I debated about submitting my first photos – one didn’t have an all white background – but went ahead and uploaded a few new photos. One of the photos was not accepted by Shutterstock because of a shallow depth of field. However, the same photo was accepted by Istock.com. You can view my small, but growing collection of istock.com photos by clicking here.
Now that I’ve got the ball rolling, I’m pretty excited to see how this new venture pans out….
If I’m going to sell more photos to iStock.com the first thing I need to do is noodle out a few strategies for adding the extra workload. I’ll also need to run some numbers on the possible extra expenses. What I’m posting here isn’t an official Business Plan but it’s always good to have something in writing as a guideline.
Overview:
Goal: I want to increase my revenue and decrease my dependence on eBay as my main source of income.
How I Plan to Achieve: Use the same inventory I purchase to resell. I plan to photograph the potentially stock worthy items and offer them as stock photos.
What I Know So Far: I’ve already sold a few downloads (photos) on the various stock sites. Going forward my plan is to look at the items I’ve purchased (or about to purchase) for resale as potential stock photos. The items I think may be interesting to photo buyers I’ll shoot with more care and photo edit them for use as stock.
Expenses:
Late last year my old Canon Rebel died and I purchased a Canon Rebel T5i – because I was thinking it was mainly for eBay photographs. It produces beautiful photos for selling online and I’m very happy with it. However, if I thought I was going to shoot stock photos I would have purchased a more professional model. So, for now I’ll use this camera, with an eye on upgrading if/when I start receiving a regular income from selling stock.
I have lights, all the stands, boom light, softboxes and cubes, a studio backdrop and paper for white backgrounds – no extra expenses. (space is another issue tho).
Tripod, Monopod – check – have them too.
Photo Editing Software: I have Photoshop Elements – good enough for now. Later may need to upgrade.
I did purchase a ring flash for close-ups: $50.00 (on eBay). More about it in another post.
Even more than a more professional camera – I need a better lens. The kit zoom I have isn’t that great. I do have a couple other nice lenses but they are 50mm and telephoto – not right for close-up work. Right now I’m exploring the options of a prime or zoom wide angle lens. I expect a good lens will cost between $450 – 700.
I’ve always wanted to learn more about PhotoShop – so as I see revenue coming in I want to take a class. Potentially cost: $250.
Other Roadblocks:
Time: Right now the biggest roadblock I see is time. The extra care and set-up of the product shot including extra cleaning (more than I do now) of the items, extra care with the lighting, special backdrop – white background and extra photo processing time starts adding up.
To cut down on time spent I’m going to implement a couple of techniques:
1) Batch photograph & edit the items I think will be useful for stock. Set them aside for once a week or bi-weekly photo shoots – so they don’t interrupt my daily listing cycle.
2) Try to up my average selling price and reduce the number of items I’m listing on EBay (a goal I’m always working on – which is easier said than done – when one has an eye on cash flow).
Space:
Space in my home based business is always an issue. My partner is adamant about not renting outside space. No storage units, no storefront, no studio space. I have to agree with her – but it does mean space here is tight.
Over the last several months I’ve been working on re-organizing our storage spaces, moving out dead stock and generally trying to buy fewer items. My goal is to buy better – higher selling price items or items with lower margins that sell quickly. The reward: I’m starting to see a little floor space.
Conclusion:
Moving forward I’ll need a better lens, to budget my time for this new project, and watch storage space. We’ll see how I do as these posts progress.
Every small business person needs to see the tides of change. They should be agile enough to set sail in a new direction before the tsunami hits.
The trick is to know what changes are small ripples and which ones turn into mega waves…..
But, this post isn’t about business metaphors it’s about how I’m trying to keep up a steady stream of income. What my next business steps are going to be.
Currently my eBay store is my main source of income. And the tides of change seem to be coming. So, let me get to the point.
