My Disturbing eBay Experience - Has This Ever Happened to You? (Take 2)

all sorts of items. And the main topic of this podcast is a rather disturbing experience I had on eBay this week, that might help you improve your eBay business. So we're gonna start off with a comment on YouTube. And the viewer asked, Are all of your items from thrift stores, you don't seem to go to yard sales or garage sales. Why not. And this is a process that has evolved over many years of selling on eBay. And I have tried garage sales over the

years. And to be honest, it just isn't time efficient. For me. There have been days I went to community sales with up to 100 homes participating and came home with nothing. There are specific problems I run into at garage sales that I don't have at thrift stores. So that's why I primarily shop only at thrift stores. So some of those issues are. First of all, items being overpriced. The person having the garage sale will have a print out of what the items sold

for on eBay. Or even what its asking price is on eBay, which we all know can be far from the actual selling price. And the person expects to get that price and will not negotiate. So like $100, for something that a thrift store might sell for 10. And I'm just not willing to pay that. I like the thrill of the hunt too much. I'm not going to pay those inflated prices. Another issue is false advertising. So they'll put up an ad on yard sale find or Craigslist, or

Facebook marketplace. And the ad will list things that they don't have just to get you there. And it's not like the items already sold before I got there. Because sometimes I would be one of the first people there. It was just false advertising to get more people to the sale. So it'd be like, you know, huge garage sale with all these things. And they didn't have any of that it was just a big fat lie. So that

wastes my time. Another issue is weather pouring down rain, or tornado type weather, which we do get here in the south quite a bit. So I just would rather not fool with driving to and from garage sales in that kind of weather. If it's raining or not pleasant. I can go to a thrift store and be inside for three hours doing what I need to do. Another issue I've run into at garage sales is the refusal to negotiate on items. Either that I want to purchase in bulk, or that I think are priced too high

for a garage sale. So back to the eBay print out example. I've actually said this to people because I can get pretty sarcastic but they'll have the printout right there next to the item. And I'm like really you want $50 for this and they're like yeah, that's what it sells for on eBay. And I intentionally just Look around and say, Wow, I thought this was a garage sale, this isn't eBay.

And of course, then I just leave because I've been sarcastic but or, you know, you want to purchase five or 10 things and you're like, I'll give you 20 bucks for all of that. And they just refuse to negotiate at all. So I guess I'm just not a good negotiator. I just don't like that part of it. So thrift stores are better for me. And then another thing that's happened is, I might get to the sale, and maybe it's 30 minutes away, because it's in a very

affluent part of town. And I've gone there intentionally just for this garage sale that's supposed to be massive, or it's a state sale, and you get to the house. Nobody's there. It's been canceled. And it's a huge waste of time. So after all those things happening, I just prefer thrift stores. I live in a thrift store Mecca in Atlanta. And I have an overwhelming number of huge, well stocked well organized stores to choose from, I have never left a thrift

store empty handed. I know when they open I know when they close, I know when there have holidays. And I don't have to limit my shopping to Fridays and Saturdays, which is the typical day for garage sales, I can go anytime I want. I mentioned that thrift stores or climate control. That's a big one for me. It can get sweltering hot here in Atlanta in the summer. So especially during the summer, I prefer a comfortable air

conditioned environment. But any time of year, it's climate controlled, and it's just a comfortable environment to shop. I don't have to negotiate. If the price is too high, in my opinion, I just don't buy it. There are plenty of items to choose from. And eventually it's going to get marked down and maybe it will still be there. Maybe it won't, but I just don't have to negotiate, which I just really don't enjoy doing. Also, I can get incredible deals on everything, like $1 for things

that I can sell for $40. And up. Some stores have a reward system where you get more discounts on your next visit if you buy a certain dollar amount. So you'll get a receipt or a coupon with it. And you can come back and get more discounts. And of course, I already know when all of the senior discount days are at the different stores. For when I officially turned 55 in August of this year, you better believe I'm going to leverage

that. When we have seen your day, I have experienced the bigger crowds are in the morning when they open until about one o'clock. So I will purposely go later in the day. So it's not as crowded and there's still plenty of items to choose from. And I mentioned I know when the discount days are and I know the markdown system so I can minimize the time investment and maximize my savings by getting items at the lowest price. And finally, thrift stores where I live no shortage of inventory.

