This week we catch up with Dave and Laurie Bilyeu of eBLISS Reseller Solutions. They tell us about the storage, inventory, shipping and fulfillment services they offer online sellers, update us on their growth, hint at what’s coming, and much more.
The Seller Community Podcast from List Perfectly is the e-commerce resource for the seller community across all platforms and a hub for information on growing your business. Find out more at thesellercommunitypodcast.com, leave a message or ask a question at anchor.fm/sellercommunitypodcast, or email us at podcast@listperfectly.com.
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Transcript
Danna: Welcome to the Seller Community Podcast. Today we’re joined by one of my favorite couples, Laurie and Dave Bilyeu, founders of eBLISS Reseller Solutions.
Laurie: We are Dave and Laurie Bilyeu, we are eBay sellers ourselves. Primarily that’s what we started out doing about 10 years ago, made it into a full-time business, selling used electronics. And about three years ago we launched a company called eBLISS Reseller Solutions, as Danna mentioned. Basically, we store and ship for resellers. It’s that simple. It was something that was missing in the reseller community we found, and so we stepped in to fill that gap.
Dave: And as Laurie mentioned, we were full-time eBay sellers. Right now we’re part-time cuz we’re running eBLISS. To get to that level of full-time eBay seller, we knew that we needed help and a warehouse, we needed space. So what happened was we invested a lot of time into leases for a warehouse. At the time it was 2000 square feet. We had employees and we looked at each other and we said, this is unfair.
This really needs to be available to any reseller out there, any thrifter, and any part-timer who wants to outsource the storage and fulfillment of their business. And at the time no service existed except Amazon FBA. Now those who know Amazon FBA, they’re pretty restrictive in what they accept. It’s mostly new items.
So what we did was created eBLISS for one-of-a-kind multi-quantity SKU items. And that’s what our vision was. We launched two and a half years ago, and it is just changing month to month. We evolve, let’s put it that way.
Danna: I know how excited I was to find your service on Instagram where I first learned about eBLISS. So please share with us how you decided to launch such an amazing business.
Laurie: About maybe five years ago, we were charging along, we were doing pretty well with our eBay business and, you know, we didn’t really have any complaints, but like Dave said, we had done it the old-fashioned way. We had, you know, had to do everything that people do in order to scale and grow their businesses. And then I think one day Dave said what if we did this for others? And I was like, what do you mean? It took a while to kind of figure out what that meant and what it would look like, but when we did some research, there was no fulfillment for thrifters who sell one-off used items.
Took probably two years to research and develop how to do it, what to charge, and how just the whole processes, because as you can imagine, it’s not as quite as straightforward as you would think, but we had the advantage of already having really good processes and systems in our own business that were working really well.
At the time, I think we had probably well over 4,000 individually thrifted items for sale on eBay. And so when you have that much inventory, you need to have a good process with inventory process, shipping process, listing process, everything. We decided to incorporate what we already knew, and what we already had done, and apply it to other resellers so they could benefit from having a storage and shipping service without having to pay for and go through all the craziness that we had to go through to get to that point.
Doug: And so speaking of your processes, I’ve been to your HQ twice and I think I saw the original and the new and so more at the beginning and, pretty recently, within the last few months. And so you sat us down and showed us your process, how it all works, and how organized you are. And interestingly, List Perfectly works into that. So can you tell us what it’s like mixing your fulfillment service with List Perfectly resellers?
Dave: We have evolved over the last two and a half years. Originally, we were strictly just for eBay sellers. Then we layered on Poshmark. Then it was any platform as long as we could get that label. And what we’ve noticed and adapted to, over the years is for example, List Perfectly, people that cross-list, we now use List Perfectly as a receiving platform and Laurie could get into exactly what that looks like with the receiving of their items.
But we have definitely adapted to the reseller’s needs. rather than create something and have them fit into our box, we’ve evolved over two and a half years.
