The Ebay Entrepreneur

Pennies on the Dollar

by Tristen OBrien on November 28, 2011

This idea came from my late grandfather (Poppy) who was an avid coin collector. Poppy had a very large coin collection, and he was always fascinated with pennies. My mom was a waitress, and she always saved her change for the whole year, and that ended up being her Christmas gift money. I remember when ever Poppy would visit, we would sit down at a table, and dump out all of my mom’s change. We would look at every coin individually and determine if it had a value. I never really new anything about coins, but I did have a small collection because of him. He had one trick that I thought was clever. He was always looking for wheat pennies, but he never waited around to find them. He would go to the bank, hand them $20, and ask for 40 rolls of pennies.

This got me thinking. Poppy was a collector of wheat pennies, so there must be more. When I looked it up in the completed listings, I was right. There is a huge penny niche out there on eBay that really has a great sell through rate. It’s important to understand what a wheat penny is. A wheat penny is a US coin that is worth $.01 to the general public, but has has two grains of wheat on the back. To the left is a picture of a wheat penny.

So what is a wheat penny worth on eBay. Well that all depends. They are sold a few different ways. They can be sold in a lot, individually, or in rolls. Since I don’t know much about coins, I like to sell them in a roll. That also can make you more money. For some reason, the roll of pennies sell better since there is an element of surprise. Buyers are also looking for an Indian Head penny, so if you can guarantee that they are mixed in, then you will make even more money.

Here is what I do. You can buy a roll of pennies at the bank for $.50, so I generally buy 20 rolls for $10 (make sure you say that you do NOT want new pennies). When I get home I open all of my rolls and start looking for Wheat and Indian head pennies. Majority of the pennies are not what I’m looking for, so I put them aside. When I am done looking through them, I take my unwanted pennies back to the bank (when I am near one), and exchange them for new rolls. I do this until I have a few rolls worth that are filled with wheat and Indian Head pennies. Here are some completed listings:

I have found the most luck selling these when I mix in Indian Head pennies. As you can see, you can turn your $.50 roll of pennies into $20 or more! You also could make more money selling Indian Head pennies individually, but it takes a lot more time. Remember, that the profit on selling Wheat and Indian Head pennies can very, and the more Indian head pennies you include, the higher the profit!

For more eBay tips and tricks, follow The Ebay Entrepreneur Blog HERE

{ 6 comments }

Go The Extra Mile

by Tristen OBrien on November 25, 2011

When it comes to an eBay business, there is one thing that will make you shine. That is your customer service. You will see it in your feedback, repeat customers, and ultimately in your paypal account! What does customer service really mean to us eBay Entrepreneurs? Well it really breaks down to a few categories. Here they are:

Shipping: Customers expect to get their package on time and unbroken. You have to think to yourself, “How can I really WOW this customer with shipping?” You can package it well, of course, but the best thing that you can do is ship it fast! I’m not talking about shipping it overnight to the customer, but I do mean fast handling time. Nothing is more frustrating to a seller than when a buyer sits on the item he/she is supposed to send for five days. To really have excellent customer service you need to have a one day handling time. If the customer receives the package faster than they expected, then you more than likely will receive a positive remark.
Go the extra mile: Do something really special for the customer that they are not going to expect. I know the customer is waiting for their package to arrive, so when they get it I want them to open the package and feel great about the transaction. Like I have talked about before, I always add a personal note to thank the customer in each package, but I also go the extra mile. I do this by adding a bonus item. For example, when I was selling the Red Bull Cola’s, I always added an extra can or two. This made them feel like they really got a good deal! Now I do something that is a little different. If a customer buys something off of me that is for a toddler, I always add a package of silly bandz. If I sell a video game, I add a website that shows cheat codes and a guide to how to beat the game. If I sell a shirt, I add a small Shout to go for stains. The items that I add were all found at a bargin or free, so I’m only out .10 – .40. I kind of make them feel as if they just bought a happy meal, and now there is an extra toy! Customers love this and always talk about it in the feedback they provide.
Emails: One thing that I have learned about eBay, is when a customer emails you a question, they want to know now. If you are not able to provide the answer to their questions with in ten minutes, they will move on to the next item. I learned this the hard way. I would receive an email, but would not look at eBay until that night. By then the auction may have been over, or the customer was not interested in my item. I now have the eBay emails come straight to my phone, so I am able to answer them as soon as one comes in. It really has made me a lot of sales!

We may love it or hate it, but its a reality that customer service is part of our job. We need to make the customer happy and feel good, because we value the money they give us. This also helps you build a rapport with the customer, and they will be back to buy more.

For more eBay tips and tricks, check out The Keys to a Successful eBay Business found HERE

{ 2 comments }

Black Friday 2011

by Tristen OBrien on November 24, 2011

Happy Thanksgiving to us in America! With Thanksgiving comes Black Friday. The day that officially launches the busiest shopping season of the year. It’s no wonder why so many people wake up at 1 a.m., and go to their favorite stores. This is when all of the great deals are happening. For me, I would rather stay at home, but my wife Amy is a Black Friday shopper. She goes with her sisters, and they plan out every store that they are going to hit and they know exactly what they are going to buy. Of course this is great for Holiday shopping, but what about eBay inventory. Like I said before, this is not my day, but there are many eBay Entrepreneurs who are already waiting in line! Not kidding! I was at Best Buy yesterday at noon, and there was already two people in line. I thought today I would just quickly highlight some Black Friday items this year:

Best Buy: Sharp 42″ Class LCD 1090p HDTC – $199.99. This really is their door buster but it is a great deal if you can get your hands on one. They can sell on eBay for around the $400 mark, although shipping might be a pain. I would leave it up to Fedex to pack and ship this guy. I rely on FatWallet.com to show me all of the Best Buy deals, so HERE is a link.

Target: Amazon Kindle with Keyboard 3G – $85. This is another good deal, since the Kindle is almost never discounted. These are selling on eBay for around $130, so not a bad deal if you happen to find one while out and about. HERE are some other good deals at target.

Walmart: Seagate 640 GB Portable Hard Drive – $54. This is a great item to get, because it is selling for $109 on eBay. I really don’t think that this is going to be an item that people are really going to be going after, so even if you are shopping later on that day, you may want to check to see if they have any more of these in! HERE is a link to more Walmart Deals.