I’ve been very concerned about the upcoming PayPal and eBay split. That, combined with a very ho-hum Christmas selling season, has finally pushed me out of my eBay comfort zone.
I’m really not sure that eBay will get it’s MoJo back as my friend Cliff Enico writes (although I am hopeful).
To stay ahead of the changes I’ve decided to look at other online venues. So far here’s what I explored.
Step One:
I started with Bonanza. Earlier in 2014 I experienced a few days where sales were flooding in from Bonanza. Then it stopped. Shortly there after I received an email from them promoting a new upgraded service/subscription. It seems that flood of sales was linked to their buying Search Engine Placement. I didn’t take them up on the upgrade right away. Maybe I should have? Instead, I decided to upgrade my Bonanza booth in December when I downgraded my eBay store subscription. I decided to use the extra funds from the eBay downgrade to fund the Bonanza upgrade. I figured I’d give Bonanza a trail – one quarter – to see how/if sales improved. So far, they haven’t. In fact this quarter is down (for sales) on Bonanza compared to last year at this time (while my eBay sales are up year compared to last year at this time).
Step Two:
Next, I’m going to give Etsy another try. But, to be honest, I’m not sure the sales will be there either. To do Etsy correctly I’ll need to rethink my photos and rethink what to source to sell. Not that I’m opposed to it, if I see the reward of more sales. From what I’ve seen so far Etsy has a younger buyer – with fewer funds and slightly different tastes in collectibles. With a younger, less monied, buyer things seem to go for less compared to eBay. So – the question for me is: Will I have to work harder to sell more at a lower price?
Step Three:
What about Amazon, you say? I’m always on the hunt for products to list in the Amazon catalog – that will never change. The trick is finding items I can buy so cheaply that I can afford to pay Amazon’s stiff listing fees. (Which, by the way, is one of my major concerns for the future of eBay. EBay is starting the split with all of PayPal’s debut – I’m sure the sellers are in for fee increases from both companies). Currently, with the way I product source, I find very few products that are profitable to sell on Amazon. Perhaps I need to lower my earning expectations?
Moving In A Different Direction:
All that said and done…. I still don’t feel I’m moving in the right direction. I don’t think following the crowd to Amazon FBA – or the heard of eBay naysayers to unheard of platforms or my own website is the right move for me.
So, after thought, and a look at my passions – I’ve decided to try moving in a slightly different direction.
One such love is photography. A few years ago, when I thought I had more time than I did, I started submitting some of my photos to a few online stock photography sites. I enrolled, uploaded a few to the photos, and then sort of forgot about it. Over the last few years I’ve gotten payments into my PayPal account fairly regularly. On top of that, a couple of the photos have been published in books – and I’ve gotten the photo credit. To me – that’s the ultimate!
With that kind of success with very little effort (or what felt like it because I enjoy photography so much) – I thought that if I put a little more time/effort into it – that Stock Photography could be a plan B – if anything happens to my main source of income.
Over the next few weeks, months, I thought I’d post about my new venture – mostly as notes to myself – but also to share if anyone is interested.
In the next post, I’ll start with a basic outline or simple business plan on how I think I will make it work.
Please feel free to follow along.
I’m always looking for a good deal on stuff – but Free is the best!
Check out the store to see what I’m selling these items for.
We’ve been selling on eBay for 15 years!
We just bought a collection of Annalee Dolls from a long time collector. They’re available for sale in our eBay Shop – to celebrate we thought we’d share a few fun facts about the creator.
Here are a few:
And one not so fun fact:
Wondering how to date your Annalee? Here are a few tips:
If you are looking to add to your collection this season please click here to visit our store.
If you have a collection you’d like to sell – please don’t hesitate to contact us!
My partner Dany and I have been traveling all over the Puget Sound (and beyond) looking for treasures to sell on eBay. Most of the items we buy are from estate, auctions or family run garage sales. We learned many years ago was that cash is best. To get the best price, or simply to purchase from a stranger, it’s always better to have cash. The problem is that as a business we need to track that cash. The IRS expects to see some form of tracking or receipt for cash to deduct it as an expense.
