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 Paul in New Jersey who sold a 1950s Fur Poodle Sweater Clip for $10 in 2000.
Hi Ina,
I have been meaning to email you about my first item for well over a year now... I thought I had the photo of the item but I have not been able to find it....
My first item I sold was in late 2000 and I had been hearing the buzz about this online auction and how people were making quite a bit of money on regular household stuff. I had just closed down my antique co-op space in Gilroy CA and shipped the better and easy to ship stuff back east where I relocated to.
I decided to give it a try with one item: A 1950s Fur Poodle Sweater Clip. I listed it at $4.99 and it sold for about $10.00. I charged about $8.00 shipping and handling (I had no clue as to what was reasonable) and the person griped about the shipping charge but still sent me a money order.
It took me over 3 weeks to ship the pin because it was such a daunting task at the time and I did not have a clue as to what I was doing. She did end up giving me a positive feedback and I of course left her a positive feedback as well. Today I have an ebay store, become a powerseller and sell an average of 15 to 20 items a week with average monthly sales of about $2,000. I no longer ship in 3 weeks like the first item, I now ship within 3 or 4 days and have it down to a science!
Best,
Paul Trosko
Hamilton, NJ
Tiques_N_Ties on ebay
About the author:
Ina Steiner is Editor of AuctionBytes.com and author of "Turn eBay Data Into Dollars" (McGraw-Hill 2006). She has a background in marketing and research in the high-tech and publishing fields. If you have story ideas, comments or questions, send them to ina@auctionbytes.com.
You may quote up to 200 words of any article on the condition that you attribute the article to AuctionBytes.com and either link to the original article or to www.AuctionBytes.com. All other use is prohibited.
