My stock has been selling fast, and while that's a GOOD thing for me, it's a bad thing for the site as I have to scramble to keep the site current. My general policy is I leave a pony in the inventory marked as SOLD for at least a week to let you know that it's gone. I'm trying to get my ponies descriptions and pictures up as soon as I have details, but honestly if I have a picture I may wind up letting it hit ebay first.
Reassurances: I place items for sale on ebay with 7 days to bid. If it disappears sooner, that's because someone chose 'buy it now' if you want to be SURE it doesn't get away, Bid, or buy it now, otherwise a good pony goes fast.
This week (and possibly the rest of this month) I am selling a BAIT lot. My usual buyer is taking a break from her custom ponies (on maternity leave) so I have some GREAT body/ BAD hair ponies up for grabs. Take a peek.
VARIOUS PROMOTIONS! In an effort to keep my ebay from becoming stale, I have been offering my auctions in a variety of formats. 99 cent sales start at 99 cents. they ALWAYS have 5$ shipping, why? Because I need to earn something from the sale too.
FREE SHIPPING sales. These usually run 5.99 and up. Prices are based on a fair value per pony.
And standard auctions, priced between 1.99-4.99 with 3.00$ shipping. If you notice, EVERY sale ends at roughly the same amount. I change it up to appeal to people who search different ways, or simply get attracted to one style or the other.
Now, I set my prices where I CAN AFFORD to set them. by that I mean if I sell them for less, I will start LOSING money. Maybe if I try to enter the 'big leagues' and sell even MORE stock per months, my costs might actually go UP to pay for my expansion. It's a slippery slope to be a business person on your own. If I buy TOO much stock, I lose money. If I get greedy and set my prices to high, I lose money from stock not moving. And if I set my prices to low, I lose both stock AND profits.
Are there cheaper dealers out there? I'm sure there might be. Ebay is vast and always changing. I'll even shop my competition to fill gaps in my private collection. BUT I'm not just some garage sale dealer, who pulls ponies from a bin and sells them off. I make sure to represent a quality product. I wash the ponies by hand, make sure the hair is styled to set them in the best look, hunt down potential matching accessories, take multiple photos, and ship them carefully.
I love my ponies. I like to think my customers do too. Ultimately my goal here is to provide you with a product you'll be proud to own, or even give away, knowing the quality is something you can trust.