Hello, everyone out there in podcast land. I'm Suzanne a wells, and you are listening to episode number 58 of eBay the right way. Today's date is April 27 2022. Lee Panetta is my guest in this episode. And she is a really strong lady who has overcome a lot and has a positive attitude, and just keeps going. A couple of side notes before we jump in, I've added a fun new interactive feature for the Facebook group. And hopefully, it will cycle over to YouTube. It's called the
rescue report. This thread isn't about sales so everyone can participate. You'll post before and after photos of items you have rescued, to sell on eBay. So start taking those before pictures. Now as you are cleaning and repairing items. You'll need to explain your process, what products you used, and step by step instructions, so we can all learn from each other. If enough entries are posted, I'll create YouTube videos with the information and a quick update on the premium
library. Because I'm very excited about this milestone, as of today, there are 494 videos with 131 hours of material. I can't believe I'm getting close to 500 videos. If you have never checked out the premium library or have been away for a while, I challenge you to join for one month to check it out. Just this year 2022. I have added the mid century modern course which has seven segments that run for a total of 90 minutes, I've continued the plush course, which now has 11 segments and
runs for three hours. A course about selling linens, some keyword lessons, brand spotlights, trash to cash, and a lot more. And you might have seen on my sales update videos or just heard me talking in these podcasts about my success with selling plush. I have sold several over $100 this year. So I'm sharing all of my tips and knowledge about that category as I learn it. And I've really been pleasantly surprised with the profitability of selling stuffed animals. And it's just a really
fun product to work with. So you can download the table of contents to see all of the courses and materials. The membership is still just $20 a month for access to everything. And you can download every single item if you want and keep it forever. So if you just want to join for a month and download all the material and never come back, that is perfectly fine. You will never hear from me again. Plus, all members receive unlimited email support directly
with me anytime you need help. I don't outsource any of the work related to the premium library. It's all me. I create everything. I remove outdated material. But most of the information is evergreen and will never expire. I also create a weekly video with eBay updates and current events where I'm on camera talking to you. And I send a weekly email announcing new content. So the link to the premium library is below if you want to take a look and see
what's in there. But it is an excellent resource for learning about eBay, what to sell, how the site works, pitfalls to avoid all that good stuff. And I designed it knowing that sellers would come come and go. So, if you just want to come for a month, that's fine. No pressure. All of that is there for you. Okay, now let's jump into the conversation with Lee. Hello, listeners today we have Lee with us. How are you doing
this morning, Lee? I'm good. And we always start off with Where are you located?
I'm in Athens, Alabama, which is about 10 miles outside of Huntsville, and 90 miles south of Nashville, in 90 miles north of Birmingham. Okay, Phil is the largest city in Alabama.
Yeah, and I always remember that you're my you're in my neighboring states. So you're my, you're my eBay neighbor in Alabama.
What do you weather,
I was gonna say we sometimes get the same bad weather. Okay, now let's talk about how you got into eBay.
Well, it was really funny. I decided one year that I wanted to collect all of these Christopher radko ornaments, oh, put them on my Christmas tree. And I collected 54 of them. And I have an artificial Christmas tree. And when I went to hang them on the artificial Christmas tree, they were so heavy, they'd even pull the lamps down, really. And I took one look at it. And I said, I don't like this tree at all. So I took all of the ornaments down. I put
them back in their boxes. And I said, Well, I'll just sell them on eBay. So I just opened a standard thing on eBay just to be able to sell it not a store. Right. And you know, did all of those ornaments. So within three weeks. Wow. But I look back. And it was because I didn't know what I was doing. And I'm sure I was pricing everything way too low.
Now, how long ago was this? When did you start?
Back in 2019?
Okay, so you're, you're relatively new to it?
Yes, I am. And so I sold them. And then I said, Well, you know, this is fun. I'd like to do this. Well, I'm a big researcher. So I can't try to find someone who would tell me the ropes and how to do it. Well, I'd come across the two videos where they said, Hey, yo, what's up, and I couldn't relate to that, you know, and oh, and everything they told me was so complicated. And I said, There's got to be somebody out there. So I can't look it on YouTube
looking on YouTube. And then I found you, and I can relate to her. And so about a couple of months later, I opened my store.
