Holiday season is fast approaching! How to prepare yourself

[ebayerOG]

so it is now september 9th and black friday is officially 78 days away! - marking the beginning of the holiday sales surge. Im sure everyone is excited as I am! I wanted to start a helpful thread to make sure everyone is where they need to be this year.


Newcomers often overlook the fact that infant accounts take about 90 days to mature
- so if anyone is planning to make or purchase accounts in preparation for the holiday season, the time to start building them is definitely now.

It is also a good idea to register an EIN or two at IRS.gov
- as those need a bit of maturing as well before adding to paypal. (two weeks minimum). Getting hit with a tax request could very well kill an account you've worked hard to build all year due to the holiday season rush. If you don't add it in time and you hit the IRS threshold, the paypal will be limited and selling will be blocked until the new year.

As always, it is recommended to use at least 3 accounts at all times to prevent any downtime.
- If one goes down, the other 2 accounts can absorb the load while taking the necessary time to properly build a replacement.

The stress of losing out on potential sales causes impatience. 90% of account failures that I've seen on the forums have been due to impatient sellers just trying to get back to where they were, which only adds to the anxiety having wasted even more time and money. NEVER allow yourself in that position again. ALWAYS prepare for an account to go down at any moment. Sometimes these core stealth values are forgotten.


Lets make 2015 profits huge by staying a couple steps ahead of eBay and share some other helpful ideas for unhindered growth!

stay busy, all!

[solefoodbk]

I would strongly suggest everyone to NOT add a EIN right now unless you are on the tipping point of getting limited. There is no need for adding one right now considering the closer we get to the end of the year the more likely we can EXCEED the amount in 200/20K.

This isn't the same for everyone but to my knowledge paypal does not send projected or even in some cases a request for TAX ID when its past OCT.

This can be a tricky time because their security measures WILL increase tenfold so anything we do is subject to more scrutiny.

[ebayerOG]

Yes, definitely don't add an EIN unless you project going over the 20k mark

BUT, having the EIN ready to add is hugely important. Waiting 2 weeks to age an EIN during the holiday season and missing out on sales is NOT a good solution

[solefoodbk]

Yes I'm just saying for people who don't know any account that survived up till OCT most likely won't even get the request, and if they do you can more than likely exceed it without getting limited.

Even call paypal and they will tell you if you want to add a EIN do it NOW not past OCT because its the holiday season and literally the end of the year. Were going to get tons of threads about this stuff ....just giving a heads up

[ebayerOG]

oh ok, fo sho, good information. maybe this will be the one stop to answer most of their questions.

Ill update the thread as necessary

[yankee]

I personally, wont add EINs or even consider it from this point on. November and December have historically been free reigns on tax limitations, so I don't expect that to change.
Even right now, I have 39 day old accounts that would have already had the request a couple weeks ago and are cranking along nicely. I will test the limits on one just to see.
The other I am winding down until Mid November.

[jeffweico]

I agree with all of this, let me also add a few points...

• Have an EIN ready, but do NOT add it until they ask for it.
• Get your accounts ready NOW! The longer you wait, the tighter the security will be. This is ESPECIALLY TRUE FOR AMAZON!
• List on those accounts NOW! Creating or buying an account is not enough - you have to be active on the account, because if you wait, it will be like starting a brand new account.
• DON'T CUT CORNERS! If you don't follow the stealth rules, you might find that the eBay and Amazon Grinches have stolen your Christmas!
• If you have not read the stealth guide, you really need to! Buying an account can save you time and hassles, but it is NOT a substitute for knowing stealth. If you don't understand stealth, then your accounts could go down very easily - stealth is not difficult, but you DO have to follow the guide. It explains everything in a straightforward step by step manner and will allow you to keep your accounts strong and selling!

[Haidukken]

Originally Posted by yankee

The other I am winding down until Mid November.

What do you mean by winding down? Please explain.

[yankee]

Originally Posted by Haidukken

What do you mean by winding down? Please explain.

Resting per say but listing items geared towards holiday season in my nitches. Priced higher and then run sales Thanksgiving week(of course USA).
Basically to assure I have a handful of accounts with no holds for the crazy buyers and target high dollar buyers. Well, higher dollar like $300-1000 items. Sell to the limits in a week in November and the first week of December with less paypal issues and no tax issues.

Run 100 auctions starting Tuesday of Thanksgiving week ending on the Sunday before Cyber Monday has historically been my most profitable model and really easy to plan with staff etc... Then do that every week until Christmas with of course other auctions and BIN in the mix.

[ebayerOG]

grrrreat info guys

[Haidukken]

Originally Posted by yankee

Resting per say but listing items geared towards holiday season in my nitches. Priced higher and then run sales Thanksgiving week(of course USA).
Basically to assure I have a handful of accounts with no holds for the crazy buyers and target high dollar buyers. Well, higher dollar like $300-1000 items. Sell to the limits in a week in November and the first week of December with less paypal issues and no tax issues.

