This Seller Turned $40 Into a Seven-Figure Fashion Business

This series features successful eBay sellers who are past Up & Running beneficiaries. Apply before June 7 to become one of this year's 50 recipients and receive $10,000 to grow your business.

When Grace Easevoli moved to the United States from the Philippines in 2013, she never imagined that 10 years later she would be running a seven-figure fashion business. With no fashion experience, she and her business partner husband turned an initial $40 investment into two eBay stores selling trendy men's and women's clothing and shoes, with 18 employees and four inventory warehouses .

Over the past five years, eBay has run a program called Operational grants awarding 50 sellers $10,000 each. Last year, Grace took the plunge and applied for the program and was chosen as one of 50 beneficiaries.

Since receiving the grant, her business has grown by more than 400%, catapulting her sales and fueling her dream of early retirement. We caught up with Grace to find out how she and her husband used the $10,000 grant to take their business to the next level.

From humble beginnings to high-end fashion expert

I grew up in the Philippines, which is a developing region, so fashion and big brands weren't a part of my life before coming to the United States. Today I'm wearing a $300 sweater, but back then I couldn't have imagined wearing something this luxurious. .

My love for fashion really grew as our eBay business grew. I have so much fun choosing trendy brands for women, from Farm Rio to Love Shack to Alice + Olivia. I recently discovered Anine Bing and now sell her clothes too. I'm also discovering European brands and branching out into luxury through our eBay men's store, selling brands like Burberry, Gucci and Balenciaga.

It's great to be able to offer people a better price on fashion than they would pay in store.

How She Turned $40 Into a Seven-Figure Business

When I started selling on eBay in early 2020, I was decluttering our house. The books we listed sold very quickly, so we decided to invest $40 in more used books and made a nice profit. Shortly after, we purchased a $700 pallet from Goodwill and tripled our investment. From there, we started selling bales of used clothing.

My husband has a business background, so when our eBay sales grew and grew, he encouraged me to start selling full time in early 2021. He is now my business partner and we have 18 employees and 15 virtual assistants, which allows me to work with my former classmates in the Philippines. We also have four inventory warehouses.

We are currently working with liquidators to sell unsold fashion products, which has brought us the best return. In total, we have increased our business by over 400% since last year, which is fantastic. This would not have been possible without the eBay Up & Running grant.

Three ways she grew her business after receiving the grant

When we found out we had been chosen as beneficiaries, we were honestly shocked. We were showing it, but what are the chances of being selected among tens of thousands of candidates?

The first thing we did after receiving the $10,000 grant was use 25% to improve our shipping operations. We expanded our third warehouse into a fourth warehouse next door and purchased a large shipping table and lots of shelving. This allowed us to start shipping items faster and more efficiently.

Then we used another 25% of the grant to purchase more inventory. More inventory translates to more sales, so we were excited to be able to expand our listings to include more brands.

Finally, we used the remaining 50% of the grant to hire more people. We hired an inventory auditor to keep track of everything we have in stock and manage our entire inventory system. I was also able to hire five additional virtual assistants in the Philippines as contractors; they help us write articles, fill in all the details and ensure that all of our listings are extremely accurate.

Aiming to outsource your business and retire early

The impact of the grant on our business cannot be measured. Our business has grown so much that we now have big dreams. We want to hire someone to run the business for us so we can focus on raising our children. And ultimately, we plan to retire early.

His advice to sellers

My biggest advice to sellers is to be consistent. Search on the eBay community site and YouTube for all the tips you can get from other sellers, and keep going day by day. You will soon know if the sale is right for you.

Also, be sure to use the eBay tools available to you. Product search (formerly Terapeak) is great for seeing what items are in demand on the platform. And sponsored listings are essential for getting your items noticed and increasing your sales.

I always say that nothing in life is free. You have to keep working to achieve your dreams. We work very hard, often 16 hours a day, but we have so much passion and we have big goals. Our eyes are on the prize.