eBay Chat with 20-Year Reseller Jenn in New Jersey: Adapt and Keep Moving Forward!

we go back a long way. Before we get in to the eBay chat, I just wanted to let you know that I appreciate all of your feedback on these seller interviews, they're not really interviews, it's just sellers chatting. You guys really seem to enjoy these. So we're gonna roll with that for a while. And I've got several more sellers lined up to just talk eBay because I know this business can be really isolating. You don't have a lot of people to talk to who get it.

So through these podcasts, we can get to know each other, so that when you see these folks on Facebook or social media, or in the YouTube comments, you'll know their story because everybody has their own unique story. And I'm just fascinated with people and their backstory. So I'll throw in some more episodes with the standard format of me ranting about e Bay or some tutorials. Don't worry, the vocabulary builder is not dead that will pop up

from time to time. But right now we're on a roll with meeting other sellers and hearing their stories. And it's just more fun for me to make a podcast when I've got these great people to talk to so all of that being said, we're going to get into this episode with Jen in New Jersey. You know, gosh, this was a long time ago. Yeah, I know. We go through so much as eBay sellers. We just kind of adapt

and move on. Okay, so we have Jen, my longtime eBay friend that never even met in person to talk about eBay, the evolution of eBay and some Amazon and all the things we've done as resellers over the years that is just it just keeps evolving. So say hi to the listeners, Jen. Hi. Hi. How's everybody doing? And you're located in? I'm in New Jersey, southern New Jersey. shore biggest town near you is what? I'm actually in Washington Township. About an hour from Atlantic City. That's what I thought.

Yeah, it for you. Okay. You ever go over there? We do. We do. We go to the Atlas. Yeah. Oh, well, there you go. Okay. Yeah. Okay, so give the listeners just a little recap of your entrance into the eBay lifestyle, which was, wow, over 20 years ago. Yeah, I think I think we're one of the two have who've been with it since the beginning. Like, I've known about it. I've joined since like, 1999 I think I started selling on and off in 2000. When I was I was still

working full time. So it was still like a novelty to me, you know, just finding stuff. And then closer to 2000 to 2003 is when I started getting more serious about it when my first was born. first daughter was born and you know is now just went to college. He just started her eighth year she's still at home. Where'd she go away? No, she didn't want to stay in a dorm. She She was, uh, she wanted to at first and then she just changed her mind last minute and decided to

because she works as well. So she figured Let's just save the dorm money and then I'd rather work and you know, and her schedule is not that hectic, which is good, which is good. So why bother? She's at Rutgers, which is you're in your vicinity. So yeah, that maybe 20 minute drive at most. It's a straight shot down the highway, and she's there, you know, so it's quick, and she can come and go as she pleases. You know, that's good. She's good. She's good. But yeah, I mean, she's happy. what

it's all about. That's, that's all that matters. So, Oh, she was she was born and you got into eBay? Um, yeah. And then corporate cutbacks happened as your corporate experience. Um, I was in banking. Right. I was a retail sales analyst and a regional office. So I headed up a lot of branches. And its sales, reporting and analysis of all that. And then yeah, and I actually was in and out of banking. While she was little just part time, but it just, it

never remained steady. So I, once again was let go because of corporate cutbacks. And they gave me a severance package. And I just took that severance package and ran with it from there. And I, you know, I've been home on and off ever since. And my second daughter was born in 2009. And again, you know, I went to banking into banking for a little while, and then and then I left after a while and I was like, You know what, we can make this work.

So well, you weren't through 20 something years ago, people are going through now. Same thing. Yeah, I have talked to so many teachers and nurses, they are taking that early package because of all the COVID hoops they have to jump through and all the you know, stuff they have to do every day that has nothing to do with their job.

It's just all the protocol that is just you know, forced upon them that you know, teachers having to make kids wash their hands more and you know, do all that kind of stuff and they're just or substitutes that don't want to go back because it's just it's so much of a hassle now Yeah, we see that here too.

Yeah, so many people are coming to eBay because you know, they're they just took an early retirement and they still want to make money doing something right I mean, they don't understand they have kids too.

So um, we come across across a lot in the beginning what the kid has to quarantine for two weeks well as a as a working mom I got to work yeah, I don't have daycare I have to work right so that's what was happening here is the parents were like wow, I don't know about you but I work you know she can't he or she can't quarantine for two weeks right and leave work for two weeks you know, and I think it was it's worse in the north than it is down here in the south as far as cases and all

that kind of stuff. Well, I mean, the hotspots change but you know I overall I think it you know like New York was just you know so strict on everything Yeah, yeah, they still are we had you know, we had thrift stores here that didn't even close during the lockdown. Now I didn't advertise that at the time. But you know, I'm sneaking off with my sunglasses on for you though now they're doing what you got to do you still gotta make money we were totally shut down yeah,

