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So we are Team Mannequin, as I think it makes most items look much better, and honestly, I find it faster. Especially on Suits and Sport Coats, it just looks much better.
Jeans and Pants are flat lays for us. Though the trend in Women’s Jeans is a model with a nice…presentation. We aren’t there!
PS – Roland…love your username. Movie was horrible though! I’ll stick with the books!
Agree. It is something I have to watch on my side of the business (clothing), as it is much more competitive, and has a higher return rate. I can understand it though, as usually you don’t know if something is going to fit right until you try it on. Just part of the business. For now, I’m letting the market decide. If buyers move the market to free shipping and free returns, I have to move there as well, and buy and price accordingly.
And you are right…ain’t nuthin’ free…buyers just like to think so…
Amen. Stress for me was driving in Panama City, during rush hour, when I don’t speak Spanish…and our cell phone we got for driving directions? It was yelling at me in Spanish!
“YES! BY ALL MEANS, YELL AT ME IN SPANISH AGAIN THAT I MISSED THE TURN! THAT IS VERY HELPFUL!”
Yeah…good times…
Speaking of online auctions, what sites do you find as good sources of inventory? I haven’t done any serious diving into online sources of inventory yet, but with a potential move to a more rural area, it would be nice to know of some solid online sources.
For us, Veronica kills at the garage and estate sales, I kill at the thrift stores. So a typical sourcing week for us is garage/estate sales on Friday, and thrift stores on Saturday (when they are 50% off).
Jay, what you are reading in the above link is on the page for “Returns”, which includes information on ALL returns, not just free. If you are offering “Free Returns”, it has to mean just that…free to the buyer, regardless of why they want to return.
I’m going to keep an eye on this one for now, and not making any changes. From what I understand, Cyndi at AmazingTaste is not going to offer Free Returns either. I need to see how the market moves with this change. The downside, whether I like it or not, is that many other marketplaces online, mostly Amazon, offer free returns to buyers. If their influence continues to shape buyer behavior and buyer expectation of free returns, we will have to probably move in that direction. For now, I’m still charging shipping and charging for returns on clothing (mostly because buyers are not measuring clothing and they buy items that won’t fit them), but if I see a noticeable change in my STR downward, I may have to consider making that change. If the market changes, I can’t get mad and wish that it didn’t, I have to change with it.
The fact that buyer behavior has changed towards more online purchases has helped us, and we may have to pay that back by absorbing more shipping costs. This is part of the reason why I am OCD about seeing where my shipping revenue vs. shipping cost is every month, so I can see what the impact is to my bottom line is. This is only on a small percentage of my overall sales anyway, so I would just have to run the numbers to see what the average cost of paying for returns would be each month, and how much of an increase in STR I would have to gain to cover that increased cost.
So I’m sitting this out, but watching buyer behavior and my sales numbers to see what happens…
Just heard some more info on this on the eBay Radio podcast from last Thursday. Apparently, one of the major reasons for removing watermarks is that watermarked photos will not show in Google Shopping. So your images with watermarks will not be shown in the largest non-marketplace search engine. By making these watermarks be removed, it expands exposure for sellers.
We only were enrolled because we went to eBay Open. The plan is that eventually the Concierge Service will replace the current Customer Service reps. Basically, they are just rolling out an upgrade to Customer Service.
Week of 9/17-9/23
Total Items in Store: 1,768
Number of Items Listed: 86
Number of Items Sold: 66
Weekly STR: 16%
Total Product Sales: $1,712.14
Cost of Items Sold: $324.29
Gross Profit for Week: $1,227.55
Highest Item Sold: $75 – Vintage Footjoy Black & White Golf Shoes
Competition: Highest Priced Sale: Veronica wins the week and Veronica leads for the year 22-15.We had a great time at the Junk Jaunt in Nebraska, but came away with a bit less than usual. We ran into too many places that were either asking way too much for their items, or items that were just not resellable. Still works out to have a business trip where we get to visit our son as well, so a definite plus on the taxes.
I couldn’t find a link on eBay about the Concierge Service, just what we heard at eBay Open and what they have discussed on eBay Radio. Below is the information that we received in our message from eBay when they told us we were enrolled.
What is eBay Concierge?
eBay Concierge offers an enhanced level of service to selected customers, and looks to remove friction and barriers for high value and high frequency customers.What are the key benefits?
