My52cents' Online Selling & Home Business Tips

Quick Tip: Blogging for Customers

2011-04-01T13:52:00.002-05:00

Tip for today: You probably have certain keywords that you know people use to find your items for sale. If you have a blog, write a post using those keywords as the topic. Put the keyword or phrase in the title of the post, the first or second sentence of the post, and again in the last sentence of the post. Link the post back to your store. You just might get some traffic - and new customers - that you weren't expecting.

Don't have a blog? It's easy to start a free one at blogger.com. Have a blog you've ignored? Resurrect it with a new post, then another, then another. Blogging is a great way to build traffic and find new customers.

How to Start Your Own Online Business

2010-11-05T11:12:00.001-05:00

TIME SENSITIVE INFORMATION: Want to learn how to start your own online business? Need someone to answer your questions? I have an answer for you. My friend Phaedra Stockstill is hosting an e-commerce training session for those who are interested in learning how to sell online. Phaedra's an experienced online seller and a knowledgable expert on the subject as well as a dynamic speaker, so I feel quite confident in recommending her training to anyone wanting to build a successful online business.

This is an in-person training seminar, to be held November 16, 2010, in Patterson, Louisiana. It is geared toward "newbies," those who have little to no online business experience. Topics include:

How does it work?
Choosing a product
Accepting online payments
Choosing a venue - eBay, Amazon, Bonanza or your own website

and much more.

Seating is limited to 10 participants, so you can be assured of plenty of personal attention in this three-hour seminar. The price is $129.99 and I can assure you that this is a small investment for a few hours that could change your life forever. You'll definitely receive your money's worth in valuable information, insider tips, and more.

If you're seriously considering starting your own online business and need good, basic how-to advice from someone who has been there and done that, click here to Learn How to Start Your Own Online Business from a Trusted Industry Expert.

P.S. Not a newbie? Already have an online business? Need to learn to market your business? Check out Phaedra's Internet Marketing Training Seminar.

Where to Find the Best Halloween Costumes to Sell Online

2010-09-07T11:27:00.000-05:00

I wanted to share this really great deal with you and the time truly is limited, so please pay attention. If you act before September 10th you can get this outstanding ebook that teaches you exactly where to find and how to sell the best Halloween costumes online for just $20. But you must use the special link provided here. Otherwise, you'll pay the full price of $29.

Used Halloween Costumes is a hot market. You can find costumes for under $10 and instantly turn them around on eBay for $30-100 or more RIGHT NOW - if you know what to look for and where to find them! This ebook lays it all out - and even lists over 200 HOT used costumes to look for this year.

The eBook bundle sells for $29 regularly, but through a special arrangement with the author I can offer it to you for just $20 - if you click and buy it right here.

It's not too late to make your $20 back - and much, much more - by following the advice offered in this ebook. Remember, click here for the discount and to get instant access so you can get started right away on finding, listing, and selling the hottest Halloween costumes on eBay or your favorite online selling site.

To read the sales page with all the details about the ebook, go ahead and look HERE. Then when you're ready to buy, come back and click the picture above or click on this special link to claim your discount. Then get busy listing the absolute best Halloween costumes to sell online - and start raking in the profits.

How to Prepare for Selling Around the Holidays

2010-08-18T11:17:00.001-05:00

Some of the best information about how to sell on eBay is available from eBay itself, including live online chat-style workshops. If you can't attend live, never fear. Transcripts of the sessions are archived for you to read and study anytime. One such recent workshop was called "Holiday Sales 2010: Tips & Prep for a Successful Selling Season." If you missed it but want to take advantage of the selling season that occurs on both sides of Christmas, you'll definitely want to click here and read through the session for some great information you can use.

The workshop was presented by Lisa Suttora, an eBay expert who definitely knows her topic well. A few highlights from the workshop include:

What events and holidays are included in the selling season (some you probably haven't thought of)
What inventory you should promote in your store
How to decorate your store for the holiday shopping season
Why "Top Lists" are important
Ideas for promotions

If you enjoy the workshop and would like more information from Lisa, you'll find some helpful books and DVD's from Lisa Suttora here. It's not too early to get started with preparations for selling around the holidays. In fact, savvy sellers have been gearing up for weeks, so get started with your holiday sales preparation by studying these terrific tips right away!

P.S. Most of the tips presented in the workshop can be applied to other online sales businesses as well as to eBay, so don't skip this valuable resource no matter where you sell online.

EBay Marketing on Facebook and Twitter

2010-08-06T11:32:00.001-05:00

I'm so excited! My friend Beth Cherkowsky of AntiqueDaze has agreed to guest post for us today. Beth has been selling on eBay and at Amazon.com for 13 years and really knows a thing or two about social networking. Today Beth teaches us about marketing our eBay items on Twitter and Facebook. Pay attention; there's a quiz at the end.

