Something Is Working!

I haven't run a sale in my store for nearly a week. I haven't listed anything new in my store for nearly a week. I have had pitiful sales for nearly a week.

What a coincidence.

Last night, I began running a 50% off most clothing sale. Last night, I began listing a bunch. Last night, I began selling a bunch.

What a coincidence.

Since last night, I have listed 36 new items. Since last night, I have sold 22 items. Half of those were shoe cream, but that is still a lot of "real" sales.

Coincidence? Perhaps not....

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My favorite quick sale? I listed a Friends 2B Made doll this afternoon (from the makers of Build a Bear), and 5 or 6 of her outfits. Within an hour, I sold the doll and 2 outfits for a total of $62! Remember, I paid $100 for the ENTIRE lot! I've made back two-thirds of that with just those couple sales! That's a real weight off my shoulders, because I wasn't convinced I had made the right decision on those.

Build a Bear

I made another big Facebook purchase yesterday. I was just saying on the eBay Underground forum that sometimes you have to be willing to shell out big bucks in order to make bigger bucks. It's very nice to find something at a yard sale or thrift store for a buck or two and flip it into $25-30. But sometimes it's exciting to spend $100 and flip it into $400. That's what I'm hoping this one will do.

I bought a big BABW lot yesterday. It included an inflatable chair, 4 Build a Bear plush, a Build a Bear girl (Friend 2B, which I've never heard of), 5 Friend 2B outfits, and 26 Build a Bear outfits. I paid $100 for them, which is probably a little more than I should have. But even if I sell the outfits for only $9.99 each, that's $310 on just the outfits. The couch won't get me much. The plush aren't just bears, so I'm hoping I'll do already with them. But no matter what, I expect to more than triple my money. We shall see...

Here's what I got:

I have all my pics edited and ready to go, but it's late and I do NOT feel like starting with the listing. I'll work on that tomorrow. As with all my bulk purchases like this, I will post back anytime I sell something!

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I am not running a sale right now, and I haven't listed all week, and my sales have died again. Truly. I sold 3 jars of shoe cream yesterday for a whopping $8.75. That's it. Today? A hairpiece and another jar of shoe cream. It is becoming more and more obvious to me that I bring these slow spells on myself. I neglect eBay? eBay neglects me. lol. All joking aside, it really is that simple. If you just keep listing, you'll see the sales come in. I have bought a lot of stuff over the past couple weeks. Great stuff! I just need to take a few minutes and get them listed.

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Complaints seem to come in clumps for me. Remember the buyer with the silver paint on the shoes? That was #1. I got another message from a buyer whose shirt doesn't fit, so he wants to return it. No problem. I have a 14-day return policy. And he was very nice about it. That was #2. But #3? Yikes. Crazy lady!

Here's the listing in question:

I have highlighted the important part in blue.  The first contact was this:

"No where did say that these are children shoes. I want a full refund with shipping."

That's it. So I think I laughed and said to myself, "What exactly does 'girls' mean?" Then I double-checked the listing to see if I provided measurements, and sure enough.  7 5/8" sole length. Can you picture that? That's pretty small, right? So I gave myself the luxury of composing (in my head only) all the replies I wanted  to send her. But, I am a professional. So I didn't put any of them in writing. Instead, I said this:

The title and the item description both clearly state that these are girls' slippers/boots. I also included the sole length, which is 7 5/8". Reading my description, there should have been no doubt that these are girls' slippers/boots. If you wish to return them, you may do so by sending them back to me within 7 days to:

Jessica
Address
City, Street

Once I have received them back in their original condition (still attached to the card), I will refund you your original purchase price of $9.38.

Jessica

Silly me, I thought that would be the end of it.  But no. It's never that easy. Her response:

Well most put small, medium, or large. That's fine and as soon as the package is marked as shipped, because I will send it tomorrow, I will send a number and expect immediate refund. If not, I will use that that sent you a tracking number and open a paypal case. Thank you! :)

Because you know, small/medium/large would have clarified without a doubt that these were children's slippers. <end sarcasm>  And then she threatens to open a case against me. And then she has the audacity to smile at me???   So I replied:

I included the size that was on the slipper - girls 11/12. There is no need to threaten a case. I will stand by my word and issue your refund as promised. As evidenced by my feedback, I am an exemplary businessperson and would never risk that. I assure you your refund will be issued immediately upon receipt of the package, provided it is still in its original condition.

to which she replied:

No. If I send a tracking number to prove it is sent, I want my money back. If anything happens in the shipment process that is the post office problem. I paid you before I got my product without anything, but the tracking number.

At this point, I called eBay. Obviously,  I'm not going to refund her until I've received the item back. But I wanted to be able to tell her that eBay SAID SO. The customer service rep read over our exchange and actually LAUGHED. She said, "Of course you don't refund until you get her item back. Blame us. Tell her that it is eBay's policy."  So I did. I replied:

I just spoke to an eBay customer service representative. She read through our correspondence and pointed out that it is THEIR policy that sellers not refund until they have received the item back. Customer satisfaction is very important to me, and I am definitely willing to work with you and refund you your $9.38 as previously promised, but I do have to abide by eBay's policy of waiting until I have received the item back. Thank you for your understanding.

to which she replied:

Well I hope you receive it, because if not it will be your head. Thank you and it will be sent back.

