If you sell on eBay you may have noticed that your sales are a bit s-l-o-w in the clothing area right now.   Totally normal for this time of year!  People tend to be in holiday mode, getting ready for Christmas, and taking trips to visit family.

So, what should you be doing??  Another great way to supplement your income during these times is to check out our Toy Auction Profits site.  Your inside guide to selling toys on eBay!  Our Toy alerts are part of the membership.  I send you email alerts to what is selling right now on eBay, directly to your inbox. You’d be surprised at the awesome hot toys to profit from this season! We send alerts all year for those of you that just can’t get enough of selling toys!

It’s really fun, and fast paced – so you don’t want to miss the next big toy that could bring you some extra cash for Christmas this year!

Hello!  Well, it’s November already and Thanksgiving is just around the corner.  You may be stuck on what to sell on eBay next!  Our month by month selling guide is a simple way to follow along and keep you on track!  We are always on the look out for specific mark downs this time of year as well.  It’s good to stock up for next season so you’re ahead of the crowd!  At Boutique Bargains, we basically let you know what you should be doing at each season, so selling isn’t such a headache.  We like to keep it fun! 

Oooh, and we just added another monthly audio resource to our members site.  It covers everything you need to know about your eBay ME Page.  Do you have one?  What should you include on your About ME Page?  It’s not complicated!  In fact, the audio & transcript have tons of ideas on how to make a little extra cash, to showing off your latest bargain.  It’s a very easy process, if you know what you’re doing.  Each month there is a new course released, but they are only available to our Exclusive Membership subscribers. Why don’t you stop by and check it out?

Enjoy your day!

If you are new to boutique clothing, you may not realize that there is a huge market out there for boutique shoes…  There certainly is! 

How do you know what to sell, what designers to look for, and where to even find boutique shoes for resale? 

The market is seasonal just like clothing, and the sales are fabulous, too.  We have tons of shoe sources listed in our Resource section of the Boutique Bargains Members Site, and we definitely include shoes in the email alerts that are sent out every business day.  We believe that selling shoes provides the perfect compliment to your listings.  Who can buy a beautiful new Baby Lulu Dress without those matching Espradrilles?? 

So you may now be wondering… “Can I buy boutique shoes wholesale?”  Easier said than done, I’m afraid…  Like many boutique manufacturers – eBay is often looked at as a way to devalue their product.  So, no it’s not very easy to purchase wholesale unless you can establish yourself as a reputable source in the industry.  Inside Boutique Bargains we guide you in the right direction to finding deals at or below wholesale cost, along with tips on selling your product on eBay and most importantly – where to find them.  So there ARE wholesale sources that will sell to eBay store owners - you just have to know where to look! .

Come join us while we get busy finding those great deals!

Happy Halloween!!!

Jenn, here!

I hope you are enjoying the day with your kids, getting dressed up and eating candy!  We have a fun post started on our forums sharing pictures of our little ones in their Halloween Costumes.  Everyone is so cute!

Well, the Halloween Selling season is over, and we need to get ready for the Thanksgiving and Christmas Selling season ASAP!  There are so many sales that will start soon, but first, I have to do the annual ‘Halloween Costume Recap’ for our Boutique Bargains Subscribers.  Research Alerts are sent out to recap what did well for resale both new and used, so when I send an alert out on Halloween costume markdowns - you’ll have a good idea of what to stock up on for resale next Halloween season.  We have fun with this every year, and it really helps us to prepare for next season with more confidence on what sells and what to look out for with Halloween markdowns while you’re out and about.  You’ll be amazed at what get’s marked down.  Especially in consignment shops!  Used costumes can go as high or higher than new ones sometimes!!

Last years recap was absolutely huge and it included a ton of brands from Tom Arma, Disney, Pottery Barn Kids, The Children’s Place and even adult costumes.  Now, this year I can’t wait to see how the Transformers did, as well as Spiderman.  I already sent out some hot alerts on Hannah Montana and Bratz costume markdowns that were doing fabulous for resale, so I hope some of you stocked up already for next year!  One tip I always share with our subscribers is to list everything to your store as soon as you get it – no matter what the season!  You can’t sell it if they don’t see it!!!!  Personally, I sell bathing suits in January…. so never wait to add inventory in your store!  Plus, it cuts back on the listing fee’s.

