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 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.
You may quote up to 50
words of any article on the condition that you attribute the article to
EcommerceBytes.com and either link to the original article or to
www.EcommerceBytes.com. All other use is prohibited.
You can read past newsletters going back to 1999 - click on a year and you'll be taken to all 24 issues from that year, which you can read in full-text!
Have a question about buying or selling online? Want to get marketing or technical advice? AuctionBytes Discussion Forums are the place to come to get answers to your questions and get advice! Great tips - a refreshing change!
