iSold It of Dallas

Constant Contact Customer Since: 2005
List size: 2,000+
Open rate: 39%
Favorite feature: Campaign Creation Wizard
Website: www.isolditdallas.com

Now Anyone Can Sell "it" on eBay

How many people leave those gently-used golf clubs or that antique radio in the back of the garage gathering dust because they don't want to go to the trouble of selling them on eBay? David and Cheryl Goldstein are in the business of making it easy to turn that garage clutter—and anything else you want to get rid of—into green. As the owners of iSold It of Dallas, which operates three iSold It franchises in the Dallas area, they remove the barriers for people who want to sell on eBay. Customers can drop off merchandise at the iSold It store without opening an eBay account. iSold It handles the entire auction process, and all the customer has to do is wait for their check to arrive in the mail after the item has sold.

Challenge: Turning new customers into repeat customers

Starting a new business can be challenging, especially when it's the first of its kind. "This really is a new type of business," says David Goldstein. "People don't think to come to a store like iSold It to sell things. They think that selling on eBay is difficult. They don't understand how our process works."

To get their business off the ground, the Goldsteins educated customers on the ease of turning unwanted items into extra cash with the help of iSold It. "If you spill ketchup on your shirt, you automatically know to take it to the drycleaner," says David, "but when you have a cell phone that you need to replace, you don't automatically think about taking the old one into an iSold it store to resell."

Once the Goldsteins found and educated new customers, the next challenge was how to bring them back again and again—and to get them to tell their friends. "Because our business is so education intensive, we have to keep and cultivate every customer that comes through our door," says David. "We can't afford to educate them about how it works and never see them again."

Solution: Staying connected with email marketing

The Goldsteins wanted an easy and affordable way to stay connected with their customers. Email marketing with Constant Contact was the obvious choice because, according to David, "it's the best way to stay in front of them."

iSold It of Dallas sends a monthly e-newsletter to its customers to continue the relationship they started face-to-face. David says, "We provide our customers with information that's significant. We want them to see value in the newsletter so they will open it each month."

Their newsletter includes articles on what items are "hot sellers" (giving customers insight into what items they could bring in to sell); special offers and discounts including, "earn an extra $5 on every item when you sell with iSold It;" as well as announcements about new offerings like their "iSold it at Home" program that provides pick-up service at customers' homes.

David relies on his monthly email to stay connected with his customers. He also uses it to educate potential customers who stop in the store to get information, or find him through his company's website—www.isolditdallas.com—where they sign up to receive his newsletter with the "Join my mailing list" box from Constant Contact. David also encourages his customers to forward his emails by including a "forward to a friend" link in every email.

"Some of the people on our list have come into the store to ask how our system works but haven't yet sold anything. Sending them our email newsletter is a way for us to stay 'top of mind' with them so that hopefully they become customers as well."

Result: Enjoying the power of platinum

Using the power of email marketing to build customer relationships and engage prospective customers is paying off for the Goldsteins. Visits to the iSold It of Dallas website spike every time they send out a newsletter. And within the first three months of using Constant Contact, they achieved Platinum Powerseller status, the second-highest level of selling success on eBay.

With Constant Contact, the Goldsteins have an easy and low-cost way to stay connected with the 2,000-plus people on their ever-growing list, and generate repeat business and new sales. "We are spending $30 a month with Constant Contact, and that's nothing," David remarks. "You don't have to have any email marketing experience. You can go in and basically fill out a form and make it look very professional. You can't afford not to do it!"