eBay Consignment Selling & Drop Off Stores - Business

The consignment business is doing very well in this economic environment.  People that might not have bothered to bring you their items for sale a year ago are looking to rightsize their lives (or just raise cash).  Having spoken with a number of consignment sellers, they're receiving more items than they did a year ago.  They might be getting slightly lower sales prices for the items, but on balance their monthly net is up.  If you're thinking of doing consignment sales, now is the time to decide.  I truly think that this book can help you decide if it's right for you, and if it is, give you some advice on how to go about it.  The book is useful for "normal" sellers also; I'd estimate that half of the book's 158 pages deal with topics that are of concern to all eBay sellers.

I wrote this book after a few years of running an eBay consignment store (eBay ID: cashinyourcloset), first as a partner, then as a sole proprietor.  Over that time, the store sold thousands of items and had nearly a thousand consignors.  For personal reasons, I sold the business (it is still in operation).  I didn't get rich running the store, but I made some money, had a great time, and learned a lot.  Take a look at the book sections below; you’ll see that I cover the important factors that will determine whether you succeed at doing this.  I truly wish that I had had a book like this before I began; it would have saved me untold hours, dollars, and agita – you can avoid most of the heartburn for a few dollars and hours spent reading.

This book has been well received by the readers, some of whom have emailed me with non-public reviews, and some who have been kind enough to give me positive reviews on Amazon (where the book is also available, for $16.95 and without FREE shipping -- and I sell more copies there than on eBay; go figure!).  Some excerpts from the reviews:

"A Must-Read for eBay sellers"

"If you are considering adding consignment items to your product line, read this book first!"

"I really appreciated the completely honest tone and information in this book."

"Get straight talk from someone who's been there, done that."

Review by Jeff Lippincott, a "Top 1000" reviewer on Amazon: "One of three books I highly recommend to get when researching eBay selling and how to start an eBay consignment store" 

Section headings in the book are:

• Introduction
• Who am I and how did I come to write this book?
• The short version
• The longer version
• Partnership
• Sole Proprietor
• After the sale
• How did the business do?
• Is consignment selling on eBay something that would work for me?
• Front office - Getting the items
• Middle Office - Selling the items on eBay
• Back Office - Making sure everyone gets what they're supposed to
• So, is it a match for you?
• Are you thinking of doing this as a partnership?
• Are you thinking of doing this as a franchise?
• Business Plan
• See a lawyer
• Where are you getting items to sell on eBay?
• A word about eBay and PayPal in general
• Opening up a store
• Location, location, location
• How much space will you need?
• Staff 
•  Telephone Service
• Telephone System
• Shelving
• Shipping
• Computers
• Network
• Printers
• Photography
• Camera Selection
• Using Strobes (Flash)
• Using Hot Lights
• Accessories
• Software
• General Purpose Software
• Photo Editing Software
• Consignment Software / Services
• AuctionSound
• LARIS
• Infopia
• Liberty
• Meridian
• AuctionWagon
• Final choice
• Things that I find important in consignment/auction software
• Getting Down to Business
• Handling retail consignors
• Retail Commissions
• Automatic Commission Reductions
• We're on the same team
• Don't assume the consignor understands that auctions are binding
• Taking possession
• The Mechanics of Intake
• Phone calls
• Home Visit
• In the store
• Do I want to list it?
• Researching prior sales
• Appraisals brought in by the consignor
• Fake or counterfeit items
• Handbags
• Lionel Trains
• Cell Phones
• Furs
• Rugs
• Chandeliers
• Baby Items
• Clothing
• Large Furniture
• Automobiles and Motorcycles
• Closing the deal
• Pricing the auction
• An academic aside about reserves and opening bid prices
• All of the action is (usually) at the end of the auction
• Time to payment
• The contract
• Storage
• Advertising
• Free Advertising
• Your Web Site
• Store Handout Sample
• Store Signage
• Newspaper Advertising
• Other Advertising
• The Mechanics of Listings - Photos
• The Mechanics of Listings - Description
• Research
• The Title
• Use the title's 55 characters
• Spelling
• Keyword Spamming
• The Description
• Opening Sentence Pet Peeve
• Fonts
• White space
• Superlatives, flowers, and puppy dogs
• Predicting the unlikely
• The facts
• Don't over-explain what you're not expert in
• Don't threaten the reader
• The Boilerplate
• EBay Listing Upgrades
• Gallery Free
• Subtitle 50¢
• Highlight $5.00
• Featured Plus $19.95
• Gallery Featured $19.95
• Bold $1.00
• Scheduled Listings 10¢
• 10-Day Duration 40¢
• List in Two Categories (price x 2)
• Border $3.00
• The Mechanics of Listings - Launching Auctions
• Auction Ending Times
• Auction Ending Days
• The Mechanics of Auctions and Post-Auction
• Offers
• Emails (Ask Seller A Question)
• Silly emails
• Material emails
• Getting paid
• PayPal
• Checks
• Late payers
• Shipping
• Shipment status notification
• Insurance
• International Shipping
• Returns
• Feedback
• The Mechanics of Paying Consignors
• If you're using Excel
• Invoice
• If you're using 3rd party software
• Accounting & Check Printing
• Appendix I
• EBay’s changes as eBay describes them
• Rewards for great sellers
• Search Visibility
• PowerSeller Rewards & Standards
• Safe Payments
• Feedback Changes
• Insertion Fees
• Appendix II – Feedback, the old way
• Responding to Feedback
• Mutual Feedback Withdrawal
• Feedback explanation
• Index