This is What it’s All About

Moving day is approaching quickly and once again, I am so thankful that I have the opportunity that I have to make money selling online.

Last month, I bought my bed completely out of funds that I earned from my online stores.

This month, I’m saving toward purchasing a brand new front end loading washer and dryer set, completely out of funds that buyers have deposited into my PayPal account.

There’s no way that I could be able to afford making both of these purchases back to back (even if I scrimped and saved) without my online stores.

It’s fun to have extra money to go out to dinner, or go shopping, but truly, this is why I eBay, this is what it’s all about.  All of that hard work is really paying off now, and I’ll be able to enjoy my new bed and washer & dryer set for many years to come.

I would love to hear how selling online has enriched your family’s life!

This Week on eBay

It’s been pretty busy around here this week.

I spent the last couple of weekends cleaning out our closets, taking the Summer clothes out and putting the Fall clothes in.  Of course, I found lots of Summer items to list on eBay, and even found a few Fall/Winter things from last year to list too.

I love being able to have inventory that I didn’t have to spend any extra money on.

Several of the items have already sold, so that’s always exciting.

My sales have been pretty good this week, and are headed in the right direction.

One thing that I’ve been selling quite a bit of this week is sweaters.  I’ve sold several cashmere sweaters, a Quacker Factory sweater, and a couple sweaters that I had listed out of my closet.  It’s getting close to that time of year again

I’ve also sold a few Halloween costumes this week.

During the school year, I don’t have tons of time to list like I have during the summer, but I try to list on Monday afternoons, list a few items on Tuesday evening, Friday afternoon and evening, and I usually spend Saturday afternoon working on listings.

I work all year to get my store stocked up for this season, but I still try to get everything I can listed between now and Christmas.

Hope your week has been great!

5 Ways to Increase Your On-line Sales in November

#1 Learn about a new product

You know the old saying “If you do what you’ve always done, you’ll get what you’ve always got”

I think it’s a pretty true statement.  If you want something to change in your online business, you’re going to have to do something different than you’ve done before.  Sometimes, that means breaking into a new line of products.  Keep learning new brands, new types of products to sell, and don’t be scared to give it a try.  The sky’s the limit.

#2 Join an online selling forum

There are lots of great online selling forums out there, one of my faves is eBay Underground.  You can discuss everything about selling online (We talk about more than just eBay), bounce ideas off of each other, and get some new ideas.  If you’re not comfortable discussing, join anyway and read what other people are saying about selling online.

#3 Now is the time to list

I know that I talk about listing all the time, and sometimes I feel like a broken record, but right now is the time to get it listed.  If ever there was a time to take a break from listing, it’s not now.  During this time of the year, my items seem to sell just as fast as I can get them listed, so even if you have to put shopping on hold for now to list what you have waiting to be listed, go for it!

#4 If you have a premium store, automate emails and feedback

Here’s one of my favorite things about having a premium eBay store……I can automate feedback!

Every time a customer leaves a positive feedback for me, my store is set to randomly leave them one of five feedback statements that I’ve already chosen.  It’s a HUGE time saver for me, and is one less thing to think about.  You can also set your store to automatically send an email to customers when you ship out their item.   Love it, Love it, LOVE it!

#5 Increase your pricing

I know this might sound a little odd to some of you, but sometimes, if you don’t price your items high enough, they won’t sell.

If you can make a few more dollars per item, you’ll make more money and do less work.  Take a look at your inventory and consider increasing your pricing.  Sometimes an item marked $19.99 will sell better marked $21.99 or $24.99.

When I first started selling on eBay, yes my items sold, but they could have sold for a lot more money.  I felt like $14.99 or $19.99 was a lot to price an item at and I would price a lot of things at $9.99.  Now a few years older and wiser, my prices are much higher than $9.99, and instead of making a few hundred dollars of profit a month, I’m starting to make a few thousand dollars of profit a month.

Working from home is a 24/7 Job

I love working from home. I’m all about having a schedule, routine, and maintaining sanity, but since I’m a one person operation, I’m  constantly thinking and doing something for my business.

Saturday morning, we  headed out to get  Starbucks, put  gas in the car, and  grocery shop.

There’s a grocery store right by the Starbucks and gas station so I thought to myself, “Why don’t we just stop in there and save time?” But then, I thought, “Oh well, I’m not in a rush, we’ll just stop at Wal-Mart.”

We  headed across the store and my little one found the clearance rack full of toys. She saw a Zoobles play set.  “Mama, can I get it???” It was marked $9.00 for a large Zoobles playset. That isn’t a bad price at all.  “Yeah, go ahead and put it in the cart.”

My eyes landed on a sign:  “Clearance items are 50% off of the lowest marked price.”  “WHAT?????” I thought as I started putting ALL 10 of the Zoobles playsets in my cart

.  Some employees walked by and I asked them about it.  “Hmmmm, said one, they’re ringing up at $9.00, but the way that sign is worded, they’re $4.50.  If you have an issue at the register, ask them to call me and I’ll tell them you can have them for $4.50 each.”

YAY!!!!!  MAJOR score, right there in the middle of grocery shopping!  Our cart was over flowing, and we were getting some looks from people (probably people who wanted Zoobles too.)

We got home and I looked them up and listed them right away   With Christmas just right around the corner, I’m optimistic about this investment.

Online Selling Tip of the Week

Specialize in selling what you know–what you’re familiar with–what you like.

If you have children and know the latest toys, consider selling toys.

If you collect baseball, football cards or comic books, consider selling them online.

If you’re up on the latest trends and fashions, consider selling clothes.

If you like to sew or knit, consider selling your work or craft supplies.

When you sell items that you’re familiar with and items that you like, you’re more motivated to list them.

You don’t have to do much research and you’ll have a lot more fun selling online!

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