Even during lockdown in 2020, some of our thrift stores never closed. Most of the stores I go to always have a long donation drop off line, like a long line of cars waiting. And you can see the intake area in the back of the store is just packed with items like boxes of stuff stacked to the ceiling. And a lot of times the donations are spilling out onto the sidewalk like they can't do the intake process fast enough is too much

stuff coming in. Some of our thrift stores even have extra tractor trailers in the parking lot filled with donations that won't even fit in the intake area in the store. So it's just no shortage of merchandise. So that's just my preference. If I happen to pass by a garage sale or yard sale that looks promising sure I'll stop. But we don't seem to have the same number of sales that I see from people up and North or in Florida. When they're posted on my Facebook group, you know how many are in

an area. When you're looking at an app. We just don't have that where I live. So I just prefer thrift stores. And that's where you'll find me. Moving on to something new I learned this week. And the topic is doughnuts. So let me explain that. I love watching stories of entrepreneurs and people who build companies from nothing. It's just fascinating to me how they got from point A to point B. So I watched an excellent PBS documentary on Hulu titled the

donut King. Now, I don't want to lose you because I said the words PBS and documentary because this was really good. It was just about this person's life and his empire. So I enjoy the creative ideas, seeing other people's failures, and just learning how their story unfolds. It's just fascinating to me. But before I get into my commentary about this documentary, and how this relates to us as eBay sellers, here is the official description from the PBS website. An immigrant story with a glazed

twist. The donut King follows the journey of Cambodian refugee, Ted noye, who arrived in California in the 1970s. And through a mixture of diligence and luck, built a multimillion dollar donor Empire up and down

the West Coast. After he escaped the brutal civil war in Cambodia, he eventually was able to start his first donut shop in Orange County, California, and his Christy's donuts, became a rapidly expanding chain of success over the next decade, he also sponsored hundreds of visas for incoming Cambodian refugees, and offered them steady employment in his donut shops. But after living his version of the American dream, everything came crashing down for uncle

Ted. A story of immigration, assimilation, prejudiced and who gets access to the American dream, and what happens when you achieve it. The donut King is also about how the American Dream gets handed down, and evolves from one generation to the next. The film includes the current generation of Cambodian donut shop owners, and the ways they have been inspired and diverged from their parents and grandparents before them. So the story shows the horrors of what Cambodians went through, and why

they came to America. horrors that most of us will never know. I was only about 10, during the Cambodian civil war in the 70s. So I had no idea what was going on. I remember hearing this stuff on the news. But you know, what little kid watches the news and understands world events at that age. So uncle Ted, as he calls himself, explains that he was making $100,000 a month at the height of his donut shop Empire.

He made so much because he leased out a huge number of shops to his countrymen and started other supporting businesses. So everything just grew exponentially. He was actually the person who came up with the iconic pink donut box. The story explains that pink boxes were cheaper than white boxes. So he went with that to cut costs. And they show clips of movies and TV shows with that iconic pink box. Now, that's the kind of stuff that's just fascinating to me, like, Oh,

that's where that came from. Who knew? I just wanted to share that with you because as an entrepreneur, I love these kinds of stories, real stories about real people and their struggles. I find them inspiring and motivating. Because you never know what's going to happen and how something very small, can turn out to be something very significant overall In the life of your business, so if you like those kinds of stories, again,

it's called the donut King. It's on Hulu, or you can go to the PBS website and watch it there. And it's based on uncle Ted's book by the same name, the donut King. And what's funny is after I watched that, like, now I'm seeing that pink donut box everywhere I was watching a series on Hulu, and there it is, the detectives bring in some donuts, to the police station in that pink box. And then another show like the person who was murdered, was the owner of a

donut shop. So I just feel like a trip to a donut shop is just going to happen for me really soon, because I just keep seeing them everywhere. Okay, moving on to what happened in my eBay store this week. I had what I call a later day, this week. This is when I take a day to do everything I have been putting off for later. I do this about once a month. As the spirit moves me. I mean, you have to be in the mood to do all those straggler kind of jobs. But I really hate when things pile up.

