What to Sell on eBay – Burt’s Bees Brand

Burt’s Bees started back in 1984 as a candle company operating out of Maine. Candles were made from beeswax as a spin-off of Burt’s honey business. The founders, Roxanne and Burt, attended local craft fairs to sell their products. Sales reached $20,000 at the end of their first year. The company continued to grow over the years, incorporated in 1991, moved its headquarters to North Carolina, and began focusing on natural personal care products more so than candles. Burt’s Bees products are known today as one of the most trusted companies offering natural personal care products and consumers can find Burt’s Bees products in a variety of retail stores including grocery stores, Wal-Mart, Target, Walgreens, Whole Foods, and Cracker Barrel restaurants.

If you keep your eyes open and your radar on, you can find Burt’s Bees items on clearance sometimes at any of the above locations. I often see them in Walgreens marked down to 75% off the regular retail price. For the highest profit when reselling, you will want to look for the more expensive items with the biggest discounts. (Make your money when you buy, not when you sell!) Here are a few examples of products to look for:

Burt's bees radiance eye crème. I found this at Walgreens on sale for $5.99 a jar. I sold both jars on Amazon (through FBA) within 3 weeks for $22.92 each, for a profit of $11 each. I found 2 jars of it at one store. Not a bad flip! Here is the current info on Amazon for this product:



Burt’s Bees Baby Bee products. When I was selling heavily on eBay UK, I sold quite a bit of the baby products including diaper rash ointment, bubble bath, shampoo, and dusting powder. Here is a listing on eBay for a lot of 12 buttermilk lotions with a free gift:




Burt’s Bees Sunscreen. I’ve been seeing this on clearance quite a bit lately since we are at the end of summer. Look for this in the grocery store, health and beauty aisle. There is usually a special section just for the Burt’s Bees products. You may be able to double your investment by selling on eBay, but you will definitely make more selling this product on Amazon. Be sure to check the expiration dates before purchasing!

For more ideas on what sells well on both eBay and Amazon, join my Facebook Group with over 2,500 online sellers networking and sharing ideas.

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Don’t Panic! It is Just the July Slump!

Have your sales been slow this month? Excruciatingly slow? If the answer is yes, you are not alone. July is notoriously the slowest month for online sales. It is important to understand that sales occur in cycles. Right now we are in a valley. Everything comes to a screeching halt in July – home sales, car sale, and retail sales. It is the nature of the beast. Understand that this too shall pass and avoid going into panic mode.

I see many sellers panicking right now. They are drastically marking down their inventory as if buyers will never come back. They have stopped shopping for inventory. Some have even contemplated quitting their online business altogether. This is not necessary! Take a deep breath and repeat, “This too shall pass.”

Your panic is understandable if you rely on eBay and Amazon to earn your living. The best course of action right now is to regroup and get ready for fall and holiday sales. Also, remember this time so that next July you will be prepared and know that the slowdown in sales is only temporary. There is really nothing we can do to make buyers purchase our items. But, we can use this time wisely to grow our businesses and prepare for the busy fall season. Here are some suggestions on how to pass the time while you are waiting for those “Your item has sold!” emails:

1. Organize your inventory. Are your shelves and bins a mess? Use this time to get organized so that when you start shipping 10-20 packages a day, everything will be in order.

2. Stock up on supplies. Go to USPS.com and order free Priority supplies, look on Craigslist for ads for free bubble wrap and boxes, make sure you have plenty of shipping labels and printer ink. Take an inventory of your supplies and restock for the busy months ahead.

3. Investigate or read about something new you have wanted to try. Maybe you have been thinking about selling on Amazon but don’t know where to start. (Now is a great time to learn about selling on Amazon – come join my Facebook group and chat with us!) Maybe you have wanted to try international shipping but need to learn how it works. Expand your horizons. Take this slow time to learn and grow, rather than waste energy worrying and fretting about not getting sales.

4. Explore consignment arrangements. There are many benefits to selling on consignment. The most appealing (to me) is the fact that you don’t have to buy inventory. You sell things for other people for a commission. You put in the time and work, but it doesn’t cost money out of your pocket. Click here for a complete course on how to expand your online business to include consignment clients.

