Question about reselling clothes

[Tracey]

It is a horrible time to sell on ebay but a great time to BUY! This works out great for you since you might want to build some feedback. I only buy NWT (new with tag) things with VERY few exceptions. Most of these people own brick and mortor boutiques and are using ebay to move inventory. Also, when you are in retail, you have to buy a minimum number of pieces in each size of a line in order to make an order with a certain company. If you know you aren't going to get that kind of traffic in your boutique....well, sell it on ebay! Also, be careful about NWOT. Half of the people are lying. Stick with NWT unless you MUST have it. I just bought this dress for next year (see below)NWT for $24.50 plus shipping. It retails for $80. In fact, I saw this same dress at one of the local baby specialty shops for the $80 plus we have 9% sales tax! I love a bargain!

http://www.anavini.com/Images/AS4-138.jpg

I am also still trying to figure this all out :) Why is this such a bad time to sell on eBay? Because it's summer? When is the best time? Also, do you find that you do better selling on loops/BBB Swap or eBay? Seems that Swap, at least, would be much less of a hassle, but obviously it's also a much smaller audience.

I am just getting into loops as well. Does anyone have any recommendations for good ones? The few I have tried are an endless stream of auction spam. I was hoping for more people selling directly to the loop.

Thank you!
Robyn & Ava (1-15-04)

Tracey,

That dress is beautiful-- definitely something I'd pick. It sounds like I might be forced to buy off of eBay. I just don't feel like I have the time to search for bargains daily and I have a plethora of shops here in my city so I don't feel the NEED to buy from eBay. That, plus the fact that I don't need a single thing right now, adds up to a total annoyance that I have to find something to buy just to get feedback.

Does anyone know if I would be better off just selling on Gymboree loops? I know I'd have to set my own price. How does selling within a loop compare to eBay? Has anyone had good luck with it?

Marie

As I said you can still sell on eBay even with 0 feedback, you just won't usually get as much as someone else who has high feedback selling exactly the same item. So if that doesn't bother you go for it.

I sell on the loops and it can be easier than eBay. I also trade on the loops which is great too! People on the loops tend to be much pickier though, and a lot of them are looking for very specific things, often HTF items. Like right now a lot of people are looking for Puppy Love berets and people are always looking for Home on the Range and Bon Voyage. Women on the loops also tend to be extremely picky about how things are washed and dried and the condition as you might expect--these are hardcore collectors. I don't like to ask for outrageous amount for things on the loops because these people are my friends (sort of) and I want them to make deals with me too, kwim? I usually sell my very HOT items on eBay unless someone is desperate. The nice part about selling on the loops is it tends to be a bunch of very nice people and there are no eBay fees or hassles.
IF you want to get into the big selling loops though, the usually want some way of knowing you are reliable and that is almost always a certain level of eBay feedback (50+...some want 100 or more!) There is a loop for Gymboree sellers with no feedbacks though. Also on the loops a lot of people are looking to buy larger sizes and not infant clothing...which makes sense as most of these people have bene into Gymbo for years. There is GymboreeBaby though which is just for baby sizes 0-3T.

HTH

Imperia

Thanks for all of the info, Imperia! I really appreciate all of the information and advice!

Marie

[Tracey]

I can answer the first part. People have already bought their summer wardrobes. Also, there is a lot of competition right now. Your local boutiques are running sales (I just bought a few things for next year that were buy two get one free), the websites, dept. stores, and gymboree will probably have a biggie to clear out summer lines after gymbuck redemption. If I am not mistaken, market for retail stores starts in July. This means they make their orders and purchase stock for the fall then. They need to sell thing off to have the cash flow to purchase new things. June is typically a big month for sales.

As for the loops...I have no idea. I know you can find a million of them at groups.yahoo.com. On second thought, I may not fool with them and just stick with ebay twice a year. I have posted on here more today than usual because Ava was at her grandmother's for the day. I have a limited amount of time for myself and I don't think that is how I want to spend it.

[AngelaS]

Nothing!! Wait a month or so and list fall stuff. :D

PLEASE, send me the link. I have actually just started thinking about selling on E-bay and also am somewhat intimidated. I have a ton of boys stuff 0-18 months (a lot of it never used) and need some closet space! Thanks so much for all the usefull info.