So I like to tackle them and get them out of the way. Later day includes things like mending items I have set aside mending small holes and sweaters, reattaching loose buttons, straightening up or reorganizing inventory, like when a bin gets too full. And you have to split it out. Or maybe you've sold a lot of items that were in a bin and it's half empty. So you kind of have to shuffle everything around. Attempted rescue of items. That means things I bought knowing I might be able

to clean them up or fix them. So they are sellable. For example, sometimes those battery operated plush toys that don't have any batteries in them. So you can't really test them in the store. Unless you have every size of battery on your person like in your handbag where you can try to figure that out. It's just easier for me because they only cost $1 I bring them home and see if they're going to work. Sometimes you have to clean up that little electronic thing

inside. And they will work. So I take a chance on things like that for $1. Also household stuff like cleaning out the refrigerator, and other tasks that have been piling up that need attention. So everybody has stuff they put aside for later. So from a time efficiency standpoint, I just have what's called a later day, you might call it a catch up day and tackle all of it at once. And it just feels good to complete those tasks. So I don't have to

think about them anymore. I don't have to look at the visual clutter. And after all that was done, I rewarded myself by relaxing by the pool for two hours. So it all worked out. Okay, and now for the new feature, vocabulary builder. The word this week is spelled h YGG e is actually pronounced Heuga. This is defined as a quality of coziness and comfortable conviviality that in genders a feeling of contentment, or well being. And this is regarded as a defining characteristic in

Danish culture. This word comes from Denmark, which is why it looks one way and sounds another way to us in the United States spoken in English, so it's like those cozy sweaters and cozy blankets and the best synonym I can think of is cozy. And if we go on eBay and look up that word, and again, it's spelled h y GG. There are 3718 results for this keyword in all different categories, Home and Garden. books and magazines, clothing,

craft supplies. So, if you're not familiar with that word, Google it, HY, G, G, and then go to google images and look at what types of items are described with this word. And you can add that to any of your listings where it might apply. So if you have a cozy and soft throw blanket, or chunky cable knit cashmere sweaters, those are the types of items that would be great to use this word in the title. So try that and see what happens. The next topic is what happened in the premium

library last week. The bra course Part two is ready. It focuses on styles keywords, and I share a sourcing tip that saves a lot of time when listing. So you do your thinking and selecting on the front end, rather than after you've purchased the item. I'm all about time efficiency. But don't confuse that with sloppy shortcuts. I have a strategy in the way I do everything. Anyway, for those of you interested in learning about the profitable world of selling broads, this course now has two segments

available. And as a reminder, I'm here to help all premium members whenever needed. All members receive unlimited email support with a guarantee of 24 hour response time. Usually it's three to four hours. Unless the email comes in between 11pm and 8am. When I am sleeping, I haven't mastered answering emails in my sleep. But who knows, someday I might. Anyway, several members emailed me last week asking for solutions for

their slow sales. And I will admit, and if you watched my may sales update, you'll see this, that my sales have been a little bit slow too. But I was able to turn them around in two days by doing steps six, seven and eight. On the aggressive eight point plan to break a sales slump, which is in the premium library. So just a few tweaks can make a huge difference. And you can find that eight point plan in the premium library in the same section as the Do It

