"Over the years I’ve found my niche, ramped things up, hired help only to find that it comes to an end," with Shari Smith
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Shari Smith has been selling on eBay for over 14 years and maintains Top Rated Seller status. It’s become a passion and a way for her to create freedom for herself and others. She has sold over $2M on eBay, trained over 1,000 people to start and grow their own eBay businesses, and had quality time with her late husband, Arlie, throughout his entire battle with MS and Cancer. Along with enabling her to care for her husband while bringing in an income, it’s afforded her amazing opportunities like speaking on stage at events like eBay Open and created life long friendships with other eBay sellers. https://shari-sells.com/
I started working at a family-owned Headhunting firm when I was 18 while working my way through college. The owner was a strong woman who became my mentor for the next 15 years until she passed away. I was her right hand (woman), helping her with all the tasks of running her business, doing the bookkeeping, and also working as a recruiter. I worked for her (and took care of her when her health failed) until she passed away when I was 32. I went to work for a Fortune 500 company in temporary staffing. After two years there I was in the top ten percent as a Senior Staffing Manager.
After working 11 hour days for that Fortune 500 company for two and a half years I was completely strung out on stress from the hours and the work environment. While I was making six figures, I had no time or energy for doing the things I loved like spending time with my husband, baking, volunteering with children, etc.
I quit that job because my husband and I agreed that our family life was more important than money. Living in the Bay Area in California, we needed both our incomes to pay our mortgage and monthly bills. I had six weeks of income between vacation pay and commissions, and then I’d need to have another job to pay our mortgage. While I had this downtime, I started listing jewelry that I had from before Arlie. I only wanted to wear jewelry from him, and I wasn’t into keeping things that I wasn’t using. I had never sold or even bought on eBay before, but I just went for it.
Arlie worked at the same Costco for years in the town where he grew up so everyone seemed to know him. He loved talking about his wife, and when he mentioned that I had quit my job and was selling things around the house on eBay, people started asking him what I would charge to sell for them. When he came home and told me to call them, I thought, ‘If I can make this a business and make enough to make the mortgage, I won’t have to get another job!’ This was in February 2006, and I haven’t had to get another job since.
I’ve always run my business from home which up until two years ago was in California. When my husband passed away, I moved myself, my dogs, and my business to Erie Colorado to be near my family.
Once I was inspired to make this a business, having done the work for my mentor gave me the courage to do that same work for myself. I had done the bookkeeping for her for years, so I purchased Quickbooks for my business. I googled “How much do you charge to sell for someone on Consignment on eBay” and found and bought an ebook about how to be one of the best sellers on eBay. I then proceeded to do everything it told me to do, including creating a business entity and getting a business license. I took eBay up on their offer for a consultation with an expert and also followed his advice which included opening an eBay store, setting up cross-promotions, and store categories.
My husband was so outgoing and so well known that he brought in about forty percent of my business. But I needed to make enough consistently to make the mortgage so I joined a local business networking group called BNI, Business Networking International. I also attended the local Chamber of Commerce mixers, and it seemed that all I had to do was open my mouth and say that I sold on eBay to generate interest. Connecting with other local business owners in this way was the most effective way to raise awareness of my business and generate referrals.
My biggest challenges have been rooted in the fact that the market is constantly changing. Over the years I’ve found my niche, ramped things up, hired help only to find that it comes to an end. In 2008, I was selling for an electronics recycler. They kept us busy selling over ten thousand dollars a month worth of desktop computers, monitors, and VCR players. Those items became more work to ship than they were worth. When we made the decision to stop working with them, I joined BNI to start generating more clients. Five years ago, I was selling for a company that manufactured Renaissance Costumes. We were selling thirty thousand to fifty thousand dollars worth for that client alone. We had over ten part-time students working for us at the time. Then the competition undercut their price so severely that they had to bring the work in house, selling the outfits themselves. No matter how successful something is selling, I always have to be ready to adapt to changes and find my next avenue.
I knew when I decided to make this a business from home that I was going to have to be very disciplined to be successful. I got up every morning and got ready for work with my husband. I set up rules for myself like No household chores or personal activities during the workday. Of course, working for myself, I could choose to take time off or plan vacations. But having that structure during the day helped keep me focused.
I was inherently driven by a monthly monetary goal knowing what we needed for the house payment each month. And when I was working at that Fortune 500 company for two and a half years I learned the importance of having numbers to meet each day and checking in at the end of the day to see if I’d achieved those numbers. To this day, I know what my monthly monetary goal is, and every day I record my profit for the day on a google sheet. I compare my actual daily income with my goal and set my activity goals accordingly. I know my average profit per item, number of items listed, and sold daily, weekly, and monthly. I know how much I need to increase my average profit per item and/or how much more I need to list to reach my goal. This also focuses me on marketing because, in order to increase my profit per item, I need to obtain more clients with higher value items to sell.
I’m a people pleaser so I truly care about what’s best for my clients. I sell for others, and I also teach people how to grow their own eBay business. I want their business, but only if it’s what’s best for both of us. If I’m selling for someone I’ll research their items with them if that is what they want, and I go to great lengths to get them the most for their items.
With my eBay students, my goal is for them to enjoy the success that’s giving me so much freedom and fulfillment. I teach them everything I’ve learned from years of experience (and mistakes). I’m not just teaching a class, I mentor them to reach their full potential.
