More about Maggie Weber (@refashionedhippie)
List Perfectly Referral Code
RefashionedHippie
Main selling platform
Poshmark
How long have you been selling?
3 years
Your most impressive selling stat?
Over 2,514,000 gallons of water saved by selling existing pieces. I love the environmental aspect of reselling. The most sustainable garments are the ones that already exist and if we weren’t here, doing what we do, people would have to buy new retail pieces that benefit the fast fashion industry. I am a small business operating to support my daughter’s future. I source and sell pieces without environmental waste, cruel labor practices and polluting chemicals. I love the money I make, but what I love more is that I really feel like I am making a difference with what I do every day.
What platform is your favorite?
I started with Poshmark, then expanded to Mercari, then ebay, now facebook and depop. I make money with all of them, but I feel like Poshmark is my home.
What’s one thing you wish you knew when you first started selling?
Treat it as a business! Record for taxes, have an inventory system, start building your brand on day one. It’s easier to build when you have a strong base, but if you have to go back and redo old work, you lose a lot of time.
What’s one hack you can’t sell without?
CROSSPOSTING! So many people are afraid to cross post because they think they will sell the same item twice and end up making a customer really mad. I’ve sold hundreds of items and NEVER had that happen.
Learn the best way to display your items. Some pieces look terrible on a hanger, some pieces look weird on a mannequin. Don’t feel pressured to buy a mannequin, lighting set up and photography backdrop if that’s not what your business needs. Your business is YOURS, and what works for someone else, might not be what works for you.
Overview
This week Maggie Weber, @refashionedhippie, tells us how she balances motherhood and entrepreneurship and talks about her experience applying and winning a Poshmark Heart & Hustle Community Fund award. She also tells us how she managed to fit time into her schedule to write and publish her first book, “Why I Hate Everything: Reflections on a Decade in Retail.” We also have a seller question, and the news!
The Seller Community Podcast from List Perfectly is the #1 resource for the seller community across all platforms and hub for information on growing your business with List Perfectly. Find out more at thesellercommunitypodcast.com/podcast, leave a message or ask a question at https://anchor.fm/sellercommunitypodcast, or email us at podcast@thesellercommunitypodcast.com.
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Links
thesellercommunitypodcast.com/podcast
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Listperfectly Facebook Group
coloradoreworn Instagram
coloradoreworn linktree
snoop.dougie Instagram
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Episode 22 Links
Maggie on Poshmark
refashionedhippie Instagram
Maggie on Mercari
Maggie on depop
Why I Hate Everything: Reflections on a Decade in Retail
Poshmark Heart and Hustle Fund
Transcript
Intro
Liz:
Hey, listen. Hey Doug, how are you doing this week?
Doug:
Hey, Liz. Welcome to KLP! All music. All news. We’ll hit the weather. We’ll hit the news today and we’ll play the latest hits. We’re doing a crazy morning show now, because I got to up my game!
Liz:
You know what? I love it! I’m gonna raise my glass and give you a toast to that one! Raise my glass and give you a toast to that one, Doug. It really came out of your shell, there!
Doug:
That’s right. I’m trying to, you know, trying to up it a bit, be a little more peppy.
Liz:
It’s like you popped right out of bed this morning and ready to record this podcast!
Doug:
You know what I had for, you know, one of my favorite breakfast is ironically.
Liz:
Oatmeal?
Doug:
No! Toast.
Liz:
French Toast?
New Speaker:
I do love toast! Wheat toast, maybe with a little peanut butter, sometimes dry, sometimes dry white toast. That’s my favorite.
Liz:
There you go!
Doug:
I know.
Liz:
I like toast. I like sourdough toast.
Doug:
Sourdough is good. Always good. So, all right. What’s up with you this week?
Liz:
Oh my gosh. This is a busy week. I’ve got family in town this week. I got to play video games with my niece the other night. She came over and spent some time with us. We got to dust off the old beat saber on the VR.
Doug:
What is that?
Liz:
What?! Doug!
Doug:
What’s the beat saber?
Liz:
It is saber, beat saber. S a B E R. They’re like lightsabers.
Doug:
Oh cute.
Liz:
But it’s a VR game for the PS4. So, she and I kind of took over the boy household. So we’ve got nothing but boys in the house, but we took over the PS and we just kinda went to town, playing beat saber and got to spend time with family. And that’s all that’s really been going on. You?
Doug:
Cool, cool. You know, just the usual just working and stuff like that. We’re going to see Eden Espinosa tonight. Have you may have heard of her and such musicals as “Wicked”, “Rent”, and some others. Who is also my daughter’s vocal coach. So it’s going to be super cool. A little concert down in San Diego, a little meet and greet after it’s going to be fun. Lovely family night.
Liz:
That sounds like a great time. I hope you guys enjoy it.
Doug:
Thanks. Thanks. And enjoy the visit by your relatives in the lovely Colorado Springs.
Liz:
We’re having a great time. This is episode 22. Welcome to the seller community podcast from List Perfectly. Doug, what do we have going on on the show this week?
Doug:
Well, this was a fun week, Liz. We welcome to Maggie at Refashioned Hippie to the show. We had a great chat and she talked her experience in retail, her growth, being a mom and how she balances it all. And also she tells us about her new book that really, in a very humorous way, details her experience working retail, what she learned from that and how that informs her business now. So that was fun. She was really funny. We had a good time.
Liz:
And she tells us about…
Doug:
There’s more?
Liz:
There’s more Doug! So, you know what I have to say, I have to cut in and be like, it’s really weird talking about what we talked about and we haven’t talked about anything yet.
Doug:
Technically. Yes.
Speaker 1:
I know. She talks about being a Poshmark Heart and Hustle recipient.
Doug:
Oh yes.
Liz:
Award recipient. So stay tuned to listen to that.
Doug:
And what else do we have this episode, Liz?
Liz:
We have some news and we will answer a seller question.
Doug:
The seller community podcast is produced by List Perfectly every week for your enjoyment and show notes are found at thesellercommunitypodcast.com/podcast. Let’s get started with our featured guest, Maggie @refashionedhippie.
Heart & Hustle Of A Self Made Entrepreneur
Doug:
Today we welcome Maggie @refashionedhippie to the show. Maggie has been selling online for three and a half years. She’s a multi-platform seller, wife, mom, published author, and one of the select few to be recognized and rewarded by Poshmark as a Spring 2021 Heart and Hustle Community Fund grantee. Welcome to the show, Maggie. Thanks for coming on.