So you heard that you should market your eBay items on Facebook and/or Twitter and get more sales? How? I don't mean the "ethics" or advisability of it but HOW? the practical, functional question..how do I get it from there (eBay) over here (Facebook)? Well follow along with me...here is one of my items - see the spot I circled?? That's a handy dandy eBay application that if you click on it, WALA it does almost all the work for you.*

(*follow after the jump)

So you click and you get three options - EMAIL TO A FRIEND, SHARE ON FACEBOOK< SHARE ON TWITTER...

Here's what happens when you pick SHARE ON FACEBOOK

Write a scintillating comment or at least a little "blurb" about this item or at least the category of item (such as "I love Rolypolys but I really like ALL the Harmony Kingdom items' or "this is a vintage rock made in Albania in 1742". Not just "look at my rock".

I'd show you how to share on Twitter but the FailWhale is sitting on everything over there so I can't right now.

Now there are some rules in polite society and there are here too. Ms Manners is busy but here are mine -

1. I only do one or the other for any particular item - Facebook or Twitter - not both. In part, that is because I had my twitterfeed going to Facebook for a while. But also because the demographics are different so I try to send stuff where I "think" it will be viewed by the folks, who are most likely to "want" it. (someday I'll be smart enough to explain that statement but today is not looking good)

2. Do Not sit there and click on every item in your eBay store which has 5000 items. I will unfriend or unfollow you so fast you won't know what hit you. And so will most other "HUMANS". I didn't follow/friend you to be spammed. But I'll tolerate it occasionally.

3. If I have a category that has say 113 items in it, I sort the MYEBAY page by that store category and then copy that url. I use Tiny URL or BudURL or another "Shortener" (Hootsuite.com has a built-in one) to shorten the link and I'll send a link to the whole category so folks can see for themselves what's interesting. I do not have the patience to tweet 113 things or to put up with anyone else doing that to me either.

4. if you want people to share or retweet your item, keep YOUR tweet or your "blurb" short. Twitter allows 140 characters. If you use 139 HOW do you expect me to retweet it??
So

4A) use "texting" spelling here - GR8 - 4 U - 2 U- C U THERE~

and should be &, tonight can be 2nite or tonite for is 4...and four is 4 SHORT and sweet as my mother used to tell me..

4B) leave me a minimum of 15 spaces to retweet (rt @........) otherwise I'm not gonna do it

4C) In general on Twitter? LOSE THE PUNCTUATION and the obsession with periods. Leave a space at the end of your thought, it's enough.

See you on Twitter or Facebook
@antiquedaze http://www.facebook.com/antiquedaze and http://twitter.com/antiquedaze
@depressionglass http://www.facebook.com/depressionglasswarehouse

Did I tell you that Beth knows her stuff? That's the quiz and the correct answer is a resounding "Yes!" Be sure to follow her on Twitter and "like" her page on Facebook at the links above. Thanks again, Beth, for sharing these great tips with us!

EBay Sellers' Christmas in July Sale

2010-07-18T12:27:00.004-05:00

There's nothing better than having a group of like-minded friends to encourage you in your online sales ventures. And when members of said group unite to create some exciting sales, great things can happen. The Online Business Success (OBS) seller's group, led by Beth of Depression Glass Warehouse, has united this month to encourage their members to set up Christmas in July sales in their eBay stores. What a great idea!

A dozen or so members have set up sales and are offering discounts in their stores for most of the month of July. Here's the initial post about the Christmas in July sale in the group's blog. More sellers have joined the sale since that initial post, so be sure and read through subsequent posts for more information.

On a side note, you've gotta love the name of the OBS group's blog, "These are the DSRs Of Our Lives." Clever! If you're an eBay seller, you'll either laugh or you'll groan, but you'll "get it" right away. If you're not and you don't, it doesn't matter. Just check out the blog and check out the Christmas in July sales from some of the best sellers on eBay. If you love bargains, you'd better hurry. July is halfway gone and Christmas will be over soon. When you buy something, tell them Susan52 sent you!

VHS Video Tapes

2010-04-09T10:07:00.006-05:00

My friend Brenda, expert eBay seller and movie reviewer, has graciously provided this guest post. Thank you, Brenda, for sharing your expertise!

"Where can I sell my used video tapes?" is a question I read frequently online. People have invested their money in a collection of movies that they want to part with now because they have moved on to DVD. It is hard telling them that there is no market for videotapes.

That is, there is no market for most videotapes. There is a market for some VHS video tapes, and a quick peek at recent eBay statistics revealed these interesting sales:

• A copy of Good-bye, My Lady with Sidney Poitier and Walter Brennan sold for $97.97 plus shipping.

