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Patricia Belcher

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Best Practices

Great service, eBay Stores tools and a knack for sourcing all add up to a successful one-woman business

The fun and freedom of selling on eBay are quite a silver lining for Patricia Belcher. If her yard sale hadn't been rained out, she might never have started Trishie's Treasures (user ID: trishiestreasures0605), the successful business that she enjoys operating today.

Patricia Belcher worked at a wholesale club for 10 years, helping her husband support their household. She didn't realize it at the time, but the experience she gained in customer service, inventory management, promotional markdowns, and seasonal selling would come in very handy when she started selling seriously on eBay. In May of 2011 Patricia spent a month clearing out her family's Virginia home in preparation for a yard sale. When it rained cats and dogs on the weekend she planned to hold the sale, as well the following weekend, she turned to eBay. She'd already experimented with selling on eBay, and decided this was a great opportunity to take advantage of a 50 free listings promotion and sell some of the items she'd collected, like books, toys, and seasonal decorations, It was a very profitable decision—a pair of jeans she had planned to sell for $1 at the yard sale sold for over $60 on eBay. With that success, she was hooked.

From employee to entrepreneur

Four months later, Patricia had an eBay Stores subscription and was listing at least 200 items a month. "I had a lot of fun the day I opened my eBay store, I just couldn't wait to get things listed. Every month I kept adding more items." Then, in November, she took her eBay selling even further. With sales at roughly $4,000 a month, she told her husband that she was considering leaving her job and selling on eBay full time. Right before Christmas, Patricia took the leap. She filed the paperwork in January to get sole proprietorship and become a true small business. "It was an easy process—you can do it yourself without a lawyer, and it took probably half of a day, tops. It was the best decision I've ever made. I have so much more time to spend with my family, which I am very appreciative of. I love doing what I do on eBay and I love the freedom it gives me."

The Clothing, Shoes & Accessories category is her specialty and she's enjoyed great success with it. "I'm comfortable selling what I know, and I really enjoy shopping for clothes." Patricia goes on sourcing trips about three times a week, scouring thrift stores, Saturday-morning yard sales, and local shops that are offering deep mark-downs or holding going-out-of-business sales. "I learned to always look over my items really thoroughly when I'm sourcing so I don't get home and find a flaw that I didn't see in the store."

Expert advice leads to extraordinary sales

The free, in-depth business consultation calls provided through the eBay Seller Outreach Program proved to be a great resource for Patricia as she grew her business. Over the course of three calls, she learned how to maximize her eBay Stores subscription. By showing her how to personalize her store, create custom pages and add promotional boxes, Patricia says "the eBay Seller Outreach Program really helped me gain more sales and a better reputation."

eBay Seller Outreach experts spent a lot of time with her, helping her set up a scrolling gallery and providing invaluable advice on how to maximize her ranking in Best Match by using relevant keywords—words that buyers use when searching for items—more effectively in her listings. "At the time I really wasn't highlighting brand names at all. I thought that you just typed in "blue long-sleeve sweater, pre-owned." One of the experts Patricia spoke with recommended including brand names and item-specific attributes like gender and size type, and materials such as wool or cashmere, in addition to color and condition. "I have noticed a big increase in my sales since I started using better keywords.

Patricia also takes advantage of promotional tools, like Markdown Manager, that come FREE with her eBay Stores subscription. "In my experience, Markdown Manager really drives traffic. I always take advantage of it and try to have some kind of sale going on. In the beginning I'd put a certain section at a percentage off, but I've been tinkering around recently and using it for the entire store to see how that works." Patricia also uses Markdown Manager strategically to clear out older inventory, marking down any clothing that she's had for 90 days or more.

Great service from start to finish

Patricia attributes her eBay Top-rated seller status to good customer service, standing by her belief that "if you treat your customers well, they'll end up treating you well." For her, great service includes clear photos and listing descriptions, fast shipping and a great returns policy.

"I'm always honest in my listings—that's key. If there's a flaw, I always note the flaw in the listing and take a picture of it. A picture is worth a thousand words. And you have to have good pictures—that's what's going to sell your clothing. I zoom in on details, shoot from different angles, and shoot when and where the lighting is good." Patricia also received a pair of mannequins as a Christmas gift from her family. She says they help show off her items better than photos of clothing laying flat. "A mannequin can show how well an item hangs on a person—it gives the picture more life."

Note: for tools and tips on how to create great listings in Clothing, Shoes & Accessories categories, check out our FREE Fashion Selling Guide.

Patricia always ships within 24 hours from the time a buyer pays. "Fast shipping definitely helps you get good feedback." And since she uses eBay Labels, tracking information is uploaded automatically. When it comes to returns, Patricia gives her buyers 14 days—now a key component to receiving her eBay Top-rated Seller discount. She started out with a 7-day policy and decided on her own to bump it up. She's now considering changing it to 30 days. "I believe that if you have a good return policy, it will give customers more faith to buy from you—especially with clothing. If something doesn't fit, I don't want a buyer to waste their money. I tell them 'return it to me and I'll gladly refund you.' That person could be a repeat customer in the future."

What treasures the future holds

Patricia looks forward to developing a social media angle for her business. A month ago she started a Facebook page for Trishie's Treasures and she's in the process of researching how best to leverage it. "I noticed that you can correlate Facebook with your eBay Store and that would be a great way to promote my store. I learned that I should hold contests, have conversations, and use pictures. The first picture I shared is of my eBay room at home. I want people to feel comfortable that the items they buy from me are stored properly and neatly."

Going forward, Patricia plans to stick with Clothing, Shoes & Accessories, which has been working so well for her, and she is focused on finding ways to grow her business within that category. "I like selling clothes and I'm going to keep doing that, but I want to build onto it with more jewelry and accessories. I am trying to increase the inventory in my store to 1,000 items at least."