Maggie:
Hi. Thank you. I’m so excited to be here.
Liz:
Thank you for coming. I am so super excited to have you on the show today. Ah, man, I have so many questions for you. So first I’ve followed you on Instagram for a while now and you know, when I saw the Heart and Hustle, I was like, “oh my gosh, that’s so cool.” Congratulations. And then I saw that you had the book and I saw that you posted about List Perfectly. I’m like, oh my gosh. I wanted to know so much more about her because this is so interesting. And I know that the community would love to know more about you too. Do you mind if we get started?
Maggie:
No, I would love to I’m so happy to get to talk to my fellow sellers today.
Liz:
So Maggie, tell us how you got started selling online. What made you wake up one day and say, I think I want to just get started in selling online?
Maggie:
My journey starts with shopping honestly. I had transitioned out of working 10 years in thrift stores, 10 years in retail to working a “real job” where I needed to dress up every day. And after working in thrift stores for so long, I can’t spend full price on something. I can’t go to the mall and buy a $60 dress. My little heart will not allow it. So I had heard about Poshmark for a couple years and I checked out the app. I found a Banana Republic dress. It was silk, it was my size, it was gorgeous and it was $8 and that was kind of it for me. So I joined initially as a buyer and the longer I was at this job, the more free time I had. Cause it turns out when you stop working retail, you have a lot of time at jobs.
Maggie:
So I would take pieces. And when I had time and just photograph them in this gorgeous model home that I was working out of and I started posting them and I started making money. And most of the money that I made went right back into my closet, but that was fun. And I liked that. So it was a, it was a really good deal for me cause I felt like I felt like I was getting free clothing and I was getting rid of pieces that didn’t fit. It didn’t fit my lifestyle anymore. For new pieces, absolutely loved. And it felt like it was free. Like I was just spending Poshmark dollars. But then I had to unfortunately had to leave my job because I had a difficult pregnancy and it just felt unfair to make them keep paying me to sleep at my desk or throw up in the bathroom. So I don’t really have it in me to not work. So I started focusing much more on Poshmark and I realized that I could be a full-time mom and I could take care of myself the way I needed to while I was pregnant, but I could also still continue to bring in an income. And that was really, really valuable for me.
Liz:
And Maggie I think that that is so awesome that you were able to do that and find a way saying, “hey, I love that drive that I don’t want to stop working and this is fun and I’m making money at it.”
Maggie:
It’s going to sound like Poshmark is paying me and they’re not. If they could, that would be great. But I just want other people to know you can do this. I mean, I started for $0. I was taking pieces from my own closet. My mom was giving me her old stuff and that was it. I use my phone. I didn’t have anything fancy. I didn’t know about any apps to help me edit photos or anything like that. And I was making about $300 a month, which for me was wonderful because it was opposed to zero. So I just want anyone who’s listening to this. Anyone who’s thinking about reselling, you can do this and you don’t need to be a business woman. You don’t need to know every vintage brand from the fifties and what Talbot’s tags look like every two years back to the dawn of time, you can do this and there is a whole community that will help you. I just, I just want to say that because that was the thing that I discovered along my journey, there’s a community of people here to help you.
Doug:
Did you start full-time right away or did you start part-time and if you started part-time what was your transition to full?
Maggie:
Yeah, so I was part-time for about two years and when COVID hit, I had never planned on being a stay at home Mom. I thought I would take a maternity leave and then go back to work. But then I had a baby and I looked at her every day and I was like, how do I leave? And then when COVID hit, I knew that I probably couldn’t go back to work. So I talked to my husband and I said, “I think I want to make this full-time I think, I think I can do it.” And that was when I really started treating reselling like a business so that when I looked into other platforms and I still sell on Poshmark, I still consider Poshmark my home. But I signed up for List Perfectly and I started cross-posting to the other platforms. And now it is my full-time job. I earn full-time income and I am a full-time parent. And I feel so lucky to be able to say that.
Liz:
What made you branch out? What made you say “you know what? I think that there’s, I love Poshmark, but I wonder if there’s a little bit more and if I can make a little bit more on other platforms?” Where did you decide to grow to?
Maggie:
You know, when I decided that this would be my business, instead of my hobby, I realized that I had to do a lot more research. The second platform that I transitioned to is actually Mercari. And I know I just gave you an answer about research. I saw an ad during the Super Bowl that was my research about Mercari. So I said, “screw it. I’ll try.” And I cross-posted some and sold a few pieces immediately. And I was like, “okay, so this works” and eBay scared me because I felt like, you know, gosh, Mercari is the cute girl that befriends you on your first day at a new school. eBay is like the bully that’s going to wait and take your lunch money. Like that was my perception because Poshmark is so like, “oh, we’re cute. We’re friendly.” And eBay was so established and so professional.
Maggie:
And as you say, that’s probably because I started with Poshmark and I’m sure I’d feel differently. Okay. But eBay scared me and I didn’t feel like I was ready for eBay until I did more research until I started watching YouTube videos and listening to other resellers who were like, no, go, but you’re still like, go join eBay. So I joined eBay and the same thing, it was like a beautiful reselling Crock-Pot you just set it and forget it. You don’t have to share, you don’t have to make friends. It’s just it’s there and people buy it. That’s when I decided like, okay, now I need List Perfectly. Cause like I’m a baller at the thrift store. I will make it rain at a thrift store when it comes to investing in my business. So it was a big deal for me to say, yes, I will, I will sign up for the subscription and pay for it? But it’s really made a difference. And that’s, I think the biggest difference between being a hobby reseller and a professional reseller is that you take those steps and you’re willing to make those investments in your business, which are really investments in yourself. So if you’re ready to invest in yourself, you can do this full-time but that was, that was my transition. And now I sell on a bunch of different ones. I have not yet cracked Depop but I’m on it. I don’t get any attention. I think it’s cause I’m old. My niece had to tell me that skinny jeans were out and you can take those from my cold dead hands, but I’m trying, I’m working and don’t get me wrong–I love eBay. eBay is a wonderful platform, but like that little blue circle, if I don’t completely have the blue, the bane of my existence is that blue circle. That blue circle is the mean girl who picks on me. That’s my bully.