Because many of the companies we deal with don’t run cash registers we don’t get receipts for those cash transactions. We also don’t get a nice neat piece of paper outlining the items we purchased. Which means we have to rely on memory unless we write the items down. Being an official card carrying member of the AARP I can honestly say that if I don’t write things down immediately all is lost – as the sales start to blend together.
So, to keep track of the inventory, cash spent, and mileage I starting writing everything down. I’ve never found a Samrtphone App that worked as quickly and easily as simply jotting down a few notes on paper. I love my smartphone but trying to type notes into it on the fly isn’t for me.
I started looking for a log book that would fit the bill – but none of them seemed to be right for the kind of business we do. Which lead Dany & I to create a customized log book for our use. Then we got to thinking, if we needed one, there might be others who could benefit from the log book as well.
In the Pickers Log Book we created pages for writing in mileage, cash spent, date & Location. We also created pages for notes, a page to write in your hot list of items. You can use the blank notes pages for things that matter to you. In fact, this morning I attended one of my favorite professional estate companies half off sale and they had two new employees – I was able to jot down their names in the notes field before I left – so I can remember them next time I’m there. (Everyone likes to hear their names – and it always helps to address people by name when negotiating a better price or asking them to help you carry stuff.)
The Picker’s Log Book also contains pages on:
We’re happy to offer our book to anyone who needs a log book for their Picking Business for only $11.99 on Amazon.com- Buy it here: The Pickers’ Log Book
Dany and I are tracking our cash, inventory and mileage using this log. It’s just the right size at 6X9″ to take in the field with us. The binding keeps the pages tight and the slim profile makes it easy to put into the taxes file when the book is full.
Please try out The Pickers’ Log Book
The other day I found a boxed set of Cutco steak knives at an estate sale. They were priced right for resale so I added them to my bag of items.
Nothing out of the ordinary, really…. Cutco knives are popular and sell quickly on eBay. So, if I find them I buy them to resell.
What was interesting is that it turned out that after I got them home I found a hidden surprise tucked away under the lid. Two $2.00 bills and a couple of dollar coins.
Got me to thinking; “Isn’t there a tradition about giving money when you give knives as gifts?”
Sure enough, there is!
From the American Folklore Website: “In Folklore it is considered bad luck to give a gift of a knife so money is usually included for the recipient to “buy” the knife. The traditional amount to include with the knife (at least in the USA) is a penny.”
When you are negotiating a better deal, either as a buyer or a seller, how often do you accept the first offer? The party offering has hit your target price (or is lower than you expect) and you say: “Yes” without pause.
My partner Dany and I have found ourselves in that spot many times. The offer price turns out to be much lower than we expect and instead of shooting back a counter offer offer we accept.
For me, personally, dickering doesn’t come easy and accepting the first, best offer, is an easy way to end an uncomfortable/uneasy transaction with a stranger. If the price is right – in my mind – I’ll just accept and wrap up the transaction. However, taking the easy way out – or simply being happy to be getting a great deal – might mean that the transaction didn’t go as smoothly as it seemed on the surface.
I’ve been reading a book called Secrets of Power Negotiating, Inside Secrets from a Master Negotiator
How can that be? They offered a price and you accepted it without trying to knock them down more. Why wouldn’t that be a perfect negotiation?
Roger suggests that when you accept the first offer, depending on which side of the deal you are on, you may feel either that you could have gotten more for the item – or, there is something wrong.
Let’s say you are the one making the offer and I quickly accept it – you are then left feeling like your offer was much too low and you could have received more for it. Or, let’s say I make you an offer for an item you have priced above my buy level and I make you what I consider a very low offer and you jump on it. I immediately start questioning my purchase. Was there something wrong with it? There must be, the price was too low and the seller was too quick to unload it on me.