Okay, and I think, you know, I don't mean to talk bad about people on YouTube, but most, most of them aren't there with a mission of teaching. They're kind of showing you what they're doing, and throw things you know, out, like what they bought, and I think that was really needed. Like, and I like teaching, I like explaining, you know, oh, here's what's going on with the Steiff stuffed animals and where they came from, and the lady
that started it. And, you know, I love all those stories about entrepreneurs and how these companies started. And so I know a lot of people think my channel is kind of boring, because it I don't do all that shopping stuff. But I feel like that's covered. Like there's enough of that. As the middle child, I'm always trying to do something different be noticed. So right, you
know, and, you know, the greatest thing to me was joining your premium content library, because I could look at all of these courses and even your beginner course, you know, and it was such a knowledge base to me, and I'm like, Oh, this is great. This is just what I need, you know, and I could understand it, you know, the way you explain things you've been doing. You know, so the way you explained it, I could put it into practice.
Right? Yeah. And I I was thinking back to when I was new, what would I have wanted, you know, and things that I didn't understand or found out the hard way. That's what goes into that beginner course is you know, and now I just found out today. Everyone that comes to eBay now is going to be on managed payments. It's fun I finally fully transitioned. So I need to go back in there and take out that PayPal stuff because no more. PayPal is only used now for your backup funding for shipping
labels, right? It's not involved in the selling part. So they said that was going to be finished a year and a half ago, and they finally got got it, you know, up to speed where everybody's on managed payments. So
I love me payments. Yeah, that's
a good thing. I like having my fees and everything taken out before I get paid. I don't have to worry about anything. Right. So I appreciate your feedback on that. So now, before we get into any more questions about eBay, you you said you have a unique story about eBay and your health journey.
Yes. At the end of 2019, by accident, my oncologist he was I was see same for osteoporosis, and he was treating me for that I looked at my lab work, and he's looking at it and he goes, Oh, impressive. And I'm like, you know, I'm a nurse, and I'm like, What's impressive? And he says, you don't have an immune system? And I said, Excuse me, why do you have an immune system? He said, you don't. So he started me, I get immunoglobulin treatments.
Now the bat, the thing when this was discovered is, was right before they locked us down for COVID. And I was like, Oh, this is great. But I'm very stubborn. So I will put on my mask. And I will go out to thrift stores anyway and say, Well, if I get it, I get it. But I was happy shopping for eBay. And that was just the bottom line, it wasn't going to stop me. And then after that I have a terrible is central tremor, that I don't know what causes it, but it can
be very disabling. And so I have been to a neurologist to refer me to the University of Alabama in Birmingham. So I went down there. And they tested me. And they said I qualified to have a deep brain stimulator put in. But it took a year. Okay, because of COVID. And they were backed up to be able to do this surgery. So that was done the end of last year. I also have severe osteoporosis. So that was affecting my back, and my neck.
And so I was dealing with a lot of issues that would affect me shopping, listing things on eBay packing things up. And I'm like, Well, I'm not gonna let this stop me. You know, I refuse to let this stop me, I'm gonna keep on going. You know, and that's my point with all of that if there's people out there now understand being a nurse that there's certain illnesses and diseases that you can have, that will totally prevent you from doing any of this. But there's a lot what you can still do this.
And you can't let that kind of stuff stand in your way or make you think that you're not capable of doing this because you are capable of doing this. It's just all a matter of being positive. Doing everything you can to take care of yourself. And just getting in there and saying, I'm gonna do this, I'm not gonna let anything stop me from doing what I want to do. And the thing about it is what has helped me deal with all of
this is a bet. You know, it has given me something to focus on that I really enjoy doing. Besides focusing on my health, you know, so it's really helped me, it's helped me a lot.
So you have something implanted in your brain that denotes with these tremors
do it is called a deep brain stimulator. And it's implanted deep in your brain, and they run the wire from your brain down back behind your neck and dance behind your ear down your neck and it connects to this little pacemaker device. And they give you it looks like a cell phone and it's programmed and you can actually control how high the level you need to go to control your tremor. And or how low you need to go. And they can only do it to one side of your body. So I picked my dominant
side of my body to do. And it cut my tremor down by 80 85% on a body. Wow, because I couldn't, I could it was difficult to drive. I couldn't keep my foot on the accelerators trying to drive a stick shift because it's
really old school.
Yeah, and very old school. And so that has been a big blessing, a very big blessing. And, you know, I'm able to not wrap tape around my fingers anymore when I'm trying to take up the package to pick up things and not drop them anymore. You know, I'm able to type better than I was before. So it's been it's been a real blessing. I can't hold a cup without spilling anything anymore.
