Close to 30 Feedback Stars and Still at 100% Positive

Hurray!  I recently got my 29th star and I always get such a rush when my customers are happy with their purchases.  I know, it sounds super corny, but it's part of what makes eBay such an addictive experience for me.  It's in my nature to try to please people, and eBay is such a great outlet for that.  I try to be as conservative and as transparent as possible in my item descriptions, even though I know that might lower the price.  I offer free ground shipping but most of the time I end up shipping things Priority Mail.  I always follow up with buyers to make sure their item has arrived - even though the tracking status says it has, I just want to make sure it arrived at the right place.  And I LOVE getting positive feedback.

Sometimes buyers say things like, "Thanks! As described."  That's always a relief, as I'm always paranoid that perhaps my assessment of an item's value will difer significantly from the buyer's assessment.  But when people write things like, "Super seller!  Will buy from again!" I always feel like it's all worth it, even if I sold the item for 99 cents.  My favorite piece of feedback so far was: "She was wonderful.  I saved her as a seller just to buy from her again."

On the flip side, though, I'm dreading the day when someone gives me negative feedback.  I know it's bound to happen, even though I do my best.  You can't please all of the people all of the time, and despite my positive experiences with buyers so far, I know there have to be some difficult people out there in cyberspace.  And let's face it, eventually one of them is going to buy my stuff.  I just hope I know how to treat them properly when they do.

Bidders to Watchers Experiment

I forgot to mention ... the black sequined dress eneded its run with 4 bidders and 6 bids.  Unfortunately it only sold for $6, but my theory continues to hold true - average ratio of bidders to watchers is 50%.

I Hit the Inventory Motherlode (and Other Details)

Just as I was moaning about running out of inventory I discovered an untapped source of promising eBay items: my baby brother.  Remember how Saturday I was blogging from my Blackberry because I was my way to Charlottesville?  Well, the trip turned out to be more profitable than I expected!

My brother is a Junior at University of Virginia.  Like most Juniors at University of Virginia and universities all over the world, he's put on a few pounds since he started school.  More than a few.  Furthermore, like most college Juniors it had been a looong time since he'd cleaned out his closet.  It took little convincing to relieve him of several nearly intact J. Crew button down shirts, one pair of dress slacks, three pairs of cargo pants and a suit jacket.  Little does he know the J. Crew shirts alone are worth about $50!

I know what you're thinking.  How could I take advantage of my little brother that way? :)  Don't worry, he'll definitely get a cut, I just don't want him to flip out when I list his shirts for 99 cents and free shipping!

But that's not all.  On the way home, my husband and I were talking about my new venture into men's clothing, and for the first time he let me clean out HIS closet.  I found a pair of Salvatore Ferragamo dress shoes in GREAT shape that never fit him properly, listed them as soon as we got home and SOLD THEM the same night.  Then, inspired by these new finds, I gave my own closet a once over, just one more time, to see whether I'd missed anything the last time I was hunting for inventory.  I found two tops, a pair of Manolo Blahnik slingbacks I haven't worn in over a year and a pair of Kate Spade suede pumps that have graced my feet a grand total of twice.  I plan on listing them tomorrow night.

All in all, I think there's a pretty good lesson here to add to the list.  It goes something like this:

eBay Lesson Number (what number were we on?): If you think you've completely cleaned out your closet, think again.  If you've really totally and completely cleaned out your closet, clean out your family's closet.  There's stuff to sell EVERYWHERE, and just because you can't use something doesn't mean there aren't thousands of buyers out there who can.

Check out my updated earnings - closing in on that $300 mark. :)

My Son is Having Oreo Cookies for Breakfast

I'm such a GREAT mom. :-S

How is this related to eBay?  It's not, I just felt like sharing.

Featured Item Over - Under: The Unders Have It!

The froggy outfit sold for $1.25, or under $3.

Loading the next over under poll as we speak.

My Thought on Peeping Toms (Otherwise Known as Watchers)

Blogging from the road today - we're on our way to Charlottesville, VA, to spend the day with my little brother.

I've been keeping track of the eBay watcher phenomenon. I've recorded in an Excel document what the maximum number of watchers is for each auction, the number bidders, the number of bids, and the final selling price of the item, and I've found a relationship between the number of watchers and the final selling price of the item. This is especially true for the items I've listed for 99 cents and free shipping with no Buy It Now option.

Other sellers who blog like to say there is no correlation between watchers and bidders, but my records suggest otherwise. Is it POSSIBLE that an item with ten watchers won't sell? Sure! After all, almost nothing in life is 100 pct guaranteed, but what I've found is that the number of individual bidders you get is roughly equivalent to HALF of your watchers.

Do you want to test it out? I've got the perfect item to illustrate my point. Go to www.ebay.com and search for "Miss Milan black beaded evening gown" (I'd give you the direct link but I can't figure out how from my blackberry without losing this post). My eBay seller name is elisav. You'll see the auction ends tomorrow and the item has one bid for 99 cents. What you CAN'T see is that it's also got ten watchers, which tells me at least four people are waiting to the last minute to "snipe" the auction.

Watch this space! By tomorrow night, you'll know exactly how many bidders there were, either proving my theory or proving I'm a dumbass who just lost money on an auction!

The Ultimate eBay Listing

I listed a few more items tonight even though I know Fridays are not great for auctions. My son has outgrown his lime green Croc sandals, and I've got a couple of dressy shirts I'd like to find a good home for. However, as I listed these items I kinda came to the realization that... I'm going to run out of inventory soon.

Now, a few people have asked me to list their stuff for them, and that was in fact part of my plan for Phase II. However, when I start buying things to sell on eBay or when I become a trading assistant the margins shrink considerably and that's when I have to start stepping it up with the volumes. After all, if you remember my starts I'm only listing about 16 items a month and as a trading assistant I'd only make a small commission off of people's earning. Quite frankly, I don't think I'm good enough to cut it as a full time trading assistant - nor do I have the time to sell as many items as it would take for me to reach my revenue goals.

I've been saving the ultimate eBay item for last... it's my classic and once expensive wedding gown. The problem is, as ruthless as I am with other items (I just listed my son's christening outfit for $.99 and free shipping) I can't bear to sell this gown for what it's objectively worth.

Let's do the math, shall we? The gown cost $4000 new in 2003. Now, I'm assuming that garments lose a chunk of their value as soon as they're worn, and that they depreciate in a straight line thereafter. So supposing right after my wedding the gown's value dropped to $2500, using the straight line method with a 5 year time horizon, my gown is now worth ... $0.

So given that the gown is still in good shape and is fairly timeless, the material is very, very high quality and the designer is still somewhat en vogue, I could probably hope to sell it at MOST for $200.... a price I'm just not willing to let it go for.

Sooooo it will probably continue to take up room in my closet, unless you guys convince me otherwise!