Happy Planner Stickers for Ebay Resellers #2017FlipChallenge

It’s an idea for someone who is much more artistic than I am.

It’s  Friday and the day I get together with my Sister to plan for next week.  We get our Planners out, along with markers and stickers and decide what is really important to accomplish next week.

As I was laying everything out last night, it struck me that none of my stickers had anything to do with reselling. I also wondered how far someone could go, without infringing on copyrights and such.

I did go as far as Googling my need, preparing myself to order these items I imagined…they are not out there.

Gary Vanerchuk (#GaryVee) has put out a challenge to flip items, totalling $20,170 by the end of 2017.  There is even an Instagram for the #2017FlipChallenge!

Stickers to adorn my #HappyPlanner that would have GaryVee’s inspiring words, would be so awesome!  What about a #HappyPlanner Chart that would record our progress?  Add to that, a selection of common #reseller tasks and rants, such as deathpiles, sourcing, photographing, listing totals, managing sales, or ideas!

If it is already out there,  lead me to it.  If it’s not and you are not artistically challenged, perhaps this coud be your next money-making project.  If this is a terrible idea, tell me in the comments!

#JewelsForThePauper

Where everything is Fit for a Queen

But

Priced For the Pauper!!!!!!

I Need Some Assistance, Please!

*Warning – This is not a ‘How to’ Blog.  It is my thought process as I wade through the waters, in search of the Perfect Virtual Assistant.

In a previous life, I was a manager.  I’ve done interviews, hired, trained and fire until finding The Perfect Assistant.  Later, I found it was possible to have 2 that could fit the bill in different situations, knowing what their strengths and abilities were.

In this current life, I am a reseller, sourcer, photographer, lister, shipper, social media agent and everything else.  I am the owner that works from 4:30am – 6:00pm.

This morning, I am looking at boxes of clothing to sort, others that need to be drafted, a small box of consignment, even more to be photographed and a few that need to be stored.

I am not overwhelmed, I am realistic.  I have gone as far as I can and have reached my limit.  Either I find more hours in a day or I find The Perfect Virtual Assistant.

I knew this before the holidays and felt it important to hire someone I knew.  I live in a rural community where your last name can be a resume.  I reached out to close friends for assistance in this search and realized that two things.

First, I would be spending a lot of time training.  Second, the hours per week I need help are not consistent and I would be trying to work around someone else’s schedule.  Last, if this doesn’t work out, there might be very hurt feelings and I am not willing to risk a relationship on this!

My next step was Fiverr.  What a great place this is!  You have amazing people from all over the world, willing to do short jobs for $5!  Each person had an ala carte menu of tasks they could perform for higher prices.

I put a job post up, explaining I needed someone to list drafts for me.  My posts were rejected for being too complex!  I soon realized (perhaps I am wrong) that I had walked into a fast food joint expecting a steak dinner and a french speaking waiter.

My next stop was YouTube.  It’s hard to say if I love it more than Google, but in this situation, YouTube had my attention.  Believe me when I tell you, that most resellers are going through the same situation and if a person was inclined, they could be a virtual assistant to the YouTube Reseller Stars!

There was one company whose name kept popping up and that was UpWork.  Thankfully a YouTube reseller had a step by step video on how to navigate the site and post a job.  Within a half hour, it was posted and I had applicants.  You can even invite people to apply after reading their resume.

This is where I need to stop the process and say something about the pool of candidates.  Initially, I was determined to hire an American Worker because of my feelings of outsourcing to different countries.  But there was a stark contrast between American, Phillopeno and Indian proposals.

This is an overall generalization.  American workers demanded 20+ hours a week at between $15-20/hr with no list ing guarantee per hour.  At that price, I would need them to list 20 per hour and I am not that good even after 2 cans of RedBull!

The Filipino applicants were all women, they had a mastery of the English language, some had done Ebay listings before and all were excited about the prospect of listing on Etsy and Poshmark.  There were no minimum weekly hour demands and their prices ranged from $2-5/hour.  Another huge plus is the time difference.  About 3 hours after I finish working, they begin which would mean that I could wake up and have 50 fresh listings!

The applicants from India were all men and had a pretty good grasp of the English language.  Their prices stood ar $5/hour with no minimal hours per week and had experience in listing. Here is what separated them from the Filipino and American worker ….

Three different applicants literally took my business name and did a search of my sites.  Creepy?  No, because it is exactly the kind of research I would do before applying.  While sitting on my couch last night at 8pm, each was instant messaging me on my Facebook business site letting me know that they had applied.  Further they explained what they could do to improve my listings, titles, and improve my algorithm standing.  One told me he was with an agency and what the upside was with going that route.