I mean, you don't realize how important all these actions are until you can't do them. Right? Yeah. Well, that's amazing. So that's just impressive that you've come this far. And I will say on the part about figuring out how you can keep doing your eBay. Sometimes I use the dictation feature on my computer when I'm listing because I do a lot on the computer and I get wrist pain sometimes. And I'll wear a little brace thing. But it's like, I just I can't type anymore. It's just hurts. So I
love that feature. It's you know, it's through whatever computer you're using, it's not an eBay feature. So you can write, you can turn that on and then do speak to, you know, dictation and it. Sometimes it gets the words wrong. But it is pretty fast. So I feel like that's a wonderful feature for anybody that has problems with their hands. Or, you know, pain or mobility or typing is a very tedious action for your hands. So if you can, you know, if you're doing mobile, you can use
it on your mobile phone. It has the little microphone there. So for people listening, like thinking, you know, wow, one day, I might not be able to do eBay because I might be disabled. Well, I feel like there's workarounds for everything. Now, if you want to, if you can figure it out. You can make it work.
Well, where there's a will there's a way. And that's that's what I believe.
Yeah. So were you already retired from nursing when all this happened to you?
Yes, I actually retired when I was 47. And that was after my son passed away. And I did not I retired Dan. And I tried several things that did not work out to occupy my time. And I started having trouble with my tremor, when I was about 55 years old. And it got worse, and it got worse, and it got worse. And so I just went, you know, went to the right doctor and got it fixed.
That's excellent. Great. So you said your son passed away like in 2000 455. Okay. Okay. And that was just out of nowhere, and you turned your life upside down. And we were talking because you had bought my book and had some similar, similar experiences. But just for the listeners. When you experience a death like that, if someone's so close to you, you have to keep yourself busy. If you I mean, just you can't just sit around and think about it. That's what you want
to do. Because you feel like if I am not mourning for this person, I am not loyal to them. I don't love them anymore. So you keep it in the front of your mind all the time because you feel committed to that person in that relationship. And it's really hard. You know, after that heavy grief passes, which it's different for everybody, but you have to find something to be engaged in. You will just be under that black blanket of grief 24 hours a day. And it's really hard to get out from
under that. So I do hear this a lot with with people that come to eBay, you know, they've just gone through something like this and they need something interesting and stimulating and fun that they can do when they feel like it is, you know, it's not like a job at the Hallmark store, you have to be there every day.
And that's what I love about eBay, you can stop at the start it depending on your life circumstances.
So when you were going through all of your, the tremors and all of that, what would you consider a successful day? How much would you accomplish and think, you know, I got I got a lot done today. Um,
I would say if I could list five items a day. If I could get, you know, if I could go through, go to thrift stores and find some things to say all that was a big accomplishment for me. Keep my office organized, list everything don't have any death piles. Because that's one thing that you know, you would say, but if I had had, when I got started in this, I bought so much and I had death piles everywhere. And it was overwhelming. It caused me so
much stress. And so I'm like, I'm not going to do this anymore. And now I just when I'll get down to about five items, I'll go about some more.
Yeah, that's a good plan. Now, that doesn't work for everybody. Because if you don't have access to good shopping, or where the weather, you know, the winters are really harsh and you can't get out. You know, I just, I keep putting that out there no death piles to help encourage people and keep them on track because it is so easy to become a hoarder. And then you have all this stuff. And it just is called inventory creep. It just creeps from room
to room. Next thing you know, you've got your basement and three bedrooms full of stuff and you feel like I'm never gonna be able to tackle this. It's just too much the mountain is too big.
Well, my problem is, is I've got everything listed, but I ship a tremendous amount of breakables. And I have to wrap them up. And I have to wait them because I don't know what it's going to take or any item for packing material. My master bedroom cloths are just full of boxes ready to go. I've got boxes in my office ready to go. But it's ready to go. So that's okay. All right.
Yeah. So about how many things do you ship a day?
Oh, that really depends on, of course, my sales, but I've been able to ship anywhere from eight, down to one a day. It just depends.
Okay? Yeah, then a breakables is a lot. I mean, that might take two hours to wrap it all up. And, you know, and I don't like to rush, I just, that just stresses me out to be in a rush, I like to take my time. And, you know, make sure it's right. And when I feel like, I don't want to do this anymore. Yesterday, I was taking pictures. And I had maybe 20 things and I got through about 12. And I'm like, I don't want to do this anymore, I want to
switch to something else. I was like, Okay, I'm gonna go list these items I've taken pictures of and then come back to this later, when I feel like doing.
So thing is about pictures, you mentioned that I hate to take pictures, because I still have really bad tremors on my left side. And I still have some in my right side. And what I have figured out to do and the lighting is very difficult for me to get at times. And so what I've decided this is one of my work arounds, I will take several pictures of the same layout, however you want to say it is over and over and over again, then I can guarantee that one of most come
out. Right. Yeah, I mean, that's what professional photographers do. They take a lot of shots and you know, then you look at all of them. And there's just slight differences with the lighting or whatever. So that's a good strategy.
You know, so that's how I'm like it work.
