Episode Three: The Seller Community and The Seller Community Podcast
Overview
In episode three, Liz and Doug interview each other, talk about their experience and seller community. We’ve got a combined Seller Shoutout and List Perfectly Tip, we’ll clear up a seller mystery, and we’ll have 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.
This week, we give The Hippy Edit a shout out and thanks! If you’re ready to sign up for List Perfectly, use the code THEHIPPYEDIT to save 30% off your first month!
Links
thesellercommunitypodcast.com/podcast
Seller Community Podcast on Anchor
Episode Three Links
thehippyedit blog
thehippyedit Instagram
eBay Community
TikTok Shop Seller University
thriftshophustler Instagram
Transcript
Intro
Doug:
Liz aren’t you missing some sweater sale or something you mentioned yesterday 99 cents sweaters or something?
Liz:
There is a 99, a one day 99. I actually, it might run through the weekend, but a 99 cent sweater sale at one of our local thrift stores and hoping to go out and do a little sourcing today.
Doug:
Aren’t you nervous about buying 99 cents sweaters?
Liz:
Is that it’s just the sleeves. We can make legwarmers out of it. No, it’s really great. It’s all of them. So even the stuff that they’re bringing out and they bring them out by the racks, everything new that comes out and they refill all weekend. So it’s actually, wow. It’s a pretty good little deal. Pretty good little deal.
Doug:
Yeah. I don’t think I own a sweater.
Liz:
Well, in Colorado, everybody owns a sweater.
Doug:
I like zip up hoodies, not too, not too heavy, not too light, kind of somewhere in between.
Liz:
Well, let’s get started. I’m Liz.
Doug:
I’m Doug. And welcome to the Seller Community Podcast from List Perfectly. This is episode three already. Liz, can you believe it?
Liz:
I cannot believe it three already. So now the official stuff really quick. The Seller Community Podcast is produced by List Perfectly every week. And the show notes are found at thesellercommunitypodcast.com/podcast.
Doug:
What’s in the show notes Liz?
Liz:
Show notes? Um, Doug, maybe you could tell us what’s in the show notes. Uh, some people may not know I’m I am the co-host. I am not the producer.
Doug:
So here’s the deal with the show notes, listeners and Liz. Go to thesellercommunitypodcast.com/podcast and there’s an episodes tab. So those are the show notes. So you can go there and you can actually stream the episode there. You can follow along like a kids’ readalong book and the transcript, some people like the transcripts, and then also there’s going to be links. So links from the, links mentioned in that episode that you, so you can click through, could be supplemental material. Maybe we’ll throw some videos in there. And it’s just kind of notes to enhance the show. So Liz, this week is interesting because we’re interviewing each other and obviously episode one, we had Alex, so two, we had Claire and Amanda and now we’ve got Liz and Doug. So it’s coming full circle.
Liz:
I can’t wait to start interviewing, other guests in our community and really tell their stories and share their information. We already have a lineup that we’re excited to be announcing soon.
Doug:
It’s awesome. And the scary thing is, is we can pretty much do what we want. We’ve got the full support of List Perfectly, so far.
Liz:
Yes, we have some amazing guests in the lineup. Definitely stay tuned for the next episodes and for announcements. But for this episode, we’re going to have a Seller Shoutout and a tip rolled into one.
Doug:
And instead of answering seller questions will clear up a little mystery.
Liz:
That that sounds mysterious.
Doug:
It’s very mysterious.
Liz:
We’ll also have the news.
Liz and Doug:
Let’s get started with Liz and Doug.
Liz and Doug Interview Each Other
Doug:
I’m super excited to be here today with my friend Liz O.Kane. Who I am going to interview about her selling experience and, all of that. So Liz, welcome to the…
Liz:
Wait, I thought we were here today because I was going to interview you, my friend, Doug.
Doug:
Oh, well maybe we should just interview each other. All right. Cool. Who wants to go first?
Liz:
All right. Okay. So Doug, welcome to the Seller Community Podcast where you, our co-host extraordinare.
Doug:
Thank you. Couldn’t do it without you…
Liz:
You know, we do what we can, right?
Doug:
It’s true. But very excited to be here. Thanks for having me on Liz.
Liz:
Absolutely. So I’d like to take some time today to introduce the community to my friend, Doug. I know you from eBay, Community Content Manager. I remember listening to the eBay podcast, hearing Doug at eBay, Doug and Alan, uh, speaking at different eBay Opens to where you would give your input into the seller community. So tell me a little bit about how the seller community knows Doug.
Doug:
I was at eBay for four years and I was on the Community team at eBay. So part of what we did was seller reach out seller engagement. And so, on there with my partner, Alan, and then Brian Burke as well. But you know, a lot of stuff we did was, working eBay events, going out to seller events. There was a point where eBay hadn’t done a ton of seller events for awhile. And then Alan and I went out to Kansas City a couple of years back to a Reseller Family event. And we went out there and, I really think that was the start of kind of getting seller engagement up for eBay when it was kind of like though, like sending real people out. And it was one of those things where Alan and I went out with an eBay tablecloth and a box of t-shirts and we hung out for the whole weekend with all these sellers. And it was kind of like, you know, there were a lot of big seller influencers there. So we met a lot of, a lot of really active sellers. And again, eBay hadn’t done much and Amazon didn’t do things like that. And none of the other platforms at that point, even, I don’t think there were Poshfests yet or anything like that. So we came out, we hung out and I think the main thing is, we were honest, you know, we answered people’s questions. If we didn’t know the answer, we told them we didn’t know the answer. And we made a lot of connections. eBay started doing more in Meetups. And then I started doing eBay events, like eBay Opens, you know, I spoke at a couple of eBay Opens and then eBay, just continued to do more stuff like Retail Revivals. And so eBay started doing more stuff like the, Revivals, the Upfronts, events like that. And just, I started also going to meetups, attending meetups virtually and in person and then industry events and then just, you know, I wasn’t really a seller expert. I was more like, you know, I would help help sellers, you know, learn about the resources they had or the things they could do with social media and, just kind of made myself available. And then it kinda got to a point to where sellers would have me come to their events and sometimes Alan would go with me too. And we would just, you know, meet sellers, answer questions, take their feedback and just try and be a resource for sellers. And then that’s kind of, that’s kind of how I got known in the seller community, the eBay seller community.
