I became a member of eBay in August 04. I only became a member with the intention building an eBay business. My primary reason to do so was because I had great difficulties finding trendy and funky plus-size clothing for myself. So I decided to start a business in plus-size clothing to fill an obvious gap in the market and I used eBay as a vehicle to get it off the ground.

How long did it take before you decided to specialise in your chosen field?

I knew which field I wanted to specialise in before I joined eBay. I planned what I wanted to do beforehand and started with a distinct goal in mind: to become the biggest and best in my field. I succeeded to become a Titanium PowerSeller within 4 months of starting my eBay business 

Was it a struggle to build your business?  

No, I found it rather easy, because I enjoyed it so much. The thrill of seeing your products being sold and sometimes fought over in auctions is fantastic. Of course, there was a rather steep learning curve in getting to grips with the eBay selling side, but after I started using Turbo Lister and other tools, things became easier and I could concentrate more on buying the products that I knew were marketable on eBay.  

Has opening a shop improved your sales on eBay?  

Opening the shop was an important stage in the development of my eBay business. It was one of the tools that really helped me to crank up my sales. It is also an economical way of selling your stuff by directing potential clients to it.  

Do you have your own website? 

When I started my business, I bought a domain name www.biggirlswardrobe.com and I routed traffic from my website to my eBay shop. Now I am one year in business, I have decided to go live with my website for the simple reason that there are potential clients out there whom, for whatever reason, I cannot reach through eBay. 

Do you trade elsewhere, or purely on-line? 

My business has grown in a few directions. Primarily it still revolves around being an on-line mail-order business, but I also started to do wholesale for a few 3^rd party shops and I am planning to open my first high street shop in what I hope one day will become a retail chain.  

Would you class this as your job, or is this a way of making ‘extra’ money? 

My eBay business is a full time exercise, not just for me but also for several people who I now employ in my company. I left a very good job as a senior buyer for an international retail chain after only one month of doing business on eBay. I have never looked back and I really enjoy both the considerable financial rewards and the freedom of being my own boss.  

Have you ever had any bad experiences with customers and if so, would you care to elaborate? 

We all have some good and less good experiences with clients on eBay. There are always people who do not follow the rules properly and get themselves into trouble at our expense. Like all of us, I have been on the receiving end of some totally unfounded negative feedback; we take that into our stride and I personally prefer to look at the 10,000 plus positive feedbacks I have received in my first year.   

What advice would you give to anyone who is fairly new to eBay and what advice would you share with members who are already established? 

My main advice would be: Communicate with your clients, answer questions as soon as you can. If you don’t answer within a few hours, you will have lost a sale, as the person will have gone to your direct competitor. Dispatch your sold item(s) the same day or if it is too late in the day to make the post, make sure you mail them the next day and spend 10p or so on a professional mailbag. If you get it there quickly, people will definitely come back to you for more. Repeat business is a wonderful way to build your eBay business. Part of my success is based on communicating with my clients at any hour of the day (in my case often the night as well), and getting the goods to them within 48 hours.

Take your eBay business seriously. Whether you sell one item per day or a thousand, make sure you give your client the best possible service. If necessary, work 7 days per week to develop your business; you will soon see the rewards.  

Would you be able to offer subscribers any sort of discount if they shop with you? (just skip this if it’s not something that you can offer) 

My prices are already very attractive! 

Is there anything else that you would like to add? 

My first year on eBay has been a wonderful experience. I have been fortunate to find through eBay a way to create a prosperous and profitable business for myself. I can highly recommend doing it. There really is a world-wide audience for your goods. My company now regularly sells through eBay to clients in the USA, Canada, Australia, South Africa and most countries in Europe. If you do it well, eBay can make you money and can turn you into a successful entrepreneur and business woman.