totally shut down. I didn't have anywhere to go source and trying to buy stuff online there was a huge delay there. Yeah, cuz that's what everybody was trying to do. Yeah, yeah. So um, yeah, it was a while before anything opened back up again and even at that I remember I remember waiting outside for my turn to get inside right Oh, yeah. number of people is restricted. Yeah, yeah. No, no, I think for the most part we're pretty much open now. Yeah. Except for

everybody. Nobody wants to close again so they're gonna figure it out you know, like okay then we only have 10 people in here and right social distancing stand right circle and Right. Right. So and as a person who's I mean, I consider myself pretty organized with my inventory. But now I've been keeping like little stash piles just in case you know, like, just in case we close again, you know, like that pan I have that panic now. Like, I have no clue again. Yeah, I mean, like a squirrel gathering

know. So The famine, you'll be a Yeah, I totally get that. Yeah. So that's my brains working like that now so. So going back to when you first started eBay, am I remembering right that you had some medical issues with your pregnancy and it tells us that story because that was I was bedridden on bed rest for a while because of high blood pressure. So I would, and I always like to buy stuff off

eBay, you know? And I'd be like, Hey, I have that, or, hey, my daughter has that toy, like, and then you know, your brain starts working like, Hey, I can sell that. And you know, that's when you're you start, like, coming up with ideas of different ways you can sell your kids clothes, and that's when I started selling kids clothes. And all her stuff. I would lot her little pajamas up in the same size lot and put them on eBay, and I would sell them. But you were doing that while

you were bedridden? Yeah. How did that work? I'm driving my husband crazy. Ah. So he was we didn't have smartphones? No, no, be like, Hey, could you get this and give me the camera? And okay, so you just directed him what to do? And then you did the computer part? Yeah. I guess you had a laptop. Okay, yeah. So we you know it.

And it was funny trying to figure out, you know, when you're first starting, and you don't have digital cameras, and you have to how to get the film developed, and then scan it, and then upload it, and then learning all that. They don't know how easily they haven't. I know, it's like now I come home from the thrift store. And it's like, That thing is usually listed the same day. Exactly. Especially now that I'm I'm cutting back on how much I

buy. I'm really focusing on higher profit things, because it's not as much listing and why didn't I do that before? Because it's the the instinct to buy, buy, buy. And it's like, you see all this stuff. And you're like, well, I could flip that. And then I know I can sell that I've sold that before. But you know, the restricting for only the higher profit things. That's another story that that's working. And it's just, you know, when you think when we started, you couldn't do that

you had to? Well, when I came in digital, you could upload digital photos. So I had a camera with a memory card. So I would pull that out and put it in the computer to get the pictures. I came in right after the, you know, uploading of, you know, taking actual pictures and having them developed and people mailing money in the mail like money order or even cash cash. Yeah, I mean, I came in right after that because on the discussion boards, they were all like, oh, we're so glad that's

over. You know. So yeah, people today with with a smartphone that you can just take a picture of something listed immediately. Even in your car like if you just bought it at the thrift store. People do that they like a picture of it in their car. Do the background removal. It's up for sale. I know right after they buy it. It's not I know it's like you don't even I mean you can be mobile now you don't even have to have a home base. Yeah, yeah, I need to know that that do it in RVs and

boats. I'm tracking them down to do some some chats with them.

I'm amazed that I have it I've always wanted to take a cross country trip just in an RV and and just do that you know in the key to that is smalls and either doing free shipping or flat rate because wherever you ship it from it'll be the same you don't have to worry about calculated so you have to think all that through and figure it out but ship it from the next town you hit and yeah, or wherever you're locked out if not locked down that's not a good word wherever your

time down like at RV park or whatever. From from whatever's closest, but yeah, so going back to the early days. So you started with children's clothing and I think we first crossed paths on here comes the store. Oh my goodness you in that group. I was. So I was for people who don't know that was a private networking group for moms selling kids and babies clothing on each And it was like $5 a month. Right? It was

nothing. And so when I, when I came along, I was not just focusing on kids clothes, I was selling anything and everything just to keep it going. So I joined up. And I just I couldn't figure out why people were only selling kids clothes. And I would say, Well, why don't you? Why don't you sell this money? And oh, no, they were very, you know, particular and almost snooty about like gymboree. And there is the higher end. Yeah, Janie and jack and I was like, my kids never wore that stuff.

We were a family. I was very into the boutique brands and right, the higher end brands of children's clothing, and you even have a website? I did for a while. Yeah. And you know, gosh, this was a long time ago. Yeah, I know. We go through so much as eBay seller, you know, we just kind of adapt and move on. But I mean, and as my kids got older, too, I got out of it. Right. You know, so, you know, I went through a phase for a while, or it's just sold anything and everything as well. I was even.

