eBay Seller Success Story - A Letter to the Ill or Disabled

This post was recently shared on my eBay Sellers' Facebook Group. I have known Cindy for years and she is truly inspiring.

This post is about selling and I hope it will prove to be helpful for anyone who suffers from an illness, disability, or is a caregiver whose time is dedicated to a loved one. It's not meant to be about me but unfortunately I have to preface it with my story.

I was diagnosed at 20 with a chronic auto immune disease, Schleroderma.  Last year I turned 65, 40 years beyond my prognosis. I have always moved forward and worked until 12 years ago when my cardiologist said I should stop. Not working drove me crazy for awhile but life happens and my disease got worse.

Planning for retirement we started to look into downsizing. Our son in his own apartment, and our own 4 BR 3 BA home is full of antiques.  We also have four sheds full outside. I contacted an appraiser who gave us an exorbitant price quote. Dealers wouldn't give the price we asked, and estate sale groups were also expensive. Then, I checked out eBay.

eBay was the best decision I ever made. Like most beginners, I had to muster up the nerve to jump in. I read everything first and after my first ten listings,  the process was easy. I sold one of my 1st ten listings and within my second month I was a TRS and Power Seller on the same day. Easy process but hard work! I've spent 4 1/2 months of last year until this January 23rd in the hospital or a transitional care facility not counting doctor and ER visits and down bed time at home. This is not a pity post its a positive message.

Now to the point about my journey.  I do a lot of eBay arbitrage. Most of the items I purchase for resale are a name brand. When you can't thrift for weeks or months on end you have to get creative finding inventory.

eBay has a wealth of low priced items you can resell for a great profit. When I purchase for resale from another eBay seller, I look through their store for more potential items I can flip. I am always on the hunt. I buy shoes using this method. They are almost always new or like new unless they are vintage, then the bottoms being a little more scuffed - that is still acceptable.  I love purses and am extremely careful about the condition and making sure they aren't fake. I'm overly cautious mostly of Coach and Kate Spade. Clothes, antiques, vintage items and anything I can flip I'll buy. I do retail arbitrage as well, health permitting, but not as often.

My second comment is to all the rest of you who are temporarily or permanently ill or disabled or often bedridden from pain. I've read sellers comment about the difficulty of listing when ill or  in pain. Yes it is but if you're organized and have a positive attitude it can be done. I have gone from a desk top, to an iPhone, to a touch screen laptop and now to an iPad to find what works best. They all have advantages but I can tell you the iPad makes listing a whiz anywhere anytime. In all the time I'm sick I've never had a day I didn't get something listed. I list waiting to see the doctor, in the ER and anywhere else. I can slip my light iPad Air 2 in any purse.

I always have extra photos on my iPad. I'll take photos of 20 or more pairs of shoes, purses or glassware. Clothes take longer but it can be done. Then I write the description info on 4 x 6 index cards. I keep 100 to 200 index cards ready at all times. I list at least 10 or more everyday or have them scheduled to list. For example, listings were scheduled to post the day I had shoulder replacement surgery. I also scan through my active listings and choose those that have no watchers. I end them, leave them in the unsold folder, and relist using sell similar on days when you can't list.

My husband even brought my small female torso mannequin along with clothes, shoes and glassware to the transitional care facility the last time I was there for 2 months. I had an extra adjustable bed tray table set up and took photos there.

I have developed a system so listing goes extremely fast. My best tip is to list everyday even if it's only one item. My Christmas sales were up from last year and my January sales were only down 7.5% from December.

Check out Cindy's store here.

Cindy's story shows that if there is a will, there is a way. If you have an inspiring eBay story, please contact me at suzanne@suzanneawells.com so we can share it with others.

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Amazon Success Story - 5 Years Later

I received this email a couple of weeks ago from a client I worked with in 2010 (5 years ago). His story is inspiring and shows that with hard work and a commitment to success, anything can be achieved. Am so proud of you Jorge and for what you have accomplished.

"Hello, Suzanne.  I can't recall ever taking this long to reply, but I am going to look at things on the bright side and say that it's  'better late than never.'  With many apologies included, of course :)

How could I summarize almost 5 years in a single email?  It makes sense to start from where I am today and go back.

I have over 10,000 transactions under my belt selling on Amazon, mostly from DVD orders fulfilled by Amazon.  Amazingly enough, I have been able to maintain 100% positive feedback, though it's been no easy task.  I have had plenty of customer service issues to deal with, but fortunately I've been able to resolve all but one (and that one doesn't bring me under 99.5% positive so it rounds out to 100%).