• A copy of Alice Cooper’s The Nightmare (not The Nightmare Returns) sold for $81.49 plus shipping.

• A copy of A Time To Live starring Corey Haim and Liza Minnelli sold for $66.00 plus shipping.

• Welcome to Pooh Corner tapes sold for between $32 and $100 plus shipping or an average price of $52.55 plus shipping.

If you want to sell VHS video tapes, you will have to be careful because you are right, the bulk of video cassettes are worth nothing…not even fifty cents at a garage sale. My quick peek revealed not only those tapes shown above that sold for a good price but also listing after listing of VHS tapes that are not sold, and probably never will be.

The most important rule of thumb is that once a video is on DVD the videotape is no longer of interest to anyone. The tapes listed above all have that in common. NONE of them have ever been issued on DVD.

If you are a seller, you will have to decide how you will guarantee used videotapes. All of my videos are tested and fully guaranteed. I would not buy anything on eBay that is not fully guaranteed so neither would I sell anything without guaranteeing it and yes, there is a fair bit of risk with a used videotape. However, I am sure that this guarantee makes it easier for someone to spend what is a significant amount of money on a used videotape.

If you are a buyer (and even if you are a seller), I recommend you read my page Rare VHS Tapes ~~ A Collector's Guide to Videotapes, which will give you more to think about if you are buying tapes as well as guidelines on how to properly care for and preserve the tapes you already own.

There is the chance, I suppose, that some of those tapes listed above could be issued on DVD. If that happens, it will instantly render the VHS tape valueless, which is exactly what happened with Barbra Streisand's Yentl now that the DVD is available. However, it is also quite possible that these movies will NEVER be released on DVD or any other format.

In 2009, Marc Savlov of The Austin Chronicle reported that only 50 percent of films that were on VHS have been transferred to DVD. That leaves a large number of movies only available on videotape...the challenge for eBay sellers is in identifying the valuable ones.

Brenda
eBay name: treasuresbybrenda
eBay Store: Treasures By Brenda
Rare VHS Tapes ~~ A Collector's Guide to Videotapes
Brenda's blog: Music & Movie Treasures by Brenda

Order the Be Kind - Rewind t-shirt here

Vintage Little Golden Books

2010-03-22T12:18:00.005-05:00

There are few vintage collectibles that capture the joy of a baby boomer era childhood better than Little Golden Books. Whether the books explore magic and imagination, holidays, pets, toys, or everyday life, the words and images are nostalgic and charming.

Little Golden Books are one of my favorite things to collect - and to sell - on eBay. I personally collect Little Golden Books about dogs and Christmas, as well as Eloise Wilkin illustrations. Two of my books are in the photo above. I have a special fondness for activity books, like Trim the Christmas Tree, which has little paper ornaments to cut out and assemble. I had a copy of this book in my childhood - which of course I used to make ornaments. I am delighted to have another copy now that is complete.

As a seller, there are several things a buyer will look for with Little Golden Books. These include:

* Title
* Author of Book (some authors are collectible)
* Illustrator of Book (there are some treasures here – i.e. Corinne Malvern, Eloise Wilkin, Richard Scarry, Garth Williams, etc.)
* Book Number (top right corner of front cover). It is important to note that numbers featuring a hyphen, i.e. 254-12, are newer editions, and not as collectible.
* Original Price of Book (top right corner of front cover). 25¢ and 29¢ books are the best sellers in the vintage market.
* Date of book publication - On copyright page, make sure you have included the last date of publication included. For instance, if you see 1950, 1962, 1976, then the date to include is 1976.
* Edition - For older books (i.e. 25¢ - 29¢ books) you will also find the book’s edition inside the back cover. Open the back cover and look at the bottom of last page of book in the book gutter at binding. With oldest editions, you will see a letter, i.e. A, B, C, etc. A is a First Edition, B is a Second Edition, etc.
* Condition, including any writing or marks in book, child’s name, gift inscription, etc.

Little Golden Books are a uniquely charming baby boomer vintage collectible, and great fun for buyers and sellers alike!

Trish
eBay name: birdhouse-in-your-soul
eBay Store: Birdhouse Books
Fan page for updates and vintage chat: Facebook.com/birdhousebooks
Trish's blog: Adventures on eBay

(Many thanks to Trish, proprietress of Birdhouse Books, for today's guest post.)

One Woman, 39 Bras, and a Cause

2009-09-26T10:15:00.004-05:00

What do you get when you take one driven woman with a cause and add a group of friends and 39 bras? You get a month's worth of eBay auctions for charity.

