My First Ten Days...

To The 2BTeam at Thrive:

You have for a testimonial of my progress.

So here goes. (I hope it is what you’re looking for)
I started with the Thrive program on May 5, 2009, and with my first assignment to complete, I started right then, (well, really it took me a few days to get going).
I had already listed on E-bay two items a couple of days earlier.
So after starting on Benchmark 1, and smoothing out the few snags that the team helped me with, I was off.

My first two listings, one sold, one did not….Hurray!!! I was a 50% successful E-bay seller.
I was working my way through the Benchmark videos, and slowly progressing through the chapters. I was already a seller, (starting in 2005) and had the Paypal account, but for the business I needed to change the bank info, I knew nothing of the “Me” page, or Auctiva, and had some issues getting my id to verify. The team was supportive through this frustrating period, and even though it took me much longer than I had set in my mind, I finally, after two weeks, completed Benchmark 1 with the 10 feedbacks to get my yellow star, and felt I had the confidence to move on.

As I worked my way through B-1, I was sorting through the excess of our house looking for the “right” items to sell, and began to use the listing tools I had learned about to help me list. The team was there, responsive to calls and e-mails, helping with input.

While working through Benchmark 2, all I could think was, “I do not need to acquire more stuff, so why do I need to know this?” I will admit now, after completing this piece of it, it helped me to be more aware, and on the lookout, for items that I could purchase new, and then sell for a profit. I found an item in our local store, (and it wasn’t even on sale)…I checked on E-bay completed listings, ran it through on labs.ebay.com, and looked all over for a wholesaler…could only find two listings for the product.

One showed the product selling, (w/o shipping) for the same price I paid for it, and another was selling it for a couple of dollars more, (also w/o shipping).

So I decided the way to make my listing stand out was to offer free shipping…I computed this using the e-bay postage calculator, and decided to complete my listing based on that information, (all tools that I had learned in B-2).

As it turns out, I can buy, sell, and ship this product and make $2.50/profit. Not great maybe, but low risk, (as I can/will only sell what I know I have in stock or can get easily), and I do not have to pay to have it shipped to me. The team was not thrilled with my choice, and offered some strong advice. I took some of it, and edited the listing. When the item starting selling, (I’ve sold 7 in 5 days), I think it caught us all by surprise.

I have completed listings for 11 items, and sold 9 of those items. I have currently 11 items listed, with active bids on 3, just sold 3 more, and have made about $215, though after the items with active bids clear, that amount will rise to closer to $375. Not too bad for what is really 10 days activity, and selling stuff from around the house, or close by to purchase.

I have learned there are no “wrong” items to sell, only listings that can be corrected. I have learned to ask lots of questions of all the companies: E-bay, Paypal, and my Thrive LI team. I have already had an inquiry on shipping a very heavy item to Europe, so have been on that venture with UPS. I have really learned that even though I feel I have progressed slowly, that I have created a solid base from which I will be able to build.

Susan P. G.
May 29, 2009