Doug:
Well, you don’t have to complete the blue circle. A lot of people think you have to complete it. I don’t know. Maybe it’s like a goal thing for you. You don’t have to, you can, but you don’t have to.
Maggie:
I know that you’re totally right. But I feel like that’s like my mom saying, “well, Heather doesn’t have to like you, if she’s, if she’s not going to go for you, she’s not your real friend is she?”
Liz:
Well listen. So eBay realized that they’re bullies with their big blue circle. And they actually said, they’re actually doing an intervention right now with some therapists. And they’re getting rid of the blue circle because of this. So hopefully therapy helps them a little bit, but I totally get it. I totally get it. I mean, it’s the biggest market.
Maggie:
No one should be listening to my business advice right now because like I’m bad talking to eBay as a reseller, you just put my name out there. They know they can find me.
Liz:
No, I love all of the sites. I’m not as successful on some as others. And some of them are like a thorn in my side, but you know what I show up every day because, they’re going to like me, eBay is complicated and they’re “yeah, we know.”
Doug:
Maggie. So, we know you’re a List Perfectly fan you’ve mentioned that. And you talked about it a little bit, but let’s dig in a little deeper. So how did List Perfectly help you expand your business?
Maggie:
The time saved doing cross-posting from having to screenshot listings on my phone and upload them to other things? The major thing though, honestly, I have absolutely loved having all of my inventory in one place. That has been the biggest thing for me, because it used to be that when something’s sold on Poshmark, I would have to go to eBay and go to Mercari and go to Depop and go to Facebook and look for it and pull it down. And every once in a while I would, I would forget, I would forget that on Mercari, since you only have four characters, I didn’t call them Citizens of Humanity jeans. I said COH jeans. So I would say, “oh, I must not have put them on Mercari.” And then they would sell on Mercari a month later because I forgot. So just having all of my inventory in one space, being able to mark it sold and delist it and then relist it. If I want to put it up somewhere new, that has been the biggest thing for me. It’s all in one place. I don’t have to think about it. I don’t have to worry about it. If I say it’s sold that’s for me, that’s been the biggest thing. It just, it keeps it all organized and I’m not an organized person. So that’s awesome.
Liz:
So we’ve talked about the Poshmark Heart and Hustle Community Fund in previous episodes. Poshmark describes this as “every day, Poshmark sellers combine heart and hustle to turn passion into profit to help them get closer to their goals, whether that’s making extra money, scaling their business, supporting the circular economy or turning a side hustle into something bigger. Poshmark wants to recognize and empower entrepreneurs and dream chasers who believe and demonstrate that heart and hustle go hand in hand.” Maggie, you were one of the community fund winners for the spring round that was announced on June 22nd. Congratulations. So Maggie, please share with us, how did you hear about this fund? And if you don’t mind kind of take us through the process about how you found out about it, how you applied and really how you found out how you were selected.
Maggie:
So I’m sure anyone who uses Poshmark will know what I’m talking about. I opened the Poshmark app and I saw that little note on top that just said, it said something grant and I was already clicking away because I mean, I’m sorry, Poshmark. I let you, I tend to ignore those because it’s like, Ooh, clouds. I clear all day. Yay. Yeah, whatever. And then as I was clicking away, I was like, wait, wait, that’s a grant. And I went back to the page and then of course Poshmark was like, “no, you ignored me. I’m not talking to you.” So I couldn’t find it. So I Googled like Poshmark grant, what is this? And the application process is really easy. They asked a couple of questions, which if you’re a reseller, you have the answers to, basically just wants to know who you are and what your business like.
Maggie:
So pretty basic stuff. And they also ask for a 60 second video where you just talk about yourself, about your journey and about what you would use the money for if you got it. And I said, I’ll apply. I’ll apply. Like I’m not really a great person with new technology. So I thought “they won’t pick me” because you know, with my video, like I’m not going to have great graphics or music. I won’t be able to put in like slices of nice photos. I haven’t worn makeup in two full years, so that’s going to be a disaster, but I was like, I’ll give it a shot. And I actually recorded the video while my daughter was sleeping, which it’s kind of like on the TV show where the bomb is ticking down. It’s like, you don’t know how much time there really is. So the video that I sent in was not like the greatest take because my cats kept crawling across me and it was just like, ah, I’ll just send it. I’ll just send it. They’re not going to pick me. I’ll just send it. And then they picked me.
Maggie:
I think anyone who’s applying, just be yourself, just be yourself. Because if you do have a professional makeup artist and you do have this amazing video and you’re walking through your vineyard, talking about your life, you know, they want to know real people, which is the only reason I can imagine they chose me. But Poshmark did do something a little mean. I got an email saying that I was a finalist and they wanted to do one final interview and just get to know you a little bit more. I freaked out. I signed up for my time. I freaked out. I did my makeup like six times I tried on every outfit I own, I did my hair a bunch of times. And then when I logged in, I was ready. I had written answers to questions that they were never going to ask all sorts of things that would be ready. And there was like a hundred other people in a chat room. I was like, “okay, okay, Poshmark. What’s up?” And they came on and they gave this wonderful little speech about what community means to the Poshmark community. And they were so proud to be a part of all of our stories. And then they announced that we were all winners And it was like, yay. But also I did my makeup for you. I saw more than one really embarrassing, happy dance. So I was not alone that day. It was really, it was really great.
Doug:
So you’ve mentioned that, and we agree, authenticity is key, you know, telling your story. And we agree. So, but right now, Liz and I are going to get our notepads and we’re going to take some notes. We would like to know because the Fall fund has just started taking applications and they’re going to take applications through September 30th. So besides being authentic, what other tips do you have for fellow Posh sellers?
