Learn from a Real Pro!
As an online seller for over 25 years, I am asked practically every single day….
Here are some of my favorite places to sell online:
I will be reviewing each of these sites and give my insights on them, along with their strengths, and weaknesses from my personal use and experience.
Please add your comments and opinions to help others in their search for the best sites to sell stuff!
“A new, fast way to buy and sell with others. Bid on or list items on 5miles today” is the tag line from their app.
They wanted to create a better local experience for the buyer and seller. Their goal was to make it easy to navigate, in a safe environment with no fees.
5miles has been around since 2014. I have sold about a dozen or more items since I joined in 2017. It has a limited audience in my view, but is growing. They have added incentives for logging-in every day by offer users “coins” which can be redeemed for Amazon gift cards.
The principle of 5miles is to buy and sell using your mobile device. Snap a pic, write a quick description, fill in a price and bingo, your item is listed. The app is very easy to use. Once you fill out your profile, all users have an app wide ID with name and photo. It’s possible to list services, housing and jobs!
It’s easy to browse listed items in the search bar. Your searches can be fine tuned using “filter” and “categories”. Once you see something you want, click and either meet locally with seller or place an order. There is a 5miles Wallet which is how one pays for shipped items. There are protections on the site if you need to “return” or need a “refund” from a purchase.
Snap some pics of your item, add a quick description, enter price and choose payment method and delivery method, then click “publish” and it’s listed. By choosing 5miles Wallet as payment and allowing shipping as a delivery method it will increase your chances for selling quicker.
There is a “chat” feature to communicate directly with the seller, which confirms delivery method with shipping or if you want to meet locally. I have added the exact location for meet up, which for me is the local Safeway grocery store parking lot a block or two down the road.
The order is “complete” once the buyer receives the item, and you will receive payment at that time.
I have only used the local meet up option up til now, but would like to ship some of my smaller listed items to increase my buyer pool. I will report back once I have a couple of experiences.
There is a built in community with members who enjoy buying and selling with 5miles. You can earn coins (reward points) for each friend you refer and for each friend your friend refers. Your friend will get coins too! Every user gets an “invite” code that can be filled in at registration, in order to receive the coin rewards. You can also earn coins by doing “tasks” like inviting more friends and being a top user. My favorite way to earn coins is the “daily check-in”. I’ve also tried some of the “daily tasks” to earn more. Today I downloaded an app called “Flipp” which saves you money when shopping. In fact I’ve just passed 3000 coins! Once I reach 4,999 I can turn that into a Amazon gift card, among other credits for 5miles Dash (auction opportunities on 5miles).
While my 5miles selling experiencs have been agreeable and profitable, it has not created a ton of sales for me. I do enjoy earning “coins” by clicking the app link on my phone everyday. I will eventually earn enough for Amazon cards. I have not investigated or tried the 5miles Dash part of the app yet. I also have not been a buyer, but some items have caught my eye, like sporting goods equipment and a few nice guitars for sale by others.
On my scale of the “Z” Rating with 5 being the highest and 1 the lowest, I give 5miles a solid 3 ZZZ’s with room to improve. What is missing for me is the amount of active users. I encourage more of my “friends” and “readers” to join me on 5miles and get some coin!
Let me know how you like the app and marketplace. Have you purchased or sold items? Share your experiences below.
When I mention to people that I sell on eBay, one of the first questions I get asked it what do I sell?
I answer: “Anything I can put into a box and ship”.
Next they ask me if I would be interested in selling things for them.
I answer: “Sure, what do you have?”
The problem with that question, is that I’ve gotten myself into many pickles because I sometimes get too many consignment clients at one time and it becomes overwhelming.
I am a one person show right, and I have to keep track of all the sales I make for my consignment clients. Luckily one of my biggest helpers is the software called “Cross Post-It”. It is a web based software for people like me that sell on eBay and other online platforms. It helps me to list, ship, track packages and handle bookkeeping for my clients from my computer as long as I have internet service.
I can set the commission I make from each sale from each of my clients. (I usually take a 50% cut from my sales.) It gets real time feeds directly from eBay, so that when a sale happens, it records it by item number, client name or any number of sorting techniques. Every product I enter has its own unique ITEM # and so it’s fool proof as far as what is what.
And if I have trouble locating where I’ve put that item as I wait for it to sell, it has a blank line where I can fill in exactly where it’s located in my eBay office. That feature has been a life-saver to me many, many times.
There are so many reasons why I love Cross Post-it. The best feature has to be the ease it provides when paying my clients. It allows me to use PayPal or print a check with my printer. It will add up all the sales, less commission or any other fees and print a line item inventory sales record for my client and copy for myself too. It keeps track on check numbers and make reconciliation super easy, especially for people like me without a bookkeeping background. All the info I need is one spot online.