I plan on interviewing everyone on Thursday and deciding on Friday.

I would love to hear if you enjoyed this blog, if you are struggling to find a virtual assistant or have found The Perfect One.

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#JewelsForThePauper

Where every item is Fit for a Queen

But

Priced for the Pauper!

 

5 Easy Steps to Ship a Rockstar

According to a Vlogger, this particular title will exponentially grow traffic … we shall see!

It is Monday morning and it seems fitting to talk about shipping.  If you were fastidious, you packed it all last night.  I have convinced myself that I am more alert in the morning, so that is what I will be doing after this blog.

I am a free shipper.  Debating the pro’ s and con’s can be a subject that will be debated on a future blog. Because I do not charge shipping, it is imperative that I spend the least money possible to keep profits up.

Here are 5 tips to make this possible:

1. Weigh and measure your item when you list it.  Do not guess!  Add 5-8 ounces for shipping supplies.
2. Offer free Fed Ex smart Post.  Calculate what the price will be and add it into the price of the item.  I also offer Priority for an extra fee.  You are guaranteeing the item will arrive in 10 day and it is the cheapest rate for heavy items
3. If the item is 16 ounces or less, ship it fist class. If the item is not going far, place it in a regional box, based on weight. If the item can fit into a priority flat rate envelope or a priority padded flat rate, it will probably be cheaper than the cost of Fed Ex Smart Post. If you end up shipping the item with any of these services, they have a shorter ship time and your customer will be pleasantly surprised by how quickly their order arrived !
4. Recycled boxes are great to store items in, but not so much to ship your items.  You want this person to be a repeat customer and it does not look professional to receive a coat in a Dole Banana Box (true story).  Use a new box!
5. Use tissue for clothing, bubble wrap for fragile items and air pillows to keep items from shifting or rattling.  Again, you need to look professional and the way their item ships will have a much more lasting impression than a glitzy webpage.

These are guidelines I have used for my businesses and I would love to hear from you!  What totally bombed?  What was da’ bomb?

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#Jewels for the Pauper

Where everything is for a Queen

But

priced for the Pauper

 

 

Are you Hustling or Hoarding?

If you have been a reseller for a while, you have probably had one well-meaning friend or family member take you to the side and try to do an intervention.  If you haven’t told this person what you really do or if you have and they don’t understand it, cut them some slack.

Maybe you should truly look at your storage areas, rooms, shed, unit or warehouse and assess.  You can conclude one of two things; you are a smart reseller or you need to attend your first meeting of Hoarder’s Anonymous.

This subject can be a rather touchy one in the reselling community so I want to put a disclaimer out there that this is my opinion.  My opinion comes from being a reseller myself as well as growing up with hoarding.

1. If you are spending the majority of your reselling time sourcing, you may be a hoarder.  If you are sourcing when you have plenty to craft from or sell outright, it may be time to go on a sourcing sabbatical.
2. If you have boxes of product and you have no idea what is in them; or, you sell something and you have no idea where it is, you are not a hoarder.  You are disorganized.  Take a few days off, inventory what has been listed and make a pile of items that haven’t.
3. If you are sourcing for a future season because you are a dollar clearance sale, you are not a hoarder.  You are planning ahead for your business and maximizing gross profit.
4. If you are paying for a storage unit (s), can’t have guests stay in the guest rooms, boxes piled in every corner of space and are not actively listing, you are a hoarder.  Items do not sell from a box.  There is a lady on the west coast that would love those size 6 Doc Marten’s you purchased for a dollar, but she will never know because she can’t see what is in that box!
5. If you are buying clothing or accessories that you or your family would not wear in public, you may be hoarding or just impatient.  Not everyone will agree with me but, sort through the items and throw away anything that is worn out, has holes, stains or extreme fading.  Please do not donate to a non-profit unless you would be willing to pass them on to a good friend.

Resellers are not perfect.  We all probably have a bit of hoarding in our past, present and future.

Sometimes our Hustle is really Hoarding behind closed doors.  If so, forgive yourself, assess your inventory, take a sourcing sabbatical and spend every spare moment listing.  You will feel so much better, your bank account will get fatter while your piles get slimmer, and you can proudly say that you are a Hustler, not a Hoarder.

If you have comments or ideas, I would love to hear from you in the comment section below.

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#JewelsForThePauper

Where every item is Fit for a Queen

BUT

Priced for the Pauper!

Those Pesky Fees!

Fees are a part of every reseller’s journey.  There is no way to avoid them.  Just like you know the sun will come up tomorrow, you will see fees on almost every platform you choose to sell on.

