The Way It Was...

I have dabbled with a few methods of getting rid of stale inventory.  As a result, I have learned quite a bit about the different methods.  I have learned a little of what works and what doesn't.  I'm no expert....believe me.  But, I can share a couple of tidbits today.

As I started this reselling on eBay gig, I was having fun building my inventory and number of listings.  Things started selling on a consistent basis and my confidence grew.  However, so did my stale inventory.  As the months went by, I could start to see what may not have a prayer at selling.  What to do?  

I tried dropping prices.  I dabbled with Markdown Manager.  I have even been running what I thought was going to be the solution....Ki Markdown.  This ingenious little program uses Markdown Manager to put items on sale either randomly or by age or by pretty much whatever method you want.  The sales can be set to recur daily, weekly, monthly, again...pretty much whatever way you want.  I thought, "Why not put things on an increasing sale as they age?"  You know, like retail stores do.  I constructed 30 day, 60 day, and 90 day sales.  I noticed a bump in sales of older things, but not like I had hoped.

Nothing worked as well, for me, as this method I'm about to share...........AUCTIONS!  Yes, the old-fashioned eBay auction.  But, with a twist.

If I have stale inventory (and that definition varies for us all) over 6 months, I move it to auction at "cost + shipping."  Yes, with all the DSR talk lately, this is a risk.  It exposes your shipping cost DSR to being rated. But, you don't have to charge normal shipping prices, either.  If something is going to cost you $3 to ship, you can charge $2.  That insulates you as well from the whackado buyer hellbent on leaving you a bad rating.  To do this, though, you need to know your cost.  There are many "eBay fee calculators" out there.  Just search that term and find one you are comfortable with.

I simply price the auction to end on a Sunday and detatch any emotion I have with the item.  This works well because we all know we usually get only one bid.  I don't care.....I recouped my cost.  I'm out nothing.  Ok, ok, maybe I'm out a couple of listing fees.  But, I look at it as recouping some cash to go out and hit another homerun.  Sometimes, I mark things up a buck and start the auction at that price.  Sometimes I mark it up a few bucks.  But, the best way for me over the months has been moving things to auction and pricing them at my cost + shipping.  Any multiple bids I pick up are gravy.  If I get a bid, I can't lose money.  Auctions also bring different buyers to my storefront to look around for other possible values.  

Think a little about this.  I could go on and on, but don't want to bore you with long blog entries.  If you are like me, you suffer from UDADD (UnDiagnosed ADD).  I'm not much on pretty blogs and pictures to entertain you (although I'll try and play a little).  I'd rather keep things ridiculously content-rich so you come back knowing you'll learn something.  Or, at the very least have something to think about going forward.

Make Today Count!

Chip

Activity Update..

As of now, we've sold 27 things this month for a gross total of $475.  I am listing an average of 3-5 things a day.  I haven't really cracked down on a goal yet, as I'm just coming off summer with family and kids and going out of town to see more family.....and kids.  I'm cranking back up slowly.  I suppose I'm like that huge boulder sitting on top of the mountain.  If you can just get me rolling, I slowly and steadily pick up speed as I methodically roll along.  And, once I stop rolling, it's a real bugger to get me moving again.

That said, I ran through Marshalls for the first time today.  I've heard people talk about buying NWT (new with tags) items off their clearance racks.  I found a few things that I researched on the phone.  I didn't get what I felt were conclusive results from my phone app, so I decided to sit on the purchase until I could get home and check a little more thoroughly.  

I don't know about you, but my phone often reveals partial results compared to my laptop at home.  So, when I'm staring at something outside my comfort zone, I don't jump.  I do my research and go back if I still feel the gamble will pay off.  The reason this technique is outside my comfort zone is because 1- I've never done things this way.  I'm a thrift store guy where if I get burned, I'm out $3.  2- Looking at what interested me, I was going to have to shell out $34 on 3 shirts.  I can get 11 shirts at my local Goodwill for that price.

But, here is what was also weighing on my mind.  1- These were no-brainers even for the price.  (I'll go into detail in a minute)  2- If you don't leave your comfort zone, you never grow.  3- Bringing more NWT items into my store may reach a different audience I can get to come into my store and potentially find other appealing things.

No-brainers?  Here is what I was looking at.  A Tommy Bahama silk camp shirt for $20 that retails for $110 in store.  Problem is it's a small.  I also saw two Perry Ellis polo shirts for $7 each that were 4XL shirts.  Problem is Perry Ellis is an "ok" brand, not a great one.  But, 4XL speaks for itself.  I also saw a Sean John shirt that looked cool and it was an XL or 2XL, I can't remember.  I think it was $10.

