How to Tell the Difference Between Glass and Crystal

 Crystal can be substantially more valuable than glass, but to the untrained eye, it may be hard to tell the two apart at estate sales or thrift stores. Here are a few ways to tell the difference between crystal and glass to help determine if you should buy an item to resell.

1.  Hold the item up to a light, natural sunlight is best. If you see little flecks of color or a rainbow on the floor from where the light passes through the glass, it is crystal.

2. When lightly struck, crystal makes a musical tone, or if you wet your finger and run it around the rim, you will also hear a tone. (Think of the scene in Miss Congeniality where Sandra Bullock plays the glasses).  Glass just goes "plunk."

3. Crystal can be worked much thinner than glass, so if the item is very thin, chances are it is crystal.


4. Glass usually has sharp cuts, whereas crystal has smooth, clean, rounded cuts.


Happy Hunting!

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Pick Suzanne's Brain

 

Thanks for submitting your questions over the last month. Here are a few I've seen duplicated, so maybe these issues are on your mind, too.

Disadvantage of using Best Offer Auto Decline

Phil, Sarah, and Beth asked, "I use Best Offer on a lot of my listings. I am never sure whether to use the auto-decline feature and how to set my auto-decline price."

Well, I use Best Offer on about 75% of my listings, too. I personally don't use auto-decline because you don't get the opportunity to pull the buyer up on price. (As a buyer, I don't care for auto-decline, I feel like the seller is slamming the door in my face.) I always counter offer, and many times the buyer and I will go back and forth until the buyer has raised his counter offer considerably and is within a few dollars of my original asking price. If you use auto-decline, you don't get the opportunity to negotiate and you can lose sales. For example, I had a pair of children's boots (that I paid $3 for) priced at $29.97 plus shipping. The buyer offered $10, I countered with $25, they countered with $15, I countered again with $25, they countered with $20, I accepted. I was able to get them to come up $10 on their offer price with a little negotiating.

Should I have a niche or be open to selling anything?

If I had $1 for every time I was asked this question! There are two schools of thought on this. Many eBay mentors and coaches say the only way to go is with a niche. Specialize. Don't even think about selling it if it isn't in your niche. Keep your store all matchy-matchy and in the same category.

I strongly disagree,especially if you are a picker. The more you know about different kinds of items, the more money you can make. When I go into a thrift store or to an estate sale, I'm not going to leave things behind because the items might not match the other stuff in my store. If you are taking time out of your day to go to a thrift store, auction, estate sale, or even trash picking, why not make the most of your effort and consider anything that crosses your path - you are already there,  you taken the time and effort to go and find things to sell, make the most of your time picking.

One reason a lot of people choose to specialize is because they are afraid to move out of their comfort zone and try something new. They think they have to be an expert to start. Wrong! Every expert was once a beginner who knew nothing. That uncomfortable place where you aren't sure - that is where growth and learning happens.

For example, here are a few of my sales in the last month. A mix of different kinds of products with pretty good profit margins - I paid between 60 cents and $3 for each item. Never stop learning!

I wish I had time to answer all of the emails I get every week, but it would take me about a month to do that! If you have a question about your unique business, want to know more about what to sell, or are ready to start an eBay or Amazon business, contact me to set up time to chat. This way I can learn all the details about your business and give you the most out of my 11 years of ecommerce experience. 

So just click here to make an appointment, and we will get chatting soon!

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6 Ways to Get Out of an eBay Rut

As we head into summer, many eBay sellers will feel the infamous summer slump. Depending on what you sell, you may or may not feel this. But for many, this can be a frustrating time because you are working just as hard as always, but sales slow down dramatically. Understand that eBay and ecommerce are cyclical and you will have months where sales are better than others. Don't take it personally and don't let the summer slump get the best of you. Keep your cool and keep moving forward.

Unfortunately, there is no magic answer, but there are things you can do to keep moving forward and keep cash coming in. Buying more inventory isn't always the answer - maybe because the cash flow isn't there or space doesn't allow. And making impulsive price reductions out of fear isn't a good idea either because once Back to School starts everything will pick up and you can get the original asking price. Don't panic and be a sell out!

Slow months are an excellent time to diversify, learn something new, or create new streams of income. Staying busy working on productive tasks will keep your mind off of the slow sales as well as empower you to learn new skills and build new streams of income that will serve you all year. Here are some suggestions for new streams of income to build during the slow months.

1. Learn to source in new ways. If you always go to thrift stores, you will most likely see the same types of things every time like clothing, kitchen items,or toys. Try estate sales where you might see vintage glass, mid-century collectibles, vintage license plates, or valuable Christmas ornaments. Or if you always go to yard sales, try live auctions. Shake things up. Exposing yourself to new ways of sourcing inventory will provide new opportunities and you will learn more about different kinds of items to sell. Get out of your comfort zone.

2. Learn to sell on another venue. Amazon and Etsy offer other opportunities that eBay doesn't. Learn what they are and if those sites will serve you. Download my free guide to getting started on Amazon, or check out my Etsy course for beginners.

3. Check out virtual work on sites like ODesk and Elance. You can do data entry, social media marketing, proofreading, copy editing, or other tasks not related to eBay. Or you could set up a profile as a Virtual Assistant for another eBay seller who has too much work. A Virtual eBay Assistant does things like edit photos, create listings using information provided by the seller, or social media marketing (like posting listings on Pinterest). Many sellers are looking this to hire this type of help and another eBay seller is perfect for the job.

4. Consider partnering with another business that has inventory.  Maybe you know of a small thrift store, church thrift store, consignment store, or small business that has inventory that could be sold online. You can approach them and either teach them how to sell, or sell their items for a commission. I partnered with a small Humane Society charity thrift store in 2011 and sold their better items on eBay and books on Amazon. I made $12,000 (not sales but my percentage) that year from this partnership, plus I learned a lot about items I had never been exposed to before. I simply walked in and asked if they sold any of their items on eBay. They said no, and a wonderful relationship was born. Find consignment clients - get listed in my eBay Seller Consignment Directory.

5. Write a Kindle book. Anyone can do this on any topic. Kindle books provide a nice stream of income all year and they are pretty much passive income once you get them written. Kindle books are actually short reports so if you were good at writing term papers or wrote for your high school newspaper, you can do this. I have three Kindle books that provide a nice check every month. This is also a great gig for teachers over the summer break.

6. Write articles for pay. You know I write for The Examiner and this is a good gig that pays well each month. You can write about any topic, so regardless if your passion is cooking, crafts, animals, the environment, exercise, collecting, designer clothing, or any other topic - there is a column for you. If you are interested in learning more about this opportunity, send me a message and I can send you some tips to help you submit your application.

The point here is that you don't have to sit around all summer worrying about why sales are slow or obsessing over what you are doing wrong on your eBay listings. Push yourself out of your comfort zone and try something new during the slow time - something that will benefit you in the months and years to come. Remember, when we are uncomfortable we are growing. I have 11 income streams now, and if I can do this, you can, too. I'm just a stay-at-home mom with a passion for never working for someone else again!

As always, if you want some one-on-one help with eBay or any of the other income streams above, contact me for a private consulting session. I am glad to help you with your online journey and share what I have learned along mine.