I went in to a partnership with my my sister in law, and we would go out and do garage sales and everything and Oh, right. You know, I mean, we would sell everything, you know, but I mean, and that became a lot of work. And, you know, we've cut back on that. But yeah, but yeah, back in the early days, it was a lot of moms that were selling their kids stuff. Like they weren't intentionally buying for resale. They were just selling what they

already had. And then several that I interacted with only did eBay at Christmas, you know, they would go out like that, like the tickle me Elmo thing where, you know, Kmart had it and everybody ran out bottom. And that was the first kind of retail arbitrage thing. I remember a toy at Christmas time and you know, get it at Kmart for 20 bucks and then sell it for 300. And, you know, all that heavy that was back in? You know, right when I started 2003. So going on 20 years for me too.

And it's like, Yeah, and it's so funny now and when we talk to new sellers, like on the Facebook group, and and they're like, they've never heard of this. And it's like, really, you're allowed to do that. And I'm like, What are you? Like, how'd you go buy it? You sell it? That's right. There's no retail arbitrage police that's gonna say you, right? Sell that. And then well then stores caught on and like Target, right? And that your amount that yes.

Purchase of one item? And yeah, the time you had to return it and all that stuff. But yeah, that's been going on a long time. Did you do any of that? In the early days? I did for I did on a few things. But I don't know. My problem is sometimes I usually am very late. getting in on those types of types of things. And I feel like I do it every single time. Like I see I see the trend and I see people doing it. And I'm like, No, I'm not going to get into the trendy stuff because it

never works. And and then you see it enough times and you just go out and do it. And I'm like, I should have done this like weeks ago. And it's already at the tail end. And it's already starting to flop. But what you don't hear is about all the returns after Christmas. That's true. That's true. So for people listening who don't know this, like, okay, let's say it's a Nerf gun or whatever the heart thing is that year, and you go to Walmart and Target you buy

him for 20 bucks. And then you sell them on eBay for whatever 60 you know, whatever they're going for. And then supply catches up with demand. And in January, the mom is still within that return period with the parent whoever bought it. And they they go out to you know, Kmart or wherever, wherever and buy one and return the new one to you the eBay seller. And they they figured out how to have their cake and eat it too. And the kid gets it on Christmas morning. But then the mom ends

up returning there. The eBay seller and it's still brand new because it's a different one that they just recently bought. And that was terrible on Amazon. Oh though it is better to stick with the non trendy non hype stuff because that's not gonna happen. Yeah, I still dabble in Amazon to not I am not hardcore core Amazon by any stretch of the imagination. I like we were Yeah, yeah, I still do. I feel like I do everything part time. I don't know maybe when both my

kids out of school. And on the room, maybe I'll eventually do it full time. But yeah, it's just it's just real busy, right? It's always busy here. Always. Yeah, yeah. I mean, you just got to work it in around. Yeah, your family because you can't go back and do that over again, eBay, right, reselling is gonna be there forever, because it's been there forever. Right? You know, I mean, and I take advantage of everything I can I, I utilize the scheduling Lister listing feature on eBay,

I use that constantly. So I constantly have things listing, that's probably my favorite feature on eBay is that feature, because, you know, there's days at a time where I won't be able to get to my own stuff, you know, and I'll have that peace of mind knowing that it's going to come out, it's going to be listed for me anyway. And I can keep that algorithm going. You know, well, and listeners, um, Jen, in addition to running her own store, and her family is on my

virtual assistant team. So she's listing things for other people, as well. So that's one of the features we use is that scheduled feature so that the client can go in the listing before they send it live? So I mean, you're doing hundreds of listings a week sometimes, yeah, are not your own. Do you learn a lot that way? Like See, why do I know? Um, yeah, they cut they come up with some stuff. You know, we do mostly I do

mostly clothing. But I have some clients that are they they list a lot of hard goods, a lot of vintage hard goods, and that I learned a lot from because I'm not, I'm not very into the heart, good. category. One client, we have lists, electronics. I'm like, and I look at some of the stuff he lists and I, I peek over to my like, stereo cabinet. I'm like, oh, he also lists a lot of like, I don't know if he parks them out, or where he buys them like that. But you know, those big

industrial coffeemakers? Like in the in the corner? Yes. Uh huh. He he lists like parts to those like the coffee maker. I'm like, Oh, my God, look at that. Like, I learned a lot from the clients. I wonder if he has access to that. And that's just a niche that he knows, because maybe he repairs them or he remodels, office buildings or something like that, where? That would be something that shows up in front of him. Yeah, yeah. It's it's just amazing what, what they come

across. But yeah, yeah, you know, and we have we have our regular clients who like their clothes listed, which is fine. You know, because I get up and I get my groove list and their stuff. And, you know, and it's kind of like, you know, once the clients get to the rinse and repeat stage, where they're just kind of doing the same thing over and over.