I have reached almost 6000 items entered into my data base for my over 120 clients. I can keep notes about each client, like who referred them to me, contact info and miscellaneous info like pick-up and meeting times with my clients and new items they want me to sell for them. Cross Post-it has helped my consignment business immensely.
One day last fall, I received a call from their marketing staff and was asked to share some thoughts about Cross Post-it. I am honored to share it below. If you have an interest in selling on consignment and you want a robust software to help you navigate keeping track of your sales and payments, then Cross Post-it is definitely for you. I am so glad not to have a hassle with spreadsheets and files that are misplaced and hard to keep track of. Please let me know if you are interested and I can introduce you to the product.
On my scale of the “Z” Rating with 5 being the highest and 1 the lowest, I give Cross Post-It a solid 5 ZZZZZ’s for all that it offers consignment sellers/businesses.
Share your experiences below! I’d love to hear your comments and questions!
Many years ago, Anne Z entered a contest run by the Queen of Auctions, Lynn Dralle. And guess what? Anne won! Unfortunately it was not for an all expense paid vacation to Hawaii, but rather Anne earned a chance to have a twenty minute phone call with Lynn with recommendations about Anne’s eBay business.. It was so fun getting to compare notes with Lynn because she is one successful eBay seller.
Lynn is a third-generation antiques dealer with over 40 years experience in the antiques business (She started helping her grandmother in the antiques store and at shows when she was just 5). She is also an eBay consultant, author of the series “The Best Things I’ve Sold on eBay”, and teacher. Here is a link to her eBay store.
Here is the winning entry produced by Anne. The task was: make a short movie based on a tip from The Queen of Auctions and her advice. My theme was “Buy Low, Sell High”. See if you recognize the background music Anne added!
Anne Z is a certified USPTA tennis professional (retired) who takes her many years of experience in teaching tennis to the online arena. Anne breaks down the tasks of online selling into simple language, especially for those who don’t have much computer, internet or photography background.
She is encouraging and has a positive attitude which translates into success, even for the newbie online seller. Anne was an Education Specialist trained by eBay for many years. Beside teaching eBay in a classroom setting, she has tutored many students privately as well.
Anne has been selling and buying on eBay since July 1998 and on Amazon for almost as long. She is a Top Rated seller and Silver Level Power Seller on eBay. Her eBay store is known as A to Z Pirate Booty. She has sold over $350,000 in her eBay Biz!
Not sure how and where to start? Sign up for The ABC’s of Selling Online Using eBay today! Click here to find out more!
10/10/19
So honored to once again be included in this awesome eBay seller panel (Becoming eBay event at eBay Headquarters in San Jose, CA) sharing our unique seller experiences with the new quarterly hires for eBay! What a smart bunch of people eBay has working for them: enthusiastic and friendly and willing to learn what will make eBay strong and competitive!
Some of the other panelist/sellers sell things like: tickets to concerts and shows, old motorcycle parts, skateboards, ephemera (paper collectibles), designer shoes and clothing. The list goes on and on! One member of our panel received the eBay Shine Award a couple years back, which was a huge honor for how quickly she grew her eBay business. She sells electronics and has a warehouse and many employees now!
As we get the call to enter the room of new hires, we are thrilled to be part of their celebration and the end of their three day retreat and training on all the parts of eBay. They jump to their feet and give us all a standing ovation and lots of clapping! It’s so exciting and I for one always feel a sense of pride for all that I have accomplished in my over twenty years of selling on eBay!
We take our seats in tall director chairs on stage. The microphone is passed down the line for each of us to give a short introduction of our selves. Then the audience lines up to ask questions of our group. The audience is grouped by different eBay divisions: Trust and Safety, Managed Payments, Customer Service and others sitting at large round tables.
After about an hour of questions and answers the panel again receives another ovation and we are dismissed to one panelist per table for dinner. The food is catered and has something for everyone. We line up and serve ourselves: pasta, chicken, meat and lots of assorted salads. I love getting to know the people at my table. They are a very diverse group and always interested learning all they can about their new company.
One of my top pieces of advice to all the new hires is for them to experience eBay as a buyer and as a seller. Once they do that, they can see what it’s really all about. They can better understand the frustrations that many of us go through when selling online in general and eBay specifically. While selling on eBay can give a person many freedoms like no boss, keeping your own hours and being flexible on what you sell, it can be challenging dealing with all sorts of buyers out in the real world. It is very eye opening “wearing the different hats” of a buyer and a seller!
As the evening winds down, we say our goodbyes. Most of them will work for eBay for a while. Many will move around to other tech companies, but each is excited to begin their new adventure on the various eBay campuses in their new positions. I drive home to Marin County after receiving my “gift” bag for my participation and always look forward to my upcoming invitation in another few months at the eBay headquarters in San Jose!
