A long time ago, when dinosaurs roamed the earth, I got a job selling Chemical Supplies. I went to Dallas for a training period, maybe about a week - I still remember going to the airport from the Car Dealership I had just quit, cowardly, leaving the "company" car in the parking lot with the keys in the drop box (selling cars was not for me - lol). As I backed away, with my sister, taking me to the Airport, I backed over my luggage, desperate to get away, and breaking my prescription glasses. Readers from now on for me.
Anyway, I digress.
After the week long training, I went to another city, St. Louis maybe, (was a long time ago), somewhere in the midwest, and trained for a week with another salesperson, a woman, who was the "best".
Let me tell you, I almost quit. She was phenomenal. Cold calling is tough. We were taught how to get past gatekeepers, how to pitch a product, how to close etc. But she was off the charts in one special area, getting those in the purchasing department to look forward to her visits if repeat customers, or if a new potential customer she would blow them away.
Her secret weapon? Her ability to tell off color jokes. She had a huge arsenal of them, was a top notch comedian and could deliver a jokes punch line like a pro. I remember thinking "there is no way I can do this!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" And naturally, I could not. It was not my Style.
It was a learning curve that I conquered in my own way. I eventually quit that job too because cold calling is a DRAG. And the way I learned how to sell, with the tricks of getting someone to like me, having a kick ass demonstration, and a solid close, cemented landing my dream job with the Beverage Company.
On Face Book this morning on one of my Ebay groups, someone asked how to get started. People always want an easy answer, someone to tell them the "secrets" to success and making lots of money. There is no one answer. You have to just get started and learn from your mistakes. Resell what you are interested in, and if interested and have no expertise, learn as you go.
I started out with jewelry because I had been collecting tons of it for years and loved it! But I knew nothing about jewelry. I loved turquoise jewelry the most and collected a lot of it from Shop Good Will website. That was a 10+ years ago and (in my humble opinion) SGW is ruined now. Back in the day, it was the Wild West type web site. Of course you could search say "jewelry lots" and "Turquoise jewelry lots" and the best "Southwest jewelry lots" and pages and pages of items for auction would come up. It is basically still the same, but different. No longer can you get 25 pounds of unsorted jewelry.
I now love selling dolls, but dolls are a slow sell and oversaturated and you need to have something special to make any money. Buy low, sell high.
This month is horrible. It's Sunday morning and I have not sold one thing since Thursday. I have a husband who has dementia and it's like keeping and eye on a 200 pound 2 year old. So, my energies are exhausted, I am anxious all the time and listing has suffered terribly the past month or two. Saturday my step son comes and spends most the day with him allowing me to get out and go to Estate Sales. Yesterday was a bust. One house had a beautiful downstairs library. Many biographies and history books, Military and classics. I picked up a couple of Native American history of the west and an Anis Nin bio. Books were reasonable, 2 bucks. I love to read and use to be able to finish a book in a couple of days. Not anymore, once my head hits the pillow and I've read a few pages, I'm out like a light. If I wake up a few hours later, I usually relist on Ebay.
My big find was a huge fish bowl of matches collected for years. Must be hundreds. I've sold matches before, so I picked it up because I knew I would regret it if I did not. And a 1st edition Foxfire book for 1$
I'm rambling because he is rambling around the house making me very anxious. He just walked out the front door, probably running away.
Learning Curve. Master it.