Because that when they're sourcing, you know, they know, you know, we all have our things that we look for that we know work because they work over and over again. Right? So that's the same for them. I love going in and seeing what what they sold. Yeah, that's the best. I'm like, Oh, that's awesome. Like, I'm really genuinely happy for them. And I'm and then I'm, like, I listed that.

Yeah, well, and the thing is, is, um, we've had a lot of VA is through our system, you know, working for us, and life gets busy, and then they don't have time to do it anymore. But you know, I have a screening process for when I hire them, because like you, you have to have enough experience to know how to write the listing to know how to write the title to know all the rules of eBay. And, you know, you come up with some great key

words. Because some of the clients are, are in the Facebook group, and they post on money making Monday, and they'll mention you and that you know, you listed it my VA Jen. And you know, they're they're selling some high dollar stuff they are. And when I complete their batch, and I send them that batch complete follow up to let you can go ahead and list your items. Oh my damn, you found some nice stuff this week. Like I'm jealous. I know.

It's like wow, but but you know, it's a great I think it's a great part time job for the experienced eBay seller like you that, you know, you can sit down and you you make, you know, a per item fee. And so you don't have to go find this stuff. You know, it's just it's just like a solid part time job. Yeah. Are you Get paid per item. And you know, you probably time block what couple hours few times a week to get them done.

I, my mornings are set aside for the client work, I like I like to get up while I'm up early anyway. And now that school started, I'm up a little earlier, but um, I get up, I do my morning thing, let the dogs out, whatever. And, you know, I get started probably about 738 o'clock on client work. And I like to be done by lunchtime. Yeah. And then I have the rest of the day to do my stuff.

Right? You know, until the kids come home, or, um, you know, I'll run around, I know, Wednesdays here, we have half price Wednesday at Salvation Army. So I do that. And Sunday's is dollar day at Goodwill. So I do that, you know, I try and hit everything there, you work it all in, you know, so I mean, you get it done, you just get it done, you do what you got to do. And I you know, and you know, of course, some weeks are better than others. It's just the

business. You know, but I'm grateful for the clients every day when they send their batches, well, and they the clients do have some hoops to jump through as far as getting the pictures done, getting the you know, Dropbox link to us knowing being technologically advanced enough to, to know how to do those

things. So I mean, and and we do have a screening process where we're not going to do super high end stuff or, you know, very obscure collectibles that take a lot of research, you know, we want the stuff that just, you can rinse and repeat and just crank it out and up. It just isn't super complicated. But the clients do have to have the experience to know what to tell us to do. And so I do get, I do get some pushback from brand new sellers who want to use this service for us to list their

stuff. And it's like, No, you need to have six months experience. And I think it's 50 feedbacks from selling because you have to know what to do. And you know, they have to know how to ship the items. When we first started this back in 2016, we first started this service. Wow. Um, you know, we went through all the situations of like, Oh, yeah, we can't, that's not going to work, because we'd get brand new people, and then their stuff would sell and they wouldn't

have to ship it. And they'd be, you know, email me, I don't know how to do this. And they, you know, have 10 things to ship. And so we're like, no, they need to know how to do all this, right? And know the policies and procedures and understand how to do their settings and all that kind of stuff. So, I mean, it isn't for everyone. It's just, it's a certain kind of seller that it works well with. But like in your situation? Well, in any VA situation, you're doing something else with that eBay

knowledge. Not just buying and selling, you're using it in a different way in to help other people make money. Right. Right. Right. It's my feeling. Yeah, it is. Because then the clients will email me that they just, they just love their VA, you know, she gets it done so fast. And I sold this and you know, only cost them $2 an item to have us do it. And yeah, if it's $100 item, and you're listing, you know, 20 to 40 of them per week that that's great.

Yeah, I love to see their, their, their, their business grow. I really love that part. Yeah, you know, to know where they started and where they are now, because we've had some clients the whole time, the whole 345 years, some of them have done like, 1000 listings over yard or more. Yeah, I mean, it's just crazy how much work we're honored to do it. I mean, they that they choose us because there's a lot of other VA services out there.

But you know, like outsourcing to other countries, and you've got the language barrier and all that kind of stuff. But, um, you know, I think I think we're really providing a good service. Yes. And, you know, you and the other VA s that have so much experience to draw on to do this. So you know, you're not like somebody in the Philippines who's never even sold on eBay, right? Trying to list something.