So you're dealing with some limitations compared to other people that don't have what you have. Let's talk about the kinds of things you sell because I'm guessing they're smaller because they're easier to ship. Or I mean, have you changed your strategy at all? No, no,
no, I ship. I don't ship anything I learned about dimensional weights. chipping. And I don't like it because it's too big. And sometimes I ended up paying more than the customer
to have, it's now eight, this is April 2022, they've got that new surcharge on there. If it's, like 22 inches is an extra $4. If it's up to 30 inches on one side, it's an extra $15. I mean, you've got to add that to your listing to make sure that you don't eat that. And that's just, that's why I stay away from big items. It's like, I feel like people aren't going to pay that additional surcharge on something, you know, that's just me, I'm sure they will if they
really want it. But that's just another layer of stuff you have to think through. Well, I,
I usually buy boxes I have learned if I use the eBay boxes, that it's better to ship in for me, and I get a better weight off of it. And also, if I don't ship anything that goes any larger than one of the bay boxes is like 16 inches in length. If I don't go greater than 16 inches in line, then I'm okay. But so I won't buy anything any larger than won't fit in that box. That makes sense. You know, and I have gotten to the point now where when I go shopping, I will look
at something go on. No, that will sell I know it will. But how am I gonna ship it is going to be too big is it's just not going to work?
Yeah, I know. I do that too. I was at kind of like a private estate sale last week. And the lady was like, Oh, you this, this would sell and this was because she knew I was reseller and she was just trying to get rid of her stuff and so many things. I was like, I want to ship that. You know, it was a set of vintage Libby glasses. It was like 12 glasses. Nope. Plus, I'm in a smaller space now. And I don't have room for all that. I don't want to store all that. So I did get a McCoy cookie jar.
That he found that that's yeah. So I got that. Oh, you saw it in my store? Yeah, I listed it. Right. Okay. And let's Yeah, that was one of the first things I listed when I got back. But you know, I was like, Yeah, I can't leave that behind paid $5 for it. So we're gonna see what happens. And that's kind of out of my realm. But you know, I'll figure that out. I'll you know, bubble wrap it double box it, it'll be fine.
The bubble wrap on the inside of it.
Yes. Fill the fill the void. Right? Yes, the pressure doesn't make it Smash. Right. So, you know, if I find that IKEA vase that's worth $300. Yeah, I'm getting that. If I find that mackynzie child stuff. But if it's bigger, I'll do that. But it's all about choices. Like, how do you want to spend your time when it sells? Do you want to have to deal with that? You know, how much money you're going to make on it. And you know, then I look at, you know, some clothing items. And I'm like, That's so
easy to ship. I'll do that. The work is on the front end with clothing with measuring it and all that but
you had said on the calendar, you know, push yourself to sell something you haven't sold. Yeah, my clothes haven't really gotten in the cloud. I
mean, if you hate it, and it gives you a stomachache, think about it, then that's not for you don't do it.
No, it's just I said, Okay, fine. I'll try and try and sell some clothes. You know, and remarkably, what I have picked has so you know, and but have also learned from you, you know, the brands and you know, because when you go into something because I'm I can tell when something is vintage, you know, like some glasses or a plate or
something like that. I can tell like, oh, the shower curtains are really good brand I can sell this is brand new, but clothes are the one area that I don't know, like, I know everything else. So I have had to research and through you, you know, learn Okay, these are good brands, or no, that's not a good brand. Because sometimes you look at these things and they're like, Oh, it's a linen shirt. Well, it's a real cheap brand.
Exactly. Yeah. So for clothing, I mean accessories are great because they're small. I'm doing really well with beanies, you know, the wool ski hats with the fur aisle design. Those are so easy. I mean, really three pictures front back and the tag. And they don't take up much room they're easy to ship and the snowboarders love the vintage ones with the tassels and all the funky designs. Like I would not wear it will have because that's
gonna be itchy. But that, you know, they still sell or gloves, belts, you know all those little things that they're easy. You know, it's, I always put measurements because, you know, even on a hat, you know, how far across is it? How hard is it stretch to? Because I've been asked that question so many times, I just do it on the front end when I'm listing the item. But, you know, close doesn't mean labor intensive listing? No, it can be all kinds of
different things. And really, you know, if you hate it, don't do it. Like, I'm never gonna do electronics I just cannot get excited about they're not pretty and fun to do
you know, I have bought something for a car one time, and I got into it. And all of the information they wanted on it, then like forget it. I don't know any of that. It's going to take too long. I'll just stick with what I know.