Yourself store critique. Just remember that eBay algorithm likes change. So make sure when you are refreshing old listings that you are doing all eight things explained in the video. This method works and it's what I've been doing for many years. And just a quick update on my bolo handbook. items to be on the lookout for when you are out treasure hunting in the world. I received a couple of testimonials that I want to share with you. The first one is from Linda, she said thank you. Thank

you. Thank you because of my bolo handbook. Today we went to a garage sale and we purchased two items that were listed in it. I would have walked right past them before if it wasn't for your bolo Handbook, we got the salt and pepper shakers you had listed and a full set still in the box of the we don't have them listed yet, since we just got them today. But we are very excited to find some things other than clothing. We should make some kind of profit since

we got them so cheap. We are excited and now plan on going to more garage sales, looking for other items that weren't shown in the book. Now that we have an idea of what to look for, and what we might sell. Although it's still confusing when we look at so much stuff to figure out what else might actually sell on eBay. Thanks again, Linda. And then Mia posted this

in my facebook group. I used Suzanne's bolo book at the townwide yard sale this weekend and I already found something worth $42 that I would have never picked up that almost pays for the book with just one item. So folks are out there using this handbook To study at home and to refer to when they are treasure hunting, and they're finding things. So that's so exciting that it's working. If you don't have yours yet, the

link is below the podcast. And now on to the main topic, my disturbing experience on eBay last week. And this probably isn't news to a lot of you. But since it was fresh in my mind, I thought I would share this because it was just so frustrating. As sellers on eBay, we are buyers too. And I was shopping for a specific clothing item and wanted to know the measurements before I bought it. I would rather not have to return it because it didn't fit.

returns are just a hassle on the seller side and on the buyer side. So I began my search and looked at about 10 listings, all of which did not have measurements. In fact, I could tell that most of the listings were posted from the eBay app, because they had the generic text in the description box that just repeats the title and says, condition is blank shipped with USPS first class. So I have nothing against sellers who

lists from the app. But my feeling is that most don't include much of a description, that's been my experience. They're just listing from that app, trying to get that listing up as fast as they can, as much as they can as fast as they can in a day. And most don't know that the app is limited in functionality, which means the listing is inferior to listings created on the full desktop

site. While the app is definitely getting better, it is still limited and cannot do everything the full site can do. And it's not intended to apps are limited in nature, they don't have as many options as the full site. So if you are listing from the app, your listings are not as complete as listings from the full site, which means you are more likely missing sales, because your listings are somewhat incomplete in comparison. So you can tell when an item is listed from the

app. And I'm not going to make any kind of blanket judgments across all people. But I just know some sellers that list from the app. It's all about volume and how fast they can do it. So they're not including anything in that description area. They're just allowing whatever is popped in there. The script so to speak. And you can tell when you go look at listings that that script is there. And so that's where it's coming from.

It just repeats the title and says condition is whatever you picked, shipped with USPS, and then whatever the class of mail is. So all of that being said back to the story. I continued shopping. And it just became a challenge to find listings with measurements. I always try to buy items on eBay. for personal use. I always look there first, to support the eBay community. Because I'm part of that community. And I went through 25

listings. Before I found one with measurements, I decided to message those 25 sellers that had an item I would buy and ask for measurements just to see what would happen. And I was horrified by a few things. First, the language on some of these listings. And it's no wonder some sellers are complaining about slow sales or no sales. Let me quote some of the language on some of these listings that I came across. No returns under any circumstances. Okay, that's not even true based

on the eBay guarantee. So sellers with this verbiage don't even know eBay policies. That type of language creates a hard no for me I would never buy from a seller who isn't willing to work with me, especially on a clothing item. All clothing brands run differently. And if they have any kind of stretch, they may fit differently. And especially when you're buying Pre Owned clothing, it may have shrunk due to washing, or stretched due to a person

wearing it. That's one reason I always provide measurements on Pre Owned clothing is because it may not measure the same as a brand new one because it's been washed and worn. But the verbiage, no returns under any circumstances, is just like slamming a door in a buyers face. Who would buy from a seller who says this? Not me. Okay, the next verbiage that was off putting was we only ship on Tuesdays and Fridays, if you need it sooner do not buy it.

