Treasurebee is designed for use in a small shop, warehouse or “pop up” sale environment, as well as your home and other non traditional sales venues. This article is just for inspiration and we hope you’ll find ways to utilize Treasurebee that we never dreamed of.
Most sellers, collectors, dealers, traders and resellers these days use passive online marketplaces (ex: eBay®, Craigslist®) to supplement their in-store or existing sales activities. Yet when these other marketplaces experience occasional inactivity (which is common), most sellers rely on “walk-in” customers. Walk in customers we know however, can be scarce sometimes, for various reasons. You could be located in a bucolic or pastoral area, inclement weather could be keeping customers away, construction or traffic issues could be impeding foot traffic, competition across the street, changes in the marketplace etc. There are a thousand reasons why customers come and go. Treasurebee can be very useful in moments of sales inactivity.
By logging in to Treasurebee, you are instantly and prominently visible and available to a wide potential customer base from outside your local neighborhood!
As a convenience for sellers on Treasurebee, you can opt NOT to post specific items in the For Sale category. Just log in and you’ll appear Online in the Seller’s category, ready to speak with your customers. In this scenario, we would advise you regularly revise your profile to reflect your latest inventory or description of the things you sell or specialize in, or to qualify the types of buyers you are looking for. This application may be helpful for sellers who have just too much inventory to list everything (like many antique, curio and collectable stores), or when inventory and turnover rates are high. Many dealers, sellers, charities, cleaners, and pawnshops experience overloads from the amount of inventory they receive and store, preventing them from posting every single item for sale online.
In similar fashion to other marketplaces, you can also post items in Treasurebee’s For Sale category, then just upload images and write a simple text description. You can post a profile picture of yourself, or a picture of anything really if you think that image will draw the customer inquiries you’re looking for. Use of Tags will help Buyers find you.
Here are a few things to think about when you use Treasurebee:
- You now have a live platform to showcase your artwork, items, merchandise and other treasures. Think about QVC® and the Sellers on similar “dedicated” sales channels (the knife guy, the jewelry lady, and even Vince the Car Cloth guy). Their “pitch” is usually targeted to a large audience. Treasurebee calls to sellers are buyer initiated, giving you the ability to speak directly with interested customers to respond to their specific interests and needs;
- Fill out your profile completely and create an iconic setting/shot of you in front of your shop or inventory, and use the image as a Profile image. You can also incorporate your brand, logo or other important information for customers to see in the background while on a video call;
- Present a well lit, appropriate setting (if possible) for beginning your video call;
- Inventory can be shown to customers as you’re walking, or you can demonstrate the functionality of an item for sale through the use of Treasurebee’s video call feature. If you are using a tablet or mobile device, be sure to hold it steady for the buyer to see what you’re selling, but also so you don’t drop your device;
- If applicable to your sales model, you can make Time Sensitive Offers while you’re logged in to Treasurebee (ex: a 5% discount for buyers who make their purchase only while you’re speaking with them live);
- Treasurebee provides multiple ways for buyers to contact sellers and make purchases. For buyers who aren’t able to, or choose not to use the video call feature, they can purchase items immediately if you have the items listed in the For Sale category as Buy Now. Buyers can also text message you through Treasurebee, to make their inquiries and complete purchases;
- Describe and show items to the best of your ability, to avoid returns and customer misunderstandings.
- After store closing on a slow day, you can log in to Treasurebee (at your convenience), making yourself available to speak face to face with customers outside your local neighborhood.
We welcome collectors, buyers, and sellers of all kinds and hope your membership results in more finds, more fun, more expertise, more connections, more pieces for your collection, more revenue and more value than your typical source or marketplace. As we grow we will be adding blog content regularly. We hope you enjoy Treasurebee and sincerely appreciate your time in exploring our next generation marketplace.