Yeah. And like and like I don't want to know that. I don't want to learn about that. I love all the little Beatrix Potter nursery stuff and plush and little plates and cups that Wedgwood and I think maybe Linux, two of those high end China brands made. One is bunny kins and one is Beatrix Potter. And I just I think it's adorable. And those
things they do sell. Yeah, and it's like, I I really feel like you need to do what you're drawn to, you know, you're drawn to electronics and stereo systems, because you know it then great. But you know, follow that intuitive push of, Oh, I love this, you know, this vintage Ralph Lauren silk scarf with the equestrian stuff. Like, that's an easy, easy pick, when you see that mixed in with all the scarves. Some of those go for two or $300?
No, no, no. So clothes does
not mean you know, clothing does not mean you know, hundreds of pairs of jeans and all these big heavy things that you have to measure and that take up a lot of room. It can mean all kinds of things. So I appreciate that. The calendar shout out have pushed yourself, do something different because that's how you grow. And you know, it could be something you like, it doesn't have to be so yeah, I mean,
you could wait, you could look at it and go, I didn't think I'd do that. And then once you get into this, like, Oh, I like this. You don't know till you try. That's my point.
Somebody posted I think it was Ken McNamara posted on the Facebook group, the $100 sales, a butter dish that sold for over $80 Like, are we all looking at butter dishes, that's an easy thing to ship. People collect them, whatever. But, you know, it's just the opportunities are endless. They are
they really are and, and it's amazing to look at stuff and I'll go wonder why they bought this. What they want this for because I wasn't quite sure this was gonna sail. I have one one sweet lady who bought a plush from me it was a little mousse. And she actually wrote me and told me why she did that. And she said her grandson have one at home just like it. And so instead of him bringing it back and forth, she found one just like it so now he's got one at her house. And he hasn't been
able to tell the difference. And she Oh, that's smart. One I do get I do get a number of her back and said you know, I am so glad you brought me because I don't know where happened. These things go. You know what the purpose is of them? Yeah, I want to
reach out to the guy that bought the military nurses cape. That's great. Yeah. Sold for $325 I paid and delivered so I want to reach out to him. I'm waiting to see if he's gonna leave feedback and just say
he bought that for theater thing.
Well, I don't know. I'm gonna ask him like was this for reenactment? Was this finder? What you know? Are you a costume master? Were you? Yeah, I'm just really curious about because it was such a unique item and he didn't even and make an offer. He just bought it for full price. So he wanted it for something. But yeah, I'll have to follow up on that. But going back to your Christopher radko ornaments. I've only sold a few of those. I don't find them very often. You said you had 54?
Yeah. Do you remember the one that sold for the most?
Oh, no, no, I don't. Cuz that was right before I started and there were 50 for him. So I don't remember. And they were beautiful. And I think every one I got still had the tags on and they were brand new. Because I have to have you know, if I, you know, it's got to be brand new. I want to make sure it's a good shape. You know, which I'm glad I did. Because when I ended up reselling them, I had no trouble doing that.
So the first time I heard about Christopher radko, was probably I don't know is when I first started selling on eBay. So early 2000s. My sister in law collects them. And she and her husband don't have, which is my stepbrother don't have any children. So they have a lot of very expensive things. Anyway, so she was talking about, they lost their jobs in 2008 when the crash happened, you know, the economy tanked.
Oh, yeah. I remember. And she started selling her Christopher radko ornaments one by one on eBay. And they had always always remarked that, you know, if we did have any kids, these ornaments would pay for their college like, Yeah, I mean, they're very, so they were selling those ornaments for $700 A piece?
No, I never saw mine, because she had been collecting them,
I think ever since they started.
Yeah.
I was just like, oh, I you know, made a mental note of that. Because some of those they're intentionally designed to be collectible. Like there's only a limited number of a lot of them. So especially the early ones. And do you know the story of Christopher radko? And why he started?
Yes. Well, he, he wanted something very special for his tree. And I think all of his ornaments Weren't they destroyed
something about his he had decorated his tree and it tipped over and everything broke.
It all broke. Yeah. He said, I want some really special ones. And so that's when he decided he would design his own. And that's how he started his business.
And did he have a background in art or something? I think so. I need to do a little lesson on that. Because it's a very interesting story. But he did it for himself. Yeah. And then people were like, Oh, these are beautiful. And then he started the company selling them
right. Now the one thing that I saw recently that was a collectible, was I actually found a Mary thought, bear, teddy bear. And those were made in England. He was mohair. He was in perfect condition. And when they made these bears that actually signed and numbered, the little tag on the bear itself. And it had it COA with him. He was still in the box. I was able to get two of them. And as I paid 15 for him in a Sony for $196.
Oh, excellent. Yes. And what does that brand again?
It's Mary thought me RYTHO UGA.
