Tags
Related Posts
Share This
Get Started Selling Online: How do I do it?
Selling online for newbies: how am I going to do this?
Whether you want to start an online store selling your own handmade products or items in bulk from China, we’re going to cover the different buying and selling portals. In this section, we’re covering the “how” of selling online.
———————————————————————————————————
So far, we’ve identified what you should sell, where you should sell, how much it’s going to cost and now we are in the process of actually getting it online. You have your accounts set up with eBay, Bonanza, Etsy or Amazon but keeping track of all of your items can be a hassle.
If you’re starting out small, create a Microsoft Excel spreadsheet but honestly, this will get old. It’s only to transition you into a managing software. I created a Sellers Spreadsheet (right mouse click, then Save) to help assist you with starting out. This will help you keep track of the item, cost, price starting at, selling price, selling fees and total profits. I used something similar to this setup while working at an online consignment store but after awhile, the whole Excel and Outlook thing takes up so much time that you realize you need something to automate some processes if you want to grow your business.
Whether you’re selling items for other people and taking a percentage of the sale or you are selling your own products, a listing software is really what you’re looking for in the long haul. There are a few listing softwares available to use; some are cheap and some are expensive. The softwares designed to manage your inventory, photo hosting and anything else that comes out to less than $20 a month tends to give you what you pay for. The online presence of your template says something about your business. If it looks like an art project for middle schoolers created your template, chances are you might not draw the best attention.
On the flip side, there are softwares that are pretty expensive. They may have all the bells and whistles but do you need THAT much functionality when you’re starting a business? Until you are selling over 1,000 products a month, sometimes these extremely expensive softwares are overkill for the job you need to get done.
AuctionSound is a listing software that fits right in the middle of things. It caters to the small business startups and expands to the larger businesses selling hundreds of products per day/week. As low as $24.99, AuctionSound has free image hosting so no more PhotoBucket hosting, a free website to display your eBay listings, professionally built listing templates, built-in detailed reporting that you can export to .csv or QuickBooks, full consignment tracking of all products and live phone support. You can currently list to eBay and Craigslist from AuctionSound.
After listing your items to eBay, you can import your eBay inventory into Bonanza with no additional listing fees. When the items sell on one platform, end the auction on eBay or Bonanza and then pull the listing down on Craigslist. It’s not too difficult to cross-promote your listings on multiple portals as long as you’re using a tool to assist you with keeping track of your inventory.
But don’t take my word for it! I’ve only personally sold over 7,000 items online (mostly unique items, not the same beanie baby). Once you start losing items on your shelves, forgetting to document sales, realizing April 15th is around the corner and your spreadsheet isn’t up-to-date, you’ll understand why I’m pushing a listing software.
———————————————————————————————————
::::::::: LISTING :::::::::
When you list an item, describe it well like you would want to read when you are buying an item. Describe any flaw you would be shocked about if you received the item and the seller didn’t disclose that information. Even though not emphasizing on a scratch may increase the selling price, dealing with a returned product, negative feedback and an angry buyer aren’t worth it. Trust me…
Take many photos. Photos are sometimes better descriptions than your words. Front, Left, Back, Right, Top, Bottom, blemishes, accessories, additional detail. Photograph it all. Use a solid background like a soft gray if possible. Go to the fabric store and pickup 10 feet so you can drape it as the background onto the table. Something like the photo to the left isn’t what you would need until you want a serious look. Just keep in mind when you are listing directly on eBay, they do charge $0.15 per photo after the first one unless you host the images somewhere.
Communicate with your buyers. When I have a question about a product, I want to know ASAP what the answer is so I can either bid/buy or move on to someone elses product. If I don’t get a response, I don’t give a bid. But that’s me personally as a buyer. Fast communication shows professionalism.
Talk to other sellers. On eBay, Bonanza and Etsy, there are forum sections that you can see stuff others are going through. Other people have already gone through issues and are a wealth of knowledge.
———————————————————————————————————
::::::::: SHIPPING :::::::::
Don’t forget, once you sell an item online, it has to be out the door same day/next day! Gone are the days that people are patient for their goods. If everyone had a teleport in their house, 2 minutes would be too long to receive an item! A strong suggestion is to package your item near the end of its life cycle online. I use to start boxing items up during the last 24 hours of the item being on eBay. This way, it’s already in a box, weighed out, dimensions and weight written on the box and ready to slide out the door for UPS, USPS or FedEx. If you want to wait until the item is sold, that is fine but make sure you have your items ready when USPS shows up at noon (or whenever).
Q: Do I need to add my location to the daily stop for UPS / FedEx?
A: If you find yourself making stops every other day to drop off packages, you’ll most likely spend less gas money and time by having them stop by daily. If you don’t sell that many items starting out, just bite the bullet and take it to a drop-off location or just use USPS for all shipments.
Q: When should I use FedEx, UPS or USPS?
A: Everyone may have different experiences and price brackets than what I’m about to tell you but this is my experience. If it’s under 5Lbs, I use USPS and if it’s heavy but able to fit in a flat rate box, I use USPS. If it’s over 5Lbs, I would shop the two different carriers to see who’s cheaper. Sometimes the price difference is drastic depending on your location and where it’s going. Once you start shipping 20 packages a week or more, you can find a representative and negotiate a lower shipping bracket so you would end up sticking with one company or the other.
I use to ship 90% of my items DHL domestic and international. Ever since domestic closed, I’ve stuck to FedEx only because Tampa’s UPS broke a lot of my items. 10th time, shame on me!
Ready to get started?? Find a product you want to sell, figure out the best set of portals to list it on, take the time to describe and photograph the item then be prepared to ship out your products!
