Tips Archives - PrettiBone

Delegate, Delegate, Delegate…

PrettiBone — Sun, 20 Oct 2019 14:28:06 +0000

There's no way PrettiBone could've gotten to where it's at without the power of delegating. When everything is broken down, there are more than 50 tasks, that have to be done every day. Here are just a few:

Shipping
- Poshmark
- eBay
- Shopify
Packing
- Poshmark
- eBay
- Shopify
Emails
- Contact emails
- Valet emails
Instagram
- Posts
- Messages
- Comments
Listing
- Poshmark
- eBay
- Shopify

Supplies buying
Sorting
Damages repair
Shooting Photos
Inventory Box Packing
Steaming
Inventory Buying
Shipment dropoff
Blog
- Posts
- Comments
- Upkeep
Listing
- Poshmark
- ebay
- Shopify
Content making
Text messages

Those are just some things that are required just to keep up with the selling and blogging side alone. Nevermind the services, future planning of PrettiBone and day to day problems. Don't get me wrong, I'd rather have a lot of things to do than nothing. I just love to work!

BUT, as you can see, there's no way I can do all of this myself, that's where delegating comes into play. This blog post is to give you my insight on why and when do I delegate 90% of the tasks pertaining to PrettiBone.

Rule of Thumb

Generally speaking, I would never delegate a task unless I know how to do the task myself. Only when I know how to do the task myself is when I will be comfortable delegating that task. This is important for a few important reasons.

Delegating a task that I don't know how to do myself leaves room for inefficiencies. In other words, if I don't know how to do it then I can't really critique it. If I'm not able to critique it then I can't measure it. And if I can't measure it then I can't improve on it!

Another reason as to why I need to know how to do everything myself is for me to get a better understanding of who I should delegate the task at hand to. Mix this with my understanding of my staffs' strengths and weaknesses results in a well-oiled machine. For instance, I would not have a staff member who lacks attention to detail take care of my emails.

If You're Alive then Your Time is Ticking...

There's no ands, ifs or buts about it...your time is ticking. This not only goes for life in general but your life as a reseller. Really ask yourself are you wasting your time doing something that you can hand off to someone else to do. Of course, this only makes sense if you can produce more with the freed up time than if you were bogged down by the said task. This goes for EVERYTHING in life; it's called opportunity cost. And to get big, you need to delegate. Keep thinking that you can do everything yourself and you're well on your way to stay the same size, this is the harsh truth. Your 24 hours will never beat a team of 10 with 24 hours themselves, it's just simple math.

The Mental Hurdle

"I don't want to delegate because it cost money" is the biggest mental mistake you can make when it comes to delegating. Of course, it will cost you money, but how much is it really costing you to do something yourself?

A lot of people think they are in charge of their operation, but in reality, their operation is in charge of them. Nobody wants to believe this because it's something called ego. Your ego will tell you that you're always in charge. It will also tell you that you're the best person to do everything for your operation. Really? You don't think there's someone out there that can ship, list, sort just as well as you? Reselling is not neuroscience so please don't complicate things. Take a task, break it down into repeatable steps and hand it off to someone that's capable of doing that task.

Now I'm not going to sit here and act like delegating doesn't cost money, it sure as hell does. I'm just trying to convince you to look at the bigger picture. The picture of you being able to take a vacation and not having to contemplate if you should hit that "Vacation Mode" button. It comes down to trade-offs and making the right ones. This also means that you should also know when NOT to delegate.

When Not to Delegate

There are times when delegation is not an option but luckily, this list is a short one!

Sensitive data
Budgeting issues
Lack of helpers
Haven't reached scale
Leadership is lacking

While these are legitimate reasons as to why you can't delegate, the good thing is that there are always workarounds for all situations but that goes beyond the scope of this post.

When To Delegate

Here are some tell-tale signs that you should consider delegating:

You're finding yourself doing the same repetitive task
You're feeling that the task is holding you back from doing more
You're making more money but you're also working more (this is huge!)
You make more sales (money) from your operation than you can spend on improving your operation
You can break your operation/process down into easy to understand steps
Your sales are increasing every month

While there are definitely more, this is my personal list

Please Note...

I want to leave you with this important point. While I'm a big fan of doing it BIG, I would never want anyone to overextend themselves. I would not want anyone to pay to delegate if it means that they're putting their finances in jeopardy. I say "pay" because money is a direct cost when it comes to delegation unless you have some elves that are willing to work for free. But all jokes aside, please take inventory of your operation and budget carefully before doing so.