Liz:
Yes, I know that eBay had their bigger events that catered to a lot of people, but I definitely saw that in that turn where eBay started to get into the more smaller events and a little more engaged in meetups and meetups kind of got a little more notice in the seller community. And that’s actually how we met. You actually helped me set up my local meetup. So take me back a little bit before starting at eBay. You did have a little bit of experience with community and social media and podcasting. Can you tell us a little bit about that?
Doug:
It’s interesting. So I’ve worked in basically online content for like 20 something years and I think it all comes from that. So, you know, online content early on, I had a music website and then, you know, I played in bands for a while and, kind of learned social media via promoting bands, way back I was on the community team at Verizon. So basically a community is just, it’s an online, online place where customers or sellers can go and engage with a company or with a brand. And it’s like a content portal for a company, but it’s a place for engagement and connection. And so in a lot of ways, those early online communities were the precursors to social media. So like basically Facebook is a big online community. And the interesting thing about eBay was eBay was a very early online community and it kind of kind of moved over to be more of a marketplace, but, you know, further back, they definitely had that community feel and that community integration. And then, you know, from what I was doing, it was just, um, online marketing, online education, online content, and just kind of working with all that and how it all worked together. And then I came over, came over to eBay and just obviously got on the community team. So from like a business perspective, you know, helping them with that content and helping them, you know, manage that community. But then also at some point it was a really big switch for me when I started meeting with sellers and realizing that there were a lot of sellers that use social media, whether they’re trying to, you know, get traffic to their store and a lot of them would use it to help other sellers. And that was really the interesting component to me, where so many sellers help other sellers via social media, social media, and online content can be a tool for sellers in this kind of, spinning that message to them and just teaching them about, you know, the basics of online content and engagement and the big stuff, like be authentic, tell stories, you know.
Liz:
Yeah, no, I totally get it. I was at eBay open 2018 and I heard you on stage with Tracey Lee Davis from Zing Pop Social. And at that point I hadn’t started any of my social media or any branding for any of my online. I didn’t have any personal or store branding. And that kind of made me a little more comfortable talking to you talk about social media from an eBay seller platform. That kind of did open my eyes to it. And I’m sure that it opened a lot of eyes to a lot of smaller sellers, like myself. So that definitely did catch my attention. And I appreciate that eBay was able to bring your knowledge of social and integrate it as a seller. Of course, since 2018, social media has totally exploded Instagram, Facebook, and then, you know, stuff. Absolutely. And so, you know, since meeting you and seeing that eBay seller growth, you know, I would sit there and be like, you know, Doug at eBay people qould be like, Oh, Snoop Dougie. I’m like, wait, who’s Snoop?. Okay. Doug at eBay, , Snoop Dougie. Why do you have two names?
Doug:
So here’s, here’s the interesting thing. So back at that Kansas City event, so I’m in the room with, these big influencers. And like I said, this is where I kind of made that connection that sellers could tell stories. It ties back into like, you know, content stuff, corporate stuff is like, you’re telling a story, you’re building up a brand like coloradoreworn is your personal brand. And if you can put your story behind it, it makes what you’re doing, you know, bigger and people are able to connect with it. And then it puts a face behind your personal brand. And people can learn from that social media is kind of a tool to build up your personal brand. So basically I’m in this room with a bunch of seller influencers that have thousands, tens of thousands of followers on like Instagram. And at the time I had, I think 200 followers. I was like, “‘hey, you know, help me, help me build up, throw me, throw me a bone here…” And they’re like, “all right, we’ll follow you. And, uh, you know, we’ll shout you out so you get some followers” and they’re like, “what’s your, what’s your Instagram username?” And I said, dasmith090104. And they’re like, what dasmith? Oh, nine Oh one Oh four?. And they were like, that’s terrible. Nobody can remember that you need something catchy. I’m like, okay. And then, so I said, well, what about Dougie Fresh? I’ve been called that since the early eighties. And they’re like, no, that’s no good, a little dated. I was like, okay. And then I’m literally at the table, we were out at some restaurant and they’re like somebody said Snoop Dougie. And then everybody’s like, yeah, Snoop Dougie. And then so yeah, we changed it. I didn’t even know at the time how to change my username. So I handed my phone over and they changed my username to Snoop Dougie and it kind of just grew from there. So I’ve had a lot of people know me as Doug. A lot of people call me Dougie. A lot of people call me Snoop Dougie. A lot of people call me Snoop. Like, I’ll talk to some sellers and they’ll just call me Snoop through the whole conversation.
Liz:
I was going to say, that is awesome. I love that you are helping resellers, but the resellers turned around and helped you. And I think that that really ties back with, you know, eBay community and what you are doing and how you are giving to the community. And the community was giving back. I know as a seller, we really appreciate when our platforms help us. Yeah. You know, giving us somebody like Snoop Dougie to help us with our content, right. Connecting sellers with their platforms. And that’s kind of how I, uh, you know, viewed you, you know, you’re like, Hey, how can I help you with your community and link you with eBay? And I really appreciated that. Um, I know at the time you were not selling because you were on the road, I know that you spoke at a lot of eBay events, but you also spoke at podcasting events, social media then outside of the eBay realm. Uh, but also representing eBay at the same time. So that made it a little challenging for you to have a store on eBay. I knew you had a couple of sales under your belt. You and I have talked about that, but recently you have started listing on eBay, correct?