It's like that. Yeah, that'll work for a while, but then you start getting nine ads or you get, you know, problems with your eBay buyers. And that's not a great thing. Yeah, yeah, we have some some solid, seller. clients, we really do. Yeah, and we really appreciate them. We do so back to Amazon. Um, when did you get into that? Oh gosh. Probably. I don't want to say, look at me. I'm trying to figure out how old my kids are and go back. I know that's what I do is like,

what was I doing in life? Around 2009 for me, yeah. I think I was even working at the bank. It had to have been 2010 Yeah, that's what I'm thinking is when I got into it with the books. Yes. And dabbled in the toys. I remember going to BJs wholesale. I don't know if you have that up there. We do. Yeah. And buying Zhu Zhu pets? Oh, my goodness, motorized hamsters. Yeah, that was the toy one. Yeah, I bought all the hat. Oh,

wow. The cart full. And, you know, when looked at me, like, Oh, are you donating this to an orphanage? You know, what are you doing with all these? And I was just like, I didn't know what to say. And I'm right. I have a use for them, you know? Ah, so and, you know, selling them on eBay and Amazon for like four times the price. Right. And so I remember, you know, what was going on? When that was? That was around 2010. So yeah, yeah, I remember them. So what kind of things did you sell on Amazon?

I did. I definitely started with books. I definitely did that. I cleaned out my entire house. With books, I think I cleaned out the video games. I did that. I dabbled in toys on and off. And to this day. I'm just not good at toys. I don't know why. I think maybe it's the price point for me, even though I try not to think about that. It's maybe because they're oversize. I don't like shipping oversized, but well, and they do take up a lot of room and don't you have kind of our house. Oh, tiny.

Yeah, I have a three bedroom Ranger. Well, I think I've heard you mention, you know, though, that takes up too much space. Yeah, it does. It does. My I'm in my dining room now. But my office is below me in the basement. And the office is only like a quarter of the space. It's pretty tight. And plus all my my eBay inventory is there. Right. And I don't like to intermingle the two I like to keep it eBay and Amazon separate. So my purpose for Amazon is to get it out of the

house. post on both? I don't sometimes I think about it, but I, you know, I don't I don't want to sell one on one platform and forget to take it off the other. Yeah, vice versa. And I know there's programs out there that that help with that. But I like to keep things simple. I know I'm the same way. I'm like, I rely on my brain a lot just because programs can fail.

There can be breaches and I've experienced that what was the thing with the books and the barcode reader and like it would, you know, tell you certain information, but you had to have the latest download it was the the scanning gun thing it wasn't on. It wasn't like it was the key fob or whatever it was no, it was a full size. Wow. Like you see in the store where they're standing with that gun before, right? It's on cell

phones now. But so you had to actually hook it up to your computer with a USB cord and download all the information from whatever the name of this what was that thing called? It wasn't scan power, it was some other thing. And so between the time you did that, and then you go out and start scanning books. It's changed. It's different. Yes. There was a time it wasn't in real time is what I'm saying. Okay, so um, you know, that was and then they had all the repressors remember that? Yes.

Oh, yeah. Rice it and so you know, you would price your you're putting your criteria and then so that you would be the lowest price and then somebody would price lower than you and then would automatically price you lower than them and then you got 100 sellers doing this against each other. Yeah. And everything was just they call it the race to the bottom. Yeah. And it was like that's when I quit doing all that automated stuff was like, this is kind of

hurting my business. You know, I'm I'm never because at some point, you know, you might be the only person with it with that I don't and, and you don't want your price to be super low and that right Uh huh. Yeah, we got to try and hang in there. So did did you have like 1000s of items on Amazon and FBA? Oh, no, I never did. I never did I probably I've always been under 100 items on Amazon. I never I never got that big. I don't know that I ever will. Yeah, I mean, it's it's not a

goal for everybody. But that was a thing everybody was doing. Yeah. And I was like, oh, how does this work, and they made it sound so great with sending all your stuff to FBA to have to store it. Right. And now they have the prep centers and where you don't even prep it at your house, you send it to the prep center, and oh, and they didn't know that. Yeah, they tag it for you and send it to the warehouse, and they take care of everything. And, you know, though, do you trust that?

Oh, yeah. I don't even have a prep center around here. So. Okay, you know, I wouldn't even venture to research that, but, you know, I know people who they do the 1000s and 1000s of items in their inventory, and they just send it all to their prep center. Um, and they take care of it for them. Interesting. I didn't know they had developed that I got out of 2014 2015. Okay. It was just too crazy. Yeah. It's always changing.

Yeah, you know, now that now they have limits on certain sellers, that they can't send a lot of inventory anymore. You know, you have like a score that you have to stay a certain number over. And if you don't, if you don't meet that level, then you have to cut back on your inventory. And, you know, it's getting a lot stricter, and now they're going after the bigger sellers to make sure they have business insurance. You know, you need to send them

proof and all that stuff. You know, I've never been a huge seller. So I haven't been targeted for that yet. But, you know, I don't know that I'll ever be that big. And you don't need to if you don't want to write exactly, you know, I have my my financial goal every month that I have to meet. And you know, I'm good with that right now. How many items do you have in your eBay store? Um, I have about 700. Now, you know, and I find that I'm reaching my limit as far as storage, right? Yeah. Yeah.