5. Shop for inventory. Stock up on items to sell whether you are selling on eBay or Amazon. Regardless of if people are buying now, you are going to need inventory to sell in the coming months.

6. Read books that will improve your business skills. I recommend:

1. How to Sell at Margins Higher than Your Competitors
   
2. Why we Buy
   
3. Barcode Booty
   

Keep yourself busy doing productive tasks over the next 2-3 weeks and don’t worry! Back to school and holiday shopping time is just around the corner.

It Takes Money to Make Money

In order to succeed in online sales you have to spend money. While you can try to find free items to resell on sites such as Freecycle and Craigslist, it’s difficult and very time consuming. Unfortunately, there is no way to get around the need to purchase inventory in order to sell online. But, there are some guidelines that you can follow to save yourself money and still build a successful business.

Start by selling items that you have in your possession already. This lets you build up some cash to buy more inventory without creating debt. It can also motivate you because you won’t be able to keep any of your profits until your business grows. You’ll have a great reason to keep expenses low and stay focused.

Don’t quit your day job. By working during the day, you can pay your living expenses while building a replacement income on the side. This allows you to put all your initial profits back into your business. Be fair to your current employer though - don’t situate yourself as their competition and always make sure that your job performance isn’t affected.

While you may need cash to put into building your business, it’s always a good idea not to borrow from your friends and family. They may be happy to help, but getting money involved in your relationship can cause problems quickly.

If you are interested in a loan, the SBA’s Microloan Program can be a great option. The loan is administered through lenders in your local area. You will likely be required to put up collateral, and you will also need to make a personal guarantee. Most loans are for around $10,500; however, there are loans available for up to $35,000. If you are interested in finding a participating organization in your area, check out the Small Business Association’s website.


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Photo Placement is Important on eBay

If you are using a third party service to host your eBay photos, you may want to reconsider having eBay host your photos as well. When you upload your photos directly to eBay, they appear in the top left corner as one large photo and several small thumbnail photos underneath. What you may not realize is that if your photos are hosted on another site, they will not appear until lower in the page in the description area. Buyers may not scroll down to see photos, or even realize additional photos are present in the listing if they don’t see the thumbnails at the top. This is called placing your photos above the fold.

The term “above the fold” originated in the newspaper business. It was used to describe the section of the paper that everyone saw when it was on display. Newspapers designed their papers so that the most eye catching and important headlines were easily visible.

If you pay attention to the websites of big online stores, you’ll notice that the majority of them follow this principle. They place information about specials, marketing information, and any promotions currently available at the top of their webpage – above the fold. People have learned to look in this area for important information, and their reaction is no different when they’re shopping on eBay. If photos and other information aren’t immediately visible above the fold, many potential buyers may leave your listing and not bother to look any further. Making sure your listing has a good “headline” can entice potential customers to look further at your listing and ultimately make a purchase.


More eBay Optimization Tips:

Optimize Titles with Keywords

Naming Images

Using 30 Day and GTC Listings to Appear in Google Searches

If you are not already a member of Online Selling Coach, now is the time to join! We will offer webinars on these types of topics to help you succeed on eBay and have the competitive edge.

Niche Product – Personal Care Wipes

One of the best ways to build an eBay business is to sell a consumable product. This helps keep your business consistent because the buyers will need to make regular purchases as their item runs out. There are many types of consumable products you can sell, but one slightly unusual one you should consider is personal care wipes.

There is a wide variety of personal care wipes available – baby wipes, of course, but there are also wipes designed to remove make up, wipes for bathing, sunscreen wipes, feminine wipes, and adult wipes. The market has expanded in an effort to make things easier for consumers – and it seems to have succeeded.

The success of personal care wipes has even led to new products. Manufacturers introduced children’s flushable wipes, which led to toiletries intended specifically for children. Existing products have also found new uses. Large pads that were designed to be used by medical professionals visiting patients at home are now being used by soldiers overseas who don’t have access to showers.