Okay. Okay.
So if you can come across one of those, they are rare, very rare.
And, you know, when you're searching in that pile or basket or whatever, have all the plush in the thrift store, like ours is an entire lie. In goodwill. You know, some some stores don't have as many. But usually, you know, it takes me 30 minutes to go through and I look at every single one. That's how you find them. You know, that's how you're gonna find them. You gotta look but there's so many teddy bears and they all look the same.
I'm constantly pulling them out looking at text. When you look cute. What are you What are you
I know, like, you really feel like I should just skip all these teddy bears. But like you said it could be that one. Right has value.
Right? And so a lot of Christmas and fall stuff. Because that stuff I love. I absolutely love. And I just came across a set of I was at Goodwill and there was a set of Wine glasses, and I looked at him they were really pretty. And the Stam, they're clear, but the stamp is I twisted red and green. So they're hand blown. And I'm like, I wonder who makes these. And you actually had to look at the bottom of it. And inscribed on the bottom of that you can barely see is Linux.
Hmm. And so and those, those are worth quite a bit of money those are selling for HoH let me say the I got seven of them, but each glass is selling for about 3940 bucks for glass. So, yeah, you never know what you're gonna find you really? I went into one thrift store one time and I've found oh, what's the nine of these purses? You solum it starts with a be a Brighton. Brighton because yes, I found Him of those $15 apiece. Both brand new one had the tag on it.
And I sold those for like 200 bucks a pop.
So they were leather. Oh, yeah. Yeah, well, Brighton does make some straw and like straw and leather combination. So yeah, I always look for those and there's so many copies now we're like Target will have a brand with that little silver heart. You know pretending to be Brighton fried. No. I mean, if it's Brighton it says it all over the
outside. It's yeah, it's stamped on the any metal hardware like if it has a round gold or silver tone thing on the strap or the buckle or, you know, if you don't really even have to look inside. You can tell from the outside. Oh, yeah. This is Brighton or oh, this is forever. 21 trying to be Brighton. Exactly, yeah. And they make belts. I sell a lot of Brighton belts, because they're unusual
and fun. And what I found is that equestrian people go through belts like crazy, you know, they have to wear a belt. When they're dealing with horses and riding horses, they wear jeans, and so they don't care if they're not perfect. You know, if they're broken in or they have, you know, a little scratches on the buckle or whatever. Or outdoorsy people. They don't care if it's not brand new. They just know that that is a reputable, durable brand. That's going to hold up.
Right. So in case you're not looking at belts, there's that.
I haven't been able to come across very many belts, which is, you know, I don't know.
Well let our goodwill they hang them on the end of the
I. Yeah. gone through.
Okay. Okay. Well, I mean, it's just what you find. Yep. ties the same thing. I've been doing pretty well with ties. But some stores have a more organized than others. And you know, some of them are in this band are all mixed together. Yes.
I've been in the band.
Do I really want to look through that today? I don't know.
Exactly. You know, no, I don't really think I'll come back later.
It's all about the presentation. So do you remember the item that you've sold for the most money? I think that probably was the item was the plush teddy bear was that. And you'll get more because you are you're a good student.
And I have a great teacher.
There's just so much out there. I mean, it's it's impossible to learn at all. And you know, like just this one podcast, you've told us about a lot of things that that people might not know. I do want to emphasize the part about you selling seasonal items all year.
Yes, I do. I do. And I don't know Christmas and fall and Halloween are my favorite times of the year. So I'm naturally attracted to that. So I'll put it on there. And I know that the season the months they really start selling is in July, and then it ramps up. I went to a thrift store down in Birmingham and I found I'm just drawn blind some everything. Anyway, they were Oh the 12 days of Christmas. little figurines and I paid $5 a pop form and And I mean, they're almost gone.
They're almost gone. You know, so you'd be surprised what's out there. I cannot remember the brand. Oh, I'm sorry about that.
There is a lot of them. There's an ESCO there's Fontanini there's I could go on all day. You know, Lennox makes stuff. Waterford makes stuff. I used to think that Waterford only made crystal, but they make fine porcelain, you know, decorative items, too. So yeah, I mean, it's just yeah, look at everything. See what it is. Because, you know, it's funny that goodwill, other thrift stores, they think they know
what's going on. Like, they'll mark up things that they think they're going to get a lot of money for. I go to this one thrift store. That is, it's just gigantic. It's not goodwill. And I think there's only one in Georgia. But like they have $14 on Victoria's Secret bras. Yeah. Okay. But like, right next to it is Soma, which is a high end brand, and you know, it's a size 40 Ge, you know, something that that you can sell for a high dollar. And, you know, that's
$2. So it's just what they know, and they can't mark everything up or they're not going to sell anything.