 

And on that note, I wish you all a good night!

My Heart Belongs to Facebook

Don't worry. eBay will always be my first love. But my Facebook Yard Sale group has been treating me well lately.  Not only have I been selling a lot (!!) of stuff on there, and not only have I been getting some great stuff for my family, but I've been finding some GREAT stuff for resale!

Like this, for example:

Now seriously. What the heck do I know about Hulk Hogan action figures? Nothing at all. But for some reason, when I saw these listed on the FB group, I thought I'd look them up. Turns out that not all Hulk Hogan action figures are created equal. Some are complete duds that don't even sell for $5. Others will sell for upwards of $60-70. Don't be quick to grab up any Hulk Hogan action figures, just because you read about them here. Be sure to research them individually!

Anyway, I bought 4 of them from this lady, for $8 apiece. I didn't expect them to sell quickly, but I only pay 5 cents a month listing fee, so I'm usually content to let my items sit for awhile. This one sold within 2 weeks of listing - for $34.99! So yes, this one sale paid for all 4 of the ones I bought. The other 3 sales will now be pure profit. Woot!

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I bought these at our library's used book sale several years ago, thinking my boy would love them. He did. For about 3 viewings. And then, like most 7 year old boys, his brain moved on to something else. I kept asking him if he was done with them yet, and he kept insisting he wanted to watch them more, but he never did. So I made an executive decision and I listed them on eBay. I had $19.99 obo on them. They were up for a month or so with no interest, so I decided to post them on the FB group. I put them up for $1 each or $5 for the whole lot. Still no interest. I accepted a $15 offer today on eBay! So it's good to keep your fingers in more than one pie :)

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And now class ... it's time for an important lesson. I've talked about earth shoes before, I'm pretty sure. I love to find earth shoes, but only if they have a lower-case 'e'.  Earth Shoes with a capital 'E' are Walmart brand. I'm not really sure what happened to my brain that day, but I came across two pairs of Earth Shoes and bought them without thinking. Of course, as soon as I got home, I realized what I had done, but decided to try to make the best of it anyway. I sold the first pair, but only because they were a women's size 11 bright red vegan mary jane athletic shoe with a lime green interior. Wow. Picture that.  But this second pair. Yeesh. What was I thinking?

I had them listed for $25 obo and was glad to accept a $10 offer today just to be rid of them. So the lesson? Remember your capitalization. Big E = Big Box Store.  Little e = buy them!

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Sold these vintage Tinker Toys for a friend of mine. We're splitting the money. I expected these to take awhile to sell too, but I just listed them a month or so ago. They sold for $29.99 + shipping.

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I sold my sister's bumbo seat in only 3 weeks, and for my full asking price of $29.99 + shipping! These are hard to find for a good flippin' price. I have only ever found 2 or 3 out in the wild, and the sellers wanted $15-20 for them. If you're looking for one to buy to use, that's a great price. If you're looking to resell it, that's a terrible price.

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I can't decide how I feel about Florsheims. I used to love them, and I bought up every pair I found. But then one day I realized I hadn't sold any of them. They just sat there. So I started playing around with my pricing and realized I just had them priced too high. I started pricing them for $35 fixed (no OBO), and they started selling. I think this was one of my last pairs. Sold today for $35 + shipping.

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I have a potential problem buyer that I'm dealing with right now. My eBay business isn't all gumdrops and lollipops (you're welcome for the earworm...)   I sold a pair of sandals that had some silver paint on them. I mentioned twice in the item description that they had paint on them, and I showed close ups of the paint. My buyer wrote me today complaining that I wasn't explicit enough about the paint. S/he pointed out that my photos are "quite good," and that I did in fact mention the paint, but s/he still feels that there was some misrepresentation on my part, and that I need to either accept a return (paying shipping both ways) or issue a partial refund so s/he can take them to a cobbler to have them fixed. (Ok, I had to laugh at that part ... do cobblers even exist anymore? And do cobblers remove paint from leather? But anyway...)  So after a bit of back and forth, I finally said that I would accept the return and, in the interest of good customer service, I will reimburse for original shipping. I'm hoping that that is satisfactory, or that if it isn't, s/he threatens me with negative feedback.  Once a buyer threatens negative feedback if you don't do what they've asked, you're golden. eBay will remove negative feedback that was given in cases of feedback extortion. I haven't heard back yet, so we shall see. But I absolutely refuse to give a partial refund, and I absolutely refuse to refund shipping both ways, when my listing quite clearly mentioned (twice!) and showed pictures of the damage.

Sigh. Another lesson learned.  Don't list damaged goods. Even if you point out the damage and show pictures, there will always be the buyer out there who didn't read about it.

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Meeting up with a lady tomorrow to buy a HUGE lot of Build a Bear outfits! They are a little on the pricey side, but I'm optimistic that I can at least triple my money. Eek. I hope!