Profile of a Power Seller

It seems as though everyone who is anyone or who knows anyone is a member of ebay.com to sell, to buy or both. I have experience as both a buyer and a seller on ebay.com and, to be honest, I've had both good and bad experiences with both. It wasn't until I watch this ebay team build their business that I realized anything is possible.

This couple, residing in Boothbay Harbor, Maine, started their account in February of 2005. Their original intent was to sell off the remainder of an estate that they didn't have any luck with during the garage sale process. The items were pretty well picked through by family and garage salers, so they were a bit skeptical about what would come of this venture. Would they have to find another way to sell these items? How much should they charge? Will they fail? It was all a mystery and one they were willing to solve with a bit of faith mixed with a bit more courage.

They learned everything they could learn about being a seller on ebay. The read books, articles, information on the web and spoke to numerous ebay sellers in their community about their experiences. It was important to them to learn all the in's and out's, good and bad experiences and what to expect before diving into this venture. Feeling confident with their plan, they started photographing items, writing descriptions and pricing everything. Listings started going up and they waited. In addition to these estate items, they were licensed to sell fudge on there as well. The questions continued to plague them, though, and they still wondered if this would become a sustainable business.

Before long, they started supplementing their listings with items they were able to salvage from other sources, as well as items purchased at auction. There's a lot of skepticism surrounding the act of buying and reselling, but it's yet another situation where you have to proceed with faith and courage. Keeping a watchful eye on your purchases, believing your customer base will be interested in these items and pricing them accordingly are crucial parts of this process.

The bread and butter of their business is vintage and antique goods. While the fudge is still listed, it's a small portion of their success. Their listings aren't focused on particular type of item, but rather a very eclectic collection of goods that bring in a very diverse crowd. People from all over the world watch their listings, buy their items and subscribe to their periodic newsletter. Beyond thier listings, there has been no other form of marketing and promotion in place. Discussions are in place, though, about changing that reality in the near future.

Before long, this couple realized that the more they listed the more hits and bids they received. Opening a store became a necessity, rather than an option, and they devised a strategy about how many times to relist an item (twice) before putting it in the store. This strategy has both produced additional sales and saved them money on listing fees.

Over two years, over 1,000 positive feedback points and over 1,000 items in their current listings later, this couple is able to supplement their income enough with this business to do it full time. No doubt it about it, there's a lot of work involved. Anyone who knows them well knows if you stop by for a visit, you'll find them "doing ebay stuff" somewhere in the house (listing, packing, answering questions and so on). It's the type of work that is best for those who have the time to invest, otherwise it will quickly become too overwhelming. What's ironic about this entire situation is the original listings that got them started, the remains of that estate, are all still listed in their store.