Latest News
Posted January 7th, 2010
by mike
The one key thing about being self-employed that is hard to manage, is the discipline.
It’s a Thursday morning, almost 11am and I’ve reached out 25 clients today. Mainly by looking through my MarketNews 2009 contact list and sending out a mailer. I also called 3 of those clients which is not nearly enough and emailed 2.
I find that the mailers work well as it gives them something tangible to reach out with. Something to touch. Plus it can sit on the contacts desk or they may pawn it off to someone else where it will sit on their desk and hopefully be in viewing range.
I have a personal contact list of over 90,000 businesses in Canada. At 6 minutes per contact, it would take an awful long time to reach them all.
So it’s 2010, where is the technology that would allow me to contact them all at one mentally without the spam?
So that’s my new years resolution. To reach out and call as many of them as I can.
Popularity: 12% [?]
Posted in Sale tips
Posted December 7th, 2009
by mike
Ever wonder if you could become an eBay Power Seller?
When I made my first purchase on eBay, it was a CD full of ‘tools’, I bought it from a Power Seller at the time for $1.99 and that got me into eBay. If you look at my very first feedback over 1000 sales later, you’ll see that company (no longer in business – sadly).
I never thought that I would reach PS (Power Seller) status but it was easier then I though. I’m lucky that I’m in a niche business where I sell high-priced items. All you need to do to receive the basic bronze status is sell on average, $1000 a month for 3 months straight then maintain that for every 3 months. Sometimes I do $1000 in a week so it’s not hard.
Becoming a Top-Rated Seller (TRS) is a bit more difficult and I am one of those too. Though I don’t understand what it means yet.
Though as a PS, you do get a discount on shipping USPS as well as a sellers discount that could vary from 5% to 15%
What got me selling in the first place was my Dad’s addiction to ‘garage sale antiquing’ . He would go out every Sat. morning and bring home a truck full of treasures. Some would get restored, others would sit on a shelf. We convinced him to sell one of his antique clocks that he purchased for $10. We sold it for $400. He was hooked and I became an unofficial Trading Assistant (TA).
I put a quick ad in the local paper to offer to sell stuff for people around 2003 or so and that led to some good business as well. That was my first taste as a PS. I met a client who had more then $10,000 worth of jewellry that she wanted to sell. My cut was 30% and I was off and running. After that came some small businesses off-loading their computer equipment and I found my niche. I’ve been doing that ever since. Just focusing on business and consumer electronics and gadgets. Cell phones, switches, computers, laptops, monitors, servers etc. etc. I can’t say that it pays the bills yet but it makes every day unique and most of all, FUN!
IF you’re thinking of becoming an eBay powerseller, feel free to visit the various forums, just google it.
eBay Power Seller logo
Popularity: 9% [?]
Tags: ebay, power seller, trading assistant Posted in Uncategorized
Posted November 27th, 2009
by mike
I don’t claim to take the ‘best’ pictures for eBay or other online avenues but I have learned a few things from the past.
For example, de-clutter the background and focus on the product.
See this for an example. This is a T-Mobile Sidekick II
notice how there is NOTHING that is distracting from the items. What I used was a large cardboard box mounted on top of my washing machine.
Now notice this photo:
yup, he's naked
YES! He is naked. But besides that, it’s not a baaaaad photo. At least there is only the pot! (LOL)
Now this photo is a bit cluttered and you don’t know what item you are actually bidding on. Is it the xbox? or the movies?
Either way.. it’s one of mine.. and felt bad about using it but it does show the item in ‘use’ and in a setting where the buyers can imagine themselves using it.
What I normally do for nicer things is set a towel / cloth or something else to stage the items on so that they are not quite as barren.
This is a cell phone that I just put on a table to give it a bit more of a ‘warm’ background.
I’m not a professional by any means but if you do plan on succeeding in this business, you need to focus on the little things and photos are one of those things.
Popularity: 16% [?]
