I Can Do It Conference November 11

I am thrilled to finally be attending the Hayhouse Radio "I Can Do It" conference in Tampa on November 11 - 13. I have been an avid Hayhouse Radio listener for many years. If you are not familiar with Hayhouse Radio, also known as "Radio for Your Soul," it is definitely worth checking out. Hayhouse offers free online listening to the world's most motivating and positive life coaches, self-help authors, spiritual teachers, healers, and other inspirational personalities. This conference is a "fill yourself up" kind of weekend!

Some keynote speakers include:

Louise Hay
Dr. Wayne Dyer
Marianne Williamson
Cheryl Richardson
John Holland
Christiane Northrup

I would love to meet any of my readers and other online sellers who may be attending this conference. Send me an email at ebaycoach @ yahoo and let's connect!

If you can't make the conference, turn on Hayhouse Radio while you work on your listings or while you are shipping packages. You'll love the positive energy, inspiration, and motivation from the programs.

Happy Selling!

Related Posts:

Become a Self-Builder

Time Management Tip

How to Start an eBay or eCommerce Meet Up Group

I recently recorded a podcast with Stephanie Inge, the founder of the oldest and largest eBay Meet Up Group, Dallas eBaybes and eMales. The Dallas group was established in 2002, meets once a month, and has over 350 members. Stephanie has been successful in starting, growing, and maintaining this group. During the podcast, Stephanie gives us the following tips:

Where to have a meeting
Best days and times to have a meeting
How to use the Meet Up site
How to invite guest speakers
Meeting format
Whether or not to charge guests a cover charge

Click here to download or listen to the podcast. You can also access the podcast on iTunes here for free.

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Network With Other eBay Sellers on Facebook
Small Business Networking
List of eBay Resources
How to Overcome Isolation when Working at Home

Did you Miss the Missoni Mania?

eBayers are scrambling and hitting Target like its Black Friday. Missoni, the famous Italian fashion house has partnered with Target department stores for a short-term offering of a few products. According to an article by seattle.cbslocal.com, the limited edition Missoni stock will only be available from September 13 - October 22.

Fashionistas and resellers have hit the stores hard and cleaned out everything Missoni including women's apparel, accessories, baby items, bedding, luggage, dinnerware, and even coffee mugs. This is huge! The demand was so out of control on Tuesday, Sept 13 that the Target website crashed and during that few hours, prices sky rocketed on eBay. Look at these completed listings:

Set of 4 Missoni Mugs sold for $137.50:


These mugs sold for $19.99 in the store. Out of stock online at Target.com:


This lingerie set sold for $85.81:



In the store and online, it sells for $29.99:


I went to a few Target stores today, and here is what I saw:

No shoes.


No handbags or tote bags.


No home goods, dinnerware, mugs, linen, or bedding.


I think these insane prices are a result of being in the right place, at the right time, with the right information. Will we continue to see such high profit margins on these products? Some things to consider:

1) Target.com is back up and running. People will try to pay regular retail before they will pay inflated prices on eBay. I think the insane prices yesterday were a result of the Target website crashing. (Although many of the items are out of stock on Target.com already!)

2) eBay sellers who purchased Missoni for resale (or maybe even over-bought) are going to undercut each other and this will become a race to the bottom. The examples above show what people will pay. Many eBay sellers are going to start to panic when they realize that they aren't getting 3 times the retail price for this stuff within 24 hours, and they have spent hundreds or thousands of dollars on Missoni merchandise. Impatience and inexperience will cause them to drop their prices quickly.

3) Supply with catch up with demand. Even though the word on the street is that Missoni for Target is a limited deal, it is getting people in the Target stores,and during this economy, Target must like that side effect. Nothing is written in stone between Missoni and Target - for all we know this could become a seasonal or even permanent arrangement.

This will be a "wait and see" situation. I was able to find about 20 items and will be watching Target.com very closely and see how prices on eBay fluctuate as items become more scarce and show up as "out of stock online." We can't be sure that more Missoni isn't on the way to Target - could this be a ploy to cause a shopping frenzy and help Target's numbers during the 4th quarter? A pre-holiday selling blitz?

