The Used Blue Jeans Family

Always the critic, I love to find stores on ebay that I think stand out as a super example for the rest of the ebay community and, particularly, as examples for new ebay sellers to emulate. Yesterday, I found a winner.

Tom Meester and his wife sell used Levi jeans on ebay. That’s all they sell and they have sold over 20,000 pairs of jeans in the last seven or eight years. Tom’s a power seller with a feedback score of well over 15,000, receiving only 14 negatives in all those years (you can’t please everyone, I guess). Let me point out for you a few things that I like about Tom’s ebay store and his listings, things that both new and experienced ebay sellers can learn from.

1. He has a niche product, even a sub-niche product, that he researched, found suppliers for, refined, and has stuck with because it works. You won’t find blue jean pens or mugs here, and you certainly won’t find Pez containers, beanie babies, or other totally unrelated items. And the name of the store can’t be stated any more clearly: Used-Blue-Jeans.

2. He has created a look for his store and his listings that once you see it, you’ll recognize his listings forever. That’s called branding and it’s what store owners should strive for. Tom uses a simple denim blue with red highlights look that complements the product perfectly. Pictures of his jeans are always identifiable, with the jeans “posed” in the same position, all pictures with a bright red background.

3. His item listing template is clean with a great picture, perfectly sized, followed by a description that is short and sweet but complete. Included is a thank-you, which is always nice, links to add his store to your favorites list and another to search for similar items, both simple but important marketing tools, followed by his store policies. The policies are presented simply in positive terms, answering any questions that a potential buyer might have. No “Don’t bid if you’re not going to pay!” threats, just professionally-stated shipping, payment, and return terms. Complete contact information is at the bottom. A perfect layout in my opinion.

4. Tom’s store format is perfectly understated with the pleasant denim blue with red highlights color scheme and a logo that looks like it belongs, not too big, not too small. There’s nothing extra to get in the way of the whole point of the store, the product.

5. Tom’s family is pictured on their ‘me’ page with a story of the history of their family and their ebay business, the perfect approach to building confidence in the seller. Coupled with the impressive feedback, who wouldn’t buy their Levi jeans from this family?

The simple niche market approach with a clean layout is very appealing to me as an ebay shopper and an easy example for ebay sellers to emulate as they look to improve their own listings and store designs. I give The Used Blue Jeans Family two thumbs up and a hearty “Well done!”