Maggie:
There was a big focus on what you would use the money for. And I think if you’re thinking, well, use it to buy stuff, you have to have a better answer than that. I talked about, and this is totally true. I want to diversify the way I source because right now I usually just take donations from members of my community or when I can, I’ll go to a thrift store and, you know, see if I find anything cute, but I have not gotten in any sort of pallets. I’ve not gotten into any sort of online or estate sales because I’ve been afraid and because I didn’t want to risk the money. So for me having Poshmark give me that opportunity was huge because now I can try different sourcing methods. And if I am wrong, if it doesn’t work out, I’ve learned a lesson, but I haven’t taken a financial hit that a lot of us maybe can’t afford. So that was the biggest thing me is I want to try additional means of sourcing. So I would say, be really specific with how you’re going to use the money, because if they’re going to get us all this money, they want to make sure it’s going to advance our businesses. Not just, you know, pay for some nice sushi and a pair of shoes. Poshmark is investing in us because they are trusting that you will invest in yourself. So whatever that means for you, like I would say once again, I love List Perfectly. If you’re on the fence, maybe Poshmark money going towards List Perfectly is a great way to do it. You know, gearing up for that subscription service. It’s going to take your business to the next level. That’s what they want. They don’t want to give you $500. They want to give you the opportunity to earn $5,000. So if you’re thinking of applying, be prepared to tell them your authentic story and be prepared to talk about your business as a business, because that’s what it is. I don’t care. If you make two sales a month, this is a business and you are part of a global community that is women led. That is all about recycling and upcycling and getting new life to pieces. You are a small business owner.
New Speaker:
I see that you wrote a book published last month. So your book is called “Why I Hate Everything: Reflections on a Decade in Retail. So here’s the description: “Has anyone ever tried to throw a cash register at you? Have so many irritating and annoying questions caused you to develop a poker face so strong that a sledgehammer wouldn’t break it? Have you seen every dark impulse man possesses? Do you know every demon by name? Yeah. Well, you’ve probably worked retail and this book is for you. No? Well then you probably never worked retail and this book is for you. These are true stories of my 10 years working retail often ugly, sometimes touching, always funny because it didn’t happen to you.” So Maggie, please tell us more about the book. How in the world going through all of this that we just heard the last three and a half years starting up your business did you find time to write a book?
Maggie:
So, I will tell you exactly how I did it. And I think every reseller will know what I’m talking about. I kept notes when I was, when I was 15 and I got my first job, I started keeping notes just because I was like, no, one’s gonna believe it. No, one’s gonna leave it. So I would just, I would, I would scribble in a notebook and stuff into my bag and I’ve been doing that for 17 years. And finally, I was like, I wanna, I want to publish this. I want to publish it. I want people to be able to read. I want to get it off of my desktop, but there were a lot of steps to do that. For one, I actually had to write it and then I had to edit it and all the other stuff that gets involved with that. But I always felt like I didn’t have time because I do a lot. I’m a mom. So I wrote my book when I sat down and said, “okay, it’s time to work on my death pile.” And that little voice is like, “no, do anything else.” That’s when I wrote it, that’s when I wrote the book.
Liz:
I love it! Procrastination writing.
Maggie:
It was like, okay, you don’t want to? Yes. And it turns out you can write a book in a month if you want to.
Liz:
Oh my gosh, I love it.
Doug:
That’s awesome, and good to know. So tell us where we can find the book. I want to read it. I did some time in retail, but I want to read it, see your experiences, learn. Where can we find the book? And again, we’ll add the links on the show notes page.
Maggie:
Thank you. And first of all, thank you for reading that. It’s the first time I’ve heard a human being read something that I’ve written. So that was thrilling for me. But you can buy it on Amazon. There’s a paperback and a Kindle copy, amazon.com. Just “Why I Hate Everything” by Maggie Weber and yeah, I’m serious. Like you don’t have to love me to read this book. In fact, many people who read it will not afterwards, but it’s, it’s about thrift stores. It’s about the inner working of thrift stores and anyone who’s ever been in a store, they’ll have a story to relate to. You may recognize yourself, which again will lead to hate.
Liz:
Well, I can’t wait to dig in. Mine is downloaded. I’ve gotten through the intros and I’m going to be digging in here soon enough. So when I’m procrastinating listing my death pile, I will have something to do. I’m not going to publish a book. I’m going to read a book all about the thrift stores.
Maggie:
I want resellers, especially to know this is a great book for resellers because I spent about eight years working in thrift stores. And that is where I got my chops for reselling. And one thing, especially I want to point out is thrift stores only put out 10 to 15% of the donations that they receive. Everything else gets recycled or thrown out. That was something I learned while working in thrift stores. That there’s a really high bar for what they’ll sell. Don’t let anyone tell you that you are taking advantage of thrift stores. You are not, you are their best customer. You pay the same prices as anybody else, and you give them a lot more business. They get the money that they asked for and they have a lot more stuff in that backroom. Let me tell you.
Liz:
The more you buy, the less that’s going to landfills.
Doug:
That is true.
Maggie:
Another thing that I think all resellers know is you get really good at really weird stuff. So there’s a whole chapter in there called “The Spiderman of Butts” because I am the Spiderman of butts. I worked in thrift stores for so long that if I see a booty walking past me, I know what size that booty is gonna fit best. You should be wearing high-waisted jeans. I know if flare jeans are gonna work out for you. I know that is my retail Spidey sense is I got you, bud. So all of you who resell, you know, you know, weird, weird stuff.
Doug:
Liz took me to the Goodwill bins once, once it was like, I just stood back and observed. It was amazing…
Maggie:
I want to know what your super powers are. I want to know. Cause I love hearing about people’s…what’s your weird thing that you can do now that you’re a reseller?
Doug:
Mine is, is I can get in touch with Liz 24 hours a day. And she answers my questions like that. I have a direct line to the bat, the Liz phone. It’s a red bat phone. “Hey, Liz, how do I do this?”
Liz:
And I won’t tell him “just Google it.” I won’t I’ll give him a real answer. No, you know what? And so many people can relate to this. So many sellers can relate to this. When you are shopping, you no longer see a blue t-shirt you see an Ann Taylor blue, short sleeve V neck, 100% organic cotton size, small shirt. Because when you look at things, you start writing titles in your head as you’re flipping through the racks. And you’re like, I should write this down right now. I should just dictate it
Maggie:
Preach, preach sister. Yes.
Liz:
Yeah. When you do this long enough, pretty soon you don’t see items, you see listing titles.
Maggie:
Do you like price out your friends? Like when you go out to lunch with a friend, you’re like, “oh, those shoes, I can get $50 for those shoes. I can $10 for the top.”