The woman is Beth Cherkowsky of Depression Glass Warehouse on eBay. The cause is Susan G. Komen for the Cure. The occasion is the 25th anniversary of Breast Cancer Awareness Month, this October. The 39 bras are fantasy bras created by a group of Beth's friends and supporters for her "Bling My Bra" project to raise money for the Komen organization. And bling those bras is what they did! Take a look.

Each day in October, at least one fantasy bra auction will end and 100 percent of the proceeds will go to the cause. The first auction launched on September 24th and will close October 1st. You can check out the auctions running now in Beth's eBay store.

What a great time to choose a collector's item and support a great project. Look for Halloween themes, peacock feathers, autographs from a certain eBay celebrity, autumn leaves, and flowers galore. Each is truly a unique masterpiece.

Shop now, have fun, and support a great lady and an even greater cause.

Product Sourcing With Close-Out Deals

2009-09-04T09:44:00.002-05:00

I'm ready to reveal my sources. Well, one of my sources.

When I was actively selling products from my own inventory, one of my favorite places to find liquidation sales and close-out bargains for resale was Graveyard Mall, "Where high prices come to die!" (Gotta love their slogan.)

I've found great deals in their collegiate products department, health and beauty, home improvement, and more. I could name several items that I purchased in bulk then practically gave away on eBay but still doubled or tripled (at least) my investment.

The best tip I can offer about buying on Graveyard Mall is to research the items first, before you get carried away because of a low price. Remember, these are close-out type items and sometimes they're being closed out for a very good reason: nobody wants them. Nobody. And that means your customers won't want them either, so do your due diligence before you buy. You will find some bargains, though. For instance, I see one particular item priced at $1.99 that's selling for $9.98 right now at Amazon.com. Seems someone could turn that one around and make some money, wouldn't you think? (I'll give you a hint: It's in the Dollar Store category.)

Sign up for the newsletter to to keep up with their specials and visit the site daily to check their Deal of the Day. Hope you find some great bargains!

For more ideas for product sourcing, check out Where to Find Stuff to Sell on eBay.

How Your Friend's Blog Can Benefit Your Business

2009-03-01T07:45:00.004-06:00

Here's a tip you can implement today.

To get more exposure for your online store/selling venue, trade blog posts with a friend. (You do have a blog, right??) Ask a friend with a blog if she'll write a guest post for you and offer to write one for her. At the end of the post include a brief bio, including a link to your own blog and, perhaps, to one of your online stores. (Leave it to one or two links; don't make it look tacky.)

Simply share a great tip or selling experience, something that will appeal to the audience of your friend's blog. You post hers, she posts yours and, voilà, you both have new readers and, hopefully, new customers.

It's a win-win situation!

P.S. I love Darren Rowse's blogging tips. Here's a book full of them: ProBlogger: Secrets for Blogging Your Way to a Six-Figure Income Read the reviews and consider buying the book if you want to learn how your blog can benefit your business.

In Appreciation of Bubble Wrap

2009-01-16T08:37:00.005-06:00

Fastpack Shipping Supplies is having their annual Bubble Wrap Appreciation Day (BWAD) coming up on Monday, January 26th. Hooray! Another holiday in January! Anything to beat the cold weather blahs.

You might not get the day off, but if you ship packages for your eBay business or otherwise, be sure and check out their annual one-day sale for free shipping on select bubble wrap and other items. I've bought bubble wrap from Fastpack and have gotten a good deal and maybe you will, too. Always comparison shop, though, and do it before the 26th so you'll be ready to stock up if you decide this is the best deal for you. Anticipate your needs and order enough to last as long as is practical, factoring in room for storage, too. Bubble wrap is light, but it does take up a fair amount of space.

Find out what items will be included in the sale and more information on this page, but remember to wait until January 26th to place your order. In the meantime, beat the blahs with some virtual bubble wrap. Bet you can't pop just one!

How to Get Buyers to Read Your eBay Newsletters

2009-01-03T08:37:00.008-06:00

Are you a store owner on eBay? Do you use your mailing list capability, the one that eBay provides along with your store? I hope that you do as it can be a very powerful tool. Speaking as a buyer, I enjoy receiving newsletters from eBay store owners - occasionally. The majority of the time, though, I simply delete them without opening because I know they're going to be a waste of my time. How do I know that?