So what can we expect for the next couple of months??  Get the rest of your winter items out the door and any Holiday items.  Patent leather Mary Jane’s, Holiday Dresses, Boys Holiday Sweaters, and matching sibling outfits are all sought after for Holiday Portraits.  November is slow, but December will be slower for clothing sales on eBay because of the season.  Get your store stocked with Spring/Summer items.  If you absolutely must sell all year, you may want to consider selling toys!  Our other membership site, Toy Auction Profits, is an awesome source for inside tips on selling toys during the holiday season, and really helps supplement your slow months.

Have fun & keep warm!

Until next time….

I’m going to dig a little deeper into eBay listing basics today…

When putting together your listing it is important to avoid some costly mistakes. I don’t mean costly as far as financial investment but rather the cost of unknown bidders because your listing “made them go away”.

There is one simple rule: Take photos as if there were no accompanying text. Write the text as though there were no accompanying photos. In short, that means you must provide precise, clear, details.

Your Title line can make or break the sale. While millions of buyers pass through eBay every day, you need to get them to find your listing amongst the sea of others and then be interested enough to open it.

Make use of all the space provided in the title bar. Think of all the possible search words someone may use to find your item. Hint: they will not search on “cute” “wow” or “look” - those are nothing but wasted words.

Instead, think of all the relevant adjectives such as color, size, and brand and of course the noun – what it is. Some acronyms you can also use in the title – NIB, new in box; NIP, new in package; NWT, new with tags or NWOT, new without tags.

However do not try to mislead people. Don’t say it’s new if it is not. Don’t use keyword spamming, which means if you have an off brand doll but want to drive traffic to it by listing it “like American Girl” – anyone who searches on American Girl will stumble upon your auction. Tricks like that will tick the buyers off and more importantly will get your auction pulled, canceled, taken down, kaput!

When writing the description, be sure to include as much detail as possible - including payment, shipping and return information. Also, answer any questions before they are asked. If selling clothing, provide actual measurements, not merely Size Small.

A final word on photos – in the eBay world, a photo is truly worth a thousand words. If you don’t have a decent camera, get one. Blurry, dark photos will not help you at all. It will cause people to leave your auction without placing a bid.

Make sure you have proper lighting; crop out any noise in the background (such as feet or clutter on a table) and provide enough photos to allow the bidders to have a similar experience as though they were actually touching and feeling the object.

Remember you are essentially asking buyers to send you their hard earned money in exchange for an item they have not held or seen. It is your responsibility to provide as much information in the listing as possible.

 If you’d like more tips & advice on creating eBay listings to maximize your profits, we have more indepth articles & information on our Boutique Bargains members site. ;0)

Have fun & good luck! Until next time…

Hello! This week I’m back with more tips to help ensure you actually make a profit when selling on eBay.

Many people come to eBay to look for a bargain. If you are selling items from around the house, something is better than nothing, therefore profit margin isn’t as important. However if you are purchasing items with the specific intention to resell, your income expense ratio will be very important.

All sellers want to make money; or else they would offer the item to Freecycle or a thrift store. But the truth is not every item sells. Those who have no regard for cost of goods sold and don’t factor in fees and time, actually lose money by selling on eBay.

At the very minimum, you want to break even. Try to minimize those occurrences too, as it is a waste of your precious time. To ensure you do not go into the red, take the price you paid for an item and consider all other associated costs, i.e. listing fees, final value fees, and PayPal fees. To better illustrate, below is an actual example.

You purchase a pre-owned little girl’s dress and list it with an opening bid of $9.99. The item sells, but only with one bid of $.9.99.

-Cost of little girl’s dress from second hand store, including tax: $6.35

-Listing fees, including multiple photos, and the gallery option: $1.05

-Final value fee: $.52

-PayPal fee on your premier account to receive money: $.60

It cost you $8.52 and it sold for $9.99 which means you made $1.47 profit. But wait… what about the time and gas it took you to go to the thrift store? What about factoring in the cost of your internet service, ink and just simply for what your time is worth?

The above example is very real and happens every day. Some sellers think that because they make a purchase for about six bucks and sold it for ten, they made a profit. A good rule of thumb is: do not buy anything to resell unless you are reasonably confident you can make at least a $10 or more profit.

You can only know what will sell by doing your research ahead of time. One suggestion is to pick a category and know the top four brands that sell for big bucks. Then only purchase those select few. Or call a friend while you are at the store and have her look up the item on eBay to see selling prices.

If you’re interested in selling children’s boutique clothing, I recommend you join Boutique Bargains. That’s what we specialize in & we can help you get started by sharing our experiences, so you don’t have to make the same mistakes we did.  ;0)

Buying smart is the only way you will make a profit. It is that simple. We’ve all paid stupid tax when we first started. Don’t think it will make a profit; make sure you know it will.