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Hey Everyone. Wanted to check in to give an update on where I’m at and what’s going on. I started selling in Jan of this year and my goal is to eventually have this replace my other second job of delivering newspapers.
Three months in, as of today, I’m at $509.24 sold. I have 84 items in the store and my goal was to get about 10 a week up. Was going fairly well until this virus thing, and now can’t do much sourcing. Keep in mind I have a full time day job that I’m still doing, though out of home office now. I still deliver the newspapers 7 days a week and the hours equate to a second full time job. I have 2 teenage boys, one a senior, so this year has been hard as he is captain on the track team, which is in limbo.
I haven’t come across much delivering papers that are small enough for me to do anything with. Lots of furniture, but I don’t have the room to get into that arena. I download and listen to the podcasts as I deliver papers and am up to 335 I believe. Will be interesting to hear all the banter of what’s going on once I get up to speed.
I would like to ask for some constructive criticism, or if you want to go keyboard warrior on me, that’s fine too. My store name is Willow.Circle.Ventures. I wanted to move some clothes via auction just to get enough sales so I don’t get monies withheld for 21 days or whatever it is, so that’s why you see some super cheap stuff.
I will say I did have a break through with the Mrs when she heard my phone cha-ching for some shirts recently. I showed her my 3 month total and she didn’t think I sold that much already. She’s texted me the other day saying she passed some stuff on the curb and thought I should go take a look. I had to wait until 5 to clock out and it was pretty picked over by then, but the seed hopefully has been planted.
I did get slapped for using the word velcro on a trucker hat. I still need to relist that one. I did find an old Northwest Cargo Airlines letter jacket that I’m planning on putting up for $200 or so. I saw Etsy has a few around 40 bucks, but usually airline folks have money, so let’s see what we get.
Anyway, give me a review if you can, from pictures, content, titles, etc… I’d appreciate it. Take care and my new goal is to be at 200 by end of June, but I gotta have some garage sales open up around here…
Jim.
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To save people time, here is Jim’s eBay store: https://www.ebay.com/sch/willow.circle.ventures/m.html?_nkw=&_armrs=1&_ipg=&_from=
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Jim, good start. Congrats on your current sales.
Couple quick notes:
–Your photos look “amateur”. Not bad, but could use some improvement if you want to get higher sales.
–Currently you have photos of clothes hanging from tree limbs, clothes laid on carpet and tile. Its kind of all over the place.
–If you have the space, create a photo nook. Take photos on a clean white background, or a clean wooden floor.
–This is probably the best look you have: https://www.ebay.com/itm/Aqua-Teal-Tan-Swirl-Vase-10-Inches-Tall-Glass/193351459183?hash=item2d04a5216f:g:b~8AAOSwStheTd~HSince you deliver papers every morning at 3:30am (!!!!), would your wife want to help take photos?
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Hi Jim
Some of your photos of white clothing (e.g. Calvin Klein) has a yellow cast in the shadows- maybe there’s something yellow, like curtains or something, reflecting the colour.
Nice vase- seems to have a concave “dimple” on the base, which might be worth mentioning in the listing if it is a concave dimple. Might indicate to someone the maker- here in the UK Whitefriars did that (but it’s not a Whitefriars vase). I check the base on glassware as it seems to be a good indicator of quality, e.g. ground flat or with a signature. I’m wondering whether it’s Mdina, from Malta (probably wrong). They have a palette of blue and sand to represent the sea and, er, the beach.
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Positives first, your prices are fair and you’re offering a nice array of goods.
Improvement areas….
Don’t take clothing photos on the carpet or bare floor/carpet UNLESS that floor is squeaky clean with no stains or marks. Also, revisit your shipping. I’d suggest flat rate economy on heavier items using Fedex Ground or 2 day.
No reason for the commas in your listings. I would lose those to make your title look more professional and streamlined.
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Some advice after briefly looking at your store:
1. Crop your photos (and get better backgrounds/lighting, as others have noted).
2. You can abbreviate “vintage” as “vtg.” This saves space to get more keywords.
3. Drop best offer unless it’s an item you can’t find any comps on.
I’m sure some disagree, but I rarely use best offer and I still make tons of sales. In the US, people are not used to negotiating and are not comfortable with it.
Furniture stores and car dealers negotiate deals all the time, but they don’t explicitly say “or best offer.” You have to ask for a deal. A lot of people don’t even think about it or are too timid. The same is true on eBay. I still make negotiated deals with people who ask, but most don’t, and those people happily pay full price. Set a fair price and wait. Don’t worry, even without the best offer feature turned on, you’ll still get lots of offers.
You can also send out offers, which seems to work better at creating a sense of urgency, since the shopper knows that others could beat them to the deal.
Also, best offer adds the possibility of a buyer purchasing the item, then not paying. Buy it now makes them pay immediately and reduces stress.
Anyway, you’re off to a good start. Keep putting in the work and you will reap the rewards.
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Hi Jim, you’re doing great with your store!
As AtomicStar mentioned, remove the commas. Also, the first 4 to 5 words are the ones that generate keywords, so make them count. For example, the vase that jay referenced above, you have listed as Aqua, Teal, Tan Swirl Vase. I would reword that as Glass Swirl Vase Aqua Teal Tan Painted Effect 10″ Tall. That vase is gorgeous!
Another example of not utilising your titles fully is the Parkside Croquet kit. Do a search for similar items and see what they say. Pulling up your listing, eBay was kind enough to show me other similar items and they’ve used titles like 6 Player Croquet Set w Mallets Balls.
Don’t duplicate words in your titles. eBay gets jittery about that, they reckon it’s keyword spamming. For your walking stick, you’ve used “walking” a few times. Instead say Walking Stick Cane Aid (rather than walking stick, walking cane, etc.) I would reword the title on this as Wood Walking Stick Two Tone Mixed Wood Cane Shaped 36″ Tall.
Maximise your keywords! Don’t say Everlast Boxing Gloves. Say Everlast Boxing Gloves 14oz Black Pair Protex Adjustable Closure
Use all possible combinations. For your Drunk Monkey hoodie, you could include DrnkMnky in the Title. Some folks search by what’s written on the garment. Try Drunk Monkey XL Hooded Sweatshirt Zipped DrnkMnky Blue Gray
The idea is to include as much as you possibly can into the title. When a buyer is scrolling down the interminable list of items, with those almost imperceptible thumbnails, what’s going to make your listing stand out for them to click on it? Most probably a word in your title. If the person wants a bomber jacket, they’re not going to want a hood. If they want a hoodie, they’re not going to want a sweatshirt. Do you see?
Good luck!
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