The post Delegate, Delegate, Delegate… appeared first on PrettiBone.

You’re Probably Sharing Your Closet Wrong

PrettiBone — Sun, 04 Aug 2019 23:10:49 +0000

Selling on Poshmark creates anxiety for a lot of people because they're probably wondering if what they're doing is increasing their chances of making more sales. Unfortunately, to know all the ins and outs of Poshmark would require the knowledge of Poshmark's algorithm. A few of us claim that we know the algorithm but I think those people are delusional. Although I'm not privy to the algorithm myself, I do however understand logic.

You're Not Asking the Right Questions

I've had so many people ask me in the comments section "how many times do you share your closet a day?" I assume they're asking this because my closet is relatively big compared to most (8,200+ active listings). The problem with this question is that it's a loaded question. They're assuming that I share EVERY item in my closet. The better question they should be asking is "what items do you share from your closet?" The truth is, I do not share my entire closet, there's just no way I can do that effectively due to number of items. And since sharing more items requires more time, which is a finite resource, I had to get smarter with my sharing. By smarter, I had to pick and choose which items to share rather than just sharing the entire closet. This technique, however, does not just work for larger closets (1000+ items), it also works and makes sense for smaller closets.

Not All Sharing is Created Equal

When you take a look at your Poshmark closet, do you really think all of your items have the same chances of being sold? I hope you can be objective enough to realize that some of your items are better than others. If that's the case then why would you spend your time sharing items that have a lower chance of selling? Sure you might feel good knowing that you gave that subpar item its fair amount of exposure, but you're wasting time in the process of doing so.

Let's look at this using a real-life example. When you're walking through the mall, notice the items that are on display in the front-facing windows. Do you think random items are on display or do you think the retailers put the more attractive items that have the highest chances of getting you (the customer) in the door? I hope this is starting to make more sense. In this example, the retailer only has a finite amount of window space (this is analogous to your finite time) so they're only going to display items they feel will have the highest conversion (you actually entering the store). And when you're in their store, only then will you sell all of their other offerings. So if this logic works in real life, then why would it not also work with your Poshmark closet?

What I'm saying is for you to only share items that have the highest chances of people clicking into your closet. From there, they can roam around for more stuff to buy that wasn't "on display". This right here is a huge reason why I get as many bundles as I do.

Sure, it Looks Nice...But What Else?

Some of you stay away from this selective sharing method because you want your closet to "flow". You want your closet to be in a certain order, whether it's by category, sex or color, so it can look nice. Hate to break it to you but there's a filter menu for that very purpose. Go to any e-commerce website and let me know if they present their items in the same way as you do. That same amount of time you're wasting to make your closet flow could be better spent on learning about your closet to understand which items have a better conversion.

I say this because to employ the selective sharing method, you're closet will be all over the place, but like I said there are filters for that very purpose.

How Do I Know What Items to Share?

The answer is I don't know because I don't have your closet right in front of me to know what I'm dealing with. I would have to know your products and how they rank amongst one another to point out the ones that should be shared. Sorry I couldn't give you a better answer.

Where To Start

Every one of my Valet clients can probably guess by now that I do not share EVERYTHING from their closet. My team will spend up to an entire week scrolling here and there through their account to get a better grasp of what they're selling AND what they've sold. While this can be time-consuming, we believe it's worth it considering all the time we'll save from not sharing low conversion items in the future.

Taking a look at your closet and scroll through the ENTIRE thing, don't be lazy about this part. Now ask yourself if you are shopping on Poshmark, what items will pop out to you. Consider variables such a picture quality, price, and even brand. This is where you should start and write down as many notes as you need. Again, this boring task will save you so much time in the future when you know your closet well enough that selective sharing just becomes intuitive.

Go give it a shot, thank me later.

The post You’re Probably Sharing Your Closet Wrong appeared first on PrettiBone.

Clothing Pallet Buying Tips

PrettiBone — Thu, 01 Aug 2019 08:44:47 +0000

I've received a lot of questions about buying pallets lately, so I thought I might as well handle all the questions on a post. Since there's so much to talk about and I will definitely miss some things, ask follow-up questions in the comments below.

First and foremost, this post is not about where to find clothing pallets but rather what to look for in a pallet if you ever have an opportunity to buy one. Where I buy my pallets is information I keep within my small team and will never be disclosed. I don't do this to hold you guys back, I just know how much work it took and how much I paid to obtain this kind of information. With that said, let's get it!