Posted in eBay tips
Posted July 22nd, 2009
by mike
This past week, I did a pickup of approximately 30 CRT monitors, 50 printers and other devices. At first, I was worried that I would have to pay for the units which I wouldn’t be selling. Though I was lucky enough to meet with Mitch Freedman of Gentek who is part of the Ontario Electronic Stewardship program.
Gentek can accept items such as TV’s, monitors, computers, printers and such and DO NOT CHARGE to receive them. That saved me a few dollars and took the worry out of how these items were going to be recycled.
You can find Gentek here (Google Map Link), contact them first at 905-738-9300 to arrange delivery.
Popularity: 15% [?]
Posted in Re-Cycling
Posted April 16th, 2009
by mike
I can’t complain this week, I have more in stock then I’ve ever had and not enough time to get it in the inventory list.
23K4803
For example, I have two IBM racks and a really sweet little KVM like item that has a 17″ LCD panel and a IBM keyboard tied into it.
Pretty sweet eh?
office chairs
As well, several office chairs and still LOADS and LOADS of DELL Servers.
Make an offer.
IBM Servers
Dell Poweredge Servers
Keep coming back and be sure to check out the inventory. It’s always changing.
Popularity: 19% [?]
Posted in blog
Posted March 26th, 2009
by mike
I hear a lot of ‘news’ talking about the downturn but from what I see sitting on the sidelines of the business world, it seems to be hitting the fortune 500 companies the hardest.
A close friend of mine pointed out the other day that small businesses tend to thrive and grow in bad economic times, at least the ones that are profitable.
We’re pretty luck at ST that we manage to do turn a buck no matter what happens outside of our own little bubble.
Just this week, we dealt with a Venture Capitalist company that was taking apart an investment company and we were asked to sell their hardware. The initial hardware probably cost somewhere in the $100,000 mark and we were able to recover a good percentage of that. It proves that there will always be a market for companies looking for deals and we are able to provide those deals.
So my advice to smaller companies out there… just refuse to listen to the news. Do what you do best and if you don’t let the cloud of bad news rain on you.. you’ll never know that it was even there.
Popularity: 18% [?]
Posted in blog
Posted March 19th, 2009
by mike
SellToronto offers customers a convenient process for removing retired assets and reducing disposal costs. Mitigate environmental & security risks and recover maximum value for your old electronic assets.
* Certified environmentally responsible and secure disposition
* Recover maximum value from replaced equipment
* Convenient single-source solution through SellToronto
Quick. Easy. Green.
End of life product take back solutions from SellToronto lets you dispose of old assets and receive cash back for purchasing new PCs or for other company projects. SellToronto ensures secure and environmentally safe disposal of your obsolete electronic equipment.
We specialize in:
* Telephone equipment and communication hardware
* Outdated and replaced equipment such as servers, desktops and laptops
* Asset removal and disposal
Popularity: 13% [?]
Posted in About
Posted February 17th, 2009
by mike
I’m actually surprised at how busy it’s getting for a ‘down’ economy.
Everyone says that the market is dropping, that people aren’t buying…
Well, that may be true… they may not be buying at RETAIL prices. But when you’re a company like SellToronto and you sell at liquidation prices, people are buying. My ‘wanted’ list is getting bigger and bigger everyday and all I have to do is match up the sellers and buyers.
I’m loving it! It’s keeping me busy and I’m moving product daily.
So if your company needs to unload some stock quickly, call Mike @ SellToronto.com
416-548-7445
Popularity: 40% [?]
Posted in news
Posted January 11th, 2009
by mike
I didn’t know this until I found it on the eBay site.
- eBay transactions account for one-quarter of the roughly $5-billion (US) spent by Canadians in online purchases each year, excluding travel and groceries.
- Of the approximately 24 million Internet users in Canada, one in four is currently registered on eBay.
- Canadians spent more than $1 billion (US) on eBay in the past 12 months.
- eBay is the number-one visited retail site in Canada and is visited by almost one out of every two Canadians online.
- More than 33,000 Canadian sellers use eBay as a primary or secondary source of income. (ACNielsen International Research for eBay in May 2006).
