for it again. I didn't want to create another listing, because then there's going to be no tracking, because I'm not sending her anything. And they said it was okay to do either Venmo Zelle or was it Cash App, all that stuff, really. They said that was okay. That ever comes up again, just, you know, ask them, and then you'll have that in your messages, because they want you to be able to make it right with the customer and right while we all we have is the managed payments that isn't really flexible on these odd situations that come up. Yeah, you've really got to do

Unknown:

calculated shipping, where you're giving them options to choose, and that's I just don't do calculated shipping.

Suzanne Wells:

Oh, you don't do calculated

Unknown:

I do flat rates on not to be confused with flat rate like USPS, but I just do a flat fee. Okay, so like a two pound shirt is going to be 895,

Suzanne Wells:

okay, yeah, I see what you're saying. So you don't weigh it and put in the weight. You just have a price.

Unknown:

Yeah, I think just because most of my clothing items are they're pretty predictable, like, I know a shirt is going to be under 12 ounces. It's just easier to do one set shipping fee. And occasionally I'll lose money on shipping if it's going like way away. But that hardly ever happens. I make sure I don't lose money on

Suzanne Wells:

shipping, right? Yeah. Well, I had a feedback the other day. It was for a little bottle of actual perfume. And, okay, it was maybe like three ounces, but, you know, it takes bubble wrap, and I put it in a box. I did not put it in a padded mailer, because that's not a great idea. If it's under 400 pounds of mail in his class, it's going to crush. And the buyer, who only had one feedback mine, because I was her first purchase on eBay. Lovely. I don't have it was a vintage Estee Lauder bath oil. And she's like, can't they don't make it anymore. I was so glad to find this, but the shipping was so expensive. And okay, she's on the West Coast, I'm on the East Coast, and I think shipping was around $7 but it was packaged well and in a box. And I thought, well, at least she didn't leave a negative she just doesn't get it with with online buying, that it's all based on your distance from the seller as well and the weight of it. I kind of just chuckled. Well, Lisa was positive feedback and she liked the item, so I'm going to just go with that.

Unknown:

Yeah, let's, let's go with it. Move on. Yeah. So

Suzanne Wells:

do you have any goals for your business? Like, do you want to get to a certain level of number of items? Are you looking at your revenue, or, you know, where are you going to go from here?

Unknown:

Yeah, great question. Reselling for me, I kind of alluded to at the beginning. But as far as space, I've got maybe three to 500 units more I could get in this house without having to go into a storage unit or look at another option. And so I'm kind of at that point where I'm just wanting to replenish. I feel like 2200 2500 somewhere in that 2000 to 2500 range is good for me to maintain. And then I'd say my goals, I mean, I'm always going to continue to learn more with reselling, learn brands and learn with selling, but and hopefully make smarter purchases. But I think my goals are more evolving more away from reselling. I'm focused more on content now, and so for nine years I've, I've always come in, listed, you know, sourced, and done all those things that are reseller related. And now, just starting, like three, four months ago, I start my day. I mean, obviously I ship first, but I start my day creating videos and just coming up with ideas. And. Fact, more strategy of content related, which I think is a little more easier to scale. And you can do that from anywhere. You can create videos from anywhere. And so my goals are more resell, sorry, content related, or they're at least evolving that way. So it's just keep my reselling business going, and that obviously fuels the content, which shows what I'm buying, what mistakes I'm making, what I'm learning, changes I'm doing. So I'd love to get to a point. I mean, I have some more specific like financial goals with content, but it's just amazing how if you stay consistent with content and you continue to post even when you feel like this isn't working, or it's maybe not that it's not working, but it's going slower than I would like it to go it you are building, and it just takes a while. And so my goals are more moving on the content side and becoming someone. And I guess even more long winded than that, I any job I've had, whether it was McDonald's or corporate or this mortgage. I've always been become a trainer of some sort, and I've always enjoyed passing down what I what I know, to someone who's newer. And that's how I learned reselling as well. I mean, how many of us have watched videos of resellers? And so I remember a couple that I started off with and just kind of binge watch their stuff and learn from them. And I always said, like, if I get this opportunity, I want to do the same. And so I was live this week, and just had some people like expressing gratitude for what they've learned. And that makes me really excited to think I'm teaching people who maybe have no aspirations of going full time, but maybe it's just to make 300 bucks a month, or to help supplement, you know, whatever it is they're doing. And really makes me thankful that I'm in an opportunity where I could do that and help coach people. So I'm sure you get that as

Suzanne Wells:

well. One reason I reached out to you is because you are a little bit different than the average YouTuber. Are you on YouTube as well?

Unknown:

Yeah, yep, YouTube, Instagram, Facebook and talk

Suzanne Wells:

so and your videos are they show the whole cycle, not just what I found and what I'm gonna list, a good portion of them are. Here's what I sold, and that's where the the proof is that it's sold. Anybody can go out and shop and fill up their van and have all this stuff, but it doesn't get listed, or it is listed and it never sells. That's That's not as beneficial as like, I found this, I sold this. You can do this too. That's the way I do my content as well. Is the history of here's what sold. And because there's just a lot of people out there creating content, just for the sake of creating content, and like you said, I could tell that you were some kind of corporate trainer or teacher or something along those lines, and that's just so helpful. And your reels on Facebook, they get a lot of likes and comments, so you do have a big audience there. So your Facebook page is what?