Liz:
You know what? I used to do that a lot. So I’ve been, I was part-time, I’ve been selling for 19 years. I’ve been on eBay a long time. It used to be, I couldn’t watch TV without knowing the brand and pricing it out. As a matter of fact, no, you knew where I do that out. We just rewatched all of the Fresh Prince of Be- Air. And every time Will would come up and I’m like, “God, no, I could get on Grailed and get 300 bucks for that shirt and outfit.” I’m like, man, if I could just get my hands on what he’s wearing, you know, vintage Y2K sellers, 90s sellers need inspiration, just go back and rewatch Fresh Prince of Bel-Air. You’ll get some major FOMO from all of the clothes they’re wearing.
Doug:
And I do that around the house with like family stuff. It’s like, “oh, you finished that book,” or the kids will leave something out. Now they say “you can’t sell it!”
Liz:
I just found my son’s Gameboy Color, lime green. And there was a cartridge in it. It was blank. And I’m like, well, let me just turn it on to show that it works. It’s Pokémon Silver Edition. I’m like…and my son was looking. He’s like, “oh, you found my, my Gameboy.” I’m like, “it’s been sitting in a drawer for six years, now you don’t want me to sell it?”
Maggie:
My parents were babysitting my daughter and I came in to pick her up. And I was like, “what’s what, that’s a weird thing. What do you have in your hand?” So I used Google Lens and she was playing with a vintage 1983 He-Man toy. And I was like, “put it down, put it down.” And I demanded to go through the five totes of toys that my mom has kept from all of our childhoods. And I looked through and I was like, “oh, there’s Street Sharks in here. Oh my God, there’s Thundercats in here!” “There your brothers toys honey, you can’t have them.” “My brother’s a lawyer! He doesn’t need these!”
Liz:
I love it. I have to say, so this is totally off script, but I’ll just say it and I’ll throw it out there. So Maggie can be found on Instagram at refashionedhippie. I remember when you just told that. I remember seeing that now, but one of the things, so it’s refashionedhippie. She has handmade some of the most adorable clothes. And I’ll go back and let me tell you that t-shirt with the fish on it, that you made into a dress for your daughter is so cute.
Maggie:
Thank you so much. Well, one day when she’s like 27 and hopefully not living in the house, I want to transition my business to remaking more pieces.
Liz:
I love it. The pieces that you’ve put up are pretty amazing. So everybody should go check you out to see the fish shirt and the story and follow you because you’ve got some pretty awesome reels on there too.
Maggie:
I agree. Thank you. You guys are so nice.
Doug:
And the other part of the story you told about going back to mom and dad’s house and going through the old bins is first of all, your parents keeping some stuff and then either throwing it out or when you get to the point where you think back on the stuff that you’ve gotten rid of or thrown out that if I had only kept it…
Maggie:
I don’t want to talk about this. Yeah. The interview is over.
New Speaker:
The interview’s over! Good-bye!
Liz:
My high-waisted mom jeans from 1993, so cool right now. Ah, oh, well they’ll fit on a thigh right now.
Maggie:
I was told this would not be a gotcha journalism.
Liz:
Okay. Okay. Quick, Doug. Let’s not lose her! Let’s go on to the lightning round.
Doug:
All right. Maggie, Maggie, welcome to the show. We’re going to shift gears a little bit. This is your chance to make up some points, double your points or catch up. Are you ready for the lightning round? Where we ask you quick questions? And we would like quick answers. Sound good?
Maggie:
Let’s do it.
Doug:
Alright, Liz let’s get started. What was the first thing you sold online?
Maggie:
A pair of Citizens of Humanity jeans, full price on Poshmark. And I lost my mind about it.
Liz:
What was your most memorable sale?
Maggie:
I had a vintage 1970s, Renee Tener, full length maxi sweater that I sold for $150. But the real win of that is I found it in the Goodwill bins and it reeked of moth balls and nobody was going for it. And I was like, “no, I will save you. I will save you” And my neighbors hated me. I aired it out for like a week. All of our yards were ruined, but I sold it for so much more than I paid for it. And the woman who bought it was ecstatic. And we’re both just super happy about it, but my biggest win.
Doug:
What was the highest priced item you’ve sold?
Maggie:
I don’t deal in super high priced things. My average piece sells for like eight bucks, but I had a pair of vintage, 1993, Michael Jackson, LA Gear, sneakers that I sold for $250 to a shoe designer whose name I’m not allowed to give you, but I got those for free. And I was going to throw them out because I thought they were ugly until I used Google Lens. And I was like, “wait a minute, wait a minute. No one touch these.”
Liz:
Oh my gosh. That is so awesome. I’m pretty sure I had those shoes
Doug:
With the glove, your sequined glove and your Thriller jacket?
Liz:
No, it was, it was pre 93 and I had a red Michael Jackson cross-body purse. So, it’s pretty cool to, to put my Chapstick in. Right.
Doug:
Speaking of that, do you guys do you know hustleathomemom? Do you guys follow her? Hustleathomemom is cool. I know she’s great. But she posted a video. Have you seen the Cobra Kai jacket video where she found…you know Cobra Kai is Karate Kid and it’s had a resurgence and her husband I guess, was a fan and she found like a Cobra Kai jacket. And she has him close his eyes and she puts the jacket on him and then has him go to a mirror and look, and it’s pretty cool. That was a good find.
Liz:
Now I gotta go check it out.
Doug:
Cause it’s got, I mean at first it kind of looks Thrilleresque, but it’s Cobra Kai…
Liz:
Lightning round Doug.
Doug:
Yes.
Liz:
Okay. Let’s talk about List Perfectly for a second. I know you mentioned this before and of course my eyes got all bright because I think I knew the answer to this and it’s probably mine too. But what is your favorite List Perfectly feature?
Maggie:
Delist and realist hands down, saves so much time.
Doug:
What’s your favorite platform overall?
Maggie:
I love all of them like they’re my children for different reasons, but Poshmark will always be my home.
Liz:
So our final question and to kind of just wrap up this amazing, amazing interview. What do you know now that you wish you knew when you first started selling it?
Maggie:
Start treating this like a business today, even if you’re only selling on the side to clear out your closet, if you’re even thinking about maybe I could do this on a larger scale one day later, start doing it now, because if you have to build an inventory system later with existing pieces, if you have to go back and retake photos that you wish you had taken the right time, the right way, the first time, if you have to start measuring pieces, if you have to go back and look at every tag and say, is it a hundred percent cotton? Is it polyester? You will kick yourself because you will be doing three times the amount of work now than you would have done if you did it right the first time. Taxes, same thing. Look up what you need to keep in the last few, your taxes, because I assure you. And I know this firsthand. It’s super scary on January 1st to be like, “what do I need for a full year? What now?” Treat it like a business. You are a small business owner. Treat it like a business.
