Q: I want to start an online store and I also was thinking about selling on Ebay, to have mulitple online prescene. I thought since Ebay has such a huge following, than I do currently, it may prove beneficial. Would you reccommend selling on Ebay in addition to having an e-commerce store, why/why not?

I would only recommend Ebay for clearance merchandise you absolutely have to get rid of. People on ebay are one step above the “yard sale” crowd, meaning they’re dirt cheap. Most things won’t even sell for the wholesale price on there, and once you factor in fees it’s even worse.

Q: I was wondering how long someone just starting their business can expect to wait before they see a return? Would it be best to keep your career and begin working on starting an online boutique at the same time? And do you feel that it is best to take some form of fashion courses or would any business/marketing background be helpful?

They usually say it takes 3-5 years before your business starts to make a profit. I would definitely advise keeping your job while you’re working on your online store. Once it’s up and running, it won’t take a ton of time to manage outside of shipping on a daily basis.

You should absolutely take business/entreprenuer classes, it will help you avoid a lot of mistakes nad it should help with your businesss planning. If you can take classes in buying, planning, retail math and retail enviroment, I would highly suggest that as well.