How To Do Just About Everything
By parvenue
Rate: (1 Ratings)
If you're like most people, there are times you need a little extra money for college, or a birthday or to buy that big ticket item, like a big screen television, or maybe a new speaker system for your car. This wasn't the case for me. I had lost my job in Collegeville rather abruptly and found that I didn't have the income I thought I'd have to survive. I was in a real bind. I had car payments due and car insurance due and rent, utilities and all the rest, and I was batting at zero my friends. After a good deal of crying and feeling sorry for myself, I came to terms and realized that I had my digital camera, photoshop, and quite a bit of junk in my house that I could see. I opened up an account on Ebay and for the better part of a season I was able to support myself long enough to find a steady gig and make all the bills. Now I'm not recommended desperation as a means for motivation, but let me telling you, knowing how to sell crap on ebay can be a lifesaver. Follow my tips and you'll be well on your way.
RESEARCH. The very first step on our journey to selling items for fun and profit involves some research. Generally, what I like to do is go online and look at Ebay and some of the other many auction sites and see which items are hot! I'd go into a category that I know something about, such as Men's vintage shirts. Then I'd look at the highest priced shirts. The next step would be to see exactly how many bids were on the item. If an item had five or more bids, I'd only one person would get that item. If I could post another item up like the one they were bidding on, my chances of getting that money would be greatly increased and even more so because the "fever pitch" of the buyers would be high. Timing is everything!
SET UP YOUR ONLINE ACCOUNT. This is an important step. I signed up for an account (which sometimes requires a checking account). Next I signed up for paypal. Paypal is great because you can take credit card payments online for a nominal fee, and if you have a paypal account - you get the money right away. I found from experience this is better than accepting checks or money orders because people will bid and then, once they've realized that they paid 400.00 for a 25.00 mouse eaten cardigan, that they spent too much and will fold on the bid, despite the rules. But if you've got a credit card payment, then the chances of getting paid are much better. It's good to have a few auction accounts. They cost nothing to open and this is afterall where you are making your money!
Once you have your account set up. The next step is to do more thorough research and compile a list of the items that are RED HOT! After awhile you'll learn which items will always sell and which items are duds. For example, I know that a pair of Prada shoes will almost always sell. I found a pair and sold them for about 95.00 more than I paid for them. Make a long list of varying degrees of things you know about, can learn about, or own and are willing to part with. The danger of online sales is that most folks will put things up that they think will sell, but don't realize that this online marketing community is very fickle, and even though some heirloom may be valuable to you, it may not be worth the price of the ad you run to sell it. Be careful to sell things that there is a demand for. And also, mind that this changes frequently. You have to stay on top of things.
FIND YOUR ITEMS TO SELL. Okay, you've made your list. The next stop is to get those items which are hot. For a long period of time there was a submergent group called Hipsters, EMO, and Indie groups at college universities. These groups were famous for buying Vintage Izod/Lacoste shirts (older than 20 years old). I fell on to this craze quite by accident when a 4.00 shirt I purchased sold online for 80.00! The craze is over now. But a few years ago it was all the rage and you could make big bucks selling these shirts! I think these groups single handedly brought the crocodile back into existence and now, where once the swamp was bare, you see crocks everywhere, selling at 75.00 in the higher end stores! The same is probably still going on for Acid Rock concert t-shirts. At one point a Guns & Roses t-shirt would sell for as much as 200.00. It would have to be original and from the 80's, but my gosh, how many of those acid concert t-shirts did I throw away during a church clothing drive. I literally threw away thousands of dollars! So you see, knowlege here is key. Once you have your list, go around your house and search for those items, if you don't have any of the items, hit the local church stores, thrift stores, flea markets, yard sales, and on garbage collection day, feast on it! Leave your pride at the door. Pride, to my knowlege, has never paid the rent.
MARKETING. This is an important step. If you want to sell the item, you need to market it. The first thing is to see how others are marketing the items, particularly those with high bidding numbers. Duplicate their marketing technique as much as possible. Look at the way they list the item, if it's the same item, you can copy their listing. Get a good photograph of the item. Describe the item honestly. If there are tears, mention them, or if there are stains, be as descriptive as possible. There's nothing worse than having to return an item because you described it wrong. Believe me, when the auction reaches its fever pitch, they won't care what it looks like, they'll just want to get their hands on it.
Once the time is listed, package the item. I usually will take a 1lb plastic Freezer bag and fold the shirt I'm selling as they would in the department store. I also like to put a nice note in with the produce. Remember, many of these sites rate you by your feedback. You want to establish as positive a feedback as possible right away. Go the extra mile. Make sure the item is clean and as perfect as you can make it. Pack it well, especially if it's breakable. Try to stick to smaller items at first which are easier to sell, pack and ship.
Once the item is listed and packaged, you can take a breather and let the auction do it's stuff. If you item is really hot, then you should see bids start on it as soon as the other item goes off. If not, you can email those people and tell them you have a similar item online, but believe me, if they're hungry they'll take the bait and bid away. Once you get the money into your hot little hands the next step is easy.
HAVE A BACKUP STORE. Sometimes, after you've done all the work and gottent the item and put it up for sale, you find that the market is flooded with that item and you can't give it away. Okay, so now what? Do you wait for it to become a "hot" item again? Sometimes you can't wait that long. What I did was go around to various shops and consignment stores and strike up a deal with the owners of the shops or managers. They would let me sell my items in their stores and they'd get a percentage of a profit. NOt only did it free up more room in my inventory closet, but I was actually able to sell those items that missed the mark. You have to be willing to talk to people and make deals. Then my friend, you will truly be on your way in your own business, and who knows where it can lead? The possibilities are endless!
DEVELOP A CUSTOMER BASE. After awhile you'll notice a bunch of folks repeat buying from you. They do this because they know that you got the item to them in good shape in a timely manner. You made their purchasing from you a pleasurable experience. This is your goal as it will increase sales in the future. Be as polite to the customer as possible. And if they truly don't like the item you should be prepared to take it back, because if it's as hot as it should be, you should have no trouble relisting it (maybe even at a higher price!).
eHow Member: parvenue
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