Personal care wipes are a growing field. Sales have grown around 6-7% in the US alone. Plus, personal care wipes have higher profit margins than many other products, including baby wipes. This makes them a great choice to sell online.

While selling personal care wipes may seem unusual, it is a field with healthy growth and frequent new additions. Because people are always looking for better ways to do things and ways to make their lives easier, the personal care wipes market is unlikely to go away.

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3 Ways to Keep Inventory Moving During Slow Summer Months

Summer can be slow for online (or offline) sales as consumers take a break from their normal routines or spend their disposable income on vacations and other seasonal items. You can lead a horse to water, but you can’t make him drink – meaning you can’t make buyers do anything!. Here are a few ways to keep your inventory appealing to buyers during the notoriously slow summer months.

Consider adding Best Offer to your older listings (over 90 days old). This is especially effective for buyers who want to use combined shipping or who have just bought a different product from you. Even if you choose not to accept many of the offers, adding Best Offer can make a positive impact on potential buyers.

Markdown Manager can also be useful. It allows you to discount items by a percentage (10%, for example) or an amount (like $2). While the discounted price will appear as the normal Buy it Now price in the majority of eBay locations, it will show as a sale price in store search results, marketing emails that you send, your listing, other listings (where it is cross promoted), Watched Items, and in emails that buyers receive about their Watched Items. It will also be shown as a sale price in any promotional boxes in your store.

Markdown Manager can’t be used on auctions. However, any listing is eligible for a free shipping discount. The discount only applies to the shipping option that you added to your listing first. It doesn’t apply to any additional shipping options.

Reduce the fees you’ll be charged by taking advantage of Good Till Cancelled (GTC) listings. By using a longer listing, your items have the time they need to be indexed by search engines. 7 days isn’t long enough for this. Plus, your fees will add up quickly if you restart your unsold auctions every week.

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Start a Business Journal

Keeping a business journal can play a big role in building a successful business. It helps you track your progress as well as plan your next steps. It’s also a good way to track what techniques have been successful.

Journaling can also help you focus as a business owner. It is a great way to keep track of everything on your mind - problems, inspiration, and new ideas. Writing down these thoughts can help you process them. Plus, it provides a place to keep all your thoughts together so you don’t have to worry about forgetting something important.

Starting a business journal is simple. Just choose somewhere to write daily, whether it’s on your computer or in a bound journal. Choose whatever works for you and makes you the most comfortable. If you don’t like using a computer, you’re not as likely to journal daily if you choose it as your method.

It’s important to make daily writing a habit. Set aside time at the end of your day to write down what you’ve been thinking about all day, as well as how you feel about your business goals. Did you have a productive day? Are you frustrated about something? Did you learn something new and inspirational? Think about what you want to do in the future and how you will get to that point.

Also include a list of all you’ve accomplished that day in your journal. Even if it doesn’t seem important, it will give you a way to look back and see how you have spent your time. Include things like shipping packages, answering emails, listing items, researching products, etc. Be specific and include how many emails you answered and how many packages you shipped.

It’s a good idea to look back through your business journal periodically. This will help you get an idea of patterns in your work and even find ways to streamline your days and make things more efficient and productive.

While keeping a business journal can seem like too much work or a waste of time, it can actually end up saving you money and time. By tracking your work and thoughts about your work, you can stay focused and motivated, which will lead to increased productivity.

What Opportunities are Available to You?

As part of my coaching program, I ask my clients to return a client prep form the day before each coaching session. Here is what the form looks like:

1. What I have accomplished since our last call:

2. What I did not get done but intended to:

3. The challenges and problems I am facing now:

4. The opportunities which are available to me right now:

5. I want to use the coach during the call to:

6. What I promise to get done for the next call:


The clients are to fill out the information so that I can help them in areas where they need it and help them achieve their initial goals of the training program. The #4 question provides valuable insight into the client’s mindset and attitude. When I receive an answer like “nothing” or “none,” I become very concerned. I can’t get my mind around the idea that someone does not have opportunities. I usually become concerned that this client won’t make it in the eBay or online selling business. Opportunities are everywhere and you must be proactive and seize them.