Unknown:

It's just Jason Hayes, my name. I don't have one of those catchy thrifting names, like, like some friends that I have, but, you know, I've wanted it to stay true to who I am. So it's Jason Hayes, which is h, a, y, E, S, which is my full name. And I've always thought, if I find up doing something different, I can, you know, I don't lose my identity, as opposed to being like St Louis flippers or something like that.

Suzanne Wells:

That question was more for the listeners, so they can go look you up. Yeah, yeah, because you're not like the Arkansas picker. And I did the same thing with my branding years ago. I just use my name in case I went to something different, or a new platform came up, or it's me, and they know my name. And there's so many of those catchy there's nothing wrong

Unknown:

with it. They are. They're fun. I mean, let's do it. What

Suzanne Wells:

if you decided to change to doing something else, then you're gonna have to start all over or change your name on that platform and explain to your followers, okay, well, I'm not doing that anymore. Now, you mentioned that you sell on multiple platforms,

Unknown:

eBay, Poshmark are my one and two. EBay is like 75% of my business. Poshmark makes up like another 15 to 20. And then I go back and forth on Depop and Mercari. Whether I want to keep them or get rid of them, or get rid of them, it just depends on the week and how many sales are coming in. But yeah, they're they're not as consistent, so

Suzanne Wells:

that's kind of like me with what I'm selling. Oh gosh, I'm so sick of this. And then six months later, no. Selling sweaters is so easy, I know they're fast. And they sell all year, and you kind of get a little bored with things sometimes, because you're doing it every day. But as we go along well, and you've been doing this almost 10 years now, you're refining, and sometimes you go back and make the old new again, because that worked. Let's see if it works again now, and it's constantly changing, so you seem very adaptable to that, not not stuck in one particular product line, like you're open to trying new things, but also, you know what works and what you want to keep doing?

Unknown:

Yeah, that's definitely been a muscle I've had to stretch because that's not my natural tendency. And my natural tendency is to get focused on one thing and not really come up for air or look around. And I've had another reseller friend that has challenged me in a lot of ways, to to look around and to embrace change as a positive and not necessarily see it as a as a negative.

Suzanne Wells:

Well, you're definitely one to watch so listeners, Jason Hayes, on Facebook and YouTube and Instagram and what else did you say? And Tiktok, Tiktok, all the ones good for you. Got it? Yeah. Well, I watched your shipping video. I guess it was a couple days ago where you were shipping 30 something items. Was that this week, or was that the Tuesday after the postal holiday?

Unknown:

That was, that was Friday to Friday to Sunday night sales 32 Yeah, good

Suzanne Wells:

for you, yeah. It's just like a slice of life, a peek into your morning of shipping. So it's encouraging. And with 2200 items, you probably have pretty good momentum on on your sales. Do you ever have sale of days with no sales with that much inventory?

Unknown:

Not really anymore. I think I had one in the past few years. There's always typically something that sells. But yeah, yeah. I think I had one day and I reached out to my buddy, and I was like, this never happens. How did I not have a sale today? I mean, I mean, that's got to be like a fluke thing. But

Suzanne Wells:

yeah, that's just to show that you're human and keep you honest.

Unknown:

Yeah, yeah. There you go. Keep you humble. Yeah. Okay. Well, do you have

Suzanne Wells:

any final words for the listeners as we wrap this up.

Unknown:

Gosh, final words, I think I would just say, like, maybe I touched on a little bit, but stay consistent. It's easy, especially when you're newer to kind of, I don't know, see is this working? And I would say, like, stay consistent. Don't think about your daily sales too much, but just you know, stay true to what your goals are, and keep listing. And eventually you're growing, and it may be slower than you would like or but yeah, that's how you build it. I mean, if it's worth it, and if it takes time, it's worth it. But stay consistent. Show up. List, hustle, do, do the work.

Suzanne Wells:

And you're, you're living proof of that. So I hope this podcast sends some folks to your Facebook, all your things. Yeah, thanks. That'd be great. I really respect what you're doing and how you're doing it, and you are definitely a success story. So thanks for taking some time to come on podcast and tell us all about your business.

Unknown:

Yeah. Thanks so much for reaching out. This has been great. It's good talking to you. You

Suzanne Wells:

too. Well. Have a great day. Thank you. Bye. Next week, my guest is Paula, who is a marketing guru by trade and uses AI in her regular job, she will give us a rundown of how she is using Gemini, an AI tool, for her eBay listings, and give Some real world strategies that any eBay seller can use. There is some valuable information you can apply to increase sales, so you won't want to miss that episode. Thanks for tuning in this week and every week. Stay positive and keep going. Make it a great week on eBay. Bye, everybody you.