7 Questions with Kimberly and Matt Miller of Chief's Military Surplus

Matt and Kimberly are a military family, through and through. They met when Matt was active duty and together gained an appreciation for historical uniforms.

They turned that hobby into a business Kimberly could run while Matt was deployed. Now, Matt's a civilian, and the two are dedicated to building a better kind of military surplus.

7 Questions with Kimberly and Matt Miller of Chief's Military Surplus

1. How did you start selling on eBay?

KIMBERLY: My introduction to the military collectibles market was through Matt. We would go to flea markets in Europe and find incredibly interesting historical pieces that we could bring home and research, which is really fun.

When we moved back to the United States, that's when we also started getting into purchasing current military items for active military members. The eBay store started when we were living in Maryland-after we moved back from Norway and Matthew was about to deploy again. And we realized that we needed a second income.

We had found several avenues to find uniforms that were reasonably priced, and we were able to resell them on eBay.

MATT: We really saw a need because of the price of new uniforms. Some of them can cost upwards of $600 to put together. So we would find these barely used uniforms that were serviceable and get them to the people who needed them.

KIMBERLY: After we started the business, which started out in one closet, Matthew deployed for six months to Iraq, and I stayed home with both the kids. I would work on the eBay business while he was deployed.

Then when he came home, he was still active duty, but he would go out to thrift shops and estate sales.

1. What does a typical day look like for you?

KIMBERLY: My daily routine starts out by taking the kids to school. When I get home, I pack everything that sold the night before, because we have one-day shipping.

We have pickup service every day, so after I'm done putting all the packages on the porch, I go out to the barn and that's when my work day really starts.

I'll start by answering questions-which usually means taking measurements for people. Then I'll start listing, and I'll continue that throughout the day.

Then I'll go pick up my kids from school, and when they get home, I go into my stay-at-home mom mode and Matt is working on the computer, looking for suppliers and good deals on more inventory, to keep the business running.

MATT: Since retiring from active duty, I'm still trying to figure out what a typical workday is going to be for me, to be honest. I've started picking up the kids and doing some of that stuff I didn't do before.

1. What's one thing you would tell yourself when you first started your business?

MATT: I would tell myself to be willing to take more risks.

That very first time I bought a bag full of uniforms, we didn't really have the money to do something like that, but we took a risk and it really paid off.

And as the business has grown, it's been one risk after another. And thankfully for us, most of them have worked out and it's let our business grow.

KIMBERLY: That was my answer too. Matthew has had a huge influence on me when it comes to taking risks in the business. He's the risk taker, and I am the more conservative one. He pushes me to keep moving forward and to keep growing the business. I'm doing the daily grind. I'm keeping it running, but he really had the dream from the beginning and continues to push me to be more progressive.

1. What's your secret selling power?

KIMBERLY: Our selling superpower would be our customer service. I will not let a question go unanswered for more than a couple hours at most. I am always available to answer questions, and I'm willing to put in the extra research that it's going to take to put together a vintage uniform.

I think that's really where we are different from some of our competitors. And we do have 100% positive feedback, and we're up to 3000 feedbacks. That's one of the most important goals-that I keep 100% feedback at all times.

MATT: I'll add that we have this little running joke where we say, "We're not your grandpa's surplus store." The uniforms and the things we acquire-we spend a lot of time taking them to the dry cleaners and sewing on buttons, trying to make sure that what our customers are getting is ready to go-

KIMBERLY: And historically accurate.

MATT: Yes. We think the quality of our merchandise really helps set us apart.

1. What's your process for sourcing merchandise?

MATT: I think the most important aspect when it comes to finding items is to not be afraid to step out of the box. Just talk to people-whether it be neighbors or friends. Sometimes they find out what we do and they'll say, "Oh, my grandpa was in World War II, and I have these old uniforms sitting in a trunk. I don't want them anymore." You'd be surprised where you'd find things.

KIMBERLY: Yes, we network a lot. If anybody asks what we do, I tell them exactly what it is, and say, "If you have any uniforms, we would gladly take them off your hands and pay you generously for them."

But through eBay, we have had a lot of suppliers find us, and we have bought out a few military stores that were going out of business. They contacted us and said, "Would you be interested in taking all of our inventory?" Yes, of course we would! We're willing to buy a lot of bulk to get the good uniforms that we know are going to be desirable by our customers.

1. What eBay tool do you find most useful? Why?

KIMBERLY: My brain goes automatically to the Global Shipping Program. That's the most useful eBay tool for our business. And now the new eBay international standard shipping has boosted our reach to customers that aren't in the United States and makes shipping much more affordable for them.

Also a benefit of working with eBay for us is that eBay will ship to APO and FBO boxes, where these soldiers or seamen or airmen are remotely stationed. And that's actually kind of hard to find with regular military uniform stores on the internet.

1. What's your favorite quote? Why?

KIMBERLY: One of our favorite quotes is by Teddy Roosevelt, who said "The best prize that life has to offer is working hard at work worth doing."

I think that that is perfect for our business, because for us, it is worth it to give back to our military community and the chance to work really hard at something that is rewarding for us. And it is really something important for military members across the world.

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This interview has been edited for concision and clarity.