So it's what like you said, You do a lot of clothing. What percent of your items or clothing like 90% are okay? Yeah, I don't. I don't like doing a lot of hard goods. I don't like storing them. Yeah, that's the thing is they just get it just gets unorganized. And yeah, it's like energetically, I don't like it. It's just like a big ol jumble of stuff. And it's hard to close. Like, you can put 40 things in a tub and write up on it and not look at it. Exactly. Yep. And they're all nice and

organized them right back. Yeah, exactly. Yeah. So I get that. Are you willing to share like what are your go to clothing items like the ones that you see, you have to think about you just get them to resell? Oh, sure. Definitely. Chico's I always pick up cheaters. cracker factory, Quaker cracker factory, a lot of love. I love those are some fun, Jesus, they are fun.

Even the different even the different Chico's like additions by Chico's or his energy by Chico's like Chico's travelers, I pick up all those all those all the time, they keep making new ones like weekenders, and yes. Well, I mean, that's not really new. But every now and then you'll be like, oh, I've not heard of this line before. You know, right? That was something different. Yeah, I always pick up all of that. I have yet to find a loo lemon. I haven't found it. Sure.

No. I'm like, and my clients will find that I'm like, Man, I wish. How are you finding that? Yeah. And I pick up the old classics like Land's End or lb. Oh, those are my go to. Yeah, they're well made. Yeah. I've even kept a few pieces because I'm like, Oh man, this is I'm not gonna find this again. Well, and living up north where it snows and gets cold. You find one of those really nice. LL Bean flannel shirts. That's like fleece like Oh, that's nice.

Yeah. Yeah, I found my daughter a couple winter coats from from LLB. And I'm like, as soon as you outgrow that, let me know. I know. Yeah, I mean, I do see that stuff down here in the south. denim, shirts and jackets and swim is very durable. I live there several

lakes near me. So Lake communities so I try to go to thrift stores near there and I'll find wetsuits and you know stuff like that but yeah, it's like people think Land's End is like a crappy Sears brand and they did have a collaboration for a while but no vagary back. So they do go way back. When my my parents retired to Florida about three, four years ago, and we went to see them over the holidays. And we went to

Goodwill down there. My mom took me to her goodwill, because she she used to do eBay a lot to remember that. Yeah. And she's like, Come on, let's go to Goodwill. I'm like, okay, and they have like racks and racks and racks of winter coats. And puffer coats. You know, the quilt those are the nerves get down there and it's anymore. I can't we don't need these down here. I'm like, Oh, my God, if I had you all. You could you can stock up down there was part of Florida was it? Um, she is in

Boca Raton. Okay. Right. That's a kind of an affluent area, isn't it? Yeah. So she's down in Fort Myers area. Yeah. Okay. That's cool. But yeah, they're down there. I'm like, wow, wow. And you don't think like that? I don't want to think like that. And New Jersey. You know, I'm up in New Jersey. We need we need all seasons all the time. Right. You know, so But yeah, she's

like, Yeah, I don't know. And then, like, when we go to her target, or, or her Walmart or whatever, they still sell all the seasons, but it's just not needed. Really? Yeah. You know, so on. And so there's a lot of a lot of donations and a lot of a lot of sales on that leftover stuff that, you know, I'm like, man, I should come down here on the offseason. So I could stock up for my season. Yeah,

do a thrifting trip. I mean, right expense and get a you get a u haul when you get down there and just go right back. Right. Right. I would totally do that. Yeah. So you wouldn't think of there's the the Wilsons leather. Yeah. They don't need that down there. kind of stuff. You know, the heavy the heavy leather coats, they don't need the The North Face Patagonia, they don't need any of that kind of stuff there. You know, she's like, well, it does get chilly.

It does go into the 60s. I'm like, like, that's kind of beautiful weather here. I know, that's kind of perfect here in Georgia. 90 degrees, right. Oh, what I find and one reason I specialize in cashmere is that happens here. I think people move. I mean, Atlanta is famous for, you know, I don't want to say transients, but people move in here on purpose for job transfers. And, you know, a lot of people coming in from not just other parts of the US but

all over the world. We have little pockets of you know, well, there's a lot of technology here. So people come in from other countries. And, you know, they're only here for two years, but to do a project or whatever. So, you know, they get here and they realize I don't need these cashmere sweaters. I don't need these, you know, fisherman LL Bean fishermen knit, you know, cable knit sweaters, these really nice

items. Yes, yes. So that's what I look for is is you know, even in the summer there on Route because there's so much being donated. And so that kind of figured that out that you know, here in Georgia, that's a thing that I can find cheap because yes, cashmere is luxurious, one of the finest fabrics ever, but you don't get a lot of chances to wear him here because it just doesn't get get cold enough. But you know, and they go to people

all over the world. But what's funny is like that maybe one will go to Alabama and there'll be like, you know, yeah, I'm a nurse and I work you know, the hospitals always cold or they work in a lab or you know, somewhere it's freezing cold and they've got their sweater on under their, their scrape or

whatever. Right. So you know, with all these assisted living and nursing homes being built, you know, those are kind of cold inside so even the the residents you know, need sweaters, even if it's 90 degrees outside because it's cold in there. So you got to you know, you got to think outside your experience when you're selling Yeah. New they don't new people don't get it. They're like why would someone buy a bathing suit in January? I sell them all the time. All the time. Crews time.