The power of perception is strong. As an eBay seller I can think of two examples of where remembering to counter the first offer can be very beneficial.
First: As a buyer I go to many estate sales. I have favorite professional estate sale companies I like to frequent. They host the kind of sales that have items I’m interested in buying, they price items fairly, they are the best organized or friendly. On the first day, first hour, there is not a lot of room to dicker prices – if you want a certain item(s) you get there extra early and pay full price. However as the day unfolds or on the second or third day of an estate sale everything is negotiable. On those days I should remember to counter their offers because if I accept their first offer I may be setting myself up for them to think “Oh, we could have made more money on that item. The next time we have one of these we’ll mark the price higher.”
Second: On the other side, as an eBay seller most of my items are sell as fixed price with a “Best Offer”. Even if the haggling is not in person I shouldn’t forget to counter offer. It may be a little disheartening at first. Over the last few years I’ve noticed many buyers will just send an offer and if I counter they don’t respond or worse yet – they decline. I call them “Fishers” not really that interested, just fishing for my price. If you have the same experience as me then just forget them. It’s important to remember that there’s always someone else who wants what you have for sale. Don’t take the fist offer. Countering or refusing the first offer is especially important if the item has just been listed. Remember, if you are in too big a hurry to accept the offer your buyer may be wondering what’s wrong with the item. And with a used, or collectible item, you are setting them up to be hyper-vigilant and to micro inspect the item upon arrival.
For example I just sold a used bicycle transport case that I listed with a Best Offer. I did my research and found them selling for around $250 -300 at auction depending on what the seller was charging for shipping. The more the seller charged for shipping the closer they sold in the $250 range or less. The ones that sold closer to $300 were the ones offered with discounted or free shipping. So, I set my price at $325 – free shipping with a best offer. Within 24 hours I had several really low offers (under $200). One person even wrote me telling me that he could buy it new for $350 – he wouldn’t give me a dime more than $160. I also received a few $200 offers. One of these was from a guy on my side of the country (cheaper shipping). I sent him a counter offer of $300 – which he accepted.
The carrier is on the way to him now. By not accepting his first offer – not only did I make my target price – my counter offer gave him confidence that there was nothing wrong, or unusual, about the item that would make it less valuable. As Roger Dawson writes; we both feel like we won in the transaction.
Next time you get one of those amazing offers you just want to jump at – remember to take a deep breath first – and make sure everyone feels like they are winning. Counter the offer with another. I plan on trying it. After all, I want everyone to feel like it’s been a win/win transaction!
“How much are the Old Ladies if I buy the lot?” I asked
My partner looked at me as if I might be asking something rude – or perhaps I’d just lost my mind…
Luckily, the gal running the estate sale knew what I was talking about – and was happy to negotiate a deal. We found 20 of these little figurines and she threw in the display shelf to go with. We’ll be keeping the shelf. It fits perfectly in a spot in the kitchen.
As we were wrapping the figurines up we noticed there were a few old men as well. These Ladies and Gents are part of Artist Marge Crunkleton’s Lincoln Country Garden Club series that she created during the 1990’s.
Ms Crunkleton created an imaginary Garden Club in Lincoln County, NC, where she lives… Then “plopped” them in a fictitious wee town called “Crunkleville”. Those who collected her charming little figurines were affectionately known as “Crunkle-lectors”… and hence the fun began.
Each member has a story and it’s a delight to be introduced to each figurine. Take Johnsie, for example: “Johnsie wears her naturally curly hair in a pillar of beautiful waves. Our own Miss Tilly has been her beautician since 1932.”
To find out more about artist Marge Cruckleton and her Garden Club visit her website.
If you are looking to find out more about the secondary market value of these little guys and gals Ms. Cruckleton has a guide on her website.
If you’d like to start a collection – or fill in your existing collection – I invite you to come see our selection Of Crunkleton Lincoln County Garden Club members at CloverCity