Laurie: In the beginning, everybody had to use eBay and so even if you started your listings on List Perfectly and also listed on eBay, you had to basically move it over twice. It just didn’t make any sense. So once we were able to incorporate List Perfectly as a receiving platform, everything was done at that point. And it’s also pretty cool because a lot of our clients live far away. They might take three or four days for their inventory to get here, and one wonderful thing about using a platform like List Perfectly is that they don’t have to have a completed listing in order to send it to us. They can take that time while it’s in transit to finish their listing. All they have to do is have a draft basically and have their SKU information and when we get it, as long as there’s a title and we can match it up, that’s all we need. And so it works out really well for our clients.
Danna: Absolutely. For me, you were the perfect match for my personal business, and List Perfectly allowed me to crosspost and eBLISS ships all my sales, so it’s a win-win. The Freedom Plan allowed me to travel, spend time with family, and do my job at List Perfectly. So please share with everyone how the Freedom Plan works.
Dave: Pretty much exactly how you summed it up. You do the listing; we receive the item, and you could do whatever you want after that. If you want to travel, you wanna source more, the Freedom Plan is for people that need more space and more time. That’s what it really comes down to. It doesn’t mean you need to give us all of your inventory. It allows people to carve out a portion of their inventory to send to a fulfillment company, eBLISS.
What you do with your free time when you don’t have to ship is up to you. You could sleep an extra five hours a week, or you could go sourcing. We found that our average, typical, average client saves around three to five hours a week not having to pick, pack, ship, and haul IKEA bags to the post office.
That’s a lot of time and that’s also a burden on their mind, like knowing, hey, this is not my full-time gig. This is my side hustle, so I have to do this before my job. We’re really excited, especially because we’ve seen a trend in the reselling world of a lot of people entering reselling as opposed to exiting.
They’re reselling because it’s a great side hustle. In today’s gig economy, people work a lot of little side hustles and put all the crumbs together to form a nice slice of bread, so to speak. And we’ve received a lot of new clients that maybe only have 200 listings and only source maybe 20 items a week or less. And by using us, it frees up their time so they can have a full-time job, they can do other jobs. So we’re excited about that.
Doug: I think I’ve known you both for several years now, we’ll say several years, and so I’m very familiar with your growth with the business, and you have a ton to be proud of, but can you tell us what you think are your three greatest achievements in the business?
Dave: Well first, I’ll say launching it, having a vision is one thing. Implementing and executing that is another. And Laurie, you take the other two.
Laurie: Literally, this business was an idea in Dave’s mind, and after he speaks it and then two years later it becomes a reality. I mean, that is pretty cool, I think, to create something out of nothing.
Dave: We both have, a professional business background, and being entrepreneurs as an eBay seller was amazing, but now creating a business and being a business owner that helps other people, it’s very fulfilling, no pun intended, but it is very fulfilling because to see other people benefit and see the joy, like Danna, when you post items that you’ve sold, listed on List Perfectly and shipped by eBLISS, that makes my morning and that’s what it’s all about. So it’s the fun relationships that we’ve built over time and we want to keep it going.
Danna: So we all know how beneficial it is to be a part of the reseller community. So what can you suggest to our listeners about the advantage of participating in an online, local community?
Laurie: It’s crucial in my opinion, especially cuz this job can be very isolating, sometimes you’re working in your house, you only go out to source maybe and go to the post office. You don’t really come across a lot of people that know what you do and know why and how and all this stuff.
Anytime resellers get together, they talk, and they love to talk, and they love to talk about themselves. They love to learn from others. We did run the Denver eBay meetup group for I think three years. We recently stopped running it, but we still participate in it, and we will still participate with various groups. You never have a bad time when you get together with other resellers, cuz there’s always something to talk about and learn.
Doug: So you mentioned the eBay meetup group in Denver. What advice can you give to someone who’s thinking of starting a meetup or joining one?
Dave: Once again it comes down to implementing. If you have the motivation, all it takes is one other person and you have a meetup, and then other people will jump in and out of the group, so to speak. I think it’s fun. I think people get together, having coffee or wherever, and as Laurie said, just chat about business, chatting about the prospects, the hope, and the potential of where they could go, and sharing ideas. One thing that we initially, it was mainly me, I blame it on my New Jersey background and being neurotic, but I didn’t wanna go to a meetup. I was a little paranoid. And Laurie’s, no, let’s do it. I just felt I don’t want to tell my secrets.