We review the services on a regular basis but the areas that we focus on are:
–Direct access to a dedicated team of experts with minimal wait times and a choice of contact options
–Support from top team members empowered to take responsibility for issues and concerns
–Tailored support on buying or selling issuesWho is the program open to?
The program is currently open to selected customers only. Criteria for selection include the value and volume of business with eBay. Membership of the program is optional. Customers who choose to opt out will continue to be supported by our standard customer service team.
Membership of the program may also be reviewed by the business from time to time to ensure we continue to offer the service to customers who can benefit the most.Once a member, always a member?
The program aims to support high value customers, so it’s possible we’ll review membership of the program in the future. This ensures we can focus the services of our expert teams to those who’ll benefit most. Everyone currently in the program will have access to the Concierge team at least until the end of 2017.How do free returns for buyers work?
Concierge members who use the eBay returns process will have shipping costs refunded back to their account. This applies to the first five returns per quarter. Buyers will need to print the return label through My eBay and we’ll automatically credit the shipping cost.How is eBay Concierge different from eBay Valet?
The eBay Valet service is available to all US sellers to help them price, list, and sell items. eBay Concierge is a program that’s initially available only to select sellers and buyers.What’s the difference between Concierge and an Anchor Store subscription or Managed Account service?
The eBay Concierge program gives us an opportunity to evaluate a variety of enhanced services with select sellers and buyers. Anchor Store subscribers, Managed Account sellers, or other seller programs will have services specifically designed to support their business requirements on eBay.eBay is now promoting bundled listings and lots. That is what this is about. They mentioned this on the most recent eBay Radio, and it is discussed in the Fall Seller Update.
You are right Mike. After using SixBit, I will never go back. Having everything in a central place, the ability to schedule for free (we have over 30 scheduled through Sunday for while we are gone to Nebraska), making copies of prior listings, quick reporting, etc. It has saved us so much time, it is well worth the money.
Whether WonderLister or SixBit, they are worth it.
It is an upgraded Customer Service program, where the reps are much more knowledgeable about eBay and our business, and they are much more empowered to fix the problems immediately. Eventually, this will be rolled out to all sellers and will take over the current Customer Service program.
I love your talk about how to deal with stress. I completely agree. One running theme that I get from all of the books and podcasts that I consume about successful people, is that they learn to deal with stress. In fact, many of them make sure that they are uncomfortable each day. Working out, fasting, taking a cold shower, learning a new skill, all are easy things to at least stress the body or mind a little bit each day. That builds that muscle so that you can be better prepared when larger stress actions take place.
Week of 9/10-9/16
Total Items in Store: 1,743
Number of Items Listed: 115
Number of Items Sold: 82
Weekly STR: 20%
Total Product Sales: $2,007.15
Cost of Items Sold: $430.13
Gross Profit for Week: $1,385.06
Highest Item Sold: $79.86 – Rare Polo Ralph Lauren 881 BLEECKER #2 Jockey Shirt
Competition: Highest Priced Sale: Troy wins the week and Veronica leads for the year 21-15.Our eBay Concierge program started, and two calls in, I really like it. The number for eBay Customer Service for us is the same, but since we were invited in (since we went to eBay Open), we are funneled to the Concierge group. Both people were very knowledgeable, and were able to work on issues right there as much as they could, and for the first time ever, I actually got a message from them a few days later when the issue was resolved. Eventually, all eBay sellers will get the Concierge treatment, and it is a great direction for them to take.
We are getting ready for the Nebraska Junk Jaunt, hitting the road on Thursday. We have our process set to be able to remote in to our home computer now (loving that!), and we are looking forward to filling up our truck with lots of dusty gold!
Congrats on sticking with your goal to create an income you have more control over. You will get that feeling of being overwhelmed from time to time. It happens. I am the planner in our business (OCD Accountant), so I can definitely stress myself out when I look at all I need to do. I get over that by just focusing on one task at a time, and knowing that if I put in the hours, those hours will accumulate and then suddenly, I’m much farther than I thought. Just move the ball forward today, even just a little bit, and keep making today better than yesterday.
A phrase I also use: “When looking at the mountain and seeing how far you have to go, remember to look back and see how far you have come.”