Liz:
Amen to all of this, all of it. Oh my goodness. Maggie, do you have anything else that you would like to add?
Maggie:
I mean, clearly I like the sound of my own voice, so thank you for this. Truly I just want to say one more time. If you’re interested in reselling at all, there is a whole community waiting for you. Just get on the computer, go on Instagram, go wherever people are found, we’re here to help. We want you to succeed.
Doug:
It’s true. And thanks, Maggie. This was super fun. And so we’ve been joined by Maggie @refashionedhippie. Thanks for coming on the show. And we’ll have all of your links in the show notes and look for Maggie’s book “Why I Hate Everything: Reflections on a Decade in Retail.” I will be looking for it. I will read it. Listen, we’ll read it together. We’ll do a little book club. Do you want to join our book club?
Maggie:
I really do. And honestly, thank you so much for this opportunity. I feel like that girl in middle school that you never talked to. Who’s like, “hey, hey, you, hey, you want some acai berry stuff?” You know, pushing my own book is terrible, but I think it’s funny. I hope you guys like it.
Liz:
I love it. Thank you again so much Maggie. And I’ll see you on Instagram and I’ll see you around these selling community. Bye guys.
Seller Question
Liz:
So that was an awesome chat with Maggie. I enjoyed myself.
Doug:
Definitely. She was a lot of fun! Very funny, very, you know, lots of great tips too.
Liz:
Yeah. And you know, she gave a lot of great advice for the Poshmark Heart and Hustle award. And the summer 2021 applications are live right now. So you want to go to poshmark.com/communityfund if you want to apply. I am one of eBay’s up and running grant recipients. When I did my application, I started it. I closed my laptop. I went and finished dinner forgot about it, you know? Told a couple of my friends. I’m like, Hey, are you guys applying for this? Forgot about it. A friend’s like, Hey, I just finished mine. It’s due tomorrow. I’m like, oh, that’s right! So cranked up my laptop. I’m like, let me just get this done. Close my laptop, forgot about it until I got the call. Kind of like Maggie, she’s like, I just need to do this. So if anybody is looking to get some funds, get a grant to help your business. I mean, as business owners, we should be taking any money somebody wants to give us to grow. So don’t overthink it, go in and do it. The grantees, there are $5,000 grants that will be given to 12 sellers and $500 grants will be given to 130 sellers. So there are some eligibility requirements. Again, go to poshmark.com/communityfund. You have to be 18 or older, live in the U.S. Canada or Australia. Be an active seller on Poshmark in good standing with a rating of four and a half percent or higher, have shared at least 25 items from other Posher’s closets, have an average ship time of less than three days and have made a minimum of 12 sales on Poshmark. And then it gives, like depending on which quarter you’re applying for. And then there’s a couple of additional requirements. When you apply, they kind of walk you through everything. There are essay questions, and just scroll all the way down to the bottom of page. There’s certain essay questions with the poshable, I mean, possible scores. And then it kind of goes on about their selection process. So do yourself a favor, do your business a favor and apply for the Poshmark Heart and Hustle community fund.
Doug:
It is a good program, because it helps you recognize what’s going on in the Poshmark community. It helps Posh-markers get some notice and you know, it helps Poshmark too, with some engagement and it’s just one of those kind of super user identification type of things. All right, look out for that at Poshmark.com/communityfund. Liz, we’ve got a seller question this week from the List Perfectly Facebook group. Can I read it to you?
Liz:
Take it away.
Doug:
Bonnie says, “Liz shared that she clicks on the LP thumbnail on her mobile browser. Am I understanding that you have bookmarked the LP site? How does that work, Liz?”
Liz:
Yeah. So List Perfectly is mobile friendly. There is no app. However, there are ways. I have an apple device. I don’t know. I think Google devices are very similar. So what I did to easily access List Perfectly on my phone, because I do use it a lot on my phone, is I just brought up. I went to my web browser thesellercommunitypodcast.com on the bottom toolbar. There’s an up arrow. I scroll down and click add to home screen and then pushed add. And that puts a little, I don’t know if it’s called a thumbnail, Doug. I don’t know if I’ve been saying it wrong this whole time, but it gives a little icon that appears like an app on your phone so that when I push the LP icon, it just takes me right to their mobile friendly.
Doug:
And it’s the same with Android. I’m on Android. So, you go to your browser, you open the site and then you go to your little menu there and there, same thing, and add to home screen selection that you click. And that will add. Like you said, it looks like an app, but it’s a link just to open your mobile browser. So it’s just a mobile friendly version of the List Perfectly site.
Liz:
Yeah. And you know, there’s a lot of people that are really surprised. They’re like, wait a minute, List Perfectly, you can use it on your phone? Yeah. I use List Perfectly on my phone a lot. I take my pictures sometimes I’ll type out listings. I’ll put the weights in if it’s right there, because that my item is in my hand, I’ll put the custom sku. Like if I threw my item in “tote 99”, I can put that right in the custom sku area and move on. When I’m ready to list and cross post, then I can sit down at my computer and do that.
Doug:
Yeah. And it’s not an app, it’s mobile friendly. The site is mobile friendly. And it’s really convenient to have that just to go back and forth. Like for you. If you’ve got to run to your bin and do something, or you’re at your photo station and do something. Same thing with me. I’ll start a lot of stuff. Start drafts in the mobile version and then just be desktop and finish things up and then just cross list from there.
Liz:
So Bonnie, I hope that that answered your question. For anyone needing more assistance on that in the List Perfectly Facebook group. There’s actually a lot of great conversations going on about that. And I’ve got a little video tutorial on how I do that if you need that too.
