eBay Inc.

10/09/2021 | Press release | Distributed by Public on 10/09/2021 13:17

7 Questions with Ken Gaitano of SimplyBee

Ken Gaitano is a lifelong sneakerhead and entrepreneur, so when he made a quick $2,000 selling some of his shoes on eBay, he knew this could be a legit business.

To learn how to get started, he watched YouTubers who'd done it before. Now, he and his wife Jacy have a store that won't stop growing, and he's sharing his knowledge with the next generation of sellers.

Explore Ken's 1,000+ kicks for sale at SimplyBee.

7 Questions with Ken Gaitano of SimplyBee

  1. How did you start selling on eBay?

I'm a sneakerhead. For a long time, I was buying shoes for my collection that I didn't have growing up in the Philippines. I had about 100 pairs. Limited Jordans and basketball shoes that I wanted as a kid but my parents didn't have the money for.

My wife Jacy and I were living in a two-bedroom apartment, and the second bedroom became the room for my sneak collection.

And I said, "Wait, a minute, I could sell these on eBay!" Because I bought some of them on eBay.

I thought I could get some money to pay rent, our car payment, insurance, plus money for a trip back to the Philippines.

It wasn't some lightbulb moment that got me to sell on eBay. It was just, "I need to offload some shoes," and I saw eBay as the platform to do it.

I could have sold them locally, but on eBay I didn't have to deal with anybody. Just ship shoes, and it'd be done!

I was able to make $2,000 for that trip back to the Philippines with my own sneakers. I realized, "Wait, there's a demand for my stuff! Now I have to supply it."

  1. What does a typical day look like for you?

First, I gotta wake up and have my coffee. That's the most important part of my day!

During the morning, we take care of shipping first. There's a noon cutoff at our local post office, so we try to get it out.

Early afternoon, we usually go sourcing and start visiting different stores and buying products. Then we come home either before rush hour or wait until post rush hour, which would be about seven or eight.

We have a rule. Everything needs to be listed within 24 hours. So we really don't sleep until everything is listed on eBay. We do a lot of our listings and take photos at night.

After that, we can sleep!

Note Ken's simple, memorable branding-and 100% positive feedback score.

  1. What's your process for sourcing merchandise?

The sourcing process really starts with research. I do a lot of that beforehand to understand what's trending and what stores in other cities have in stock.

We either physically check stores' stock or, because of the relationships we've built, we can find out with just a phone call. We take photos of the items in stores, then do more research at home.

The products I buy aren't risks-they're for sure going to sell, because I've done research ahead of time.

Right now, we buy mostly at factory stores and outlets. We have quite a few around our area. Some months we travel further to bigger markets.

  1. What's one thing you would tell yourself when you first started your business?

I would say: If the research and data shows that this is a good product, you have to go all in.

I never want to say "I should have bought more of these." I've learned my lesson. Now, I go really hard and just buy a hundred of the same item.

Knowing that the product was good and you did your due diligence and did the research- you have to buy the product, even the whole inventory, because with shoes, this certain model isn't coming back.

  1. Where do you see your business in 1 year? 5 years? 10 years?

I was just having a chat with a friend. Would a warehouse be the next step? Or a bigger house with a bigger basement?

We want to add an employee to do our shipping. We always want to get products out the door to customers fast, but right now, if we're out on a buying trip, we have to extend our handling time. That kind of hurts more than it helps, because, yes, we're sourcing more products, but our customers aren't getting their orders fast enough.

We definitely want to add that piece of the puzzle so we don't have to start our day fulfilling orders.

Our big goal currently is to break half a million in sales. That seemed very impossible way back, but as time goes by, it gets a little closer.

  1. What eBay tool do you find most useful? Why?

I would say the "sold and completed listings" tool.

When you're searching for an exact item and you scroll through the filters, you see "sold and completed listings."

I'm a research guy and that lets me know what price any product sold for within the last 90 days, which is how I gauge how much possible profit I can make out of this shoe.

  1. Who inspires you?

My dad.

Just seeing what he's done for our family really inspires me to do more.

There's a quote, "I'm great because I stand on the shoulders of giants." That's my dad. He showed me how to be a good person, how to be faithful, how to be responsible, and how to take care of the little things.

That's always in the back of my head from my dad. If you take care of the little things in a small business then bigger business will come in.

I've always been a firm believer in that. It's been true to my dad's life and I want it to be true to my life.

Check back for more seller stories and tips throughout the year on our Announcements board, the eBay for Business Podcast, and our eBay for Business Facebookand YouTube.

This interview has been edited for concision and clarity.