An eBay Businesswoman Takes Care of Her Son
August 25th, 2005
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One of my favorite “start your own business stories” is of Brandi Ramos in southern Illinois. An army veteran, single mom with an autistic son, Brandi was motivated to start an eBay business so that she could earn a living while spending time at home with her son. But what to sell?
She simply started out by putting up garage sale stuff for auction, learned the eBay business model and now sells big and tall clothing to people all over the world from her eBay store Buy BIG from Brandi..
We met her at the eBay Live! conference in San Jose and you can meet her by listening to the radio show we did from the packed house at the conference.
Motivational? Oh yeah.
August 28th, 2005 at 1:11 pm
Hello,
You are inspiring and how lucky your son is.
I have an idea to start a garage sale type web business - "Buy My Stuff" or call it Garage Sale - would this violate any patent rights and could I use the name like "Garage Sale On Line" with the concept of selling my stuff and eventually selling other home owners stuff who join the web.
Thank you
May
August 29th, 2005 at 5:32 pm
May,
A patent is for an invention.
You are probably thinking of Trademarks which names used for products or services, like Mickey Mouse or Kentucky Fried Chicken.
I doubt if anyone has a trademark on "Buy My Stuff" or "Garage Sale" as these are common terms. But you can check any name yourself at the US Trademark office at http://www.uspto.gov/.
Also if you wanted a business name you should check with your own state business licensing department. If you want a domain name you check it at http://www.arin.net/whois/.
If you want an eBay store, check at eBay.
Joe Leonard - Woodinville, WA
August 31st, 2005 at 7:27 pm
Hi, May!!! Thanks so much for your encouraging words. The business world can be a tough place, but let me TRULY ENCOURAGE you to to a few things that I found VERY HELPFUL!! First of all, Brainstorm!!! Make lists of your ideas, business names/ideas, etc. I chose Buy_BIG_from_Brandi to use on Ebay, because I wanted my business to be "personalized." I didn’t want people to say…."I got this from some Ebay store." Now all of my customers know DIRECTLY who and where their items come from, and most know "My Story" as well.
As far as choosing a user ID on Ebay…..When you originally register on Ebay to buy or sell an item, you must select a username. Have a list of 5 to 10 names that you like, because many of your ideas may already be taken. Be creative, but also think SIMPLE. Many people get carried away with long, extreme, difficultly spelled user names. Think of it this way…..You want people to be able to REMEMBER your user ID so they can always come back for more!! If you have a name like "Miss May’s Online Garage Sale for Junkie’s" people just may not remember it
Also, in order to open an Ebay Store, you must have a minimum of 10 feedback. You can always SELL on ebay through regular auctions, however to sell fixed price items in a store, you must have the minimum of 10 feedback to open up that store.
I hope this gives you a little insight and some tips that will help you out down the road!! Good luck in your venture and WELCOME TO EBAY!!!!
~Brandi~
September 15th, 2005 at 12:06 am
Just wanted to say that Brandi was on to something when she was buying at garage sales and selling on eBay. I’ve been doing that all summer and quickly became a Power Seller. Going to garage sales is extremely profitable if you educate yourself on what to look for.
October 7th, 2005 at 12:12 pm
hi! i like to sell stuff on ebay to earn some cash, but the thing is i can’t find a way to get stuff that the price is low enough to make a profit on ebay.i had been through some websites which claim "low price", or "wholesale", and i found that not helpful, that price is still too high. i don’t know what to do. please please help me! thank you so much!
October 7th, 2005 at 3:32 pm
Su, just have a look at my blog: http://www.garagesalefodder.com
I give free advice on what to look for and where to look in order to make a good profit on eBay. I make several thousand dollars a month doing this!
November 4th, 2005 at 8:00 am
Hi Brandi,
You seem to have a good head with the business and I really think that you could provide a lot of good input to many newbies. I wanted to know if you have any suggestions with the advertising for a new store on ebay. For example, search engines. Also, do you know of a good webhosing for a personal website? I would really appreciate any info as my online store with cosmetics is kicking off pretty well. Thank you so much!!
May 17th, 2006 at 6:33 pm
You should visit [link=http://wholesalers4u.tripod.com' target='']Wholesale Directory[/link]. They have thousands of listings of wholesalers and suppliers to trade, and also some dropship companies. Here you can find lots of genuine wholesalers of clothes, shoes, furniture, novelties, dollar lines, liquidation stock and pallets.
July 19th, 2006 at 1:12 pm
Another one to try would be Wholesalers2U. These guys list offers unique to them that aren’t anywhere else.