Doug:
Yeah. When I worked for eBay, I was traveling one to two weeks a month and sometimes I’d be up there on site, you know, everybody knows they did some layoffs. So I was part of those layoffs… At the time I really hadn’t sold much. And then obviously, January, 2020 and COVID and a layoff. And so, my wife had sold on eBay and she’d sold online a bit, but she really started ramping up and then I really started ramping up. And, um, and that was the interesting thing for me when I was, you know, this resource for sellers is I hadn’t really sold much, but I knew about the resources they had. And I could answer some of their questions after I started selling. Just kind of, you know, cause I had, I had more time and it was a way to bring in a little more income, but yeah, I started selling on eBay, started selling on Mercari, even though I’m not at eBay anymore, I have a deeper understanding of how it all works. Like items specifics or things like that. And then just, you know, a lot of, um, you know, sellers kept in touch with me and I’ve kept in touch with a lot of sellers up until now, you know, even during that time. So it’s kinda like I went away but never went away. And I’ve got to say, I learned a ton from Liz, from you, Liz, we’ve got to go back to, you’ve been my seller mentor. So when I have a question, I go to you. My wife, the other night, like 10 o’clock. She had a question about Poshmark or something. She’s like “text Liz.” And I’m like, “I can’t text Liz. It’s super late.” But you know, it goes back to too. It’s like, yeah, there you go. Just connect you two directly. No, it goes out to, you know what you mentioned when I went out there a couple of times last year, it’s like, I followed you around and you know, a couple other sellers too. We did the meetup. I was documenting the process for eBay interviewing you guys for the eBay podcast. But also I wanted to learn too and learn by seeing what you guys did. So you know, was like, I sat at your feet, videoed you and interviewed you and ask you questions and just watched you as like I learned about, you know, you telling me, you gotta have a station set up, you gotta have all your stuff. You know, you gotta have, you don’t want to have something upstairs and downstairs. Cause you’re running back and forth. You gotta be, you gotta think about economy of movement and then your inventory system. And then, you know, even going out and sourcing is like how you guys did that. And one of the interesting stories that I tell is…so there were three of us. It was you and me, Amanda and Tricia. And I remember one morning we all got together. I think we all met up at your house and everybody brought their stuff over that they had sold. And so we took pictures where I was carrying, um, your Ikea bags with all your stuff, you know, several bags. And it looked funny cause I had like four bags and I was walking with these ladies. And so I remember saying to you, “Liz, so how many times a week do you do a run like this?” And you looked at me and you’re like, “Ahhh, we do this every day.” And I was like, wow, okay. I thought maybe you’d like saved up sales for a week or something. But that was really an interesting thing too. And it’s like, stuff like that along the way. It’s like just seeing things like that. And obviously, you know, we joke about it, but the way you guys source going to the bins, you know, the Goodwill bins where they pull out these big bins of stuff and you just go through it or going to the stores, the sporting goods store. So you sell a lot of fashion stuff and just watching how you guys have adapted and you know, in your heads, what to do and where to go and just kind of observing like you, you, I was watching you and Amanda at the bins and you would shop and you’d come over and talk to me and stuff, Amanda, no, she’s like a little shark and it’s like, don’t get in her way. She hits the bins. She goes through, she sees what she wants, but it’s just interesting to see the different styles. And then, you know, I just learned a lot and it’s like, you’ve been my seller mentor and I go to you…
Liz:
That was a really fun time. I don’t think that a lot of sellers realized that eBay actually did that, that you were able to come out and document and get this content for eBay to take back to them at the time I didn’t realize but I was like, this is so cool. eBay’s , you know, taking all these notes, but then at the same time you were learning and who knew that we would be here. Right? I was like, Oh man, Doug at eBay sitting at my kitchen table, typing up a transcript while I get my shipping done. This is so weird. Right. But little did I know that we were forming this relatable relationship? You know, I was learning from you, but little did I know that I was actually kind of teaching you something which blows my mind still to this day, but I think it’s amazing, right? This is kind of the reselling world. This is what a community is about. Right? So you build these bonds, you build these friendships. And I think that that has been really cool. You started selling, you shared with us, you know, hey, part of the eBay layoffs, you know, you got online, you started selling, I felt flattered that you would, somebody that had worked at eBay would text me and be like, Hey, I have a shipping question. Would you mind answering this for me? And I thought that that was really cool that you trusted me to give you shipping advice. I knew that you learned a lot on your own. And we started talking recently about List Perfectly and you started using them. You’re newer. And what I can’t wait to hear is how you grow your business with them.
Doug:
No, and that’s exciting too. And you know, and I would go to you because obviously you obviously knew what you were doing, but you’re actually doing it. And so that was the interesting thing. And like, you talked about that connection with eBay, eBay, I think out of all the platforms is probably the most connected overall with their seller community. I mean, obviously they’ve got some corporate challenges, some things they can do and can’t do and say, and can’t say, but especially, this year there were a lot of events planned and like they were doing twice as many seller events, COVID came along and everything shut down. So it all had to go all had to go remote, but they were literally going to do twice as many events. And there was a lot of, a lot of seller, engagement They did last year too, where they went out and did videos and did, you know, some bigger marketing pieces, things like that. Then obviously we had, you know, the podcast stuff and interviewing sellers and just, you know, really, really ramping up that seller engagement. It’s part of what I really like about List Perfectly too, is that they’re really connected to their seller community. And they do a lot. I like that they adapt and pivot if there’s an issue, you know, they face it head on. I like that if a new site comes along, they get on it as soon as they can. But I really liked too that they do things like, uh, so-and-so’s a List Perfectly seller, you know, here’s her, his, or her information, and then they do cool stuff. Like not only featuring sellers, but they’ll buy, they’ll buy from seller stores and then give it away to other sellers and just really boosting up that seller community. With you for an example, Liz is, so it was interesting. We met at eBay Open 2019 and then, uh, I met you and Amanda and Tricia and we, we talked and then we hung out a bit, you know, you and I actually started a conversation. So you had an interest in starting up a meetup. So that’s where we started. And then we, we helped you get that going a bit, but you’ve really become like really connected to the brand. And so you’re really like kind of ensconced at eBay, obviously over the almost two years now that I’ve known you, seeing not only your growth on social, but I think at that time you just sold on eBay and now, like you said, I mean, you’re selling everywhere. Something new comes up and you are an expert on it. And I think that’s why I kind of see List Perfectly as a resource for the bigger seller community. Cause they sell on so many platforms, 11 platforms, and a lot of those platforms aren’t really doing anything to engage there. They’re selling communities. And I’ve seen times like, even with something like Facebook Marketplace or with a PayPal issue List Perfectly comes in and addresses it right away. You’re kind of like that too. It’s like you are a bigger resource for the seller community now across the board. But I remember when you were, you know, like you said, just starting your social journey, but also selling just on eBay
Liz:
This past year. I’ve definitely expanded across different platforms and I’m somebody that I don’t like to list it and forget it. I like to learn about the platform, list it, see how it works, ready to take those risks, to try the other platforms. And I would have never done it without List Perfectly to be quite honest. Um, and here we are, we are on the Seller Community Podcast with Liz and Doug, but tell us how this came about and why we are so excited about it.
