Customer satisfaction

I believe strongly in satisfying customers, no matter what business you are in. Whether you offer a product for sale or a service, the customer needs to feel good about the transaction. Bad customer service will kill a business faster than almost anything else I can think of.

So now I have an opportunity to live by that principle.  The winning bidder for a guitar amplifier, which I sold for my hairdresser on e-bay, is unhappy with the product. I listed it as new, which my HD told me it was, and the buyer thinks its used because it has some smudges on the case. And even more importantly to the buyer, the tubes and case both rattle on low frequency notes. The buyer claims to have talked with a friend at a Memphis Guitar Center who says the tube rattle is fixable, but perhaps not the case rattle.

I’m no amplifier expert, but I agree that the tube rattle is fixable. I just fixed my own rattling tubes in a Carvin amplifier, if “fixing” you mean “replacing”. But the solution did work. The case rattle is more puzzling, as I didn’t notice it when I tried the amplifier in my house, hoping to avoid this very problem.

So today I will talk with HD about his amp and find out as much as I can. How much did he use it and still call it “new”. How much would he be willing to give back of the purchase price if the buyer will accept it at a lower price?  Does he want to give me his money back and he can keep the amplifier? And how much will I be out from my own pocket keeping my customer happy?

e-bay commissions

One of the problems I have with the idea of getting rich on e-bay is the volume of work required to make any money. I just sold a guitar and a guitar amplifier for my friend, the hairdresser. Each item sold for over $300. But after e-bay fees, shipping charges, Paypal charges (damn, I forgot to subtract them out!) I took $50 and was still able to give my friend a check for $520. Now I have to take out my Paypal fees ($23.00) and I’m left with $27 for my trouble. Its a slow way to getting rich.

Selling on e-bay

Selling on e-bay can be an amazing thing. No matter how obscure the item, there are some people that are interested in purchasing it. Over the past several years, I have successfully auctioned numerous pieces of slightly used girls clothing (only the nicest of the dresses my daughters outgrew). And now I am auctioning off several statues for a friend raising money to purchase a trailer parked at the Delaware shore.

But the process is not without some frustrations. Perhaps first and foremost are the potential bidders that ask questions about shipping that are addressed in my listing.  I clearly state that I ship to the domestic United States, and nowhere else. Still, in the past week I have received requests to ship to Canada, Hong Kong, and Australia. In some cases, I will be willing to ship “internationally” when that means Canada. But shipping to Hoong Kong or Australia? Then I expect the buyer to have some idea of what is required, and a very good feedback history. Still, they keep asking.

The other thing I find frustrating is the timing of bids. On a 10-day auction, I often get bids during the first weekend, then nothing until the second weekend. Similarly, on a 7-day auction, I receive a flurry of bids early on, then nothing until the last several hours. Even allowing for the growing use of automatic software to make last minute bids, it takes the fun out of watching an auction.

Still, I have been getting some good action on my items. And I have many watchers on the guitars and amplifier; not so much on the Giuseppe Armani figurines.

Selling more e-bay guitars

My hairdresser has again asked me to sell some items for him on e-bay. I have previously sold an Gibson ES-345 for him, managing to get $2000 for it, far less than I thought it was worth given how new it was. Still, he gave me $50 for my help in selling it, and the buyer was quite happy with the deal he made.

Then about 2 weeks ago my friend had me sell a Crate Palomino series 35W tube amplifier and a Mexican Stratocaster. Those auctions are ongoing, scheduled to end Sunday night.

Then this week, he asked me to sell the Gretsch Duo Jet. He had previously asked me to sell it, then changed his mind. Now, confronted with the need to raise money for a vacation home (trailer) he and his wife agreed they should sell the Gretsch. As well, he brought 10 collectible statues for me to sell.

The entire episode has reminded me of the rules people should follow when acting as Trading Assistants on e-bay. This is a friend, and it started off with just one guitar, so our relationship didn’t start off following e-bay’s recommended procedures. And our interactions I think reflect an unhealthy dynamic around the selling transaction.

First, and most importantly, my friend continues to say “See if you can get $XXX for it” which negates the whole idea of an auction. I can specify a Reserve Price, and for some of the stautes I will, but having a high Reserve Price, in my experience, hasn’t helped generate activity on my items. My other concern is trying to pin him down to what an acceptable price would be, and an accurate description. With the Gretsch, I am certain he originally talked about getting $1500-1800 for it, since it is only 3 months old and costs $2350 new. But one sold today on e-bay for $1225 and it was new, even having the Styrofoam on the Bigsby’s arm. When confronted with that info, he acted like of course he wanted whatever I could get for it, perhaps $1000 – 1100 would be great. Then I start thinking: $1000 winning bid, minus listing fees and shipping. Perhaps I should offer him $950 now, on the spot. I could put it into inventory at Media Music.

Then I look at my bank balances in Quicken. An

Media Music

I received my Sales Tax License in the mail today. I confess that it felt special seeing the envelope addressed to Media Music in my mailbox. Somehow it seemed right, and felt good to have taken that step. I’m still not sure how far it will go, but I am learning about the process of starting a business and building confidence as I go.

Store Inventory

As I move towards selling guitars, I must decide what guitars I want to sell. I have ruled out the big three (Gibson, Fender, and Ibanez), since most stores around me already carry them. As well, I learned that Gibson was reducing the number of dealers they use, and requiring the remaining ones to sell more instruments.