It's funny, I've got in my goodwill, they have developed this little bowtique search. Okay, and you'll go over there and they think what is bowtique? Is not, you know, um, but I've found, you know, a few things in there brand new with tags. That's just it amazes me how wasteful you know, people own this country, you know, when Yeah, find all of these things that are brand new with tags, you know, and I went
to an estate sale
is what? They've never been more than you can tell they've never been well, yeah,
yeah, I went to an estate sale one time. The lady who passed away was like a TJ Maxx addict. And I mean, rooms and rooms full of stuff, mugs, Max price tags on them. Still in the box, still in the container, whatever. For every room, bathroom stuff, kitchen stuff. In the basement. It was all seasonal Christmas, Thanksgiving decorations. And I mean, it was like you're in a TJ Maxx. That's how much stuff she
had. And so, you know, shopping is entertainment for some people, you know, they don't they don't need all this stuff. They just like to go shopping. And then it accumulates and then something happens. They downsize, they move, they die. All that stuff has to go somewhere. Yes, but I feel you on that boutique thing, because our Goodwill's kind of do that. And they'll have, you know, a jacket from Walmart with a $29 tag on it. Like they're said they're selling it for $29.
Yeah, I know. And mixed in, in the racks, you know, is a vintage Ralph Lauren denim shirt that you could sell for $103. So it's, it's like, you know, knowledge really is power in this business. I mean, has you? I think it has to do with the person who's pricing stuff that day. Yes. Because the that, you know, there's different people pricing stuff. And it's so inconsistent sometimes, you know, $18 on a pair of Cole Haan shoes, but right next to it is thin comfort, which is a high
end brand. I sell those for $80 all the time, right? And then they just don't they just don't know. So it pays to be the smarter bear.
Yeah, and you know, of course, I'm in all these thrift stores, you know, with my iPhone out putting everything in eBay, you know, to figure out if that's a good buyer or not? Well, because when I first started, it was like, I didn't know what I was doing. And I was so I would look at things so that I'm so and then I'll get it home and it wasn't gonna sell. So I've learned I've evolved, let's put it that way.
Yeah, I mean, it is a learning curve. And you have to admit that you don't know everything, you know, those things are gonna pop up in front of you all the time. But it also depends on who's been there before you and what they know and what they want to sell. Exactly. All those electronics lovers can come right behind me and I'm not picking up any of that.
I went to this one thrift store wasn't too long ago, and this woman had all of these glasses and you know, I mean, her car was full. And I took one look at it. And I knew she was a reseller and I knew she had just started to resell because I looked in there. And so that's if there's too much of that out there, you know, but she didn't know.
Well, I used to see this lady at one store I went to before I moved, and she was in there every single time I went. And all she did was plus size, women's clothing, all she was looking for was the size, not the brand, not the material. Like she didn't evaluate anything, she just put as much in her cart as would fit of plus size clothing. And this store had a price a pricing system, where every day it was less. So Friday's everything was $2. And then it would go down to 150.
And so as things got cheaper, she bought more. So I thought just, I can only imagine the amount of stuff that she brought home to go through. And I just kind of do my evaluating on the front end. Yeah, I don't have to bring as much stuff home because I mean, I think that stuff multiplies at night, you know? Your pile gets bigger. Looking.
Gremlins, I will admit I have grandmas they like to play on my computer, they like to put stuff in different areas. They like to grow stuff, you know? Yeah.
Okay, well, we've been going for almost an hour. Are you kidding?
Oh, I so. Okay.
Is there anything that we didn't cover that you wanted to say?
You want me to give some advice? Well, that's
my last question is, what kind of advice do you have for people just getting started? Or maybe people that have some kind of physical limitation, like you have, although I wouldn't call it a limitation in your case. But, you know, maybe disabled or feel like, they can't do this because of a physical reason.
I think, you know, physical issues, it's a Mind over Matter thing. I think you have to, you know, learn that you have to be positive, at least at trying to really see what your physical limitations really are. You may think that they're worse than they really are. You know, so I think you need to at least give it a try and be motivated to do that. And you're going to have to put yourself out there. No, you
really are. Because, you know, being a nurse and having practice for 20 years, I have been able to see patients that have come out of things that they shouldn't have, because it was simply based upon will. I mean, and I think why, you know, if my whole point is, if there's a will, there's a way, three with that, I think you need to try and see where it goes. You know, just see where it goes. Don't let your limitations get in the way of what you really want to do in life.
eBay has so many moving parts, you can figure out one part, and then figure out the next, like, figure out what you want to sell, rather than how to do the research. Learn how to list an item, learn how to ship things, start with things that are easy and don't break. And you just keep doing the steps. And each time you master a step you move on to the next thing. And I think people in general just get overwhelmed because eBay has so many
different aspects to it. Their main thing is usually shipping. Like I don't know how to do it. I'm afraid of doing it wrong. And I mean, if you do it wrong, what can happen? You know, you don't charge enough postage, you're going to eat that. If it's breakable, it breaks, you learn how to do it better. You file an insurance claim. If the customer is mad about something, you just figure out how to make them happy. And it really comes down to you might be out some
money. That's really the worst thing that's ever going to happen.
