Wolf0427
New Contributor
This is not my first post, without looking I am guessing post number 3, I have been lurking for a long time, I did not feel like I had anything to contribute since I am still very much in the slowlane, and who really needs to hear more nonsense about the slowlane (I am unhappy, my job does not appreciate me, etc...)
Fast forward to today, after a week and a half of "taking real action", here I am, introducing myself officially.
Background: long story short, I work in customer service with an emphasis on sales. Union work, decent pay, yet miserable because I do not control my time. Terrible hours (including a full Saturday).
Thats all I have to say about my job.
I believe that selling is easy when you actually believe in what it is that you are selling, so I decided that I needed to find something that I believe in and get to providing value for others and in turn living a better life.
I haven't found that product as of yet but I decided I needed to sell something, so I decided to start with what I already have and am knowledgable about, enter: my sneaker collection.
I have been collecting (see: Hoarding) sneakers for my entire life, I really don't even wear them anymore, they just sit in my closet and collect dust. Seeing as I am trying to minimize my closet, this is the perfect opportunity to get rid of a bunch of stuff I don't use that will actually benefit someone else more than it is benefitting me and work on getting more into a sellers mindset instead of the buyers mindset I have been in my entire life.
I jumped right in, straight to Ebay. I've read a bunch of posts on here about selling on Ebay and Amazon and I took little tidbits I have learned and tried to use them to my best ability just to get something done.
The Good:
listed 9 items, 7 day auction with a starting price of the least I would take and still be ok with, also included a buy it now for anyone interested in just taking the deals.
8 out of 9 items sold
3 out of 9 items ended with a price higher than the original buy it now price (I do not understand this)
The bad:
2 out of 8 still haven't paid (auction has been over for 3 days, no response to messages)
1 out of 8 buyers backed out stating "someone used my account to bid without my permission, please cancel this order" Thats awesome.
Another random user sent me a message after an auction was over stating "I won this item with my other account and I am now locked out, can you please send item to this different address since I have not updated that other account yet."
I did not respond to that person but verified with the winner that it was indeed someone trying to run some kind of scam.
The Unexpected:
Since I jumped right in, I did not do a bunch of research on selling on Ebay, fees involved etc, I just used what I learned here and my background in customer service to try and make something happen.
Someone mentioned here that they always do free priority shipping within 24 hours of purchase for everyone as it sets them apart from competitors, I used that method to see how it would benefit my sales if at all, what I learned was Priority shipping is EXPENSIVE!!!
6 items shipped, total shipping costs $158
(shipping to CA from NY causes some kind of extra fee to be included apparently)
Ebay fees: Had an offer since I am a new seller that my first 50 listings were free, AWESOME, fast forward to the end of the auction, here are your fees for the final selling price.
8 items sold, total Ebay fees: $143
Paypal fees: man, these fees are starting to kill me.
Total dollar amount collected (for 6 items) x whatever percentage Paypal charges: $44
All of this before I even got to see a single dollar come into my acct since "new sellers have an extended waiting period" I don't get anything released into my Paypal until 3-21 days after item is received by customer.
What I learned:
Free shipping may not be the best thing for low profit margin items (all profit on these items since I already owned them)
It feels good to make a sale, every time someone would bid on an item, I got a little more excited, I can only imagine how one click purchases feel.
If I want to see changes in my life, I have to make the change, this has given me the momentum I feel like I needed to move forward and get things going as I am literally at wit's end with my job. (I almost got fired for something I did during non working hours due to false information from a supervisor)
Not quite sure how to post like a screen grab in here but if you were wondering, the total (once all money is in) for the sales came to $1,428
I am glad I found this forum and I hope I continue to learn for all of you fine folks.
Thanks for reading
Fast forward to today, after a week and a half of "taking real action", here I am, introducing myself officially.
Background: long story short, I work in customer service with an emphasis on sales. Union work, decent pay, yet miserable because I do not control my time. Terrible hours (including a full Saturday).
Thats all I have to say about my job.
I believe that selling is easy when you actually believe in what it is that you are selling, so I decided that I needed to find something that I believe in and get to providing value for others and in turn living a better life.
I haven't found that product as of yet but I decided I needed to sell something, so I decided to start with what I already have and am knowledgable about, enter: my sneaker collection.
I have been collecting (see: Hoarding) sneakers for my entire life, I really don't even wear them anymore, they just sit in my closet and collect dust. Seeing as I am trying to minimize my closet, this is the perfect opportunity to get rid of a bunch of stuff I don't use that will actually benefit someone else more than it is benefitting me and work on getting more into a sellers mindset instead of the buyers mindset I have been in my entire life.
I jumped right in, straight to Ebay. I've read a bunch of posts on here about selling on Ebay and Amazon and I took little tidbits I have learned and tried to use them to my best ability just to get something done.
The Good:
listed 9 items, 7 day auction with a starting price of the least I would take and still be ok with, also included a buy it now for anyone interested in just taking the deals.
8 out of 9 items sold
3 out of 9 items ended with a price higher than the original buy it now price (I do not understand this)
The bad:
2 out of 8 still haven't paid (auction has been over for 3 days, no response to messages)
1 out of 8 buyers backed out stating "someone used my account to bid without my permission, please cancel this order" Thats awesome.
Another random user sent me a message after an auction was over stating "I won this item with my other account and I am now locked out, can you please send item to this different address since I have not updated that other account yet."
I did not respond to that person but verified with the winner that it was indeed someone trying to run some kind of scam.
The Unexpected:
Since I jumped right in, I did not do a bunch of research on selling on Ebay, fees involved etc, I just used what I learned here and my background in customer service to try and make something happen.
Someone mentioned here that they always do free priority shipping within 24 hours of purchase for everyone as it sets them apart from competitors, I used that method to see how it would benefit my sales if at all, what I learned was Priority shipping is EXPENSIVE!!!
6 items shipped, total shipping costs $158
(shipping to CA from NY causes some kind of extra fee to be included apparently)
Ebay fees: Had an offer since I am a new seller that my first 50 listings were free, AWESOME, fast forward to the end of the auction, here are your fees for the final selling price.
8 items sold, total Ebay fees: $143
Paypal fees: man, these fees are starting to kill me.
Total dollar amount collected (for 6 items) x whatever percentage Paypal charges: $44
All of this before I even got to see a single dollar come into my acct since "new sellers have an extended waiting period" I don't get anything released into my Paypal until 3-21 days after item is received by customer.
What I learned:
Free shipping may not be the best thing for low profit margin items (all profit on these items since I already owned them)
It feels good to make a sale, every time someone would bid on an item, I got a little more excited, I can only imagine how one click purchases feel.
If I want to see changes in my life, I have to make the change, this has given me the momentum I feel like I needed to move forward and get things going as I am literally at wit's end with my job. (I almost got fired for something I did during non working hours due to false information from a supervisor)
Not quite sure how to post like a screen grab in here but if you were wondering, the total (once all money is in) for the sales came to $1,428
I am glad I found this forum and I hope I continue to learn for all of you fine folks.
Thanks for reading
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