Yep, band from where we are We'd love to go on vacation and in the winter, yeah. Because is that Lee from out of there? Yeah. Yeah, probably. We have a quite a few ports. Now there's Maryland, there's a port in Maryland, there's several. In New York, we leave out of Delaware. I think there's a report. I'm not sure about that. But yeah, I mean, they're all over. So, and like, you know, all the water therapy. Now with all these baby boomers and their hip replacements.

At the Aquatic Center, they have a special, warm or shallower pool for water therapy. And, I mean, you got to have a bathing suit to get in there. So, you know, maybe you had your hip surgery in January, and you can start swimming in February. And it's like, got to have a bathing suit. So it's funny, because when the kids were home, because the COVID, and they were on remote learning, they only had half days when they did it because they weren't going to keep them

on the computer all day. So yeah, they would do their classes in the morning. And then my 12 year old would come with me to the thrift store. She loves the thrift store. So I taught her how to look for cashmere. And she would just go through all the racks for me. Oh, good for you look for the cashmere. And yeah, she she's really good at it, but she's not interested in not interested in it. But she's really good at finding things.

So you give her a task, and she can go on a little treasure hunt while you're at the thing. And she's always asking like, Mom, is this a good brand? Mom, what about this brand? Mom, whatever? No. And she'll come back with and I won't even tell her sometimes. And she'll go out and come back with lands and and LL Bean and j crew and she'll be like, your mom and she'll like throw them in the court. And I'm like, Did you look to make sure there's no holes and she like she like mom, I looked over

everything. Oh, my trusty Master 2%. And when I get home and I'm we're taking tags off. I'm like, they're nice. They're perfectly. She says, learn to identify quality without really looking. Yeah, I mean, and that's the thing is when you can shop by texture and sight. You know, that's going to help you find those higher quality items because they feel different. They look different. Like you can see. Have you ever found Johnny was up there? No. luck, the highly embroidered

stuff. And I mean, you can see it hanging on the rack next to all the other stuff. Yeah, I mean, I look for anything embroidered or what color phones or cable knit or the fuzzy that could be cashmere. Right one of those blends will fool you. They will you're getting good at those blends. They are. They are I know. Yeah. Like you can usually spot a good Lilly Pulitzer from across the room. It's Oh god, that's Yeah, there's a lot of copies of that there is high end. What's that

brand crown and IV. they imitate that. But yeah, you can look for that bright pink and green. You know, Dan, and so you know what I found the other day that I've never found? Who? To Coogee Are you kidding? letters. And I was at this crappy little thrift store that it has good vintage items. Like you're not going to find high end clothes in there. But I saw a pattern. And I was like, Oh, and I looked at it. And I was like, Oh my god, and it was

almost in perfect condition. And I've got it up for like 350 Wow, because they're just crazy prices now well, then I'm leaving. And I see the rack where they just pulled it out of the back to put stuff out. And you know, I'm I've never really looked on those racks because they tell you like for courtesy don't brush back on that rack. Let us put it out. And so I tried to be the compliance shopper so that I don't draw attention to myself. I do another one hanging right there.

And I'm like, I'm getting it. You know what? I've been in goodwill. Twice a week for almost 20 years. I'm gonna take this guy. I've got that one out for 250 because it's it's gotten one but, um, you know, these things just show up in front of you. And it's like, Really? I did not expect that. Yeah, I've only found a couple alpaca sweaters. I only found a couple and I love finding those. Even I've only found a couple I always look for alpaca. Love that love that texture. I just

love the feel. What is that one brand? That's the high end Peruvian connection. Yeah, okay. Yeah, they make some really pricey stuff. That's one that you can see it's kind of rough looking and compared to the other sweater It just looks different. You definitely have a good eye after all this time. Oh, I still love it. I don't know that I ever won't. You know, I feel like it's always been there. Always, like eBay has always been there.

Right. You know, and if you utilize it, and you're consistent with it, that, you know, it really pays off. And it's, it's, it's gotten me through a lot of tough times. You know? Yeah. So, you know, and I know, people will complain about the changes and the fees and all that stuff. But I mean, I still think is the best way to go. Yeah, I mean, even if you think back pre eBay, you know, there were people that went around to garage sales, and then they take that item to a

consignment store. Right? Or, you know, they would, they would buy stuff from other people's garage sales and then resell it in their own for a higher price. I mean, right. reselling goes back to the beginning of time. Exactly. I mean, it's gonna do it. I used to sell on Craigslist. Yeah. All the big, big stuff on Craigslist. And, you know, I still saw some things on Facebook marketplace, like maybe the bigger items. You know. But eBay is my primary. I think it probably always will be.