Doug:
Yeah, and that’s all in there. And again, List Perfectly Facebook group is great for all platform questions, not just List Perfectly questions. And we want to take your questions each week here on the podcast. We’re happy to answer. You can find us at thesellercommunitypodcast.com/podcast. You can leave a message or ask a question at anchor.fm/resellercommunitypodcast. And, you can get a lot of your questions answered in the List Perfectly Facebook group, or we’d love to answer your question on air. Sometimes we do pull questions from there. If you ask a question on there, use the hashtag seller community podcast or tag Liz or me. You can also leave an audio message for us at anchor.fm/communitypodcast and we can play your voice on the air. Maybe you can become famous! Email us at podcastthesellercommunitypodcast.com or again, ask a question in the List Perfectly group
News
Liz:
Oh, my gosh, Doug. I swear, every week there is a ton of news and I don’t think that some listeners realize we actually cut out a lot of news. What do we have? What’s our condensed news version so that this podcast is not four hours long?
Doug:
That’s true. So we’ll do the high level stuff. One big thing is we posted this in the Facebook group. So Microsoft released an emergency update for Windows 10. So basically what they’re doing is they want you to update your Windows. There was some security vulnerability that leaked, and they don’t want people to be taken advantage of. So basically if you’re a Windows 10 user, you want to update your settings. So on Windows, it’s really easy to go to your start button, select settings, go to update and security, and then select Windows update. Hopefully a lot of you have automatic Windows updates, which would take care of that. But, you definitely want to update that if you’re a Windows user. You want to have the latest and greatest security updates.
Liz:
I’m a Mac user, but I’ve been hearing a lot about this. So it sounds like it’s kind of a big deal.
Doug:
Yes. And then Liz, I’m not on Etsy, but Etsy released some category in item attributes updates.
Liz:
Yes. I saw this.
Doug:
So this is exciting for me. New categories and attributes for video games. So arcade games, consoles, controllers, and joysticks, games, handheld and pocket games, parts and mods, controller mods, dot covers, and socks, stands and displays. So it’s cool. What’s cool about seeing this as like, maybe I want to sell some video games over on Etsy because that’s one of the things I sell.
Liz:
So yeah. They added new gemstone type attributes. And like you said, a new category and attributes for video games and a new kurta category for boys and girls clothing. They’re adding it, expanding. We all know. I mean, as soon as I saw this, I was like, I immediately got like some eBay item specifics, PTSD going on. And I’m like, oh man. But I think that this is a little bit different because they are adding new categories, which clearly there, I guarantee you, this came from the community saying, Hey, we need this on the site and Etsy’s kind of killing it. Like they’ve been in the news a lot.
Doug:
Yeah, for sure. So they’re really growing, adapting to the community, what people are selling. But, again, for me, that video game thing is interesting. So maybe I have to take a second look at Etsy.
Liz:
So yeah, I think that the new categories and attributes for video games is going to be a huge win for sellers.
Doug:
And like you said, Etsy’s had an insane year so far. They’ve done a ton of cool stuff.
Liz:
They have. It seems like every week they’re buying somebody or adding new categories.
Doug:
So let me ask you this, Liz, what’s up with this wardrobe closet purge over on Poshmark? My closet is empty over there, but for different reasons. But is there some big purge thing going on? What’s up with that?
Liz:
Poshmark CEO Maneesh was on CNBC, did a small little interview and really talking about fashion trends, shifting as consumers prepare for the post pandemic world. If you were on Poshmark, you’re a clothing seller during the pandemic, we saw a spike in casual wear and a huge decline in party wear, cocktail dresses, workwear even. And we’ve mentioned that. I mean, I even mentioned it a couple of episodes ago, just trying to buy nicer clothes because everybody’s buying clothes to go back to work. And this is exactly what they’re talking about. Kind of the shift in buyer demand on Poshmark. So this article states that sales of clothing for going out are on the rise after roughly a year of lockdown. So fitness apparel purchases are on the decline. But really they’re just seeing a change in what people are buying. So for example, while sweat pants and active wear are going down, the sales of bikinis and jean shorts have roughly doubled on the site and many employers call staff back to the office after about a year of remote work. So the sales of work dresses are up 30% on the site.
Doug:
So bikinis and work shorts in the office? Is this what you’re saying? (laughing)
Liz:
I don’t know what kind of office that would, no. So let’s not mesh these two together
Doug:
Because I’ve been going with the business up high, party down low. So nice, obviously black t-shirt on. And then, jogging pants or basketball shorts.
Liz:
People didn’t get to go out and enjoy their summers and their beaches and the cruises and the pools last summer. People just didn’t go anywhere. So those have picked up. So if you are a fashion seller and you were on Poshmark or any other sites, swimsuits, shorts and women’s work wear.
Doug:
And this is what we always talk about. You have to do your research, adjust to the trends. I mean, this is like Poshmark is telling you literally, this is what’s selling and this is what’s not right now. I saw something on the news this morning. They were talking about clothes. I don’t wear suits that much, but suit jackets with shorts. So short suits, they’re calling them. I don’t like that. I mean, I actually don’t wear a ton of shorts like around the house, but when I go out, it’s usually shockingly jeans and a black t-shirt, the occasional band t-shirt and if I really have to dress up, it’s like a short sleeve button down. In extreme situations I might wear a polo shirt. I try to avoid it at all costs though.
Liz:
Yeah. I am far from a fashionista. I spent 23 years wearing what somebody else told me to wear. And then I worked for myself at home in my basement. So my work attire has never been any of this. We joke and we call this Colorado casual, you know, leggings and a t-shirt and sneakers or flip flops. So really what the article was stating was that Poshmark saw a surge in consumers purging their closet.
Doug:
Now speaking of adjusting and growing Liz, Shopify. They’ve expanded their platform across the globe. That’s kind of interesting. So Shopify is basically expanded its hosting platform to regions on every continent and the Shopify commerce logic is now running in over a hundred plus server locations that directly serve API requests for custom storefronts. So basically that’s the content feeds. API’s are content feeds back and forth. I know you probably know this, but in case our listeners don’t, I don’t remember what API stands for. Active something, but it basically feeds back and forth.
Liz:
The storefront API can now be accessed within just 50 milliseconds by every buyer on earth. So when we talk about reach and that is, we talk about every platform. Like I’m selling on multiple platforms, right? That’s what I love about eBay. I have a global reach.
Doug:
More countries, more access, more sellers, more buyers. That’s what it’s all ultimately going to lead to. And I don’t know how many of our listeners use Shopify? That’s a whole different thing. Would love to do a Shopify episode at some point. It would be interesting. And speaking of a global company expanding their empire, so Facebook has, this was a couple of weeks ago, but I don’t think we talked about it. It’s kind of interesting for a couple of reasons. And I’ll tell you why Liz.