When I see these subject lines, I don't ask questions, I just delete:

"eBay Seller Email: Check out my Newly Listed Items"
"eBay Seller Email: Sale! Shop my eBay Store for Big Savings"

Those are default subject lines, the ones that eBay supplies for you. They're the lazy seller's way of sending a newsletter. Inside, I can expect to see a list of items for sale and little else, sometimes not even a personalized message from the store owner. In fact, unless I scroll to the bottom of the page, 99 percent of the time I have no idea who sent the email. Why? Because eBay's default does not supply the store name at the top of the email. The only place I might find it is on the feedback section that is (by default) plugged in at the very bottom. Sorry, but I have too many other things to do than search an email to see who it's from. I'd rather shop with sellers who catch my attention with subject lines such as these:

"eBay Seller Email: Birdhouse Books - New Year's Sale"
"eBay Seller Email: 25% Off Selected Flat Wallets & More"
"eBay Seller Email: Happy Holidays from Handmade by Martha"
"eBay Seller Email: New 2 Day Sale Fun Stuff from Annie Star"

Aren't those subjects more appealing? Absolutely! Don't they make you want to see what's inside? Of course!

Note that the "eBay Seller Email" part is always provided by eBay, identifying that the mail is not s-p-a-m, so that's okay. However, it leaves you, the seller, a limited number of characters to work with, so be creative and use the space wisely.

If you've been taking the lazy way out by using the eBay default subjects, check your stats to see how many subscribers open your newsletters now, then try it my way a time or two and see if that opening rate increases dramatically. I truly believe it will. If I'm on your mailing list, I can guarantee it will. Then come back here, leave a comment and let me know if it worked for you.

Happy selling and prosperity to all in the new year!

P.S. It's tax prep time. Need advice? The eBay Seller's Tax and Legal Answer Book: Everything You Need to Know to Keep the Government Off Your Back and Out of Your Wallet

Are Your Black Friday and Cyber Monday Sales Ready?

2008-11-25T06:01:00.003-06:00

Have you planned one-day sales for Black Friday and Cyber Monday for your eBay store or other online selling venue? If you haven't, you may be missing out!

Many of the major retailers have already started pre-Black Friday sales this week (think amazon.com) and online shoppers already have the opportunity to pick up some great deals. It's only going to get better between now and Cyber Monday, so don't be left out!

Have a mailing list? Get a newsletter out now, then a reminder the day before wouldn't be a bad idea either. Someone I follow on Twitter announced her Black Friday sale this morning and is taking pre-orders for her etsy store. Great idea, and a great way to advertise!

If you're planning to do some shopping on eBay, check your homepage for a coupon. There's a 10% off coupon on my eBay home page and that's something I need to take advantage of soon, before it expires. Bet you have one, too.

With all these sales popping up, seems to me that it would be just as productive to stay home on Friday to do your bargain shopping online. Unless, of course, you just love those crowds and, oh my, that Black Friday traffic.

Happy Thanksgiving, and happy selling (and shopping)!

EBay Seller? Diversifying? You Need This!

2008-09-29T10:22:00.004-05:00

If you're one of those savvy sellers who has been diversifying your selling venues beyond eBay, have I got some great news for you. It's called EveryPlaceISell.com and the name alone should give you a huge hint about its purpose.

Steiner Associates (as in AuctionBytes.com) has created EveryPlaceISell.com as a user-generated directory for online merchants to list and tie together every venue on which they sell. Do you sell on eBay? Amazon? Etsy? Your own site? List them all here - f r ee - and help your customers, as well as new shoppers, find you at all of those locations. Besides the obvious benefit of having all of your sites available in one place, the backlinks this will generate for your sites should make the search engines very happy.

The fact that this new site is owned by Steiner Associates should give you confidence in its future; the Steiners know their business and do it well. The site is beginning to boom, so don't delay in getting your registration process started. Policy states that every registration is verified within 24 hours though may take longer due to high traffic; my initial registration was confirmed within minutes.

By the way, you don't have to be an eBay seller to use this site. You are allowed to list 10 different sites and there's a long list, alphabetically from Abebooks to Wibix, of venues to select from. With EveryPlaceISell.com you have nothing to lose and everything to gain, so give it a try, then let me know how it works for you.

P.S. Here's my link.

My52cents-Susan52 Online

Selling on eBay? You Need All the Help You Can Get!

2008-08-31T12:34:00.003-05:00

When eBay sellers think of eBay these days, the one word that comes to almost everyone's mind is "change." Change in policy, change in fees, change in rules, changes here, changes everywhere.

While it's simple enough to go to eBay's site and read the rules (well, maybe it isn't all that simple), perhaps it would be easier to have a team of people, experts, to help you understand and interpret all these changes and help you understand how they affect you and your business.

If you're not sure what to do about your eBay business, whether you should hang tight or jump ship, I can tell you that doing the same things you've been doing for years, working hard and having little to show for it, may not be the right choice. There are alternatives. There are changes you can make in order to succeed online and, specifically, on eBay.