Doug:
You know, after the eBay layoff, you know, obviously you and I kept in touch and I helped launch the, eBay for Business podcast. I was on that team for probably a couple of years, you know, did a lot with them. So we had a branded podcast. So that’s when I got asked to speak at a couple events about branded podcasts and how those work. And so a branded podcast is like basically a company that has a podcast. So eBay is a big company. So there was some interest. I was on a stage with like a guy from Jack Daniels, their podcast, iHeartRadio. And so, you know, just talking about how that all works and everybody was super interested in how we engaged with our sellers and our listeners. And it’s like sellers are basically super engaged partners with eBay, with a brand. So they’re super engaged customers from there and it’s like, I just thought the podcast world was so interesting. I talked to some people about starting up a podcast, started learning stuff, got some equipment. And then I decided to launch a podcast on my own, so I could do it from scratch. So I launched my music podcast with the Albums That Saved Us, you know, I thought of some other ideas and that’s where I know I was kind of like, you know, what, it would be super interesting if there was an e-commerce podcast that, and not that there aren’t any out there, but it’d be interesting if there was an e-commerce podcast that really talked to all the communities instead of just the eBay community. And then I was like, well, you know, it’d be cool to do it with Liz because we’ve done some stuff together and she’s a seller expert. And then I can just, there’s stuff that I can bring to the table. Early this yea I remember us talking about it and it was kind of like Liz, I got this idea, let’s do an e-commerce podcast. And then it was kind of like, it would be something we’d be doing on our own. And it was kind of like, you’re like, I dunno, I got to think about it. And we went back and forth. It just came along. You and I were still talking about doing it. And then you were, you know, doing some, doing work with List Perfectly, and then you really made that connection. And then it just, you know, really in the space of a couple of days, the switch was flipped, like List Perfectly wants a podcast. Obviously List Perfectly is a platform, but that’s, I mean really the connection I made. It’s like, I think they’re a seller community, that’s also a platform. And so it’s like, we want it. They’re like we want this podcast. We want to have a podcast that appeals across the board to all the seller communites, not focused on just one. And you know, obviously it’s a List Perfectlu podcast, but it’s going to have a huge community focus and, you know, Liz O’Kane is the seller expert. And then, you know, I dunno what I bring, some random movie references and quotes…
Liz:
Expertise, music references. You got it. So what I really like is, you know, Doug for the last, I don’t know, year, year and a half after recording podcasts for eBay and after recording some content is that we really, we knew that we could do a podcast together. Yeah, it was. I know that I’ve called you just like you’ve called me and said, “Hey, Liz, how do I what’s, what’s the difference in the shipping thing or whatever.” Right. And I’ve been able to call you and be like, “Hey Doug, so kind of thinking about a podcast” and you like led me all this time and expertise and I kind of it’s, it can be intimidating to put together a podcast and then the pandemic hit and I sold more and you were jobbing. And we were just never able to connect with the podcast. So an opportunity had presented itself via List Perfectly that said, “hey, Liz, Doug, you’re going to do a podcast. Let us help you.” For List Perfectly and the seller community at large, I think what is really great about this. There’s a lot of great podcasts out there. Yeah. A lot of great podcasts. We both listened to seller related work at home related and they’re all great. And I love listening to them. What I really like about this is that we’re able to openly and freely talk about a number of different selling platforms and kind of bring them together. So if somebody listening is a Poshmark seller, we want them to be able to come on and feel comfortable and be able to give them some Poshmark knowledge. We want to hear from the Poshmark sellers. We want to hear from the sellers that started off on Mercari We want to hear from the resellers that are killing it on Grailed and we can bring everybody together. And what I really like is that I’m so excited to hear from members of our selling community, across all platforms.
Doug:
There’s a lot of content being put out by sellers. And there are podcasts. There are people that are putting out video content and there’s room for everybody, you know, so many others that are doing YouTube channels and things like that. And there’s room for all of us. And we all know each other and we all get along. I mean, I’m sure at some level there’s competition, but there’s room for all of us. And you know, we’ll have some of those people on I’m sure they’ll have us on. But like you said, too, it’s great to have that opportunity to hear from all the different types of sellers, because they’re all different. What I love about online selling are all the stories and the stories that people have and all the ways that online selling has changed people’s lives. But I love about you, you have such an interesting story. You were in the Air Force, career Air Force. Tell us about what you did in the Air Force.