The definition of the word “opportunity” is: A favorable or advantageous circumstance or combination of circumstances that makes it possible to do something.

For my clients living in the USA, we live in the most prosperous country in the world. People risk their lives to come live here because of the opportunities and freedoms our country offers. You can say pretty much anything you want (freedom of speech), worship any way you want (freedom of religion), you have the right to a fair trial if you are accused of a crime (try that in some other countries), you can live where you want, choose your profession, and have as many children as you want to. These things, among others, are what make America so great.

If you are willing to work, you can be successful and build a thriving business. I know lots of people doing it. (Check my Facebook group where we talk every day!) Free enterprise allows every American the opportunity to succeed. Everyone has the same opportunities available to them. If you have time, an internet connection, and the desire to succeed at this business, you can.

We still have a workable economy. Sure, there are lots of people unemployed, gas is expensive, and the housing market has its problems. What better time to take responsibility for yourself and your future? Start your own business and rely on yourself rather than someone else for your prosperity. Don’t have the money to do it? Check into small business loans, government grants, and other free small business startup money. It is out there. Make Google your new best friend and find it.

Can’t find anything to sell? Look harder. Or don’t look quite so hard. There is more at your fingertips than you realize. I was chatting with a fellow seller last week about other sellers lamenting over not finding inventory to sell. She said, “What CAN’T you sell? The only limitation is your time.” Click here for a huge list of things to sell and where to find them.

Bottom line, if you aren’t finding something to sell:

YOU ARE NOT LOOKING!


Granted, not all of the methods listed above are going to appeal to every person. And nobody said this was going to be easy. Nothing worth doing is easy. So, if you are not finding anything to sell, here are a few strategies:

Get out of your comfort zone. The saying goes, “If you always do what you have always done, you will always get what you’ve always got.” Shake it up. Do something different. Try a new business model, product, or site. Being uncomfortable leads to growth and progress.

Work at it – hard! If you want to sell items from Sam’s or Costco, go to the store with a notepad and write down 100 products and go home and research them. Looking at 10 things isn’t going to cut it. You have to dig deep. If you want to find wholesale products to sell, get this list and start looking through all of the providers. Seek and ye shall find. Other sellers are doing it, you can too.

Educate yourself. If you want to get better and finding items at estate or garage sales, study the subject. Pretend you are getting your masters in online selling. Spend an hour a day looking at completed listings on eBay – search for the keywords vintage or collectible and look at the listings. Get a Kovel’s guide and start reading it a little every day. Join groups and forums and read what people are talking about. Put in the time. This is like learning a foreign language – you have to immerse yourself in it every day for a long time, and you still will never know it all. It takes time to get comfortable and think in the new language.

Be persistent. Keep working at it. Successful people are the ones who don’t give up. 75% of what I tried when I started this business did not work. The other 25% is what got me where I am today.

So, what opportunities are available to you right now? Do you have a working internet connection and a few hours a week? Do you know of a discount store near you that you haven’t tried sourcing inventory from? Is there a small thrift store or consignment store you can partner with and sell their items on commission? Do you have a Sam’s or Costco membership? Do you have a virtual service you can sell?

Grab the bull by the horns and get busy.

eBay Success Tip - Become a Self-Builder

A common question I receive from clients, readers, and people who know of my success building a home eBay business is, "How can I be successful with an eBay business? What should I do differently than others who fail?"

First, let me give you my disclaimer that I absolutely do not know everything about eBay and cannot definitively answer this question for every person. But, after coaching hundreds of clients around the globe for the last few years, I have seen a pattern. It is summed up quite well in the business classic, "The Success System that Never Fails," by William Clement Stone.

Mr. Stone, also known as Mr. Positive Attitude, was an insurance magnate, philanthropist, author, publisher, and motivational role model. His philosophy was that you must become a "self-builder" to succeed in anything in life. Whether your goal is to become an accomplished athlete, be a movie star, play a musical instrument, find personal happiness, or become wealthy. The path to any goal in life begins with becoming a self-builder. So, what does this mean?