That’s my hang-up. But I think the great thing is once you go to that first meeting, you realize everybody’s in the same boat. And you feed off of each other’s energy and you also provide leads and networking possibilities that way too, which people don’t realize until you’re in that group. So yeah, that’s one of the highlights and benefits.
Danna: So you mentioned fun. We all know all work and no play makes a dull life. So what do you guys do for fun?
Laurie: Anybody who knows me these days knows that if I have some free time, I’m spending it line dancing. About a year ago I started line dancing, and I just can’t get enough of it.
Danna: What about you, Dave?
Dave: I cannot turn off my mind. It’s just my personality. I’m always thinking about business. I used to be very into sports, watching sports, and playing sports. That was my outlet. Once we became entrepreneurs, and especially after starting eBLISS. That’s been my sport, that’s been my entertainment. Now I know, it’s not healthy eventually to be so consumed with that. So I think, maybe I need to find a hobby. I need to find it, but I’ll work on it.
I would say Laurie and I are, we’re foodies. We like going out and trying new restaurants and that’s our entertainment.
Doug: If you weren’t reselling or into e-commerce, what do you think you would be doing?
Laurie: We’d probably both be in corporate America doing our own jobs. Obviously, we do this together. We met at work 33 years ago. So we worked together for five years. Then we went to college and everything. And then, about, I don’t know how many years later, we worked together again for Northwestern Mutual. And then we moved here, and we started this business together. So working together is one thing, but owning a business together is another, but as Dave says, it’s super fulfilling, and I couldn’t imagine us not doing this, but if we weren’t doing it, I’m sure we’d just be in corporate America doing something.
Dave: I agree with Laurie, we kind of stumbled upon entrepreneurship, eight to 10 years ago, and it’s amazing. It really was a great feeling and we had employees during that time as well. And in addition to eBLISS right now. I think the whole entrepreneurship component that resellers experience is something that is so special, and I don’t think they’ll ever give that up, even if it’s a hobby, part-time, full-time, it doesn’t matter what kind of label you are. I think as long as you have joy in reselling and joy in entrepreneurship, that’s what it’s all about. And I think we all feed off of each other.
Danna: So where do you guys see yourself five years from now?
Laurie: In a much larger warehouse with a lot more clients and reaching a lot more resellers.
Dave: That’s been one of the challenges for me, and probably not Laurie, but me. I want everything and I wanted it yesterday. It’s just who I am. And every time we pass on the way to our warehouse here, we’re half an hour south of Denver and there are humongous warehouses out here and I just get excited and say one day, one day. And things take time, and patience is part of business, and we trust that we have a great system and great service, and we’ll get there.
Doug: So thinking back, do you have any business regrets that you’d like to share?
Laurie: Knowing you need to make a decision but not doing it soon enough because you’re afraid of the outcome or it isn’t gonna be pleasant because in business you have to sometimes make hard decisions. And I feel like, hindsight’s always 20/20 saying, oh, I should have done that earlier.
Dave: We were in the corporate world for almost 15, 20 years and raised two adult boys now. So we’re on our own, we’re like empty nesters, and now we can afford to take a little bit more risks. Back then we couldn’t. I was commuting from central Jersey into Philadelphia, and it was an hour and 40-minute commute from door to desk. I don’t regret that, it had to be done. It was part of the responsibilities of raising the family, but I’m so much more gratified and fulfilled now.
I think the first failure I ever had in life was my first year in college. Everything up until that point was easy coasting. A solid B student in high school went to college and I’m like, this is gonna be great. This is gonna be like sleepaway camp with beer. This is gonna be amazing, right? The problem is, I couldn’t handle it. I was overwhelmed with too much freedom, and at that point, it was the biggest failure in my life. It was challenging because I thought I was done. I thought I didn’t have any promise or any vision or identity at the time. It was a very complicated age, 19, but I got back on track and really ground it out in terms of getting back into college, paying for most of my college, and commuting. I didn’t live there. I learned that the hard way, but finally graduated and then got a job. It was an amazing accomplishment for me. So that one stands out.
