Selling Used Kids Clothing On eBay

If you have kids and they wear name brand clothes you should be selling their used clothes on eBay. There is a small fortune to made on eBay if you list correctly. Certain brands like Gymboree, Nike, and boutique brands sell for almost new prices. I sold my daughters clothes after she outgrew them on eBay for over a year and was making back almost all of what I paid for the clothes so I was practically dressing her for free. I have learned some techniques that helped me make money selling my kids used clothes:

1. Start by searching closed eBay auctions for the type of clothing and sizes you have to sell. This gives you and idea of the price these items are selling for. Also you can see if a certain day or time is showing more profit. I found that auctions that closed on Thursday evenings were the most profitable for me to sell my daughters clothes on. I guess more moms with baby daughters shopped at that time. Not sure what human psychology is behind it, but it does mak a difference. Here is how to search for the closed auctions: 
1. On any page of ebay you will now find a search input at the top right corner of the page. Just below this you will find "Advanced Search". Click this link. 
2. Now, in order to get a listing of completed items you will first need to search the current open items. Fill in your search parameters and click the "Search" Button.
3. Once the list comes up, scroll down the LEFT hand edge of the page and you will see more search categories and "SEARCH OPTIONS". In this area you will find a check box next to "Completed Listings". Click this box and an check mark appears in it. 
4. Scroll down a bit further and click the "Show Items' Button. You will now get a listing of CLOSED items which are still on the system. Keep in mind that this search option only goes back 30 days. You will not see any auction older than 30 days.
2. Once you figured out about how much to expect to make off your items, decide how you want to sell them. I suggest selling clothing in bulk or lots which is just selling groups of items together instead of one piece of clothing per auction. Unless you have a very high value item it is always better to sell your items in a lot in my opinion. The reason I say this is because of how expensive shipping is. A buyer doesn't want to pay $6 in shipping for a $10 shirt. By selling a large lot of clothing you are giving the buyer a better shipping value. They will pay the $14 shipping for 10 shirts more readily. This will increase your bids as well. I would offer priority shipping and size my lots by the amount of clothes I can fit in the flat rate priority box. There are three sizes so you can sell different amounts based on what shipping box you are using. 
3. When selling in a lot, have a theme. Sell clothes that are the same size, gender, and style. Sell clothes that are for the same season. Don't mix winter clothes and summer clothes together. Also if you can put clothes into outfits and sell them, the buyers seem to bid more. Its less work for busy moms to buy complete outfits than have to bid on auctions for all the separate pieces of clothing. On the other hand if you have a bunch of the same type of clothing like shorts an auction of multiple pairs of the same type of item does well also as long as you aren't selling duplicate items. 
4. Organization is key so give yourself a room to spread out and group the clothes you are going to sell. Once you have decided what clothing you are going to sell together, you move to inspection. Look over each piece of clothing in very good (natural preferred) light. 

To be continued...

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eBay Promotion LIST FOR 5¢ IN BOOKS, MUSIC, MOVIES & DVDS AND VIDEO GAMES—OFFER EXTENDED THROUGH MARCH 30, 2010

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Do you have books, cds, and dvds sitting around your house you want to sell? Or maybe you even have some old VHS movies or records that have been gathering dust in your garage. If this sounds like you, you have until March to list on eBay for dirt cheap. Sell all your books, music, movies, and dvds for only 5¢. That is a good deal, and my advice for today.

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Still Kickin

It has been awhile since I have written anything. I still have my eBay store but I have cut out most of my products for the time because I started having some problems around Christmas. Since I am primarily a drop-shipper I was having many orders that were back-ordered or even discontinued when I went to order them. I changed my strategy quite a bit. I have cut my suppliers down to two who I know are better at keeping items in stock and communication. They are also super quick shippers. I will be auctioning off all of my remaining stock that I have at my house in a couple of weeks. I will start all of these auctions for .99.

With the market slowing right now I am really trying to attract international orders as much as I can and PayPal just made it much easier to take international payments without putting yourself in danger of losing money. I will be posting more in the future but wanted anyone who follows my blog to know that I am still in business and while it has been tough the last couple of months, I am not planning on giving up, but instead I am rethinking my strategy.

Till next time...

Holiday Shipping Deadlines

Well the verdict is in, if you want your product to arrive on time the shippers are all providing the 17th as the last day you can ship an item using standard delivery and expect it to arrive in time for Christmas. There is a chance that something ordered later than that will arrive but I would not bet on it. So keep that in mind when either shopping or selling online this Christmas season.

For your convenience I have listed the links to the top U.S. shippers' holiday mailing schedules:

USPS

UPS

DHL

FEDEX

Happy Holidays!!!

Cynthia Ford
www.toriastreasure.com

Customer Troubles

I had the worst customer relations issue this week. It is the biggest problem I have had since I began my business. I had a customer buy an expensive item which I purchased through a drop-shipper. The said item did not arrive is satisfactory condition, which happens sometime. To make matters worse a third-party becomes involved through the customer and tells the customer that the item I sold them was in fact a fake! Well the item was not a fake and I had to end up contacting the manufacturer and having them verify that my distributor was an authorized distributor. This customer was about to ring me through the whole eBay, PayPal dispute system. It was a huge headache.

Honesty is such an important quality in business. You will never get far if you have dishonest business practices. Even though this week was stressful, in the end it worked out because I was honest with the customer. I can accept that an item arrived damaged and needs replaced. I am so willing to bend over backwards for customers in that instance. On the other hand, to be accused of selling fraud products hurts me because I am an honest person and the thought to buy cheap crap to resell on eBay has never crossed my mind.

When I decided to start my eBay business I went the legal route and obtained my tax id so I could work with real wholesalers and drop-shippers not those ones who say they are for real but don't require any special info from you. Those people are schemers and to sell the products listed you would have to mark them up way over retail and would be lucky if you made an occasional sale.