Liz:
Yeah, so I retired from the Air Force after 23 years while I was in, I kind of did a, a lot of different things, but the last 10 years, so I was what’s called an Enlisted Aide. I worked for three and four star generals throughout the top echelons of the Air Force, which opened a lot of doors for me during that time. All of the generals that I worked for, they knew I sold on eBay part-time and as a matter of fact, I would be working and my phone would ching and it got to the point to where they’re like, “Oh, what’d you sell?” Like they were super interested at like, it was a totally different world. So my part-time gig was totally different than what I did. Full-time I actually started selling in 2002 while I was in the Air Force. After having my son, I heard about a little site called eBay, decided to sell some maternity clothes that I wasn’t going to use and went on the site called eBay. Cause I heard you could make money and clearing out stuff from my house and comes to find out, come to find out. I actually made double what I actually paid for them, paid for the items that I had used. And I thought, wow, this is I’m going to start selling more stuff from around my house. And that kind of opened up the door, to eBay and online selling. You know, I did it part-time for many, many years. And so when it came to be my last year in the air force and I was looking at transitioning, getting together my CV and job hunting and interviews, I realized that working for somebody else was not my passion. I could see the true potential in online sales. I built up part-time for so long. I was actually as part of a smaller community at the time. And I had seen that some sellers actually did this full time. So last year in the air force, I actually built up my store knowing that I was going to go full time. I spent an entire year trying to build my store. It just so happened. I retired and six months later was my first eBay Open. So it was a great segue. When I went to eBay Open, I did not know one person, I didn’t know anybody that had gone to an eBay seller event, any online selling event for that matter. I had never heard of any other selling platforms. I thought eBay was it. I went to the event and I just kind of injected myself and would sit down at tables and I was scared and anxious. And I’m like, Oh, you know, I’m not going to get along with resellers. I’m military.
Liz:
What do we have in common? Right. Like I was so afraid and you know, I just, I didn’t let the anxiety. I sat down and was like, hi, I’m Liz, what’s your name? I was wrong. The selling community at large is open and inviting. I had this feeling that everybody’s going to be walking around. Like we’re all competition. I sat down at tables and multi-million dollar sellers and I was blown away. And at that time that really opened my eyes and made me realize that online selling was for me that it was a viable option and that it is so much bigger than I had ever imagined. And even beyond eBay, I have items on nine platforms. Uh, you know, I always want to grow and try out, not my, not all of my inventory is appropriate for every platform, but I do like to list on them. Like I said, that first couple of years was eBay. It was all eBay growing my eBay store. And then I started hearing about this website called Poshmark. And then I heard about this website called. Yeah. And I tried to like put some of my items there and I just failed miserably. Like I didn’t understand it because they’re different beasts, right? Yeah. I mean, they’re both selling platforms, but to me it was like logging in and reading a foreign language. I did not understand the whole process of how Poshmark works. So I gave up, I was like, this takes too long.I just need to focus on one, tried it on Mercari and failed miserably. I was like, this takes too long. I just have to concentrate fast forward to eBay Open 2019. I’m running down the hallways. Teresa stops me in the hallway. Her and I had met at the previous eBay Open and had been friends since she was like, “oh my gosh, Liz, you know, hey, I want you to meet, uh, Claraand Amanda.”
Liz:
And I’m like, “hey, Clara and Amanda,” they’re like, she’s like, “hey, we need to talk about this. They run List Perfectly. And I’m like, cool. Text me later. And then these events are just so big and we kind of lost track. And, uh, we kind of had a post eBay event a couple months later with a couple of resellers. And I was fortunate enough to meet Clara and Amanda and learn about the product and kind of really see, I’d heard some sellers. They’re like, man, this, you know, I can, I can get on Poshmark and be successful. I can get on Mercari, and be successful and all of these other platforms. And I gave it a try and I was like, wow, that was pretty easy. And List Perfectly grew. And I met other sellers that were successful with using that program. I was like, well, let me amp it up since doing that. My Poshmark closet has grown. I’m seeing traction on Mercari and I’m learning about other sites. For example, let’s say Depop, a lot of my items do not fit into the demographic to be listed on Depop however I’m learning. I could say, uh, eBay prob you know what? I can list that on Depop. So it opens other avenues for other demographics of sales.
Doug:
You had a lot of growth in the eBay community. So starting a meetup out there in Colorado Springs and working with the, Denver Meetup and then, you know, getting connected with the brand and being an influencer, you know, with the Bay and at eBay, you do a lot, even outside of List Perfectly for the seller community. So you’re active in a lot of Facebook groups. Um, you know, that’s an extension of the seller community as well. So tell us about that.
Liz:
Yeah. So I realized that really the seller community is what really pushes me. I learned from so many different sellers. I knew that I could hop on Instagram at any given time. And I’m going to learn from somebody that I follow on Instagram. I follow a different variety of sellers because they never knew what I’m going to learn. I follow different Facebook groups because me and sellers are just a wealth of knowledge, no matter how much, thank, you know, there’s always more to learn. So I do stay active in the Facebook groups and I saw a lot of value in that. And that’s, so my friends, Amanda, and Tricia, we would meet for coffee. And we’re like, we’re just sitting here talking about eBay. I bet more people would like to talk about eBay. So we get it. And then that’s who we contact. We were like, hey, is there room for another meetup? I see the value in communicating and interacting with other sellers. So that’s why I like to stay active in the different selling communities. I actually, I follow, on Facebook I follow and on Instagram, I follow all of the platforms that I sell on. So I can stay up to date for any policy changes and any tips, tricks that may come along from other sellers. I’ve learned so much from so many other great sellers that when a seller comes up with a question, I like to be able to contribute also, and maybe lend a hand in teaching them what somebody else has taught me. And that’s, that’s what community is about.
Doug:
Selling can be a lonely isolating business.
Liz:
Yeah, it’s so true. And that’s what I’m so excited about with this podcast. Doug, I know you and I are kind of interviewing each other. But I cannot wait to get other sellers on this podcast in our community that I’ve never spoken to before and hear their story and hear their success because we get to bring together our community. Our hopes for this podcast is that we can deliver information, tips, tricks, and seller success stories throughout our community, in one location…
Doug:
Liz O’Kane seller expert seller resource, besides the Seller Community Podcast from List Perfectly, where can we find you?
Liz:
You can find me on Instagram as coloradoreworn. You can find me on Facebook. I’m extremely active in the Boss, BOSS Business for Online Selling Success group. And also in the List Perfectly group Doug, where can our community find you?
Doug:
You can find me on Instagram at Snoop Dougie, S N O O P dot D O U G I E. And I think that’s where I’m most active. And then I’ve got the music podcast Albums That Saved Us.
Liz:
The Albums That Saved Us, you can listen to it on your favorite streaming podcast station and a Facebook page.
Doug:
Yes, yes. Yeah. Facebook group, Instagram. Yeah.