Do you have about six and a half minutes? I'd like to suggest that if you can spare that small amount of time, click on the banner below and watch the video. Take a look and listen and evaluate if this membership site might be right for you. Maybe it will, maybe the monthly investment is more than you believe your future is worth. That's fine, but I love to see people succeed and I love to see people enjoy what they do, rather than working more than full-time hours and seeing little to no results, and I think this is something worth checking out. Really, you have so little to lose to just take a look. How about doing it now, while it's on your mind.

P.S. Remember, the busy holiday selling season is coming up. Check this out before you miss out on information that could make a huge difference in what happens to your eBay business the rest of this year.

Didn't Make it to eBay Live? No problem.

2008-08-15T11:17:00.003-05:00

So, you didn't make it to eBay Live in Chicago this year. Neither did I. Sorry that you missed all the great teaching that went on there? So am I. Well, we're in luck! Now we can access many of the seminars and presentations that were made in Chicago at eBay Live 2008, online and all in one place.

The EBay Live Presentation Download Center contains 80 downloadable presentations (PDF downloads) in six different categories, including topics for buyers and sellers at every level. Want to learn how to pack the unpackable? They've got you covered. Want to find out how to market your eBay business? Of course you do and you'll find that topic covered as well.

While it doesn't include t-shirts, pins, and the party atmosphere of eBay Live, the topics that you need to help you succeed on eBay are all there. Dig in and help yourself!

EBay Store Seller Quick Tip of the Day

2008-07-20T16:48:00.001-05:00

When you send out eBay store newsletters, be sure to personalize the Subject line rather than using the eBay default for the style of newsletter you've chosen.

I have received a dozen or more store newsletters this month with the same subject line: "Sale! Shop my eBay Store for big savings!" Knowing who sent the mail (the From field always says "store-newsletter" by default, so that doesn't tell me) goes a long way in my quick decision as to whether to take time to open and read that email or to trash it.

Don't know about you or your customers, but I would be much more likely to open a message with this subject line (for instance) "Hurry! All BIN On Sale Now at my52cents on eBay!" than one with the default. Remember, think like a customer!

EBay Plus Squidoo Equals . . .

2008-06-19T18:20:00.004-05:00

. . some awesome lenses and a lot of traffic for some very smart eBay buyers and sellers.

In honor of eBay Live 2008, Squidoo and lensmaster Katiyana put together a challenge for those who "do" both eBay and Squidoo. The result? The 10 Day eBay Challenge 2008. Participants were to make 10 lenses in the days leading up to eBay Live, lenses that would highlight their eBay businesses or, not to leave out the buyers, special stories about items that they have bought on eBay. The result? Wow! A great bunch of new lenses, at least 104 at last count.

You can see the long list on the challenge lens. Pay special attention to the 14 finalists, in a separate list on the lens here. I haven't had a chance to check out all of the lenses yet, but one of my favorites so far is the Redneck Rings lens. Lensmaster titanium_knights involved a reality show on the lens, and we all know how popular reality shows are! Of course I enjoyed this lens by one of my favorite lensmasters, Chef Keem, whose lenses are always entertaining no matter what the subject.

If the challenge lenses don't convince you that all eBay sellers should have a Squidoo lens (or a few) to enhance and help advertise their businesses, then nothing will. I hope you'll check them out and then get started on Squidoo, too.

How to Write the Best Item Title on eBay

2008-06-06T15:26:00.006-05:00

I'm not going to tell you, but I'll point you to someone who will.

I found a terrific 10-minute video on a Suzanne Wells' Power Seller King blog here. If you sell on eBay, whether full-time or casually, investing a small amount of time watching this video and putting what it teaches into practice will likely pay huge dividends. I have already heard from others how much the knowledge taught in the video has improved their eBay businesses.

If the information helps you, I'd love to know, so I hope you'll come back and leave me a comment here.

Squidoo Fanatic Teams Up With Power Seller King!

2008-04-07T07:26:00.004-05:00

I hope you've seen my friend Suzanne Wells' Power Seller King blog. Suzanne provides her readers with awesome tips on a daily basis, tips that will help you improve your own eBay business. If you don't read Suzanne's blog regularly, you're really missing out on some great stuff.

Today's great Power Seller King tip is in a guest post written by, ahem, moi. The post is called How to Use Squidoo to Promote Your eBay Business. It's really good advice, if I do say so myself.

While you're there, be sure to subscribe to Power Seller King and read it every day. If you sell on eBay, you'll be glad you did.

Attention eBay Shoppers!

2008-04-02T13:00:00.006-05:00

Looking for a bargain? This is a great week to shop on eBay.

You may know that last week eBay had a sale on auction-style listings that included starting prices up to 99 cents. Lots of sellers took advantage of that sale, so this week you'll find an unusually large number of eBay auction listings that start at or below 99 cents.

