Hi, Sonia from Portugal here

[sonia_pc]

Hi,

I have been listening to the podcast and catching up a bit with the forum for about 3 months and I can really relate to your mindset! Thank you Jay and Ryanne for doing this and gathering this community.

I live in Lisbon (you should definitely come over), have a full time demanding corporate job, a husband and a 12 year old daughter and I sell a bit online.

This all adds up to having quite a lot going on, but besides the much appreciated extra income I really have a great time finding objects that I like and that I can make money from (I don’t cling to stuff, I’m happy to have it for a while and let it go – and I like it even better if it sells immediately :)!)

I really love Etsy, that’s my main platform – the fees are so much better than Ebay’s, it just blows my mind and the whole thing is just so straightforward, unlike the many ins and outs of Ebay. Having said that, I am also starting out on Ebay, as the traffic is just much bigger than on Etsy.

For the time being it isn’t a big source of income, but in the few months I’m at it I made a bit over a month’s pay from my job, so even if I just keep up with this pace it will be great.

I am just blown away by the great things you can find almost for free or for free in the USA, Canada and even some European countries. That definitely doesn’t happen here in Portugal – people do know the value of their stuff most of the times as we are not that affluent.

Comparing to you people I have much lower margins and more capital invested in my stock.

Anyway, just wanted to say hi and be in touch and hope to participate in the forum.

Have a great weekend!

[Rhianna]

Welcome! I would love to learn more about what kind of items you find in Portugal to sell on-line. Hope to see you in the forum!

[sonia_pc]

Thanks for welcoming me Rhianna and Jay and taking interest in my pursues 🙂

Regarding your questions:

– I am Portuguese alright, born and raised. I have lived, studied (including University) and worked within a 15 miles radius from where I live now all of my life. That also includes my parents, my inlaws and siblings. That must seem a bit unusual to you guys in the USA, but it’s pretty common here;

– I sell some things locally, mostly at a local platform akin to Craigslist (though less hectical and more organized), OLX. That would be personal stuff I’m getting rid of or some things that appeal only to the local market (like screenprints from sought after Portuguese artists)

– On Ebay and Etsy I sell mostly to people in the US, Japan, Canada, Germany, UK and other miscelaneous countries (Australia, France, Finland…)

– I have never had a single issue with anyone on Etsy but have only been selling sice late 2017 (or Ebay for that matter, but I only sold like 6 items there – began march 15th). I do try to be exhaustive in descriptions and photos. People on Etsy are just really friendly and some like to chat a bit. It seems to me they are also willing to pay more for the same items than on Ebay and there’s a bit of a sense of smallish community with people being quite polite.

– My main challenge is sourcing as I have lots of restraints:
– I hardly have any free time to scavenge in the wild and there aren’t that many opportunities here (no good thrift or charity shops)
– Portuguese goods that are really well made and would be worth selling aren’t known/ have no brand
– Items that people value anywhere in the planet are high priced here – people just don’t give that stuff away in masive quantities for sure!
– I live in an apartment and don’t have much free space to store or time to pack.

– So, in my case it all boils down to somewhat high value items (I’d say 150 USD average), with an average profit margin of 50% to date. I focus mostly on mid century designer glass/ ceramic that are somewhat collectible but not really unique or high end and I source 90% online, taking advantage of ebay auctions from sellers in Germany, UK, etc that are fast movers, scandinavian countries local online platforms where Americans don’t tread (haha), etc

[Jay]

Thats smart about sourcing online. Shipping would be too expensive for us to buy from European countries, but its probably cheap for you.

[sonia_pc]

In fact shipping is quite expensive within Europe, but combining shipping really brings down the cost per unit, so I try to bundle several items from the same seller

[Jay]

Glad you found us!
–Are you originally from Portugal?
–Are your customers mainly in Portugal, or are you selling to other Europeans or Americans?
–On etsy, do you have any issues with buyers wanting to return items?

The US definitely is the land of waste and abundance. Seeing it all really shows the best and worst of our country.

[aperture]

Olá Sonia. Bem vinda. Like you, I am a very part-time online (eBay) seller with a full time job and teenagers at home. I would love to have a look at your Etsy store if you are willing to share the name.

Best wishes, Daniel

[sonia_pc]

Olá Daniel, Obrigada 🙂

Here it goes:

https://www.etsy.com/shop/LisbonVintageStudio
https://www.ebay.com/usr/sonicoutinh6 – I don’t have as many items on ebay as on etsy, because I have a listing limit (just been selling there since march 15th). After I list on Etsy, copying it to ebay is really easy (one item at a time, no automation there)

I would really appreciate it should you have any suggestions regarding them. I really appreciate that many people here are so open and candid – and Jay seems to be top performer when it comes to that 🙂

[Author]

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