Several brands are not represented well around me. These brands include: Washburn, Parker, Jackson, Dean, G&L, Paul Reed Smith, and many smaller brands. Today I contacted Parker Guitars to learn what their requirements are for becoming a licensed dealer. They are owned by the same company that makes Washburn guitars, so that will probably be the next brand I consider selling.

But I would also like to sell vintage instruments. Unfortunately, there is no one easy source for those, and my efforts in the past to find them at flea markets and garage sales have been completely unsuccessful. Vintage Guitar magazine is packed with firms selling vintage guitars (duh!) but they are all at fair market value, leaving no room for me to make a profit. So I am researching how they obtain their inventory (better garage sales?) so that I may start building an inventory (also known as a collection).

Scouting the Competition

As I promised myself, today I drove down to visit the guitar store I learned about this past weekend: Top 10 Music Studio. The store is a small storefront in a bad neighborhood with lots of dusty used, but not vintage, equipment. I talked with the one person working there, a man in his 50’s who acted like the owner, about the store and my not knowing he was there. I learned he had been there for 35 years, and that some people still say they don’t know he’s there. (So its not just me!)

We also briefly talked about other music stores that had disappeared in the past, including one in Havertown, PA which was open when I lived there (Arpeggio Music) and the store that was in Media, PA (the name of which I didn’t get clearly). He then was interrupted by phone calls and some real customers. After confirming that his inventory changed regularly, I promised to make a return visit and left him with his paying customers.

My next decision is how to approach him for more information on the store in Media, PA that closed. At what point in my conversations with him do I mention that I am in the process of identifying a profitable niche in his industry that I could serve, and possibly become a competitor. When is it ethical to mention that, or is it not necessary for me to mention that at all? And who among my associates should I ask for heir thoughts on this?

Business competition

One of the major factors in my decision-making process has been what level of competition exists in a field. Living outside Philadelphia, my area is not a high growth location like some parts of the country. In my mind I envision regions like Atlanta, with their constant influx of new citizens, as a gold mine of opportunities to serve new clients not already in a relationship with a provider. Here in Philadelphia, most people who need a dry cleaner already have one, so a new store must get customers from another store.

In the music instrument field, there are many competitors already in place. After Guitar Center came to town, and Sam Ash expanded, many independent retailers went out of business. Those that survived have found their niches. Which leaves me looking for an unexploited niche. One of those niches I anticipated serving was for high-quality used instruments.

I know there is at least one vintage guitar store/guy within 10 miles of me. Frankly, I visited his store once and was underwhelmed. Most of his business was on e-bay, and even “in Japan”, he informed me with puffed-out chest. But yesterday, while at George’s Music getting some new power tubes for my amplifier, I learned of another store selling low-quality used instruments not far from me. So on Monday, I plan to drive by and see what they are doing.

In the meantime, I confess to being disappointed by this development. But I take heart in knowing that this store is very poorly marketed. It has never been included in any searches I have done for music stores in this area, and I have never seen any ads anywhere for the store. So perhaps I could still enter this niche without too much difficulty from this competitor.

Starting a PA Business

I have never considered myself entrepreneurial. I consider myself smart, and very good at problem solving. I also am a good manager of people, and connect well with people at all levels in an organization, from the bottom rung to the owner or CEO. But I’ve never considered myself a self-starter or entrepreneurial.

So it is with some surprise that I find myself the proud owner of a Business Name and Sales Tax License Number. I am now officially Media Music. It was easy, thanks to the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania website and some quick answers from my friend.

As my first order of business, I need to decide on an internet website address. Media Music is already used (only by a squatter, but it is taken).

Back to the business

On Tuesday I stopped by my hairdresser’s salon and picked up his items for sale: one Mexican Stratocaster, one 30W Crate all-tube Palomino amplifier, and one black Gretsch DuoJet. The DuoJet was the one main guitar he had been holding onto, and the one he kept saying he would never sell. When we last talked, I constantly tried to get him to sell the Gretsch, only to have him tell me he wasn’t selling it. I was quite surprised to find out he was letting me sell it.

After I got it home, I needed to make sure it played well enough for me to sell on e-bay without damaging my feedback ratings. By playing it personally, I can learn about and disclose any shortcomings in the description. Its also the fun part of doing this for my hairdresser. What I immediately noticed was that it was light, and had a great variety of tones. But the low E string buzzed loudly. When my daughters came home from school, they both mentioned how loud the buzzing was.

So this morning I decided to call my hairdresser and ask him about the buzzing. He claims to be good about tweaking guitars, and I wanted to let him have an opportunity to do that to this one. I felt that selling it as is, with me mentioning the string buzz in my description, would certainly net him a much lower price on e-bay than he otherwise would receive. When I called him, he was glad to hear from me. His wife is out of town, and he had told her the prior night that I was selling the Gretsch. Based on her reaction, he needed to get it back and not sell it.

So I have the amplifier listing ready to start on Thursday night, and I still have the Mexican Strat to sell, but neither item will earn as much for him, or me, as that Gretsch. So since I have some more time, I went ahead and registered my fictitious name with the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and registered for what I think will be my state tax receipt number. Which is all I think I need to start selling guitars as Media Music.