Run 100 auctions starting Tuesday of Thanksgiving week ending on the Sunday before Cyber Monday has historically been my most profitable model and really easy to plan with staff etc... Then do that every week until Christmas with of course other auctions and BIN in the mix.

Much appreciated, that cleared up few things.
I'm not much of a holiday trader so I'll just stay in my lane and keep reading what you guys write, as its most useful.

[yankee]

Originally Posted by Haidukken

Much appreciated, that cleared up few things.
I'm not much of a holiday trader so I'll just stay in my lane and keep reading what you guys write, as its most useful.

According to my 1099s December ends up being 30% of my annul gross income. Kinda crazy to miss out on possible 30% increase in revenue.

[jeffweico]

Originally Posted by yankee

Resting per say but listing items geared towards holiday season in my nitches. Priced higher and then run sales Thanksgiving week(of course USA).
Basically to assure I have a handful of accounts with no holds for the crazy buyers and target high dollar buyers. Well, higher dollar like $300-1000 items. Sell to the limits in a week in November and the first week of December with less paypal issues and no tax issues.

Run 100 auctions starting Tuesday of Thanksgiving week ending on the Sunday before Cyber Monday has historically been my most profitable model and really easy to plan with staff etc... Then do that every week until Christmas with of course other auctions and BIN in the mix.

I like your methodology. Interesting. I never thought of having a couple of accounts handy to sacrifice.

[dealagreeproceed]

LEZZZZZZZ DO IT

[solefoodbk]

Originally Posted by yankee

According to my 1099s December ends up being 30% of my annul gross income. Kinda crazy to miss out on possible 30% increase in revenue.

Whats October - December, 50%?

Almost everyone benefits from now till I'd say mid February. Thinking back at the things I sold last year and how BAD the listings looked I can't WAIT for this year. Not to mention I have TRS's, WAY more inventory...can't wait!

Lets just see how many threads start popping up saying "sales are still slow"...lol

[Haidukken]

Originally Posted by yankee

According to my 1099s December ends up being 30% of my annul gross income. Kinda crazy to miss out on possible 30% increase in revenue.

To be be fair, I'll most likely end up making more money as well even if I just sell my usual stock, as the category I'm in is something that is perfect for a gift.
Christmas season will up everyones sales, unless you sell Easter related items or used dildos.

I think with me, I just need to make sure that 100% of my stock is out and available to buy and I might consider moving from auction style listings to Buy It Now, just to get those impulse buys in and make the quick sale. Currently I run at 80% auctions 20% BIN, but I might flip it, come November/December.

I remember when I was a store manager for a high street shop over here in the UK how crazy Christmas got, when we took 80% of our yearly plan within last 3 months of the year, so I have a rough idea how to sell even more and whats essential to people.

Interesting to read about account safety and general methods of prep.

[dan_ebay]

not looking forward to black friday, my sales doubled last year on that day and lost mail x10 lol

[Bunneh]

Oh i am looking forward to it! Fast and easy way to get xmas shopping done.

[jakobrockz]

Originally Posted by Haidukken

To be be fair, I'll most likely end up making more money as well even if I just sell my usual stock, as the category I'm in is something that is perfect for a gift.
Christmas season will up everyones sales, unless you sell Easter related items or used dildos.

I think with me, I just need to make sure that 100% of my stock is out and available to buy and I might consider moving from auction style listings to Buy It Now, just to get those impulse buys in and make the quick sale. Currently I run at 80% auctions 20% BIN, but I might flip it, come November/December.

I remember when I was a store manager for a high street shop over here in the UK how crazy Christmas got, when we took 80% of our yearly plan within last 3 months of the year, so I have a rough idea how to sell even more and whats essential to people.

Interesting to read about account safety and general methods of prep.

I would flip the auction/BIN ratio now and have a good amount of stock (if the account is built up) so the BIN listings will have good search results for the upcoming months

[meriscope]

EIN is the most challenging action item here. I know it is needed eventually, but I am still hesitated to deal with tax issue...

[yankee]

Originally Posted by solefoodbk

Whats October - December, 50%?

Almost everyone benefits from now till I'd say mid February. Thinking back at the things I sold last year and how BAD the listings looked I can't WAIT for this year. Not to mention I have TRS's, WAY more inventory...can't wait!

Lets just see how many threads start popping up saying "sales are still slow"...lol

I read somewhere that Macy's did 80% of net during the last quarter. Who knows how true it is but I don't doubt it.

I am renting storage and office space from a guy who has millions of items in stock. He tells he he ships 10-20 pieces three days a week now but I know for fact that he ships THOUSANDS of items daily during the holiday season. Now what he sells makes sense. A lot of Gift items and jewelry boxes, etc... He only buys 100% of existing clearance items from mail order catalogs to eliminate competition.

Anyways, lol, for me personally, late august through mid October is my $$$ season followed by December.
But now I am breaking into boring everyday selling items as well.

[Legendnvegas]

can a EIN be added to Paypal after it's been created and issued?
Or must you wait 2 weeks before paypal will accept it?