I haven't had a traditional job for several years and the only "job" if I could call it that during this time has been selling various merchandise on Ebay. I would like to list this under the "work experience" category of a resume but I don't know how to do it in order for it to look credible. First of all I would like to know – does selling on ebay count as work? Whether it does or doesn't, I would really appreciate some tips on how to write it in my resume. Is there a way to phrase it so that prospective employers will see this as a real job?
Sounds to me that you were a small business owner selling items on eBay. You could also be called a broker if you got your items from other sources and then sold them.
You are part of the Internet Commerce Community, which is becoming a growing part of our economy. Just because you did it in the comfort of your own home doesn't mean you weren't working.
How many items did you sell, and what profit did you make? The answers to these questions can look very good on a resume, especially if you are looking for work with a company that has an Internet presence, and now days what company doesn't.
You have had to handle issues like self-employment tax, handling credit card transactions, shipping material to customers and dealing with the public via email. If you are looking for a job in sales then that sounds like some good experience to me.
What is your performance rating; did you have any customers file a complaint against you? If you have a good rating, and that is easy to check on, then that is a good indication of your work performance and your history in dealing with the public, as well as a measure of your honesty and sense of fair play. The longer your history the better an indication that will be.
How did you handle customer complaints? What actions did you have to take to satisfy them? What were their responses afterwards? Did you have any customers that you did a lot of business with, or any companies? Could you ask these people to give you a reference for a future employer? Could they give you a contact number or email so that future employers may ask them questions about you?
Part of making a good resume is being creative enough to make what experience you have look valid, without being caught in a lie. You simply need to think outside of the box and come up with some good ideas. Doing this is a mark of creativity and original thinking and reflects well upon you. You don’t have to tell your employer that you were fired and couldn’t find a job, you only have to say that you needed some time to be at home so you temporarily left the work force. This eBay business you had was only a side line, you always intended to return to the work force and you are interested in working with this company. You still have this business running (or you can easily restart it) the fact that you want to re-enter the work force and obtain a conventional job is just proof that you are eager to work. You have had some time to rest and now you want to get back to work. You are fresh and ready to go. Donald Trump will be the first one to tell you that in business you need to turn your liabilities into strengths. His producers will be the first to tell you that a lot of what you do is in your appearance, your show. What the public (or a future employer) sees should be the best and you want to make anything you did like it was worthy of doing.
7 Comments to 'How can I include selling on Ebay under the "work experience" section of a resume?'
June 27, 2009
thi sis very legit – selling on ebay is as good as having your own retail – just say so, and include what type of business, what turnaround, what ratings – if i saw a resume like that, i'd be happy to hire that person – ebay selling shows persistence, patience and responsibility.
good luck to you!
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June 27, 2009
How about small business owner or internet sales??
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June 27, 2009
Probably the best thing would be to list it as "self employed", then you could say all kinds of things in the subtitle like.. sales, merchandising, accounting, ect ect ect.. all the things that go with being a small business owner…
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June 27, 2009
If you were operating an ebay store it would be counted as job experience. Selling random items on ebay is about the same as having a tag sale. Be honest in your resume' and put down the last tradition job you had, and then add the reason for your break from the work place in the comments section. A padded resume' shows an employer that you are not confident in what you have accomplished and they will not have the confidence in you.
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June 27, 2009
That is real iffy. I take it you were not working for one of those businesses that sell Ebay (in which case, you'd treat it like any other job), but free-lancing on your own.
You will need to describe exactly what you did and how much time/day you spent doing it. Do not be surprised though if prospective employers don't buy it–but if you get to an interview, be expected to talk to them about it.
Your best bet would to be to apply for jobs in which the computer experience will be useful.
Best of luck!!
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June 27, 2009
Selling stuff on ebay is creditable as a work experiance… In order for employers to also think that it is creditable you need it to sound important… You can say
xx-xx Self employed, Provided valuble merchandise at low cost prices online, handled sells, accounts recivable, manged profit and loss, and all research.
When they ask you about it tell them that you sold items online at ebay that you researched that would have the highest re-sell value and were able to obtain such merchandise at a cheaper wholesale cost to gain highest profit value.
Now in days Ebay has become such a large and growing thing that you can really call it your job alot of people have opened online stores and everything. I even opened a little store on ebay and with selling little things here and there. Now you can change what I wrote depending on the type of job that you are looking for, if you are going into sells make that stand out more or any other job that you are going for… Always in a resume you want to show off the information that is going to be need in that specific job the most. Good Luck and I hope that you get the Job.
References :
June 27, 2009
Sounds to me that you were a small business owner selling items on eBay. You could also be called a broker if you got your items from other sources and then sold them.
You are part of the Internet Commerce Community, which is becoming a growing part of our economy. Just because you did it in the comfort of your own home doesn't mean you weren't working.
How many items did you sell, and what profit did you make? The answers to these questions can look very good on a resume, especially if you are looking for work with a company that has an Internet presence, and now days what company doesn't.
You have had to handle issues like self-employment tax, handling credit card transactions, shipping material to customers and dealing with the public via email. If you are looking for a job in sales then that sounds like some good experience to me.
What is your performance rating; did you have any customers file a complaint against you? If you have a good rating, and that is easy to check on, then that is a good indication of your work performance and your history in dealing with the public, as well as a measure of your honesty and sense of fair play. The longer your history the better an indication that will be.
How did you handle customer complaints? What actions did you have to take to satisfy them? What were their responses afterwards? Did you have any customers that you did a lot of business with, or any companies? Could you ask these people to give you a reference for a future employer? Could they give you a contact number or email so that future employers may ask them questions about you?
Part of making a good resume is being creative enough to make what experience you have look valid, without being caught in a lie. You simply need to think outside of the box and come up with some good ideas. Doing this is a mark of creativity and original thinking and reflects well upon you. You don’t have to tell your employer that you were fired and couldn’t find a job, you only have to say that you needed some time to be at home so you temporarily left the work force. This eBay business you had was only a side line, you always intended to return to the work force and you are interested in working with this company. You still have this business running (or you can easily restart it) the fact that you want to re-enter the work force and obtain a conventional job is just proof that you are eager to work. You have had some time to rest and now you want to get back to work. You are fresh and ready to go. Donald Trump will be the first one to tell you that in business you need to turn your liabilities into strengths. His producers will be the first to tell you that a lot of what you do is in your appearance, your show. What the public (or a future employer) sees should be the best and you want to make anything you did like it was worthy of doing.
References :
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