Liz:
And you are very, uh, well, you’re, it’s clearly music and a lot of 80s.
Doug:
Yeah. A lot of 80s music. And the concept is, you know, it’s based on a song lyric from a song by my favorite band, The Smiths, and it’s, you know, just about albums that saved us, really influential albums, influential bands, and I’m doing, it’s really just a passion project, but thank you for the plug. Obviously we will be on the Seller Community Podcast from List Perfectly, thesellercommunitypodcast.com/podcast. You can email us at podcast@thesellercommunitypodcast.com. And then, again, the List Perfectly Facebook group, I would say, even if you don’t sell on List Perfectly, it’s a great resource for sellers.
Liz:
So this has been great. Doug, thank you so much for sharing your experiences at eBay your experience in community, your experience in podcasting, and we’ve enjoyed hearing from you. I’ve enjoyed sharing my story.
Doug:
Thanks Liz. It’s been fun talking to you as well and learning more about your seller journey and how you are a resource for the wider seller community. Again, I’m thrilled to be doing the seller community podcast with you.
Seller Shoutout and List Perfectly Tip
Doug:
Now let’s get to the Seller Shoutouts this week, we’ve got Seller Shoutouts and a tip rolled into one. So I guess Seller Shoutout Tips, it’s a new segment. Who’s your Seller Shoutout for the week? Liz it’s very exciting.
Liz:
Yeah, actually this is, I was, scrolling through Instagram and came across a seller that I follow and she had a really great tip and I want to shout her out for this tip. This comes from a blog post from seller, the hippyedit. So it’s @thehippyedit. She has an entire website and a blog, thehippyedit.com/blog. Her name’s Katie Flynn. And let me tell you with this blog, you know, I thought about this in the past, but it never really kind of brought it together. So Katie shares with us that every morning she starts her day by relisting 20 items from her inventory catalog from List Perfectly to Mercari and Poshmark. She also spends time every Sunday, relisting every single item from her List Perfectly catalog. She does this so she can take advantage of having fresh listings for buyers to choose from it kind of boosts the algorithm, whatnot.
Liz:
But what I really liked about this is she didn’t say, Hey, this is what I do. What I like about blogs is she explains in detail every step with screenshots. I actually got up this morning and I was like, I’m going to do this. So I actually did it. And it was so fast, you know, I’ve thought about it until I’m like, I should be doing this. And I knew it, but reading her blog post kind of made me say, you know what? This is probably something that I need to do. I did it over my first cup of coffee this morning and I was done. But Katie goes on to explain it, like I said, in her blog posts in detail, how this benefits her and the step-by-step guide to do it from List Perfectly. However you need to know with List Perfectly, you don’t have to do it from your catalog.
Liz:
Let’s see you’re in Poshmark. You can just go straight to Poshmark, and relist directly from marketplace to marketplace, whatever they like. Also, I kind of dug a little bit deeper. Katie’s blog covers sustainability, thrifting and reselling. It’s not just about relisting and listing. That’s the tip that Katie gave that I found on Instagram. I just want to give her a shout out. Her website is thehippyedit. Her Instagram is @thehippyedit and @thevintagehippyedit. You can say, if you’re interested in List Perfectly, or if you’re interested in upgrading your current plan, you can save 30% off your first month with her code, thehippyedit. This will be found in the show notes that we talked about earlier.
Doug:
Now you’re tying it back around well, because you’ve mentioned, Katie, thehippyedit’s blog, and she’s got the blog posts with the steps and the screenshots. Exactly. That’s the exact function of the show notes. So let me ask you Liz. So for the relisting stuff, especially eBay, there’s definitely two different schools. Um, you know, the, I think the official word from eBay is they, you know, they want you to keep one listing and you keep that static URL for SEO. And I definitely see that, but I do know some sellers that regularly relist, their eBay stuff. And I know that it especially works well on Mercari and you know, I’ve recently relisted stuff and especially on Mercari, I’ve seen an increase in sales. Can you tell us a little bit about the difference between the two and what’s, I mean, what’s your opinion on the relisting?
Liz:
Expert opinion if you want to call it that on eBay is try it for yourself and see what works for you, because every seller is going to have a different experience. Just like with this 20 relists a day, I’m going to do it because it’s not going to hurt anything, right? Yes. So some people are afraid that they’re going to lose Watchers. So the items that I did this morning, I’m almost embarrassed to say they’re seven months old. Some of them had 20 watchers on them. Guess what? Those 20 Watchers haven’t bought. So I, I like watches aren’t buyers, right? So the benefit there’s a lot of benefit of relisting, but going back to eBay, there are two schools of thought. The best thing is I’m trying this for me to see if it works for me, I’m going to give it a good two weeks to see what happens.
Liz:
eBay you should be doing the same thing. Now, here’s the thing. I list both single items and like single thrifted items. And I also list multi quantity items. Okay. If my multi quantity items have has a sales history on it, I do not want to end that item because it has a sales history that helps with the eBay algorithms as a sold product. So I do not want to end those listings if I’ve had a positive gain on sales, if I listed at nine months ago and I have 20 and not one is sold, well, I definitely need to think about my listing.
Doug:
Yeah, Liz. And it’s just, like you said, I think, you know, any of the advice you hear from us, from eBay, from anybody, it’s like, you know, it’s just advice and probably stuff that we’ve tried, but try it for yourself and see if it works. It’s not going to work for everybody. And it all depends on a million different things. Like how competitive, you know, your niche is. Um, you know, if you’ve optimized your listings, how much competition you have. But I mean, I tried it and it’s worked for me. I’ve definitely on Mercari I’ve seen it increase and a little bit on eBay, but you know, you just, that’s, the thing is just try different stuff and eel, you’ll…
Liz:
Well, you’re going to see what works for yourself, but you’re also going to see what works per platform, because they’re not all the same. They all work a little bit different redoing this on Poshmark every week is not going to…So if you do that on eBay, it may not have the same effect. Um, I know with Mercari there, and there’s a reason to do it on Mercari for totally different reasons, right? Um, if you really want to get into it, I mean, Mercari, I can have a listing and list it in a week later, send out offers and then a week later send out other offers. Well, Maccari, you can, when you send offers, it has to be lower every time, even with new watchers, unlike eBay. And unlike Poshmark, I know for me, Mercari saw also a difference when I ended and relisted there.
