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I've been selling on eBay since January 22, 2014. To date, I've sold around $750. That's not much, but seeing that it is only a part-time thing (wink), it's not bad. It is a hard, time-consuming job!
I'm fairly sure, at this point, that anything would sell on eBay. I could probably put my eyelashes up for sell and they would eventually go! Maybe it is just that, statistically, there are so many people on eBay that someone will be interested in eyelashes. It could be the atmosphere is such that most people feel like they need to purchase something. Whatever it is that eBay has, I'd like to bottle some!
Marketing is interesting in the eBay community. I see it as a microcosm of society. We are, in a nutshell, selling something, always. I want you to like me, so let me sell you on my charms. You have a position available in your company? Please buy my employable skills.
When I started selling on eBay, my main rule, the line in the sand, was that I would not buy, but only sell. Well, that lasted a week. I justify it by telling myself that I will sell what I buy and make a profit. As of today, I have listed or sold nothing that I bought on eBay. Although, I have sold things from thrift stores and have done quite well. I sold a Kate Spade purse for $45; I paid $4. I made $60 on a Christian Dior purse, $35 on a London Fog coat. The problem is, the amount of hours I put into finding the items (which is significant) is nothing compared to the time to clean and repair, market, package and run them to the post office. I'm not sure if I'm making money when all that is factored. But it is exciting when my phone "dings" to notify me that I've sold an item!
I have lots of inventory thanks to my husband who is a hoarder. He purchased storage units, like on that show "Storage Wars". That is another story that I will write about later. Thanks to my husband, I don't lack things to sell. The difficulty lies in, like I said, preparing, marketing, listing then packing the items. I could just throw the listing up with one picture, a one-line description, and see what happens, but I don't do things that way. I have to make things as difficult as possible on myself. I believe my work results in a higher profit, but I've yet to test this theory.
I chose "classic-panache" as my user name on eBay. I know it's redundant because panache means classy, but that, again, describes my whole experience with eBay, so far. I want everything I sell to be seen as "classy", so I wash and repair and take new pictures over and over until I feel satisfied. Even my husband, who rarely gets involved with my "crash and burn projects", is saying, "whoa, girl". "It's not perfect yet," has been my answer. I really should listen to him, I know. I don't want to burn out this time . . .
I need to list some things on eBay, so I'll be back!
eBay Pages:
To List or Not to List - For OtherseBay, Things I consider Before Listing
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