I had the pleasure of visiting with another Atlanta eBay seller this week, Catherine Norwood who has an amazing set up in her basement. Catherine is a savvy thrifter with a great eye for designer labels and fashion trends. She started creating her basement boutique collection about a year ago, just visiting different thrift stores around Atlanta, getting great deals on women's clothing, shoes, and accessories, and selling her finds to her friends. Once her business started to grow, she had a space finished in her basement and created a lovely boutique with 2-tiered clothing racks, a try-on area, jewelry displays, and even a mini-fridge with beverages for her customers.
Catherine's Closet has about 2,000 items for sale. Most items are women's clothing ranging from trendy boho tops, classic dresses, suits, skirts, designer jeans, and shoes. She is just starting to learn to sell on eBay. I love working with clients like Catherine who already have the merchandise, know how to find deals, know what sells,and just need some help learning the eBay landscape to reach customers all over the world.
A wide variety of brands are available at Catherine's Closet as you can see in this photo- St. John, Juicy, Armani, Lilly Pulitzer and Michael Kors. During my visit, we discussed the risks of selling high-end clothing on eBay with the VERO program and making sure anything designer is authenticated. Just a note for new sellers, don't start off selling only high-end designer names. Introduce them slowly so that you don't trigger eBay to more closely inspect your account. New accounts with high-dollar items and a lot of expensive brand names can be restricted or the items removed for VERO violations.
Catherine had many different displays set up with clothing on mannequins. This is great for transitioning to eBay since internet shopping is quite different than shopping in person in a boutique. When selling clothing on eBay, it is important to show the garment on a mannequin so the buyer can get an idea of how it fits and how it looks. Catherine had so many stylish pieces and accessorized her displays with gorgeous costume jewelry.
No boutique is complete without vintage! Here is a lovely 100% silk vintage dress. Catherine also has some interesting vintage coats, some Pendleton skirts, pantsuits, and even furs.
Speaking of jewelry, isn't this a cute display? Costume jewelry is a great seller on eBay. Sell by the piece to get the best price. Some good mainstream brands of costume jewelry include Chico's, White House Black Market, Ann Taylor, and even some brands from Kohl's.
More jewelry! Be on the lookout for interesting pieces at garage sales, estate sales, and consignment stores. Costume jewelry sells
. Be sure to research the brand, style, and color before buying for resale.
Here is the denim section of Catherine's Closet. Trendy embroidered and embellished styles and popular brands like Miss Me, Lilly Pulitzer, and True Religion. A note to new clothing sellers - be careful selling expensive brands as many are fakes. (Blue jeans are faked almost as much as handbags.) Do your research and authenticate before listing on eBay.
And here is the illustrious Catherine posing in her very cool basement boutique. I was really glad we got to visit and that she lives 12 miles from me! I learned a lot from her about clothing and I helped her get rolling on eBay by showing her how to add international shipping to her listings and a few other tips. Let's go shopping soon, Catherine!
Learn more about
Catherine's Closet by liking her Facebook page here.
And to learn more about selling pre-owned women's clothing on eBay, check out my online class:
Do you have something interesting going on with your eBay business? A unique set up or product line you would like to share? Send a message using the contact box on the right and I can share it here on my blog.