When my husband passed away two years ago, I moved to Colorado leaving over forty clients in California. While it still makes sense for a few of those clients with high-end fashion items to ship to me, I refer out the remainder of my California clients to local sellers. In fact, that’s a win/win because I’ve been able to refer my eBay students and guide them through as they sell for my former clients. Also, without my husband’s income, I need to make twice what I was making in California.
I knew I needed to market my business and joined a local BNI group. But my most effective marketing strategy to grow my business has been partnering with a marketing specialist, creating a new business name, brand, website complete with a blog. We are creating blog posts about how to sell on eBay which is generating traffic to my website and building up a list of those interested in learning to sell on eBay. We’re also using my personal Facebook page to share my business ventures with my friends (people I’ve known since school, met in church with my husband, to new people I’ve met at business networking events). The response has blown me away. For my first online Selling on eBay series, we had eleven people sign up--which I was thrilled with. Working with someone that knows how to build an audience and who I love working with has been the smartest way I’ve marketed my business.
My best piece of advice for new and aspiring entrepreneurs is to write down your goals--how much money do you need to make monthly, what is your weekly and daily monetary goal, and write down what activity you need to do to achieve that. Record your activity daily so you can compare it to your goal and so you can tweak it as needed to achieve your goal. This will help prioritize your daily activity and will motivate and give you direction each day.
My favorite book is “The Fountainhead” by Ayn Rand because when I read it at the age of fourteen, it opened me up to a world where people had character and courage. I promised myself at that time that someday I would have those qualities. I didn’t know how I was going to change but knowing my end goal influenced my choices and changed the trajectory of my life.
My favorite app is my calendar. I use it to shape and plan each day and week.
My favorite business tool is the Seller Hub on eBay. That sounds so obvious that I thought I should think of another one, but truly, it is my desktop, my office. It shows me what I need to do for the day--what I need to ship, how many items I have listed, how many offers I can send out, what questions need to be answered. It also shows me where I’m at, my stats, how much I’ve sold in the last thirty days, my Top Rated Seller Status. It’s my portal to eBay’s seller tools like Terapeak where I can research items to see if they are worth listing, how to price them, and to demonstrate to clients what I can sell their items for. I can use eBay’s reports to analyze how my listings are performing and to see my numbers so I can measure how I’m performing next to the goals I’ve set for myself.
My business role model is the woman I went to work for when I was eighteen and worked until I was thirty-two. She used to tell me how she had no idea at times how her business was going to make it, but she knew she wasn’t going to give up until it did. She successfully ran a headhunting business through a recession. She also saw in me more than I did in myself and expected as much from me and held me responsible, even as an eighteen, nineteen, twenty year old. When the opportunity presented itself for me to start my own eBay business, I felt confident that I could do it because I finally saw myself how she did.
My beauty routine should be quick and easy to cover because it’s pretty short and sweet! I normally have my hair colored and trimmed every four weeks because it’s the single most effective thing I can do to look younger. Now with the stay at home order, I purchased a box of Garnier Nutrisse hair color (chocolate brown), applied it myself, and I’m happy with the results.
In four weeks when I reapply, I will be sure to thoroughly cover the area around my ears which I partially missed this first time around. I use the Beauty Counter for my skin regime because they use all-natural ingredients. I use Counter+ Lotus Glow Cleansing Balm which is a gentle wax and Counter+ No. 2 Plumping Facial Oil which moisturizes. I then use Countermatch Adaptive Moisture Lotion and their tinted moisturizer with sunscreen for the foundation.
I balance work and life largely by using my calendar. I have so much I want to accomplish with my business, but I don’t let that preclude spending time with my family. Because of my eBay business, I was able to move to Colorado to be near my family when my husband passed away. Now that I’m here, I stay involved with my nieces and nephews. I block off my calendar with the work activities that I’ve set to reach my goals, and I also block off my calendar for time with my family.
In fact, during this Covid-19 Stay at Home order, I’m taking my four nieces and nephews for a few hours five days a week to help my brother and sister in law to cope with homeschooling with four children from ages three to nine. Sunday is my day for me. I usually spend time on the house, write, and read (unless it’s ski season in which case I skip!).
My favorite way to decompress throughout the week is by walking the dogs (I have two adorable little poodle mixes) and working out. My program of choice is Pure Barre which I try to do at least three times a week. It’s so intense that it captivates my mind, body, and spirit. I also have started doing Yin Yoga at least twice a week which is just so good for my body (and spirit). I like to tell my friends that it forces me to relax which they find to be a bit of an oxymoron, but it works for me!
For the next six months, I have great plans! As I mentioned, I’m working with a Marketing Expert, and he and I created an online eBay course. We recorded the series so people who want to start an eBay business can sign up and follow the series step by step. We will also start offering a mentorship program with live, online coaching to guide to achieving their personal goals with their eBay business. I’ve started uploading How-to videos to my Youtube page to answer questions about how to (ship large items, pack fragile, heavy items, etc on eBay). I’ll continue to post articles in my eBay Blog and between those and social media, I hope to build an audience. I’m writing a book about How to Sell on eBay, and I’m also writing a book about my adventure with my husband. My goal is to launch those books in about six months.
Readers can connect with me by Facebook, LinkedIn, phone, text, or email.
Shari Smith
https://www.facebook.com/shari.smith.965
https://www.linkedin.com/in/sharismith/
925-216-3328
shari@shari-sells.com