A form letter for my selling friends- (You're welcome)
Dear _______________ (insert word of your choice) neighbor, friend, church member, family member:
Yes, I sell on Ebay.
No, I don't want to sell your stuff for you, I have my own stuff, and lots of it, thank you.(and it will actually sell for some money)
Oh, you have bunches of very collectible ____________? (beanie babies, dolls, plates, As seen on TV items)
Ummm, again, thanks, but no thanks.
Oh, you want me to teach you how to sell on ebay? (ie: list stuff for you for free and then give you all of the money)
I think they have lots of books at the library about that, or maybe you could look on youtube. There might be something there.
Good luck with that.
Sincerely,
Your local ebay seller, who wishes just to be left alone to sell his/her own stuff.
I get it! I had a sweet acquaintance ask me to sell some clothing items for her. However, when I heard the brand names, I wasn't that enthusiastic because I knew they just wouldn't sell quickly, or sell for much. It's too much work to not make a healthy profit. I'll stick with my finds instead. :)
ReplyDeleteYes, the stuff my mom gives me is usually Walmart or old lady brands and even the polyester! pants she still wears. I love my mom and she's been great at being so supportive of me all of my life. So, I take her stuff, sell what I can and donate/trash the rest. What she gives me she doesn't want the money from, so it's easier to do that.
DeleteYES! I get people all of the time asking me to sell their stuff or teach them how to do eBay. LOL Really? For free? I taught myself how to do everything. Like you said, there are books that teach you if you don't want to go the DIY route. :) Thanks for this post, it made my day.
ReplyDeleteWe recently were the family of the week in our church, which involves a write up about us and then we stand so people can see us. My hubby was all excited for possible business for him, but was confused about why I didn't want people to know what I did. I can just see all the little old ladies wanting me to sell their stuff or teach them how. So, I just went with "online seller and stay at home mom.)
DeleteNot too many people I know actually know what I do, but I was thinking that if this ever came up, I would say that I do offer coaching for $50/hour. :D
ReplyDeleteI've done that too, and I actually had someone take me up on it. I spent 8 hours teaching her, she got 10 items listed, sold them and decided she hated it- too much work!
Deleterofl! thanks for the laugh! in all seriousness...seriously! ppl from hubbys job used to ask me and i didnt even know them. i sell for my closest friend occassionally but she babysits for free though lol!
ReplyDeleteYes, I agree, if you can list for them as a barter, that's a great deal!
DeleteMy thoughts exactly! Love my family and friends to death, but I cringe whenever someone hints or asks me to sell items for them. It's tough enough turning a profit on my own finds after subtracting all the expenses, nonetheless on someone else's trash. Plus people don't like when you tell them or even believe you when you tell them that their family treasures are worth only a fraction of what they think they're worth.
ReplyDeleteGrace recently posted over at Picked by Grace
Yes! They always think what they have is worth a bunch, or what they paid for it. And usually it's not! I appreciate they want to help me, but I only take free items and list what I can, no selling for other people. Even when I tried to sell some stuff for my hubby, he was mad b/c he thought I should have gotten more for it, and that I kept 10% to cover the supplies, shipping, time, fees (which ended up being like $2. So, from now on I only sell my own stuff!
DeleteI can barely get my own stuff listed! I have piles of stuff everywhere. This is the first year I am actually frightened that it's garage sale season already...even worse, back to back church rummage sales. I am dangerous at a church sale! I need a plan or a warehouse ;)
ReplyDeleteThis is perfect. Straight and to the point. Love it!!
ReplyDeleteNicely said! I actually HATE telling people what I do. (And I only do it as a hobby making about $500 profit a month. I work p/t as an RN)I'm gone for 14 hours two days a week at work and on my five days off I am busy running a household, shuffling kids to and from school, grocery shopping, cleaning, laundry and hopefully doing a little sourcing, listing and selling. I do NOT have time to list for other people. I don't even have time to list for myself! I have recently sold about $100 in clothes for my sister and gave her all the profit but she did at least help me take the pics. I don't mind doing something like that once a year or so. And my mother in law has given me some dresses to sell but honestly I don't think they will do well at all. But I can't say no because she helps us out a ton babysitting our kids. But some coworkers recently asked me to sell some stuff for them and I said no and claimed it was to difficult to separate my profits from other peoples on taxes. I suggested they take their stuff to a consignment shop. I think people just don't realize the amount of work that goes into online selling.
ReplyDelete