Right. And, you know, I've had things break. You know, I have one thing that broke and it was I was so upset for him. I had sent him a coffee mug and it was a vintage coffee mug and he didn't open it. It was a gift. So we just wrapped it up and gave it and he had broken in shipment and I felt so bad for him. For I would say for newbies, to follow you on your premium content library to learn three, you know, and what you
know about eBay? Because that's what you want to do you want to find someone who has the knowledge who's already been through this, and you follow them, and you learn from them. And that's what you are, you know, and you've been doing it for so long, you know? And, yeah. Yes, it's just, it's wonderful to be able to go to you ask a question, if I can't find it, you know, in the premium content library, and your response is just
remarkable. So I would recommend, you know, to find you to follow you on social media, um, not to have any death piles, you know, because that will stress you out, have good bookkeeping, and one of the most important things I think, in your bookkeeping is to record when you bought it, when you listed it, how much it's sold for and what you had at price, that the point of when you buy it, and when you list it, and when it sells, you can follow that on how long it took for
your item to sell, and what you ended up selling it for. And so that's like, Okay, this work, that didn't work, okay, it took months to sell this, you know, and it's, it helps you keep track of things, right. And then research, research, research, Etsy, you know, other eBay sellers, Terapeak, you know, replacements, you know, anywhere you can find some information to help, because a lot of times on Terapeak, they'll say, you know, somebody will have sold something for five bucks, and
somebody sold it for 50. So you have to learn, you know, how much something truly something is worth. And that's one of the ways to do it. And have patience, you know, just patience, you know, things will sell eventually.
So to your point on Terapeak, how there can be such a wide range of prices. That's not always a reflection of the buyer. That could be a reflection of the seller, like they put it on auction started at $5. And they had misspelled words, and it didn't come up, or they don't ship International and somebody international would have gone on it. Or they're downsizing. They're phasing out their eBay business, they just they just want to get rid of stuff. It's already listed. So
they mark it down. So it's not always like why did one buyer pay $5 and one buyer paid 50? Like, what did the seller do? Right? Which a lot of times, you're never going to know why they started it so low. I know people that do like flea markets, and they'll buy, they'll buy everything at the end that's leftover. They'll put it on eBay for 99 cent auctions, get rid of it over that week, and then go again and go again. That is their business model. They don't care. They don't want
to do the research. Right. And you know, that's a great way to buy stuff to resell is like those 99 cent auctions because they're just getting what they get. They don't want to store the inventory. They don't want to keep it. They just want to see what they can get over a week and move on to the next batch. So there's a lot more than just you know, why? Why didn't one buyer pay this? And when pay that,
right? You don't always know the reasons, right?
There's too many variables. And I know international shipping is a huge one. Lack of international shipping is a huge obstacle for some people. They just they're afraid to do it. But, you know, you look at how many people are in the United States. What 350 million, something like that, right versus the rest of the world. Like you're only selling to a tiny fraction of people. And there's a lot of fluid countries out there. They don't think they're gonna pay 60 bucks to have that $50 item sent to
them. They don't care.
No, Australia likes me a lot. And I don't Okay, good. Thanks to Australia. I'm always sending things to the UK. And it's a piece of cake to ship over there. It's as easy to ship in the US as it is to ship internationally. So it's, yes, you're opening the door to more sales.
Well Excellent. Well, thank you again for coming on my podcast and sharing your story. I know it's going to help a lot of people who feel like they can't do this. Because you are an example of somebody who made it work and didn't let your health issues get in the way. You found a way to overcome that.
Well, thank you, Suzanne. It's been an honor and a privilege to be able to chat with you today.
Yeah, this was fun. I love
luck on selling on eBay. anybody? Anybody can do it. Okay, great. Well, thanks
so much, Lee.
Thank you. Okay. Bye.
Thanks again for coming on the podcast and sharing your story, Lee. Today's motivational quote is tough times never last, but tough people do. And I think Lee is an example of that, because she just keeps going. Thanks again for stopping by my podcast, and I will talk to you next week. Have a profitable and productive day on eBay. Bye for now.