I am ranting today but my advice this week is, be honest. No matter what you think you can get if you aren't, it never works out in the end. Dishonesty in business will be the end of your business. If you are delayed in shipping be upfront with your customer. If you make a mistake, admit it. It may not be easy to do all the time but it is the best way to go.

Till next time...

HELPFUL RESOURCES

Helpful Resources

If you can't find products to sell you should check out World Wide Brands. They offer a legitimate list of wholesalers & dropshipers for a one-time membership fee. To check out this great resource, click here.

If you are a Mom like me and are starting an Ebay business, the absolute best site I have found for tips, tools, forums, and overall support is Here Comes the Stork. It is geared towards selling children's clothes but there are members who sell lots of different items. See for yourself, click here.

Before you invest in all that inventory, do some free research using Mpire Researcher. They will tell you what percentage of the items sold, what was the average price, and let you know the best way to list your products. This is great. I always use Mpire before I start an auction.

This is all I have for now but it is a great start.

International Shipping Hassles

This week has been one of those weeks when nothing seems to be going right. I am sick with a major infection. I am behind in school from being sick and I have had three eBay sales go the way of the creek. Two are international orders that are two big to ship USPS and UPS wants over $300 dollars to ship them!!! There needs to be some compromise between the two services. I might be able to find another shipper myself but I am working with a drop shipper so my options are only what they offer.

The other order gone bad was an order that was made and when I went to make the order from the drop shipper they had conveniently discontinued the item. The big problem was that the customer sent me a money order before I found out that the item was no longer available. Soooo I had to wait and get the money order, cash it and send a refund through my bank. Like I said, it has been one of those weeks. Advice...

• Join Ebates if you still have not. I have earned over $140 in rebates from just going to their site before I shop at the online stores I was already planning on going to. I use it a lot for Gap, Ink Cartridges, and drugstore.com. The link to use is http://www.ebates.com/rf.do?id=32696671. If you sign up you get $5 just for joining.
• In the past 10 months I have learned quite a bit. The biggest realization I have come to is do not limit your possibilities. My business has not formed the way I would have imagined it. I am not selling the items I initially wanted to sell. You have to be open to opportunities that come knocking and realize when other ideas need to be put away. The item you want to sell won't always be a money maker or the wholesalers you find that sell the item may not be people you want to have a business relationship with. I always invest in small amounts of new items I am buying wholesale to make sure it is going to sell. I also give my drop shipment items about six months and if they are not selling I end the listings and move on to something new. In short, be flexible!

Until next time...(Hopefully next month!)

Slow Week

At least business wise it has been a slow week, personally I had to supervise Easter festivities for my 3 little ones and I started a new term of classes at Southern Oregon University.

I think going on vacation for a week did slow business a lot, mostly because my business is so new and relies on eBay auctions for most of my traffic. Hopefully, it will pick up in the next couple of weeks. Of course many people have also been on Spring Break and probably not shopping too much!

My advice this week does not have so much to do with my business but is a really neat website I found to help save you money. It works for my business because I use it when I buy clothes from Gap or Old Navy to resell.

The site I am talking about is Ebates.

Ebates, a shopping site that gives you up to 25% Cash Back every time you shop online. You can shop at over 800 stores including Barnes & Noble.com, Gap, Target, Buy.com and Expedia. Plus you get additional savings with exclusive coupons, free shipping offers, and limited-time sales!

It doesn't cost anything to sign up and they pay you a $5 bonus when you make your first purchase!

This isn't one of those sites that you have to fill out surveys or do anything lame. You just go to their site first before you shop at your favorite online retailers.

I am only sharing this information because I have been using it and loving it. I earned almost $20 when I bought replacement ink for my printers!!!

Until Next Time...

On Spring Vacation

The kids and I are on Spring Break Vacation but lucky for me, all the family has computers! Sales have been going well. I have sold almost $4000 in product in my first two months. My profits haven't been that high because of some initial costs I have had to pay but I am not in the red. I have weeded out two drop shippers who were not very good. I have acquired two new drop shippers and also bought some wholesale goods from two others. I don't have a very large home so I will keep my wholesale orders down but it is nice to handle what you are selling before you sell it.

I really wanted to talk to you about International Shipping today. I have been having some issues with the swords and weapon related items and international shipping. I have to ship most of them UPS because of their size and it is expensive. I just had an order that was $160 for shipping! Well the biggest problem is convincing buyers you are not trying to rob them. My point of this is, sometimes with large or heavy items, International Shipping is more of a hassle than it is worth.

Now for items weighing less that 13ozs, like clothes, you can ship Internationally for a dollar or two more that you can ship it in the U.S.. This makes selling clothing great on eBay. The best shipping costs for International Orders I have found are through the USPS. Don't forget to tell your customers they are responsible for any customs or tariff fees related to their order or you could end up losing money.

Well that is it for today!

What to Sell

When starting a new business in retail the first question you have to answer is, what do I sell? On Ebay this question is really a never ending question. You are constantly trying to figure out that product that will make you a profit. I started off with about 3 drop shippers that I listed items from. Only one of them, who carries swords & weaponry brought me sales.

I will tell you, selling swords was not really my first choice. I am a mother of three children and not really the violent type. I do like the whole fantasy genre and my husband has a couple swords around the house so it wasn't to awkward. It does seem wierd that my primary auctions are children's clothes and swords!

This seems to be a regular event on Ebay. There are many sellers out there who sell a variety of items and that is OK.

So my advice for this week is to not go crazy and buy $1000 inventory on something that you don't know will sell. Buy a small amount of product and test the waters. In addition, do your research. I will list some sites that I found helpful in my next blog.

Until then...