What is your Missoni Madness story? Did you hit Target stores, battle the crowds, or find anything at all?

Brand to Sell on eBay - Joseph and Feiss

You may not have heard of this brand, but it is a good one to look for at thrift stores. Joseph and Feiss. This brand is sold by Men's Wearhouse and they make dress shirts, polo shirts, blazers, slacks, and suits.

I often see these dress shirts in thrift stores in what look like donation "dumps" from dry cleaners. You may not realize that dry cleaners need to do something with their unclaimed clothing, and many will donate the items to a thrift store to take the tax deduction for a charitable donation.

I had a great sale this week on a lot of Joseph and Feiss shirts. Below is my listing:


Click here to see the completed listing. These shirts cost me $2 each and the lot of 3 sold for $32.97. After fees, I realized a profit of $21.50. (You can figure out your profit using this handy ebay fee calculator.)

On a side note, although I have moved into selling on Amazon, I am still an active seller on eBay. My eBay sales have definitely decreased over the past 2 years with much of my time spent on private coaching, learning to sell on Amazon, writing information products, and collaborating with other eCommerce experts to create trainings. I still have my finger on the pulse of eBay, although not to the extent it has been in the past.

Also, I had somewhat of an incident this week with another blogger who took the liberty of plagiarizing material from my blog, eBooks, and Examiner column and passing it off as his own original work. Although legal action for intellectual property theft was avoided in this case, because of the nature of the internet, it is disturbing that anyone can set up a blog and post information and advice about selling on eBay. For those of us who make eBay (or online) selling a source of income, we know how much work is involved in this business. It is offensive when someone with very little (or no) eBay experience poses as an eBay seller with the objective of making money by pirating someone else's experiences and presenting them as their own.

I want to caution you when reading eCommerce blogs and advice on the internet. Consider the source before following advice. Who is this person? What is their experience selling online, and can it be confirmed? I would be wary of anyone who claims to be an eBay seller who does not openly share his store or user ID with his reading audience on a blog, Facebook Group, or other venue. This seems to be a problem with people thinking they can sell information about eBay and not have the experience or knowledge required to create or disperse correct information.

Related articles:

Need Inventory to Sell on eBay? Ask Your Local Dry Cleaner

Brand to Sell on eBay - Façonnable Shirts

List of Thrift Store Items to Sell on eBay

Free eBay Coaching Consultation

When you want to lose weight or get in shape, you hire a personal trainer. When you want your child to excel in any activity (swimming, gymnastics, golf, acting, singing), you hire a coach to help them succeed. A coach is a person who instructs or trains others.

If your eBay business is not where you want it, maybe a coach can help you reach your goals. There are many benefits of having a personal business coach. A coach will eliminate trial and error and help you reach your goal faster without as many stumbling blocks. A proactive coach will help you take control of your eBay business, rather than it having control of you. When I say "pro-active," I mean controlling a situation by causing something to happen rather than waiting to respond to it after it happens.

My coaching is different than most eBay coaching out there. I am an active seller on eBay just like you so my methods are solid and proven and I use them every day. My goal with all of my clients is to find a business model that works with your personality, your lifestyle, your budget, and your skills. There are a million and one ways to make money with eBay and online and we will find some that work for you. The training moves at your pace with your goals as the core focus.

Coaching sessions take place online using GoTo Meeting screen sharing software. I can see your screen and guide you through lessons, and you can see my screen for demonstrations. All sessions will be customized to your level and the aspects of online selling that you wish to learn which may include:

Local product sourcing
Online product sourcing
Drop shipping
Setting up an eBay store
Selling information products (and writing your own)
Finding and selling vintage items
Selling beyond eBay – Amazon, Etsy, your own website
Selling on consignment (eBay Trading Assistant)
Using third party eBay tools
International shipping
Selling on international sites
Marketing
Traffic building
Creating multiple streams of income

My coaching comes with a guarantee. If you do the work, follow through and stay committed to your business we will keep working with you until you are successful.

Click here to sign up for a free coaching consultation and find out if I can help you reach your eBay goals.