Today's tip may be a bit of tough for some... No customer cares what you paid, nor do they want to hear it. It's an instant vibe killer. Your customers want to know they are getting the lowest price possible. If you disclose you paid $50, can you truly expect it to sell for $85? If you paid $50 then that's the market price, why should they pay more? Why are you a better single item buyer than your customer? You are a bulk or wholesale buyer, and you may have a cost average assigned to each piece in a lot, but don't single out a single item and flap your arms while clucking on about how hard it was to buy or that you're in too deep on it... Your customers will exit the room, I promise you that. I will occasionally share a price paid with the room simply as an interesting talking point, but never from a mentality of "I paid $50 so I need to make $75". I still start the item at $10 and let the room dictate what it's actually worth. I understand you may not have 50 people in your room, so start it at half market price so you don't take a huge hit. You will ALWAYS sell some items at a loss. If you aren't missing on a few pieces every show, you're not growing. The following phrases I hear all the time, and I urge you to cut every one of them out of your sales flow: - I paid up for this - I paid X dollars for this - I need to get AT LEAST X dollars for this - This was expensive - I paid too much for this - I got carried away on this one - I don't have much room on this Set an asking price, start the auction, tell everyone why they should buy it, hit the gas and if you don't have a different item in your hands in 22 seconds, you're in the wrong industry. Fondly written with 🐢 noises and NOT ai, Brad/threefortytwo

Hi - I got a Christian Dior for what I thought was a good deal for resell. I listed it on eBay (dumb idea) and it was flagged. Now I am afraid I was duped. Any idea if this is legit ? Thanks friends !!!

I bought this kit from Chris (Virginia Treasure Hunter) and it came in today. A couple of people asked for a video so I did it. Incidentally it arrived in the mail today, which is our 30th anniversary, which is the pearl anniversary. Thought that was a neat little coincidence. Christa (PatinaPastPurpose)

I feel like I have had success in the 6 months that Ive been doing Whatnot as Virginiatreasurehunter. Some may disagree, but I am very happy with how my business has grown. Ive had people asking how I started and built things up and I thought I’d share if anyone is interested. Keep in mind this worked for me, it may not be the best way for you. -Consistancy. I tried a couple of different times and dates before I settle on Friday evening being my ‘set show’ day. I have a show every Friday, I have adjusted the times, but my shows are Friday evenings and I stick to it. Ive only cancelled one (I had the flu and wanted to die, so I thought $$$-It costs money to make money. I DID pay to promote for the first 3 months. The analytics showed I was getting sales from promotion, but more importantly I was getting bidders and return visitors who initially came in from promotion. $$$-MORE ‘It takes money to make money’. (This is the really unpopular one). I had $1 starts my first show, $3 starts after that, now I do all $4 starts. Yes I lost money on many items in the beginning. I sold many awesome pieces, many that I would guess Brad would get $30-$80 in his shows, for $3-$15. I knew I had to do this to build my business and considered it an acceptable loss. I congratulated my buyers (very upbeat and cheery, even when I was sad about it) and moved on to the next item. This has cost me the most money, and its been worth every penny. -KEEPING PEEPS IN THE ROOM. I did/do this several ways. I thought ‘People have so many rooms they can scroll through, how can I keep them in mine?’ My show thumbnail and title gave people a reason to stay. To start I gave a lot of jewelry away. - Plan your background thoughtfully. Give them something that takes time to look at. Brad uses a mirror and his zany personality along with the flats of amazing jewelry he’s selling. He’s shopping with a show, personified! However, for us mere mortals….. I now set up all ‘bangers’ in the background. Amazing higher end pieces I have preloaded, a few for auction, but mostly in the BIN. I do run flash sales during my shows on those pieces and I always make a nice profit on them. I could do a better job of featuring them during my shows..but that another topic, lol. By having those in the background there is always something really nice to look at, and if asked I tell people to look in the shop at the piece then I show the item up close and run the sale. I think people sometimes look and then research and come back because I am often asked to run a piece a second time, and then it sells, sometimes even a show or two later.

Jon and I went to the thrift store this morning and I picked up a ring. It was unmarked, but I just had a gut feeling that it was a good one. I happily paid $4! As soon as we got home, I acid tested the metal and tested the stones. I was so freaking excited! The ring is 14 K and Diamond! Yay!