Just so this blog post doesn’t become outdated in 30 days or so, I won’t spend much time on fee scales.  My feeling on escalating fees is much like my heat bill.  You know it will go up, you are being provided a service and you can’t live without them if you hope to remain in business.

Ebay has a monthly store fee that is dependent on the size of store.  There are listing fees If you don’t have a store, but there are always offers for waived listing fees.  There are also selling fees which are charged based on the type of item sold and cost.  Depending on when you started Ebay, they will be due in the middle or end of the month.

Etsy has a set per-listing fee, a percentage fee when you have sold and there are no store fees.  When you are printing out shipping, the fee will also be charged to your monthly invoice. You may pay your fees from your selling balance before funds are issued to your bank.

Amazon fees for selling books and CD’s are invoiced each week and subtracted from your earnings, before they issue funds to your bank.

Poshmark does not have a fee to list or have a store.  When you post a listing or consider an offer, the program tells you what your income is after fees.  Fees are taken out before you receive a credit in your account.

If you are selling on each of these platforms, you might spend more time figuring out how much you owe and when, than making up this week’s meal plan.  You might think that you will pay them on the due date with your earnings, which is great if no one (including you) gets sick, the car doesn’t have a funny sound coming from the engine or the gas bill is due.  I cannot emphasize how important it is to pay these fees because there are serious consequences such as not being able to list to losing your privilege to sell.

I read some advice on paying fees in an EBay support forum, and I thought it was a great answer to paying all these pesky fees.

Most of us sell a lot through the weekend then package and ship on Mondays.  After you have done this each week, pay your fees on every platform that night. Start with a Zero Balance on Tuesday night.  No more panic when the invoice comes due!

If you liked this blog or have a suggestion for a future subject, please comment below.  You can also subscribe to get notifications when I post a new blog.

#JewelsForThePauper

Where items are always Fit for a Queen

But

Priced for the Pauper!

 

Happy Planner and Tea – Morning Wake Up

Good Morning!  It is the first business day of 2017!  For some, it is a wake up call that all of the festivities and vacations are over.  For others, it is a clean slate and promise for new and spectacular year!

Which group do you fall into?

Either way, you need a plan….which means you need a planner.

More than a quarter century ago I was in the corporate world and had a DayTimer.  It was a 5 ring, leatherette, monstrosity that held your life.  Everything from Phone numbers, business cards to grocery lists and budgets.  Think of it as your 8X10 SmarTphone.  In this instance though, if you lost it you couldn’t replace it and hope your contacts were in a cloud.  The beauty of it was that every year around Halloween you would receive in the mail next year’s Edition.  A clean slate.

Today, my life is on the smartphone but my hopes, dreams, projections and meals are in my Happy Planner.

It was August and I had a 50%, 40% and a 25% off entire purchase coupons for Michael’s.  They had a huge and inviting display of Happy Planners and I felt like I had gone back in time!  I purchased the planner, a meal and budget insert plus the hole punch.

But what in the world were all of these stickers, tape, stampers and embellishments for?  DayTimer never had these!

I listen and follow a lot of Resellers on YouTube.  It has become my ‘co-worker’ in a lonely day of reselling.  It wasn’t too long before I heard others saying they had bought one and showing off their creations designed with markers, tape and stickers.  Oh, they were beautiful but I was sticking to my New and Improved DayTimer look.

It wasn’t until SisterDay (another future blog, I promise) last week that I gave in and became a part of the Happy Planner craze.  My sister and I planned our weeks and began embellishing our pages!

I finally understand the real reason that women are buying a HappyPlanner!  It is a thing of beauty that is created by you.  I look at it in the middle of the day and it’s like a double shot of caffeine in my tea.  It encourages me to keep going, be better than I was yesterday ….. and start dinner!

Let me know if you liked this blog, you have ideas for future blogs or want to hear more about HappyPlanners.

If you have one, please feel free to share what you have been doing with yours.

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#JewelsForThePauper

Where everything is fit for a Queen

But

Priced for the Pauper.

 

 

 

 

The Holidays are Over…Time to Get To Work!

The longest holiday season of the year, October 31-January 1, is finally over.

If you are working for someone else, it’s a day of football and a paid day off.  If you are an entrepreneur reseller, it was a day to kick into high gear.

As a side-note, GaryVee posted on Instagram around 6am and I was proud to reply that I began listing at 5am.  There are too many opportunities to sleep in!