A self-builder is a person who constantly tries to improve himself, is a lifelong learner, associates with people more successful than himself, and chooses an environment conducive to accomplishing his goals and dreams. Sounds great, right? How is this possible with so many negative influences in our world? You have to make it deliberate and change your self-talk and self-think.

When I started selling on eBay in 2003, it was out of sheer desperation. I had lost my job at a marketing company and gone thru a divorce at the same time - with 2 small children at home to care for. My entire life changed in a matter of weeks. It was time to punt, time for plan B.

I started selling on eBay as a way to pay the bills while I figured out what to do. I was determined not to lose my home and not to rely on anyone else to help me. This was back before eBay was cool. There weren't many books on the subject, and hardly any information online to help the new eBay entrepreneur. I was laughed at, mocked, and talked about behind my back by my family and people in my community - "She has a college degree - she graduated Summa Cum Laude. Why is she selling clothes from Goodwill online? Has she lost her mind? Why doesn't she just get a normal job?"

And that is where becoming a self-builder started. I read everything about eBay and online selling that I could get my hands on. I talked to other people who were making it work - if they could do it, so could I. There were a lot of bumps in the road - products that didn't sell well, eBay's ever-changing rules, lack of money to invest in inventory, long 12 -15 hour days. But finally, it all started coming together because I had already decided failure was not an option. I was going to do this and it was going to work. Period.

So, back to becoming a self-builder. Here are some things you can do to build yourself - become who and what you want to be.

1. Read something related to accomplishing your goal every single day. Even 15 minutes a day - because 15 minutes a day equates to 91 hours a year of learning. Books, magazines, blogs, trade publications, and online articles. Much of this won't cost you anything. I used to go the library and check out back issues of Entrepreneur, Money, Business Week, Newsweek, and other business magazines. So what if they were a few months old, I was still learning. It was new to me. You're not going to agree with everything you read, but exposing yourself to new ideas is the only way to grow and learn. Business books I recommend:

The Success System that Never Fails (William Clement Stone)

Think and Grow Rich (Napoleon Hill)

Made in America (Sam Walton)

The Tipping Point (Malcolm Gladwell)

What the CEO Wants You to Know (Ram Charam)

(Get these cheap on Amazon in used condition, or free at your local library. Also check Project Gutenberg and the Library of Congress for free downloads.)

2. Control your environment before it controls you. Do not expose yourself to negative people or put yourself in situations that do not help you reach your goals. This is one reason I started my own Facebook group for eBay networking - the eBay community groups were dominated by a terribly negative group of people who love to play the victim, whine, complain, and create drama where there is none. These types of groups are toxic so choose your associations wisely. You are only as good as the people you associate with. Think of an athlete here. If a golfer wants to improve his game, he hangs around with golfers who are more talented, have had more training, are more successful, and are more accomplished than he is. You must do the same thing in life. Get away from the time and energy vampires. They will suck the life out of you as long as YOU let them. You've got work to do, negative people will only slow you down and keep you from your goals.

3. Understand what it takes to reach success. Study successful people, who they are, what they experienced before they were successful. You can read biographies, or watch the Biography Channel, focusing on entrepreneurs. (I record these to watch on my downtime.) Some of my favorites are Donald Trump, Ray Kroc, Thomas Edison, Bill Gates, Michael Jordan, Henry Ford, Walt Disney, Steven Spielberg, and Michael J Fox. All were told they wouldn't succeed. None believed it. All failed many, many times before reaching success. (Click here to read more about famous entrepreneurs who failed.) We all have one thing in common - opportunity. Either you take it or you don't.

4. Don't stop trying - continue until you succeed. The difference between successful people and unsuccessful people is that the successful ones keep going. Do not let yourself be defeated by setbacks, problems, or disappointments. Get up and keep going. Persevere. Retain your focus. Be determined. Don't make excuses. People who make excuses do not achieve their goals. Take action - deciding to do something is not the same as doing it - it is the execution where people fall short. Consider failure or disappointment as a learning experience, you are now wiser for it. Refer to #3.

So, there you have it. The recipe for success. Now, what are you going to do with it?