Some Pointers

When looking at a pallet, don't just focus on the good, it's more important that you focus on the bad. Here are some good and bad things to look for when examining a clothing pallet. I'll also include some pointers that aren't necessarily good or bad but you should always keep in mind.

1. When a pallet's price is based off of the MSRP price, understand that the MSRP price usually means nothing. Don't let the supplier use the MSRP price as a bargaining chip because the MSRP price has no relevance on what you can sell the pieces for. Think of it this way, most clothing in pallets are past their season and has been marked down dramatically from the original price. If that's the case then why is it OK for someone to use the original price as a tool to price a pallet? This is a common standard used amongst pallet suppliers but I usually look past that. I'm not telling you to NOT buy the pallet, I'm just telling you to not put that much emphasis on the MSRP price of the pallet.

2. If you're lucky enough to physically examine a pallet, don't base your decision on just the first top 10 inches of clothes. Seller's usually put the nicer pieces on top and the lower quality clothes on the bottom. REALLY dig if they allow you to.

3. If you're buying clothes, then buy clothes. Do not buy pallets with accessories or other pieces that are out of your scope. And within clothes make sure you focus on who your customers are. For example, I specialize in women's clothes exclusively, so I would decline a pallet if it has too many mens or kids pieces. Do not let the pallet dictate your market.

4. Ask about the damage rate (the percentage of damaged goods). Whatever number they tell you, just double it. Honestly, nobody is going to tell you the exact number and when they give you a number, they're lying. If they say it's 5%, then it's at least 10%.

5. Yes, the cost of shipping should be added to the average cost of each piece. I know this might sound obvious to a lot of you but I just have to say it. And if you're going to rent a truck or van to haul it, the principle still stands.

6. If a person you're buying from only has a few pallets for sale, understand you're not getting the best price. To me, that's a tell-tale sign that they're another middleman that's just trying to get their cut. There's nothing wrong with people getting their cut but if you're trying to get the best prices, you're not going to get it from them. Buy from suppliers that can supply you a truckload of pallets if you want the best prices. This is an important thing to remember so if I confused you, just ask in the comments.

7. Always ask for a manifest (an itemized list of everything that's inside the pallet). It's not a deal breaker if they don't have one, a manifest just provides you more info to make your decision.

8. If you're working with a new supplier, DO NOT buy more than 1 pallet the first time around. I got burned by 4 different suppliers before I found 3 that I can truly trust. Don't let them entice you with quantity discounts, just buy 1 and see how it goes for you. You'd be surprised how many unscrupulous sellers are out there. I literally bought 200 "pairs" of shoes one time just to find out that NONE OF THEM WERE PAIRS! Of course the seller conveniently forgot to mention this to me.

Again, I know I didn't cover everything when it comes to things to look for when buying a pallet; these are just a few of the important points that I can think of at the moment.

Watch Your Manners

When pallet shopping, understand that your relationship with your supplier is really important moving forward. Another obvious point but let me tell you a quick story that will open your eyes a little wider.

The supplier I work with for a while now time told me one time that he saves certain pallets for his customers that love to haggle prices. Needless to say, these pallets were not the best ones. He pointed to one section of his warehouse and literally, there were pallets lined up that were all low-quality pallets. I'm not telling you not negotiate, I'm just telling you to know where to draw the line. Believe me, if you're the type of person that always wants to win every dollar, you're going to get dealt with. A good supplier is not an animal you want to try your "bottom of the barrel" pricing with unless you're buying a truckload of pallets.

On the other hand, you should also know when you're getting a horrible deal. For example, I was offered a pallet at $12 per piece once for some Nordstrom pieces and got the seller down to $6. Even at $6 it still wasn't a good deal so imagine how I felt when he initially told me $12. If you're wondering, I passed on that pallet.

It All Comes with Experience

No matter what I tell, you're not going to get the full effect of buying a pallet until you do it yourself. You're going to have to buy a few to totally understand what to look for. By doing so, you'll soon find out that a lot of these tips will come naturally and you'll even develop your own tips. I know it can be intimidating at first because there are so many questions going through your mind but a good pallet seller will answer all your questions.

Will you get screwed, maybe. Just learn from your mistakes and keep pushing. I know that's a horrible way to end this post but that's the truth. Unless I'm there with you, I will not be able to fully assess your specific situation so use these tips as guidance and always use common sense.

Good Luck!

The post Clothing Pallet Buying Tips appeared first on PrettiBone.