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.