Liz:
Yes please!
Doug:
Facebook has added shop to WhatsApp and then has done some other e-commerce updates. First of all, I think the Facebook marketplace stuff, we’ve talked about that, it’s been a little bumpy for Facebook the last few months. So they’re trying other stuff and I don’t remember. I think it’s interesting for them to, you know, kind of try and incorporate shopping into WhatsApp because a lot of people use WhatsApp. I don’t know if people remember, but a couple years ago, Facebook and eBay did a thing together on WhatsApp. I don’t remember the details, but basically they did a little experiment a few years back. I’m sure that this has informed this and this is one of those things, too. It’s going to take a while to roll out. They announced it. It comes out, it’ll come out in phases. Like you might get it before I do and pay. Facebook is basically really pushing e-commerce on Facebook, its assets and over on Instagram too, I think they’ve still got marketplace issues. They need to hammer out.
Liz:
This is what I pulled out of the article. Because I like WhatsApp? Okay, whatever. But I get it. I get it. I don’t use WhatsApp a whole lot, but this was what I found interesting is they were talking about, because this is kind of like all-encompassing for Facebook because Facebook owns WhatsApp and Instagram. And we talked about Instagram last week. On Instagram, an AI based visual search feature will roll out for testing the next couple of months. It goes on to explain what that is. So let’s say I’m selling lipstick. You’ll be able to on Instagram, upload your picture and try on the different colors of lipsticks. So in AI visual search, Mark Zuckerberg said that a lot of shopping discovery begins with visual discovery. So you’ll see something that you think is awesome and you might want to see other products that are like that and you want to figure out how to get to that product, how to search it, how to try it on. So that will be interesting for Instagram. Or not.
Doug:
And let me interpret that for you. Let me interpret that for you, Liz. So what Zuckerberg is saying, we want to make it so you can shop wherever you are. So it’s like, we prefer it on Facebook or Instagram, but we want to make it so when you’re in your messaging app, you can also shop and you know what that’s gonna mean too, is you’re going to see ads, more ads. Facebook makes money on ads. They love ads. They love you to promote your stuff. So that’s all going to get worked in as well.
Liz:
Things change because e-commerce and commerce grows so fast.
Doug:
Yeah, exactly.
Liz:
So it’s keeping up with this stuff. So, and I know, I mean, I get it sometimes we don’t like change, but this change is rolling out because clearly it works or they’re going to try it.
Doug:
They’re late to the game in my opinion. And I know they’re trying, I think they’re trying to catch up this year. And I think that, you know, COVID, us being home for a year, year and a half, that really exacerbated things. But I think the social sites are behind in the game. So speaking of other, covering all the juggernauts in the internet world, this poor guy, Andy Jassy is going to be the new Amazon CEO. Jeff Bezos is stepping down. He’s going to space in some bizarre competition with Richard Branson, you know, billionaires, CEOs who can be the first to get the space? Andy Jassy’s going to be the new Amazon CEO, taking over from Bezos. He’s inheriting Amazon at kind of a difficult time for them, I think. I mean, there’s a lot of competition. There’s a lot going on. They’ve got a lot of problems with the government trying to come in and regulate and trying to come in and you know, say they’re a monopoly. But Jassy has been working at Amazon for 24 years. He rose through the ranks. He led Amazon web services, AWS, which is one of Amazon’s biggest divisions. And that’s one of their most profitable divisions for sure. And that’s their cloud computing software division. And apparently he’s known for his attention to detail, ambition and his directness. So, I guess that’s always good. Okay. Yeah. They’ve gotten a lot this year from regulators and critics of their labor and environmental practices. But you know, he’s getting a $125 million bonus to start. So maybe that eases a little bit of the pain, right? I mean, that’s kind of a drop in the bucket for these guys though. Okay. So Liz, guess what?
Liz:
What’s that?
Doug:
That’s all the news that fits this week, Liz!
Liz:
That was a lot of news!
Doug:
Yeah. We squeezed a lot in. Super high level, but I thought, you know, some of those were important.
Liz:
Yeah. And look beyond platforms. So this is going to be another plug for a place that I follow. It’s called. Hello Alice. I’ve talked about it before. Follow them. They just closed out a $10,000 grant for women owned businesses. I think we’ve talked about it before. So just follow them because, another company may have something coming up next. And just like Maggie said, this is your small business. Even if you’re at home selling 10, 20, 30 items a month, treat it like a business and grow it like a business.
Doug:
Exactly. All the time. And we talked about Hello Alice, because Liz won one of those grants. Congratulations, Liz. Isn’t that a Jefferson Starship song? Go ask Alice when she’s ten feet tall?
Outro
Liz:
So Doug, that wraps it up for this week. Thank you everyone for joining this week on the seller community podcast from List Perfectly for episode 22! We had a great chat, news, answered a seller question. You can find us at thesellercommunitypodcast.com/podcast. You can listen to us anywhere you listen to podcasts, and be sure to subscribe and tell your friends. You can also follow us on Instagram. I am Coloradoreworn. Doug is Snoop.dougie and of course follow List Perfectly.
Doug:
And then of course, the List Perfectly Facebook group is at facebook.com/groups/listperfectly. And if you’ve listened to the seller community podcast, which you have.
Liz:
Which you have if you’re still with us.
Doug:
Yes, hopefully you’re still listening this far. We’d love for you to leave an honest review at apple podcasts. So we want to hear what you like, what you don’t like, what you want more of, less of, you can lay it on us. Apple’s the only place where you can really leave a review. So if you don’t listen on there, maybe it’s a little bit of a challenge, but open the podcast app on an apple device, Liz just told me. Navigate to the podcast page, scroll down to ratings and reviews, and there will be a little button over there that says write a review. You can click that and you can be anonymous and just tell us what you think and submit. And that gives us some feedback and helps us out.
Liz:
We would appreciate it.
Doug:
We would. All right. Anything else, Liz?
Liz:
That’s all we’ve got this week. Doug. Thank you again, Maggie for joining us.
Doug:
Yeah. Thanks Maggie. That was a lot of fun. All right. So we will…
Liz and Doug:
See you next week!