Yeah, I mean, there's all this let go and next door and all these other places to do it locally. So I just find that people don't show up. When I answer those. That's my problem, too. Yeah, yeah. Around here. They don't show up. Yeah. So it's kind of ends up being a waste of time, because you might go meet them, and then they don't even show up. And you're like, Oh, I could have listed five more time that I'm sitting here in the car, you know? Yeah. Wow, we have talked about a lot of

different topics. Oh, wow. So, um, any final words for new people, or just people that are struggling and not seeing the success they want? Either, you know, I say stick with it. I've been through the tough times, you know, where you've had at the time where you have, like, $3, in your PayPal account, and you you know, you're wonder where that next bill payments gonna come from. And, you know, it doesn't cost

anything to list it. You know, of course, there's, there's always fees when you sell stuff, but you know, just stay consistent and stick with it is my best advice. And, you know, I'm list at least one thing a day, at least one, you know, everybody can do one thing a day, and, you know, utilize that that scheduling feature, I have my listings are scheduled out as far as I can, I have one item launching every day. And then if I can list more that day, I just, I just pile them on, and

list them that day. Last week. Um, like I said, My daughter gave me that stack of books, I was able to list everything. So I think I listed like 20 of my own items that day. And it felt so good just to accomplish that. And then knowing the next two weeks, even if I don't list anything, I still have those scheduled listings that are going to launch every day. So I had that peace of mind knowing that, okay, I can get my other stuff done if I had to, or my clients or my clients are always

first in the morning. So I know I can focus on them. And then, you know, leisurely rest of the day with my stuff, right? Because that's guaranteed money because it's per i right? Yeah. Right. That's, that's when we design the program. It was like, I think I think sellers would like doing this because it's guaranteed, you know, it's like going in for your job for three hours and, and then you have the rest of the day to do

your all your own stuff. So yeah, like when we hang up, I have two big bags of goodwill items I have to D tag and prep them. process. Yes. Process my inventory. Right. Ready. So I found a pair of Ugg boots for $1. I'm like, I know. No, I saw I saw three pairs $1 day at Goodwill. And I picked only picked up one for $1. The other ones were I don't know what they were thinking when they were pricing them at like 15 $20 I wasn't gonna pay that much for

them. They weren't $1 there'll be there in a month for $1. Right? Exactly. So I'm like, I'm looking at the tag color trying to remember burna in my brain what the tag color was. So when I go next week, if it's the tag, if it's $1 tag called color, I'll just like go to that rack real fast because I remember where they were, but you know, oh, and also So, probably good for for new sellers as well is

look everywhere. Don't just stick to like, the rack of cashmere sweaters don't just look everywhere because I have found women's clothing and men's clothing, men's clothing, women's clothing, women's clothing and children's, you know, like men's shoes and women's like it's everywhere in the store. You know, and yeah, we never never sell put stuff in their cart. And they'll be like, Yeah, I don't want that. And they'll just throw it in, like the bin

abroad. And it's like, Charlie Brown plush, you know, right? doesn't belong there at all. And like, oh, somebody, somebody put this here, but let me check it out. I find stuff like that all the time. Yeah, I always find like, pink men's shirts in the ladies section. I always find that, right. So if you ever found somebody stash? Yes. To come back on the next day, the color changes and they hid. Like all this stuff behind the pillows. And Ooh, thanks for picking all this from

this. I found your treasure. Yeah, exactly. Like you'll see like all the same colors bunched together. Yep. And I'll be like, I know what that is. Yeah, right. I found like anthropology dresses in the men's coats. And it's like, there's three of them. And it's like, this was not an accident. Somebody Right, exactly. Come back. And I'm like, Well, you know what? Finders keepers. You snooze, you lose. Right. So well, thank you so much for taking time out of your day to do this. Pa Thanks

for having me. You have some great information. And I know the listeners are going to enjoy this. So thank you. And thank you for all your hard work with our clients because they just rave about about you and then your work. And I'm just so fortunate to know you and to have you on my team. Yes, I appreciate it. Okay, we'll get to listing or processing. All right. All right. And All right. Bye. Bye. Bye. Thank you so much, Jen for taking the time to chat with me and do this

podcast. I do want to say that Jen is my good luck charm. Because after we recorded this episode, I went out thrifting for the day, and I found a Lulu lemon. Which I have not found one probably in four or five years. So I was out shopping and took a picture of it and texted it to Jen and told her she was by good luck charms. So thanks, Jen. Keep sending that good Mojo my way. Okay, well, that wraps up this episode. Thanks again for tuning in and spending some

time with us. I really appreciate all of you listeners out there who tune in every week. So I'll end with my standard have a profitable and productive and fun day on eBay. Talk to you next week. Bye