In the course of a normal getting to know you conversation, the question, "what do you do?" often comes up. Maybe a little less in mom circles, since it is commonly assumed that if you are attending the current play date, library circle, etc that you USED to do something but now you are mom. And we all feel for each other, because "just mom" is the lowest paid and most unappreciated job out there. But it's also the best job you'll never be paid to do. Okay, now that all the clichés are out of the way...
When the topic of work comes up I sometimes just say that I was a nurse, or am a nurse, depending on my mood for the day. I mean, I AM a nurse, but I'm not working as one, so it's complicated. Then there are the days when I tell people that I have a home business. Usually this is met with a slight edging away from the person who assumes I am now going to try to sell them Pampered Chef, Tastefully Simple, Mary Kay, or multiple other items they don't need. If they are brave enough to stick it out and ask what I do, I explain. It seems complex but it actually very simple.
I sell things for people who can't. That's the main gist. If you want the cliff notes version, stop now. If you want the nitty gritties, read on.
Years ago, I was introduced to chat boards and online talks. We talk about everything, but a good deal of all the chit chat is about clothing. People discuss what clothes they want to buy, what deals are going on, the fit of the clothes, basically everything. When the clothes are purchased people put up fashion shows with their children in their spiffy new outfits. Usually the fashion shows are done over and over in one location in the house. My secret rationale behind this is as moms of little kids, we can only keep one area clean at a time.
Once the clothes were worn, they had to be sold. Many people B/S/T (buy, sell, trade) on the chat boards themselves. Others use eBay, or take their clothes to local consignment shops or sales. The selling of the old clothes would help fund the purchase of the new ones.
I started out innocently enough, selling Olivia's clothes on the boards, locally to friends, and a tiny bit on eBay. EBay intimidated me. I was so worried about missing a flaw or angry buyers, that I mostly steered clear of the whole mess. But more and more I was seeing people post as eBay TAs. I was interested. What was a TA? Was this a business I could utilize?
I asked lots of questions and found out that TAs are trading assistants. They take people's items, prep them (iron, photograph, edit photos, write listings, post listings), deal with questions from buyers, invoice buyers, print postage, ship items, deal with buyers after item receipt, and leave feedback. These TAs were running multiple auctions, and the number of auctions helped draw in more buyers. The more people purchased from them, the more they came back, and this helped drive up their auction totals. The higher their auction totals, the more people wanted to use them as a TA. It was a positive feedback loop. Back then I didn't realize how hard a TA worked for their money, and how much they wanted the auctions to succeed too!
Of course there were the TA horror stories. TAs that received items and never listed them. TAs that had poorly written or photographed auctions. TAs that added pieces of candy to clothing items that previously had none ;) I thought about sending my resale items to a TA, but in the end decided to bite the bullet and list myself. My auctions turned out okay at first, then better and better as I figured out how best to write and photograph auctions, which things were worth putting on eBay and which weren't, and more (can't share all my secrets!)
I liked the money I made from selling on eBay, but I only had so many children's outfits. Once they were gone, they were gone. I was too intimidated to call myself an eBay TA, but I thought about changing the model to fit local sales. At the time, there were two local children's resales held biannually. The resales took items from multiple sellers, organized them, and opened the items to shoppers for one day. The resale took 10% of the profits from all sold items. Here was an avenue where I could sell items that buyers got to physically "check out," and I didn't need to get the eBay nerves.
I started small. I let a few friends know I was going to start taking items from moms who were too busy or not interested in selling their own items. These moms were usually from two camps. The first donated everything to Goodwill. The second had bins and bins and bins full of children's items in their basements. My first season I had 2 or 3 clients. I had a great time prepping for the sale, because I could do it in my free time, ironing while catching up on tv, tagging while listening to Olivia read, whatever needed to be done.
All this time I was also working as a nurse. I was maxed out, but I continued having people request to become clients. I really wanted to be a SAHM, but I was afraid to give up a "real" job for this made up one. Finally I decided I had to give it a try. I quit working outside the home and became a resale TA full time. Over time another sale started, and now I sell for clients at three sales twice a year. My client list has grown, and I have started selling more on eBay, which is an area I really want to grow my business.
One of my many eBay bins
When people really listen to what it is I do, there are questions. The first and most common one is, "where do I sign up?"
The second most common is "is it worth it?" This is usually actually the question "how much money do you make?" Honestly, it's worth it. If my kid is sick, I'm home. If my kid has 9 snow days, I'm home. Doctor, dentist, optometrist appointments? I can take them. I love the flexibility of being able to work this job around my schedule. I decide how many clients I take, and I can decrease depending on the season or my schedule.
Now for the flip side. If you counted up all the hours I work, I would make less than minimum wage. I work HARD to make sure that my client's items are well represented at the sales, each and every one. I have to figure out storage issues, transport issues (one sale I literally drive back and forth all day running to make sure everything makes it in the drop off window. Another sale is 45 minutes away one way. I sit up late at night retagging items when one sale's pickup is Saturday afternoon and the next sale's drop off is Monday morning. I, like every working mom out there, give up time with my family, time I could be working on the home, time to just relax for a minute.
The money I make from TA'ing goes to purchase clothes for my kid's for the next season. It also goes into a special vacation fund only I deposit in. Right now I am saving for our next Disney trip. My goal is to pay for it 100% on my own. In these ways I feel like even though I am not "working," I am contributing to my family.
Now if you come over to my house in March or July, and see my front room full of boxes, you'll know why. Come on in!! Just make sure your kids don't play with anything with a tag on it ;)
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