Okay, really, I completely understand running a part time eBay business and not being able to ship every day. In fact, I've changed my handling time to two days just to take a little bit of the stress off. But this language is not customer friendly. First of all, you can change your handling time to whatever you need to correspond with the days you ship. So in this case, if you had three day handling, which is three business days, that would work. And a seller that flat out says

do not buy. I mean I'm trying to give somebody my money. And they're talking to me like this. And these are probably the same people who complain about slow sales are no sales, or the overused eBay sucks remark. Because you can't talk to people like this and expect them to give you their money. Now this one really bothers me. This verbiage, no international shipping and no shipping to military addresses. If you purchase and you are international or military, the sale will be canceled and your

money refunded. This was an actual policy on a listing. And I mean, this is just completely insane. saying this is like saying, I don't want to make more money. Let me tackle the military address issue first. There is absolutely no reason not to ship to military addresses. I mean, come on people. These are our servicemen and women. They are stationed all over the world. And they just want stuff from home that they can't get where they are. They and their families need our

support. Military addresses are within the USPS. So isn't anything different? Saying no shipping to military addresses is just a slap in the face to our service people. And let me tell you a personal experience. I'll refer back to the love of my life who died in 2020, who I was with for over 10 years. He served in both Vietnam and the Persian Gulf. He was a bit older than me, which is one reason I found him so interesting, because he had so many life

experiences to talk about. But he was in both the army and then the Navy. And he helped me understand the importance of supporting the military through selling online. Back in the day, if you were stationed overseas, good luck finding things from home or getting someone to ship them to you. Now, everyone pretty much has a mobile phone and can order anything they want

from anywhere in the world. And I have personally shipped things to aircraft carriers, submarines, air bases, and to countries I've never even heard of. So yes, I am passionate about this. It's a small thing to print out a shipping label and send something to our service people. There's no reason you can't. And if you've been following me for any length of time, you already know my speech about international customers. So if you haven't heard this yet, think about it.

Here's the math. There are over 7 billion people in the world. 1.2 billion live in developed industrialized countries. They probably have technology and can buy online. There are only 328 million people living in the United States. So if you are not offering international shipping, you are missing opportunities to sell to an enormous amount of people who are online, waiting to buy. And eBay has made international shipping so easy. With the standard international shipping program. We live in a

global economy. If you want to grow your business, you have to think globally, not locally. And adding international shipping is one thing you can do to increase sales quickly. Just by bulk editing your listings. Okay, the next verbiage in a listing was we only leave feedback after you do. So if you want feedback, you need to leave it for us first. I mean, is this statement even necessary? This says to me, we are entitled, and we are on a power trip on eBay and we like

bossing you around. So when you have policies like this, speaking to prospective buyers, like a prison warden or a drill sergeant, don't expect to sell a lot of items. This kind of language is rude, intimidating, unprofessional, and not customer friendly. Also, keep in mind that selling on ebay is a privilege, not a right. Buyers don't have to choose you. And they probably won't if you are barking out orders like this. Okay, now here's the real

horrifying part. Well, horrifying to me as a seller on eBay for nearly 20 years. Only four of the 25 sellers I messaged, even bothered to answer with the requested information. I was just asking for measurements. So 16% of the sellers asked, replied, and that's pretty shocking. I guess those people just didn't want sales. How can you expect to succeed in a business? Even if it is a part time hobby type business? When you don't even respond to people who want to give you their

money? This just baffles me. Now, the answers that I did get before answers were completely lame. One seller said and I quote from the exact message sent. Sorry, we don't do that. If it doesn't fit, you can return it. Okay, really. You can't even send measurements if asked. This showed zero effort to accommodate a waiting customer. Another response was, oh, I don't have a measuring

tape. Sorry. Okay, again, really. You have a possible buyer in hand and you can't come up with a way to provide measurements, no ruler, or yardstick or measuring tape in the house. You can't ask a neighbor to borrow one. You can't run out to the store and buy a measuring tape for $1. So you can answer a question and possibly get a sale. You can get measuring tapes pretty much anywhere drugstores Walmart, Target, some grocery stores even have them in the laundry section. So I just I don't even

know what that was. I don't have a measuring tape. So I'm not going to be able to give you this information and take your money. Okay, another answer I got was this item stretches. So it really depends on how it fits on you. You can return it if it doesn't fit, but you'll have to pay for the return. So remember, in the exorcist when the girl's head just spun all the way around. I'm pretty sure my head did that at this point. Talk about circular logic. You aren't going to provide measurements.