Doug:
Well, we’ll have to do a relisting episode and get all the sides and have a debate for the ages and then see what…
Liz:
A discussion on the Facebook group. So List Perfectly group, I’ll starta discussion and come visit us there, join the group and tell us what works for you and we’ll share the results.
Doug:
Yeah, that’d be interesting. Yeah, we’ll talk about it on the show. That’s a cool idea. Thank you, Liz. And thanks, thehippyedit. All right. Thanks Liz. Is there anything else this week?
Liz:
That covers it.I think Katie did a really great job.
Doug:
All right. Thanks Liz for the Seller Shout Out tips and thanks again to thehippyedit and the hippyedit blog.
Seller Questions
Doug:
So, this is where we answer seller questions, but this week we’ve got some mystery Liz. I’m very excited, I love mystery, or we want to clear up a mystery. So one of the cool things that List Perfectly does are the seller sourced giveaway boxes. And actually, this is how I discovered List Perfectly because Liz and another seller friend of ours, Amanda, used to always tag me in these posts. And that was my first exposure to List Perfectly. I was like, what is this? And I was like, Oh, they’re giving away other sellers’ stuff. So Liz, how do the mystery boxes from List Perfectly work? How do you enter and how do you win?
Liz:
Yes. This is actually a question that does get asked when this comes around, especially for newer users, and for, and for sellers that aren’t members of the List Perfectly community. First, you’re going to want to join the Facebook group. So that’s facebook.com/groups/listperfectly. You can find that in the show notes, you don’t have to write it down now. You’re also going to want to follow List Perfectly on Instagram @listperfectly. What List Perfectly does is they will make an announcement and give instructions in their Facebook group that they will buy from you. So you drop your Poshmark closet, your Poshmark closet name, your eBay store, whatever platform that you sell on that List Perfectly supports. And co-founder Clara goes through and she shops members’ closets in turn. She sources these items. She puts together mystery boxes and List Perfectly does is they go onto their Instagram and they do a giveaway. So you’ll want to follow List Perfectly on Instagram watch for this, seller source mystery box. And what they do is they giveaway the items that they sourced from their members to other members so that they can turn around and sell them. I see a lot of, you know, mystery box giveaways. If you’re on Instagram a lot, especially in the selling community, this is nothing new. There’s a lot of different giveaways, but what I really love about this it’s so innovative is the items in the box were bought from people in our community. How cool is that?
Doug:
Yeah, and it’s, you know, it’s, it’s really, you know, resourcing from within the community. So, you know, you sell some stuff, Clara loves to do it each week. She gets so excited. And the cool thing too, is is you get some exposure to when, you know, you’re sharing your closet or sharing your store, et cetera, within the group, you know, you get some notice there and definitely get some notice amongst the posts, but it’s just another great way to kind of, you know, foster and bolster the community.
Liz:
It is whenever these posts roll around, I actually, me personally, I actually go through and follow everyone on Poshmark that posts their Poshmark closet and how I track that is I just put a like, so that there, I mean, these posts get a hundred or more people sharing their closet. So I want to make sure that I follow everyone so that they get put into my rotation of sharing. When I do that on Poshmark, go back and follow others that have posted on that post. It’s a great way to continue to foster the community.
Doug:
So let’s flip it around Liz. So if you want List Perfectly to shop from you, what do you do?
Liz:
Join the Facebook group, List, Perfectly group click on the banner for the most current seller source mystery box giveaway, or look in the announcements of the current post and share your closet or store there. And another question that came up in the group was how do I know if List Perfectly bought from me. As a seller I know it almost slipped past me. They actually bought one of my things in one of their first go arounds. I almost didn’t notice until the package was going out the door. If your item is selected and gets put into a box, you will get recognition in both the Facebook and Instagram page.
Doug:
All right, Well, so this is another cool way List Perfectly promotes and gives back to the seller community and Liz, thanks for helping us clear up the mystery.
Seller News
Doug:
Liz, you know, I’m a fan of TikTok right? Are you on there?
Liz:
I am loosely on TikTok.
Doug:
All right. Well, my first post on there was dancing in a crop top and yoga pants, which I did take down, but, um, got about a thousand views. It exists…
Liz:
Something that can never be burned from my memory, even though it’s taken down…
Doug:
I know you feel like you want to see it, but you probably don’t.
Liz:
Mine was not. I think mine was about selling on eBay.
Doug:
We’ve talked a bit about social commerce, Liz, and we’ll get into it more. All the sites are jumping in this year and TikTok is too, and they’ve really leaned in recently.
Liz:
I’ve noticed that, like I said, I’m not big on TikTok. I don’t do a lot of posts, but when I get on TikTok, I fall down the rabbit hole for hours and I have actually come across a lot of resellers that I actually follow on Instagram, there are quite a handful. And it’s just another perspective. I’ve found reselling tips, packaging hacks. So it’s actually a good resource for sellers also.
Doug:
But what TikTok is doing is they’re really leaning into it because they’ve seen this and this is what TikTok does. They did it with, you know, a lot of the educational videos. They’re really leaning into that and wanting to see more of that content and working with those types of creators. So they’re apparently seeing this with the selling community as well. They’re offering e-commerce options for advertisers, and then they are launching, what’s called TikTok Shop Seller University, which is in testing, but it’s coming soon. So that’s, that’s a really interesting thing to me. And it’s going to be a training hub to help you do business on TikTok. What we know right now is you’ll be able to sell via content, which is super cool. They’ll have an affiliate option where you can partner with other TikTok influencers and show their stuff on your TikTok shop. You know, they’re trying to bring selling to the platform. It’s a very content heavy platform. I really think it’s interesting that you’re going to be able to sell directly from your content. So, you know, we’ll see where it goes.