So if you've been waiting for a good price on just about anything, take a look on eBay this week, through Monday night, for those low opening bids. Chances are, many of the closing bids are going to be pretty low, too.

Click here to start shopping!

Why the Advanced Search is Important to eBay Sellers

2008-03-09T10:02:00.004-05:00

Easter's early this year. Have you done your shopping? Have you listed your Easter-related items on eBay?

I've been using eBay's advanced search feature a lot lately and this morning I decided to do one search for items from all categories with "Easter" in the title that are marked down and have Buy It Now available, including store items. I found 399 items that met all of those search options. Very cool search. You can try it here.

So, why am I telling you this? If you're an eBay shopper, remember to use that Advanced Search feature to help narrow down the items you're looking for more quickly. If you're a seller, remember to use words such as "Easter" in your item titles when you believe people will be looking for those items specifically. My search turned up items in 14 main categories from apparel to antiques to cell phones & PDAs. That last category included an Easter Lily charm for a cell phone. I never would have thought to search for that item, but what a great idea for an Easter basket stuffer.

Sellers, think like shoppers as you think about upcoming occasions and events (Mother's Day, graduation, even spring) as eBay shoppers will use those words in their searches. Those same shoppers may turn into buyers when they find your item, even if they did't know they were looking for it.

Hey, Monkeybrain. Did you join the boycott?

2008-02-25T14:34:00.003-06:00

Now, don't take offense. I don't really think you're a monkeybrain. Actually, Squidoo has a new offspring called "Hey, MonkeyBrain!" which is designed for debate, and one of Squidoo's lensmasters has set up a MonkeyBrain debate about the eBay boycott.

Will you (or did you) join the boycott? Think it will do any good? Why not visit bdkz's MonkeyBrain page, vote in the polls, and post your opinions. It's fun, easy, and you may remain anonymous.

If you've never heard of Squidoo and have no idea what a lensmaster is, feel free to check out my lensmaster page on Squidoo or find answers at my Squidoo blog.

And if you've been meaning to get started on Squidoo but have just continued to put it off, don't wait any longer, Monkeybrain!

Fun Feedback Tool For Your Blog or Website

2008-02-16T16:09:00.003-06:00

My friend Mary, The Tattered Hydrangea on eBay, sent this link to my favorite eBay group list this morning. It's a link to a site where you can get a cute little display of your current eBay feedback to put on your blog or website. Click on the link and it'll take you directly to your feedback page on eBay.

It's free, too. I like free.

Here's mine:

Why Now is the Best Time to Start Selling Books on eBay

2008-02-13T12:38:00.006-06:00

Recently eBay announced pricing changes, including lower listing fees, effective February 20, 2008. Now the news is even better. Another announcement was made this week, this time regarding category-specific listing fee reductions for media categories.

Effective along with the previously announced changes, listing fees for books, music, movies, and video game software categories will be further reduced. Auctions listed at a starting price up to 99 cents will be reduced from 20 to 10 cents each, auction and fixed price listings in these categories with starting prices from $1 to $9.99 will be reduced from 40 to 25 cents, and similar listings with starting prices from $10 to $24.99 will be reduced from 60 to 35 cents.

What does this mean to you? If you're a bookseller (or music or movie or video game seller) this can mean a very nice increase to your bottom line!

Haven't started selling on eBay yet? Why not start with books? With eBay's listing fee reductions, now is the perfect time to get started. Books are a great product for a new seller to start with on eBay; most of us have too many and, if not, books are very easy to find at yard sales, church sales, and library sales. They're easy to handle, pack, and ship, and they're great sellers.

This bookwill teach you all you need to know about selling books on eBay or elsewhere online. The used book business is booming and eBay's fees are coming down, so why not find out how to get started selling books on eBay today!

Feedback Changes on eBay – My Turn to Vent

2008-02-09T11:51:00.000-06:00

I blogged about the fee changes eBay announced last week but still have been digesting both sides of the feedback changes issue. I think I’ve finally formulated my opinion. Read on if you’re a seller with thick skin, curious to know what I think.

To review, eBay is changing its policy such that buyers may continue to rate sellers and leave positive, neutral, or negative feedback for them, but sellers will no longer be able to do the same for buyers. Instead, only a comment may be left by the seller regarding the buyer. The way I see it is this, and I've said this many, many times, if you’re a seller who provides excellent customer service, you won't have anything to worry about regarding feedback. Now, many eBay sellers will tell you that isn't true and can give examples of idiot buyers who leave stupid feedback. My friend Pat had a buyer recently who claimed he didn't buy her item and, even though she bent over backwards to take care of his situation (long story, but he was most definitely in the wrong), he ended up leaving negative feedback for her, saying that he didn't buy the item and that she needed to stop contacting him, blah, blah, blah. Well, how could he leave feedback if he didn't buy the item? This buyer was obviously wrong. My friend has documented evidence that he is wrong, and hopefully eBay will rectify the situation and remove the negative. So, it is true that there are unscrupulous (I wanted to say idiot again, but I won’t) buyers. And it’s also true that you can’t please all the people all the time no matter how close to perfect your customer service is. However, whether my friend could leave this buyer negative feedback or just a comment warning others about this man would have made no difference in his behavior.