The information I need to purchase this item. But if it doesn't fit, I have to pay to return it. So no, that is another lost sale. Okay and the fourth person sent photos of a measuring tape laying across The item, no words and the message, just these pictures. But the garment was wrinkled. And the tape wasn't really positioned correctly. And I just did not have any faith in that information. So I did not even purchase the item I was looking for I gave up. And that's a terrible thing to say.

Coming from me, someone who has spent so much time selling on ebay and trying to do everything the right way and trying to accommodate customers and trying to teach people how to do this business correctly, to just, you know, surrender and just walk away from my computer and just say, forget it, I'll have to figure out something else. That's why this was so horrifying. Another thing that really bothered me was the general public may lump all eBay

sellers into one category. So we are all being judged and stereotyped based on the actions of a few. So what if I was a brand new buyer, and I encountered these sellers, I would definitely think that eBay sucks, I would definitely not come back. So those actions affect everybody. When we have sellers that art, what they call customer centric, meaning the customer should be the center of your business and everything you

do. And my guess is that the people who are complaining about slow sales are the kinds of sellers I encountered, not answering messages, not trying to accommodate buyers, barking out rude and unprofessional policies, acting as if eBay is an entitlement rather than a privilege. And I understand that a lot of sellers coming to eBay are new, and have never had customer service experience. And maybe they just don't know how.

But the message here is not to get too comfortable or complacent on eBay, because it's a free market. And buyers can choose the sellers they want to work with. To get the sales, you have to be the better seller, the more accommodating seller, the more fair seller going the extra mile to serve, it isn't always about the price of your item. In fact, I personally am willing to pay more if a seller is professional, friendly, and has an accommodating attitude.

And I just hope that you weren't one of the 25 that I passed by and did not purchase from. I hope that you were not one of the 21 that did not answer messages and missed a sale. But think about it. How many times a day could this be happening to you. There's no way to count or measure the sales you missed, or the buyers that turned away or gave up out of frustration and did not say a word to you. If you were selling clothing, and not providing measurements, you might want to go back and update

those listings. Because I feel like I'm not unique. There are a lot of buyers out there like me that want measurements before they purchase an item. Because we're purchasing it online from a stranger and we can't try it on. It takes about 30 seconds to measure a clothing item. This is part of my listing routine. And I know for a fact that I sell more clothing because I provide measurements on every single

clothing item. So if you're listing 10 clothing items a day, that's an extra five minutes a day, but it could result in so many more sales so it's not wasted time. And a little hack you can do is to tape a yardstick or measuring tape to your desk or table or wherever you sit to do your listings like they do at fabric stores or at Home Depot when they're measuring things that sell by the foot or the yard. It's just taped to the table. So all you have to do is take those

measurements quickly. It's an efficient system and you aren't fumbling around with a measuring tape. I have been doing it this way since I started back in 2003. So just remember there are millions more like me, who aren't going to buy from you. If you don't have measurements on your clothing items and we might not even message you to ask, because we already know there's a 99% chance that you won't even answer. So the bottom line is just don't be a crappy seller.

You have no way to know how many buyers are passing you by for these reasons. Okay, we have made it to the end. This is Suzanne a Wells teaching you how to do eBay the right way. You can find me on YouTube and Facebook under the same name. Be sure to follow me as new episodes are added every Tuesday. Be nice to each other. Make sure you're living the life you want, and have a profitable and productive and fun day on eBay. Talk to you next week. Bye