Do you remember the first item you ever sold online? Let us know by sending an email to ina@auctionbytes.com and we may publish your story. Today we hear from Chris who figured, if at first you don't succeed, try again!
Well, my first item I sold was a dell laptop. I originally was going to sell it to my buddy for $45 bucks. Not knowing the worth of it, while I was waiting for my friend to save his money I took a look at ebay. Me just turning 18 was finally able to use the site now. I put the laptop up for sale and got over $200 for it verses the $45 to my friend.
This got me thinking, so I agreed with myself that I was going to start a small business online. I hit the books and online tutorials about building and scripting websites, and design, photoshop, everything! I built my first website and business selling customized computers on and off eBay. The business went down the drain.
I didn't give up even though I was thousands in debt now. I starting a clothing business selling brand name clothing on ebay and my website. First getting my inventory from middlemen wholesalers, then from overstock companies, then got a little smarter and went looking for suppliers in NYC and found some, but the 3-4 hour ride every week was painful. Now I have accounts with direct manufacturers buying directly at the lowest cost, and they ship the product to me! No more driving 4 hours one way to NYC!
Now I have a Powerseller status eBay store, and fully functional e-commerce website. And finally quit my job to do this seriously! I even got an interview with the authors of "eBay PowerSeller Million Dollar Ideas" by Brad Schepp and Debra Schepp. I couldn't believe it.
I even started another ebay store which I am running for a small business: Little Bits by Monica Rodgers (www.LittleBits.com) which has been featured in many magazines.
Here are my stores:
iCandy Clothing eBay Store: http://stores.ebay.com/iCandy-Clothing
iCandy Clothing Website: www.iCandyClothing.com
Little Bits eBay Store: http://stores.ebay.com/Little-Bits-by-Monica-Rodgers (note store just started weeks ago).
Thanks
Chris
About the author:
Ina Steiner is co-founder and Editor of EcommerceBytes and AuctionBytes.com and has been reporting on ecommerce since 1999. She's a widely cited authority on marketplace selling and is author of "Turn eBay Data Into Dollars" (McGraw-Hill 2006). Her blog was featured in the book, "Blogging Heroes" (Wiley 2008). Follow her on Twitter at @auctionbytes and send news tips to ina@ecommercebytes.com.
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