Liz:
A lot of the influencers and sellers that I follow say on Instagram, they’ll do an occasional, Hey, this is for sale, but really they use that platform to drive traffic to their other shops or stores or marketplaces. And it’ll be interesting to see that. I mean, they’re doing that on TikTok. Now. It will be interesting to see how that social commerce grows with TikTok the current creators. And even somebody like me, it kind of opens up a door. I’m not a TikTok creator. I have like three TikToks and they’re boring actually, no they’re advertising this podcast, so they are not boring, but we interesting to be able to use that as a platform to drive traffic
Doug:
An d think of it too, is, you know, and this is what we always preach. We talk about thinking of yourself as a business and then putting out content. You’re not necessarily just sharing your listings, you’re kind of building up a brand and you can use content to do that across social media. So for instance, let’s say Liz, I’m skating into my pool on a skateboard with my daughter’s bicycle helmet on, and I put that onto… So you can, you can watch that and then you can also maybe someday buy the helmet or buy the skateboard directly from the video of me skateboarding into the pool. Let me see. And maybe I’ll do it in a, in yoga pants and a crop top. I don’t know. Maybe I’ll sell those too.
Liz:
I think we’re good with a skateboard and a helmet, Doug, and I’m sure your daughter would appreciate you not dawning a crop top and leggings.
Doug:
Right. So let me ask you this. Are you a jeopardy fan or should I say, how would I word it as a question? Oh, wait…
Liz:
What is Jeopardy Doug?
Doug:
Thank you for forming the answer in the form of a question, but anyway, so were you a Jeopardy fan Liz?
Liz:
Yeah, I did. I liked to watch Jeopardy. I wasn’t an every night diehard fan, but if it was on, I did enjoy the show.
Doug:
Well, you know, and it was a great show. It ran forever. Actually I had a friend or two that was on there and, um, Alex Trebek was awesome and he passed away recently from cancer. But so here’s an interesting thing, recently my friend ReezyResells reached out and he had someone that had reached out to him to see if he had any contacts to talk about a charitable auction that he was doing. So Reezy reached out to me and said, “Hey, I’ve got this seller, he’s got this stuff that was donated by a recently deceased celebrity for charity.” And then, so I was wondering right away, cause I’d seen it in the news that Alex Trebek’s state had donated some suits to charity. So anyway, yeah. So I reached out to this guy thriftshophustler and he runs the American Cancer Society eBay page. And so basically what’s going on there is Alex Trebek;s estate donated 22 show worn suits from Jeopardy and so they will be sold for charity on eBay. Just an interesting, interesting tie in…
Liz:
And that those, the proceeds from those sales from the donations will go right back to the American cancer society.
Doug:
Yes. The, uh, the, uh, yeah, the via the American cancer society, eBay page.
Liz:
That’s awesome. That’s awesome. I love hearing how sellers can connect and donate and share and, you know, give to charitable organizations. I see it in our selling community all the time, whether it be to an organization from a celebrity or sellers supporting sellers. Have you ever participated in an eBay donation or charities?
Doug:
So I’ve definitely done some eBay for charity listings. When I was at eBay, we do this workshop called Becoming eBay when we were there, they actually had a workshop where we all had to list something and sell it. So they gave us all little tiny packets of Legos. And so basically we listed it and, if we didn’t have an account we set it up all there in the room in this, you know, hour or two hour workshop. And so we listed it and then, you know, we were to choose a charity. So I listed the little Lego and I donated the proceeds to, PETA, People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals. So the, the cool thing was, is it sold. So that was the first thing I ever sold on eBay. And I thought that was great. And since then, I’ve definitely done some, donations via eBay charity for the, animal rescue place where we got three of our dogs then, but I occasionally run eBay for charity listings on there as well for them.
Liz:
Amazing. For anybody listening that doesn’t know eBay actually has in your listings, you can donate directly to a registered organization right inside of your listing. I think it’s the only site that I sell on that actually has that built into their system. As you heard earlier, I’m a veteran, female veteran. I really like to take and, do donations to a organization called Final Salute that helps homeless female veterans either keep from losing their home or to find them a home. When you go in, you can just type in your organization or just choose from categories. If you say, if you have like, Doug, you have a passion for animals, mine, I wanted to give to female veterans. There’s also …and you can donate directly from your list.
Doug:
Yeah. And it’s super easy in the listing flow right there. They make it really easy to do, and there’s a ton of charities on there.
Liz:
Um, so that is really interesting news. Alex Trebekestate reached out and they will be listed on eBay as a charity.
Doug:
Well, thanks to, uh, you know, reezyresells, the thriftshophustler, and obviously the American Cancer Society and the Alex Trebek estate. But no, that was cool. We got, uh, we got some news in and we got some info on charitable donations and charitable listings. Yeah. Cool.
Liz:
This is gonna be a loaded segment.
Outro
Liz:
Well, thanks everyone for joining us this week on the Seller Community Podcast for List Perfectly, this was episode three. This week we talked about oursleves.
Doug:
We had Seller Shoutouts and a tip tied together.
Liz:
We answered a mysterious question.
Doug:
We had some news
Liz:
And to tie up our episode today, here is the official stuff you can find us at thesellercommunitypodcast.com/podcast. Leave a message or ask a question at anchor.fm/sellercommunitypodcast, or email us at podcast@thesellercommunitypodcast.com. You can also post a question in the List Perfectly Facebook group, use the #sellercommunitypodcast or mention myself or Doug.
Doug:
You can listen to us anywhere you listen to podcasts, be sure to subscribe, tell your friends, share, and we’d love for you to leave us a review and feedback. We want your feedback across the board. What you like, what you don’t like, what you want more of what you want, less of, any suggestions. And also we’d love for you to follow us on Instagram. Liz is @coloradoreworn. I’m @snoop.dougie. And of course we want you to follow List Perfectly on Instagram @listperfectly. Your community for List Perfectly is on Facebook and the Facebook group at facebook.com/groups/listperfectly. Alright, ready?
Liz and Doug:
See you next week!