I looked all these up and it appears I can sell the 3 shirts I mentioned (the SJ would be the shirt I'm not including) for $56 in profit.  Not bad for 3 shirts.  So, after consideration, I think I'll go back and grab them when I take the kiddos for Friday Pizza.

Let's do something fun, ok?  The Tommy Bahama is a red, solid, silk camp shirt....size small for $20.  The Perry Ellis polos are 4XLs for $7 each.  All are new with tags.  Post a comment and tell me what you would list them for AFTER doing the best research you can do.  Let's learn together!  I already know what my price points will be, as I've done enough research to see what they will sell for and this is why I'm going back to buy them.

I'll post the listings soon.  Gawd, this reselling is fun!  You walk into a store and just never know what you are going to find and/or learn.  Am I right?

Make today count!

Chip

Search Ranking Conspiracy?

I have been reading a lot about eBay and it's search engine, Cassini.  I will summarize what I've read someday after it all digests.  This may be the quickest way to insanity!  But, of course, like fools we read all we can anyway....knowing it will only serve to raise our anxiety levels.

Well, lately that has been happening to me.  I have been reading about search rankings, and found a theory called Rolling Blackouts.  This theory explains, however unproven, that eBay could possibly be rotating who is visible in their search engine.  This also can feel like it explains why our sales suddenly shut down for a few days and then come back.  None of this is proven, of course, and eBay would NEVER admit to any of this. But, one can't help but wonder.

Last weekend, for the first time since I've been reselling on eBay (I started in November 2012) I didn't make one single sale.  Neither Saturday nor Sunday!  It had to rolling blackouts, right?  Well, that or August's doldrums.  So, I decided to check it the only way I know how.....by looking up my items myself.  Yep, all there.  And, then I thought that if eBay put me on some rolling blackout there's no way they'd show it to me. Of course all my listings would show up to me.  And, of course, they'd appear high in the rankings, right?

How do you get around this?  Call a friend.  Someone that doesn't live close to you.  I have a friend in eastern Florida and another in northern Idaho.  I called them both.  I live in St. Louis, MO.  Can't get a lot farther away that those two spots.  I had them look up the same items I was looking up to see if we both got the same results in search rankings.  (This was actually really fun!)

I figured I would find my item ranked #6 out of 140 or something, and my friend would find it ranked #130 out of the same 140.  Nope.  She found it exactly where I did..........and ranked high.   Hmmmmm.  Now what?

I suppose it can't be a rolling blackout killing my sales, can it?  The point of all this is to tell you that I don't know how much there is to any of this conspiracy theory.  I'd really like to believe it because I'd like to have something to blame for poor sales.  But, the fact is, it's all likely a coincidence timed with a slow sales period.....summer.

But, rest assured, I'm going to overthink this stuff now that I'm back in the saddle and pushing again.  However, I can't get past the feeling that I'm trying to sell sand in the Sahara right now.  Lol.  Either way.........

Make today count!
Chip

Get in Line with Ebay's Requests

I don't know about you, but I'm always looking for ways to make my eBay items appear higher in search rankings.  With the switch over to and evolution of eBay's new search algorithms, Cassini, we need to pay attention to more factors than just keywords.

I believe, without being told, that one of those parameters is paying attention to "warnings" eBay issues.  Whether it be that your DSRs (Detail Seller Ratings) are low, or that your photos aren't the correct size, I believe we should hop-to and fix things before we agitate the powers that be.

Ebay now rewards us for being customer-centric sellers.  The more convenient we design our listings for buyers, the more Cassini rewards us with higher placement.  Ebay has made no bones about focusing on the buyer, and it behooves them to do so.  They don't want the buyer running off to Amazon or another rival.  Those sellers that get in-line with this concept will outperform the sellers that don't.  It's that simple.

I received a warning today that 2 of my listings didn't fit the photo profile eBay wants.  So, I'm jumping on this right away to fix it.  At the very least, I am pulling the listings until I have time to rephotograph them.  But, I also noticed eBay is giving me suggestions for 9 other listings regarding adding Item Specifics.  Well, it would probably behoove me to fix those, too.

In the recent past, many sellers (15,000 to be more precise) have been suspended or banned from selling on eBay because they didn't adhere to multiple warnings eBay gave regarding customer service.  I am just taking this one step further and staying ahead of the game.  I suggest you contemplate doing the same.

Where do you find these warnings?  I found them under the Selling Reminders section under the My Ebay tab.  This is what mine looks like.

When poking around your eBay page today, take a look in the Selling Reminders and see if you don't have anything to correct.  I will report back if I see a bump in sales after fixing these.

Make today count!

Chip

Autumn Push!

As I push into August and deal with the doldrums of retail selling in summer, I plan to get more active with the blog.  I will try and turn this into a diary of my activity and results with more frequent postings............so people will actually start to follow this blog.

Here we go!