Part time to a £1/2m business – John Pemberton's story
16/11/2008 at 16:26
Every now and then I’ll bump into fellow eBay seller John at our local post office and we’ll have a chat and swap a few selling tips. Today John, who trades as Give_Me_Designer_Clothes, is featured in the Telegraph telling how he’s grown his business from a part time income working around a full time job. With turnover last year of £200k he’s projecting growth to £1/2m this financial year.
The article covers everything from finance to photography, from market research to business plans. John’s come a long way from when he used eBay simply to sell of his old clothes and it’s great to see successes like this.
Congratulations John, see you down the Post Office!
Whirly says
6:25 pm on 16/11/2008
That boy has some nice clobber. Well done John.
northumbrian says
7:18 pm on 16/11/2008
somethings wrong with both your operations , if you need to waste time and effort down at the post office
Whirly says
8:24 pm on 16/11/2008
#2 ffs norf
Chris Dawson says
9:08 pm on 16/11/2008
#2 You’d be amazed how much info you can pick up on the state of eBay down the post office…. they keep me well informed on what’s going down
Mordillo says
9:45 pm on 16/11/2008
In the article it says:
“He is also able to insist on PayPal, through which payments to sellers are guaranteed – you don’t get defaulters failing to send a cheque and he gets no charge-backs.”
I’d be interested to know how he’s immune to chargebacks with having a few fraudelent ones recently that I couldn’t do anything about
Chris Dawson says
10:36 pm on 16/11/2008
I’d be interested to know how he’s immune to chargebacks
Expanded seller protection covers you if you ship by a trackable service
ebuyerfb says
11:14 pm on 16/11/2008
@ # 6
You left out the part where PayPal has to request the tracking number for you to actually be covered. I was in that program, shipped traceable, and PayPal still took the money without asking any questions.
northumbrian says
7:59 am on 17/11/2008
the only thing that I learned at our post office, is how much pensions dont buy, and how much the counter staff dont know about the royal mail
Chris Dawson says
9:14 am on 17/11/2008
#7 I don’t mind em taking the money or putting it on hold… The one and only time that’s happened I phoned em up, gave them the tracking number explaining I was covered, and a week later the money was released back into my PayPal account.
You may have to chase em, but if you tell em you’re covered then you won’t bear the loss.
chris o'D says
9:17 am on 17/11/2008
Nice inspiring story
I got a good hint down the PO that one local retail shop always has a queue for service. clothing retail too.
Chris
John Pemberton says
1:23 pm on 17/11/2008
Hi all, thanks for the blog Chris – kind of you. My main operation is in Cheshire – I do only a small fraction of postage from Berkshire (i.e. my Dr Marten boots – mainly because I want to keep hold of some hands on work still). I use Interlink Express from my main postage and they are a fantastic service, and you can get good negotiated terms if you push hard.
Re chargebacks – I have only had 2 in 4 years, and on both occasions it was before the confirmed / unconfirmed seller system, and I got my money back both times.
I am off to do an article for Newbury Weekly News (watch out for it next week Chris!!). Oh and also I am in Independent on Sunday next week (slipped from yesterday)
Thanks for all your comments – if I can assist anybody here, I would be glad to.
John
northumbrian says
2:47 pm on 17/11/2008
“Thanks for all your comments – if I can assist anybody here, I would be glad to.
John ”
Lends a tenner!
John Pemberton says
4:35 pm on 17/11/2008
lol – all my spare tenners have gone to the VAT man
northumbrian says
4:46 pm on 17/11/2008
VAT man sees it, as his money ! not your money!
paul says
9:07 pm on 17/11/2008
Nice to see someone else doing well…. we will hit £250k next year and have just leased 2600 sq feet as home is no longer big enough!!!! There is money out there .. its just finding the right items to sell… From zero to £5k a week selling 99p items is hard work BUT rewarding
John Pemberton says
10:09 pm on 17/11/2008
nice one Paul – fair play to you. Hard work always pays off.
Nick Talley says
10:04 pm on 18/11/2008
Well done John, but with that turnover please get a Royal Mail collection sorted. It does my head in queuing for my dole money / pension and car tax behind you pesky eBayers the the post office
John Pemberton says
6:40 pm on 21/11/2008
#17 Hi Nick – please see my comment made( #11). 99% of our shipping is via Interlink Express. I use the Post Office infrequently and really only to get out of the office once in a while! Also we have 2 great girls working at Thatcham Northfield Road PO (Chris will vouch for that) – its more of a social thing than a necessity!!
When I finish my ebay posting, I also take advantage and pick up my giro and car tax, passport application etc!!