Popularity: 13% [?]
Posted in eBay tips
Posted December 18th, 2008
by mike
I ready this article somewhere….
It really makes you think how you can succeed as a seller and how easy it is to fail as a seller.
Rule #10 – Don’t package well
Lets face it, everyone hates spending fifteen minutes doing a job right when five minutes doing the job wrong will gain you plenty of frustrated, angry customers!
a. Use the wrong box size. Put your item in a box that is barely larger than the item or put it in a very large and don’t use enough padding. Either way, if there is space for the item to move it will arrive broken.
b. Don’t give the delicate parts of an item increased protection. For electronics, this means plastic bezels, hinges on firewalls, front display panels, etc.
c. Use single weight cardboard when double weight is really necessary. Heavy items need heavy weight cardboard.
Rule #9 – Sell dead items “as is”, “untested”
Heck, you paid good money for that item. You were shocked to find out that you were had when you tested it. Why not sell it the same way it arrived to you?
a. State: “came from working environment” but that it is sold “as is”, “no warranty”. That will guarantee everyone will bid thinking it works.
b. As a Cisco network reseller, simply state “we have no ability to test this Cisco item”.
Rule #8 – Don’t answer complaint email
You’ve had a tough day and the last thing we need to deal with a complaint. Besides, if you don’t respond to that email, chances are that the buyer will go away. Or even better, don’t bother answering email.
Everyone knows that one of the great reasons why eBay is so difficult is that people ask questions. Solve the problem by not answering. Saves time!
Rule #7 – Ship without a packaging slip
Why tell the buyer who is shipping the item? Heck, that is what they would be expecting. Instead, ship from a mystery location without a tracking number.
Rule #6 – Ship through the US Post office
UPS, DHL, Fedex and most other major carriers will get a signature upon delivery. The Postman will walk right up to you, scan a package saying it is delivered and not bother with a signature. The postman can – possibly – deliver the item to his friend Bob or his car trunk and then mark the item delivered. There is no signature guarantee for 90% of the items delivered through the USPS. To quote a Postman we recently asked, “that is an extra cost!”
Lets see…use a bad box, do not include a packaging slip and ship through the USPS! Guaranteed formula for failure!
Rule #5 – Don’t send a tracking number
Why give your buyers a way to track the progress of your shipment? Heck, they don’t deserve it. Shroud your shipment in mystery! They will appreciate it far more getting it when they least expect it. Better yet, ship via the US Post office as their tracking numbers do not show progress. Their tracking numbers simply show “delivered” wherever the Postman decided to deliver it.
Rule #4 – Sell Counterfeit items
Be un-knowledgeable of what is real and fake for the items you are selling. “They don’t make counterfeits of the item I am selling.” Better, know that it is counterfeit and use stock or company photos of the real item on your sales page.
The less you can claim to know in the listing, the better off you will be when someone points out that selling counterfeit is against the law.
Rule #3 – Take only paper payments – money orders, checks, etc.
Lets face it, electronic payments are dangerous and Paypal, while successfully managing billions of payments each day, is the enemy of the old traditional piece of paper check. The person can’t “charge you back” for sending them the wrong item, dead item or bad item. You hold the upper ground.
Besides, everyone loves going to the post office to mail you the check.
Rule #2 – Don’t ship the item even though you’ve been paid
You will ship it eventually. I mean, the buyer got a steal on the auction. You thought the item was worth $100 and the buyer won it at auction for $15. They probably did not need it anyway.
To really have fun with the buyer, wait til the buyer complains and then ship it via the US Post Office so that the postman can deliver it wherever he feels like delivering it.
and Rule #1 – Leave your buyer a negative if they complain about your incompetence
Ah, now that you have packaged poorly, sold counterfeit, took a check payment, and shipped late, you now have the ability to leave the buyer a negative if they complain or leave you a negative. Remember to also threaten a lawsuit in small claims court if they file a paypal claim against you!
Popularity: 12% [?]
Posted in eBay tips