Doug: It’s been great to catch up and have you share with the community, the business you’ve built. I’ve been a fan of you guys since way back. I remember we had a meeting in your office. You closed the door and you’re like, we’ve got this idea. We wanna bounce off of you. And that was interesting when you answered the earlier question and you’re like, yeah, we’ve been hesitant in the past, and that’s what I thought. I was like this. I love it. Do it. And you guys are like, eh, we’re still planning that out and you had said it’s like you’re nervous for people to learn about the idea, but…
Laurie: Well, at that point, yes. It was just seriously an idea. We hadn’t gotten to a lot of the nitty gritty or the logistics of it at that point. And that’s correct. You and Brian were the first ones to even hear about our idea, and that was quite a long time ago.
Dave: 3, 4 years ago probably, and that’s the thing like I think when you enter a business, there’s paranoia. There’s gonna be competition. That’s fine. The competition is good. We’ve been doing this for close to three years live, but we beta-tested eBLISS two years leading up to that.
So five years in existence and we’re very confident and comfortable, but we have to be patient. Business takes time, and we’re grateful for all of the clients that use us now and have used us in the past we hope to make an announcement down the road, shortly which will open this up to even more resellers.
We do believe that when we first launched as an eBay only user could use eBLISS we knew we were going to have to adapt. We just didn’t know when. And then we added other platforms. Then we added, for example, List Perfectly as a receiving platform. We envision ourselves opening ourselves up to more resellers out there because right now we require our clients to have at least 200 items listed items with us because we have this ongoing relationship. But to adapt to the reselling community in a world where a lot of people are entering this side hustle, we hope to open it to more people like that.
Danna: Wow, that’s really exciting. I’ll be watching for your news. I’m sure you’ll have it on Instagram. You’ll make the announcement. I’m just so proud of both of you, not only for the business you’ve built, but because I can also call you, my friends. And I appreciate the partnership we’ve built through the service that you offer and the communication you provide along the way. So with that said, thank you for all you do to help make my business life easier and run smoother.
Laurie: Well, we are so glad to have you, Danna. And I’m glad to hear that we do help you because that is the whole point of doing this. We feel like we’re partners in your business in a way. So whatever we can do to help that and further it, makes us happy.
Doug: Thanks for joining us today. And any final words, anything to add?
Dave: Just keep on doing what you’re doing and have fun doing it, that’s the thing. If reselling feels like it’s, sure. Maybe consider outsourcing your pain points. The term solopreneur popped into my mind about two years ago. I never even heard of that term. But in reselling there are lots of solopreneurs out there. People that source, clean, process, list, ship, they do it all. Maybe outsource some of the pain points so you could restore that joy in reselling. It’s definitely something not to give up.
Laurie: And I think a lot of people will outsource other parts of their business first before thinking about doing the storage and shipping. Like a lot of times, I think they think that’s the last thing that they would outsource. But especially like Dave was saying, for some of the people who are doing this super part-time, they really don’t have a lot of time to deal with shipping or they don’t even know how to ship, much less on eBay.
We can be a perfect solution for that if it works out because we will do that for them, and then they can just find the stuff, list the stuff and it could work out really great for ’em.
Dave: This is a plug for List Perfectly as well. People that we know only sold on Poshmark were tentative to sell on eBay because they didn’t understand the shipping. And that goes without saying it’s complicated, the eBay shipping rules and stuff. So they were only selling on Poshmark, but then they realized, hey, if I can list on List Perfectly, have it cross-posted to any platform, and have eBLISS do the shipping and take away those pain points for me, I open myself up to, more eyes to purchase, and for 130 million active buyers, how can you not list on eBay? That’s all we have to say.
Laurie: Thank you for having us again. We’ll be back anytime you like.
Doug: Thanks Dave and Laurie from eBLISS and, always great to talk to you, we will see you soon.