Here is what I did:

• Finished the laundry, did the dishes showered.
• Drafted 38 items.  They were mostly Career and Spring.
• Took Pictures
• They wouldn’t upload to Amazon Prime, so I drafted a few more.
• Put all items that are holiday on deep discounted clearance with free shipping.  At this point, it is better that they are out of my house then store them another year.
• The listings that had ended, I went through and changed titles with better keywords.
• Accepting any reasonable offer.  It is too late to hope for high dollar.  People are looking for a deal.
• Searched for all of my formal dresses purchased over the year.  This is the month that girls are looking for the perfect prom dress.  It is also a time when women are taking cruises where certains sections require formal wear.
• Shared, liked and followed on various platforms.
• Sitting on the couch, warm electric blanket, Lipton Natural Energy, filling out my Happy Planner and blogging.
• 11 hours

I like the holidays, but after a while I just wish for things to go back to normal!

 

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JewelsForThePauper

Where the items are Fit for a Queen

But

Priced for the Pauper!

 

Boxing Day – But with a Twist

For those in the UK and Canada, this day was actually yesterday, December 26th.  For resellers, this is the day to box up sales from Friday-Monday.  Listening to YouTube and looking at Instagram early this morning, the results are varied.  Some had the best weekend in a month, with sales starting around noon on Christmas Day.  Others said they should have gone on vacation because there is nothing to Box and Ship out!

This morning, I have 8 items to ship out.  I really didn’t know what to expect since I was actively selling only on Ebay last year.  I had not goal except to be grateful for each and every sale because it is a blessing to our family.

I felt that today would be a great time to explain the system I use to ship packages out.  Mine way is not special, it is a compilation of processes from other YouTubers that through trial and error, fit for me.

• I load up each of my platforms (Ebay Store 1, Ebay Store 2, Etsy, Poshmark, Amazon, Facebook and Instagram) to the Orders Page, so that I have a full grasp of what today’s Boxing will entail.
• I handwrite a “Thank You” card for each sale.  I thank them for their purchase, I describe the purchase, I ask them to contact me with any problems and I encourage them to give me feedback on their transaction.  By describing their item, they know I am taking the time out to personally thank them.
• Feedback has two schools of thought, but I’m genuinely not afraid of what people will say.  Most platforms will remove feedback that is slanderous and without proof.  I have also gone back to the purchaser to work things out and they have changed the feedback.
• I find each item that needs to be shipped out and carefully inspect each one last time.  I have found defects at the last-minute.  It is so much better to email your customer, explain the defect and ask them to decide on the outcome (Cancel, Discount or Send).  These tiny details can come back to haunt you and cost you time and money.
• I choose an item, package it and place the Thank You card on top.
• I do use tissue paper (NEVER with glitter, trust me!) for clothing, bubble wrap for hard goods as well as fragile ones.  I am very lucky as I have found a thrift shop that sells used, by the pound.  Ebay seems to have the best pricing for these items.  Try not to scrimp on this to save a buck.  Customers appreciate when they see the care you have taken to ship their purchase.
• Do not seal the package yet!  Weigh it on your scale (I found a digital scale that goes to 12 pounds at a thrift store for $1.  Again, Ebay is your best bet)
• I check each way this item can be shipped.  First Class, Fed Ex, Regional Priority, Flat Priority and Weight Priority. I provide free First Class or Fed Ex Smart post.  The other options are something a customer pays for.  Around holidays, I mark up prices a bit and just send them all priority.
• I always use the platform’s shipping because it is usually discounted commercial.  I never mail without tracking.  There are many resellers that do and that is fine.  I have been marked on Ebay with late shipping, because the customer didn’t tell Ebay they had received the package.  Spend the $3.65 and forget the stamps.
• After printing out the correct shipping label and attaching it to the package, I take one last look to make sure the item is packed properly, it is going to the right address and my Thank You note is on top.  I seal it, check it off the list and put it in the outgoing box.
• I move on to the next item and repeat.  I’ve tried packaging several at a time, and it takes me longer because I am concerned it will go to the wrong person.  *Knock on Wood* it has not happened to me yet, but I have heard stories from other resellers.
• IF you ordered USPS pickup, woke up early and had your packages ready before 8am…. Congratulations!  I usually have mine done before 10am and running them to the Post Office.  Just don’t wait until afternoon, thinking you might get another sale or you will be sending them out late.
• A side note is that I generally have no noise in the background when I am getting orders ready to ship.  I used to and found I was distracted.  Whatever works great for you!

I hope this description has been some help if you are a reseller.  If you have ideas, please write a comment down below!  If you are interested in what we do, just search #JewelsForThePauper on Google.

We are on Ebay, Etsy, Poshmark, Amazon, Instagram, Twitter, Facebook and WordPress

JewelsForThePauper

Where items are fit for a Queen

But

Priced for a Pauper