PayPal Stories Archive

Owning a successful consignment business is an extremely challenging feat. It’s oftentimes difficult to secure a loan due to the untraditional nature of the business, and because of that, business owners in this vertical face added challenges when working to get their business up and running. In addition, consignment platforms are continuing to rise in popularity for consumers, causing the competition to heat up.

 

We’ve been speaking with many of our small business customers about how they are differentiating their businesses and continuing to grow as their industries change and new competition enters the space. For this interview, we spoke with Linda Lightman, who is the owner of global consignment platform, Linda’s Stuff.

 

Linda Lightman: We launched our business in 2001. I was a labor and employment attorney at the time, living in Philadelphia. Our kids wanted to sell their old video games at shops like Gamestop, and when the shops wanted to buy them for $5 a piece, we decided to sell them on eBay. And then I thought to myself, ‘why can’t I do it too?’ I’m a fashionista, so I started selling my clothes on eBay too and just got hooked.

 

I had previously sold my items through local consignment stores, but they took ~50% of the sales. In addition, I knew that selling through local, physical stores, I was missing out on a global audience. I wanted to engage with and sell to people all around the world. So, I launched my own business.

 

At first it was just a hobby. We started off in our home office, shipping and receiving items from the post-office and hiring photographers from local colleges to help take photos of the items.

 

Then, in 2003-2004, my husband told me he wanted to quit his job and work full time to help grow the business I created. We had a house, kids and a mortgage -- the thought of relying solely on my business as our main source of income was initially scary. But the business continued to grow. In 2006, we moved into a 5,000 sq. ft. office and today, we have a 93,000 sq. ft. warehouse with over 100 employees. It’s crazy to imagine a time when it was just me selling out of my house.

 

LL: Through sweat equity. It wasn’t until the past couple of years that we went to PayPal Working Capital to help get funding to purchase inventory, and for other general business needs. We were never able to access loans from traditional banks due to the nature of our business.

 

LL: After my husband quit his job in 2003, it was hard, and a bit nerve wracking, to turn a side hustle into our main source of income. Everything is a learning process, and we’ve come such a long way. For us, it was just asking ourselves the questions like, “How can we do better?” or “What can we do more efficiently?”, while also recognizing when we’ve done something well and that we’ve really come a long way. Figuring out that fine-tuned process was a journey.

 

LL: We started our business 18 years ago when there was no competition in our vertical. There was no Real Real, no Poshmark, etc. Today, we continue to see the same products on so many different platforms, so we have to compete in terms of better pricing, promotion, marketing, products - you name it. We’re continuously coming up with new ways to get our platform seen.

 

LL: Word of mouth continues to be a key part of it - it blows my mind. But what I’m most proud of is the process and the way our business has evolved, especially having been so involved in every part of it. When we first started it was just me, and then my husband came on board, and now with one of my two sons working on the business, we’re officially a family business. I love that.

 

LL: We have sold all over the world. I used to have a customer that was always interested in traveling, and we would ship items to him in islands in the Pacific like the Maldives, which is off the coast of India. We’ve sold to all the ‘stans - Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan, etc. Outside of the U.S., Canada is the most common country we sell to, followed by Australia. Then all the countries you would think of – UK, France, Germany, Greece, Hong Kong, Korea, Japan – they’re all in the top 10 in terms of countries we sell to.

 

LL: There are specific materials that cannot be shipped overseas, such as python skin. I once shipped a pair of Gucci boots, and our team was naive to the fact that they were python. The boots were confiscated at the border and weren’t given back, nor were we refunded. It was hard to learn the different rules with shipping, but we have over time.

 

LL: As I mentioned before, we’ve been around for a long time. We’ve grown with PayPal and PayPal has certainly helped us with many of the objectives that we have, like buying inventory or getting access to working capital through PayPal Working Capital. We’ve been around since 2001 and didn’t get a PayPal Working Capital loan until 2016 – I wish it was around sooner! Traditional banks wouldn’t give us loans, so we really struggled.

 

When I first heard about PayPal Working Capital about five years ago, I knew it would be a tremendous idea. We’re running a unique business, and almost 100% of what we sell is through PayPal. The bulk of our revenue is received through PayPal. I’ve never had any issues with PayPal, they have always offered me great rates [for accepting payments from customers], and I truly love working with them. PayPal is truly a great partner. I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend them to anyone.

 

LL: Find the thing that you’re passionate and knowledgeable about and lean in. Take baby steps; when you jump all-in you can make so many mistakes, so you don’t want to put all of your resources in one place and realize you made the wrong move. Start slow and small.