sellersstash
sellersstash
| Forum role | Member since | Last activity | Topics created | Replies created |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Member | Feb 10, 2013 (13 years) |
- | 1 | 0 |
- Forum role
- Member
- Member since
Feb 10, 2013 (13 years)
- Last activity
- -
- Topics created
- 1
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Bio
My eBay Beginnings
Most people start out selling small, one thing will lead to the next and soon you can find your niche. I started out as a buyer, making small purchases on eBay in 1999. A post card I received in the mail prompted me to start selling. The postcard was from Lenox China informing me my china pattern was being discontinued or retired. I took a drive over to the Lenox warehouse to see if they had any pieces from my pattern. (There is a warehouse district 30 minutes from my home and some open to the public during the year for sales – many such sales are posted in the newspaper or on the store/warehouse’s website or a banner outside the warehouse.) I was happy to find a few items from my pattern and priced nicely. I approached a worker who was putting out stock and asked if there were more cups in my pattern and she was kind enough to go into the back and bring a few out! When I got home, I took a look on eBay and my pattern was selling for much more than I paid at the warehouse and sellers were using the words “retired” or “discontinued” in their description. I went into the sellers’ other auction listings and saw the other dishes she was selling which got my wheels turning. At this point, I did a general search of that particular item to see how many people were listing it for sale and what percentage was selling. To decide the risk of selling/listing a particular item, I check both the completed listings and the current listings. If the china pattern seemed to be selling well in the completed listings section, would it continue to sell and for how long? How many other sellers had this item listed? If there are 50 other people listing this same product, chances are they all jumped on the band wagon. Often getting in early lands you the larger sale price, as more sellers start listing the prices come down. In addition, there are only so many people looking for that particular pattern. I also searched by location to see if a particular seller actually lived near me and may be using my same source/store. No crime in having local competition, but you need an edge and that may be timing or simply asking clerks when the next shipment comes in. Let’s think outside the box as well. Does this product sell better say, one dish for sale, or a set of four dishes? Postage wise, a set of four works nicer. I researched the discontinued pattern further and saw that “used” pieces were also selling for a bit less. Although some used items were selling high probably because it was a limited item such as a large covered serving bowl, there were not many to be found. Yard sales were a great place to find used china as well as the local thrift stores. I also made a point of visiting my area stores to check out what was in stock or on clearance. A coupon will also bring your costs down as well as senior citizen discounts, etc. I began selling china and became more knowledgeable as time went by. There is usually a learning curve. Dishes are heavy and shipping costs will be higher and the distance of a buyer matters as well. Dishes need to be packaged well and bubble wrap costs money. I approached a store manager to ask if I could take some used bubble wrap that was in an empty box. Through experience, I found inexpensive ways to wrap the dishes by asking the manager to hold bubble wrap for me, sometimes I used cut up cardboard and shipping tissue paper to wrap the dishes with great success. I had to learn through trial and error what means worked the best to keep dishes from breaking. I also volunteered at my children’s school and was able to have the maintenance workers save boxes and packing materials for me, as long as they did not contain food. Experience taught me to look under the plate not only for the pattern, but any markings or country. I learned Dansk pottery could be made in Portugal or China and buyers often knew which they wanted. Less people buy or sell dishes today. I learned along the way to go with the flow, and to try and be ahead of the flow! What was coming next? What were the trends, styles, what was in the news, what did I have right around me that others wanted. I find that I need to look at each item with a shelf life. The Lenox pattern I had was hot, but eventually sales slowed. It’s a balancing act. If I stocked up on 200 plates, would I be able to sell all 200? Some things you can, others have a shelf life. Get in, get out, have the next hot seller ready to go. Repeat. Be aware when an item is nearing its shelf life. Be aware of what’s around you that could be next. I will say I milked my china run in other ways. China was mostly used for holidays and special occasions (which also meant sales peaked before the holidays and winded down after). I usually just stored my personal pieces in cardboard boxes but they were getting ratty. In my travels I found some cute yet practical quilted/padded dish storage containers. I wondered should I pick the color that most closely resembled my dish or something that went with my home décor. I decided to try and sell a few on eBay and wanted to cross market it under one of the discontinued patterns but eBay had a policy against word spamming. I took a picture of the storage cases and included the photo at the bottom of my china listing stating they could protect their dishes with a padded storage box found on my other auction. When I researched the padded storage containers, I came across a seller who had a different container than mine but offered monograming. Her set was more high-end, there was room for both of us but marketing it took a bit more work. I tested different search words in my title and had some success with “bride gift”. At this point I was only selling just before the holidays when fine china sales were highest.
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