I have been making a living selling on Amazon since October of 2012, when I was able to quit the 9 to 5.  It hasn't always been smooth sailing, but I have maintained gross profits above the minimum desired level for going on 3 years now.

I am now at a crossroads, again.  I have recently resumed working on getting approval to sell DVDs with MSRPs over $25.  I worked on getting approval full time between September and November of last year (selling on Amazon became part time, but with full time pay luckily).

After the new policy took effect in mid November, I then started working on getting back up to where I was when I could sell the newly restricted DVDs.  My profits dropped 50% in December of 2014 compared to the prior year, and January of this year was also a bit rough.  But then I was back up to speed in February, and since March I have actually doing better than I had been in prior years.  So far my sales are up around 25% compared to the year to date numbers in 2013 and 2014, and YTD gross profits are even higher compared to 2013 and 2014.

So what was once an oversight is now my core business.  If I could get approval for the over $25 MSRP DVDs and could apply the newly acquired sourcing techniques, I could comfortably triple what I was averaging in 2013 and 2014.

That, in a nutshell, is what has been going on with my business.  There are plenty more details naturally, but it is certainly not my intention to give you an overwhelming account of what's happened in the past few years.  If you would like to know some more specifics out of curiosity or if you feel you might find some of these details useful, then please let me know and I would be happy to share anything you would like to know.

Can't say so long for now without thanking you again for having made all of this possible.  Your coaching gave me the foundation for everything I am currently doing in my business.  I remember that you even covered flipping eBay items, though at the time I had no idea that would become my primary sourcing method.

It would be nice to know how you are doing, time permitting of course.  I imagine you might be as busy as you were before or possibly more so.  I remember back in 2010 you were involved in a number of different things.  I just do one thing and that definitely keeps me quite occupied.

I look forward to hearing from you,

Jorge"

I am honored to be a part of helping someone build their business and love getting emails like this.
Visit Jorge's Amazon store here and see for yourself what can be done with hard work and commitment.

If you are ready to make a commitment and need a mentor to help you get there, let's talk about how I can help you reach your goals. Set up an phone consultation here and start growing your ecommerce business today.

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eBay Seller Success Story $6,000 in Sales in 30 Days

 Mandy posted her numbers on my Facebook Group over the weekend with this message:

"Hit one of my goals of hitting $6k in 30 days on Ebay. Took 2.5 years to get here. Now my next goal is to get to $7.5K. This is just from mostly clothing sales. I'm at stay at home mom with 2 babies under 2. I am super focused with nap times and in the evenings. So nice to being able to be home with the babies and still have a good living! Thank you to everyone in this group, as this is where I started and was inspired."

Mandy and her husband Corey have really come a long way. They were coaching clients of mine a couple of years ago and were just getting started with their ecommerce journey along with a new baby on the way. With hard work and discipline, anything is possible. It takes some planning to work at home with two babies so I really commend Mandy for making it all work.

Here are Mandy's stats for the last 30 days:

1,202 items in inventory
280 items sold
$300-$600 average spent on inventory each month
Lists 99% of her items on Buy It Now 30 days or GTC

Mandy offers free shipping on most listings because "There is a filter for the customer to see only listings with free shipping. I dont want to be filtered out." She does not offer free shipping on larger items.

You can visit Mandy and Corey's store on eBay here to see the types of items they sell.  Looking through their feedback (they are Top Rated Sellers) you can see most items are priced under $30. This just goes to show that money can be made using the resources around you with consistency and dedication. Slow and steady really does win the race.

Congratulations for your amazing success, Mandy, and keep up the great work!

Are you ready to build an eBay business like this? Mandy (and many others like her) are proof it can be done.  Let me help you make money on eBay by:

Showing you how to get started. Learn all about selling on eBay with my eBay Basics Course. 

Showing you how to  diversify your product line. Thrift stores are packed with clothing and shoes you can buy cheap and sell for 3-5 times the thrift store price on eBay. Grow your knowledge base with these downloadable courses:

The Profitable World of Selling Preowned Women's Clothing Level 1

The Profitable World of Selling Preowned Women's Clothing Level 2

The Art of Selling Preowned Women's Shoes

Improving what you are already doing. I'll pinpoint exactly what you need to change to improve SEO (search engine optimization), customer service, and shine brighter than the herd of other eBay sellers. Sign up for a store critique here.  

See what these other sellers are saying and let me help you boost your sales today! eBay can be a full time gig, what are you waiting for?


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