Is there someplace online, besides eBay, where you can shop and have the business where you made a purchase leave feedback about you as a buyer, feedback for the world to see? If you know of a place, please tell me, but I certainly don’t know of even one. Everywhere I’ve ever shopped other than eBay, if there is an opportunity given to leave feedback it has only been for the buyer to rate the transaction. In fact, most online businesses don’t even offer that option for their customers. Amazon.com does encourage its shoppers to rate their buying experience, though most shoppers do not, but there is no public forum for sellers on Amazon to rate their customers.

I believe that eBay is trying to grow up and provide a good place for buyers to buy while encouraging sellers to provide the excellent customer service that far too many of them do not provide. EBay is trying to become a more professional and reliable marketplace for people to do business. As a buyer on eBay, I welcome that change. I’ve dealt with too many sellers who have been far less than professional and if those sellers drop off the eBay map, that’s fine with me. I believe that the cream of the crop of sellers will, indeed, rise to the top and the changes that eBay is implementing, including getting rid of the sellers’ opportunity to leave negative feedback for buyers, will encourage this positive growth.

Maybe the customer isn’t always right, but I think it’s time for eBay sellers to treat their businesses as businesses and act like professionals. If you’re a seller, I say adjust your attitude if it needs adjustment and move on to bigger and better things with eBay. If you’re a seller who would rather complain and boycott and focus on the past, the next time I go shopping on eBay I probably won’t see you at the top. EBay isn't going anywhere and if sellers leave in droves, so much the better for the professional sellers – and the buyers – who remain.

Why Bettye Had Record Sales Last Month on eBay

2008-02-02T11:54:00.000-06:00

My friend, Bettye, from Dragonfly Vintage Clothing, just reported on her fabulous eBay sales from last month. January was her highest sales month ever after opening her eBay store 18 months ago. Here are Bettye's top three reasons, in her words, of why her sales have continued to grow and why she believes she had the big jump in January.

1. I'm buying better - more selectively...which I'm able to do only because I'm shopping MORE - I get to at LEAST one thrift store 6 days a week, and, many days, two. On average, I'm in 10 stores a week. This is on top of my full-time M-F, 8:30-4:30 day job. You have to get to a LOT of stores, and see a LOT of items, to allow yourself the luxury of only buying the BEST items. When I used to try and do all my shopping in one day, I had to lower the bar for what I would buy, as I knew there would be no other buying opportunities that week.

2. When ebay works right, it's using a system of exponential growth - which I think only REALLY works when you have a niche. I've done both. I've studied both. I know people who do both, and ON AVERAGE, there seems to be MORE GROWTH in stores that specialize in a certain type of product. Niche sellers have more repeat customers, there is probably more word-of-mouth referrals...and over time, a specialty store gets more and more and MORE regular watchers...as you have more people watching, you have more people likely to bid...and all it takes is two or more people who want the same item, and prices get driven up. When every one of your items is totally different - not even in the same style or genre - repeat customers are not as likely, repeat watchers the same. This exponential growth takes TIME. To Really Succeed on Ebay, I think you need to have/offer one of several things (you don't need all, but you need ONE): HIGHLY rare or desirable and well-recognized things (Coach bags, Apple ipods, etc); or EXTREME savings - if you're The Cheapest in any category, you will get the attention and the sales; or TIME. Time listing above average, well-priced items, in an attractive format, with good pictures, clear descriptions, reasonable shipping, in a specialty - and in TIME, you WILL build up a customer base. I think I'm finally hitting My Time :-)

3. To reiterate #2, I have really taken care to have clean, unfussy auction formats; clear, large pictures (I'm a firm believer in the PICTURE tells the story - the text is just an aside); low starting prices and reasonable shipping with no handling fee. I've held firm to my gut feeling that MY clothes are best shown on a live model, even though it would be easier and cheaper to use a mannequin.

Many thanks to Bettye for allowing me to publish her tips and observations. Bettye's goal for 2008 is to double her eBay sales from 2007. Looks like she's off to a fabulous start. (You go, girl!)

Bettye's store
Bettye's other store

Changes on eBay - Don't Panic 'Til You've Done the Math

2008-01-29T13:15:00.000-06:00

Did you hear it, the rumbling going through the eBay seller community today? It's been building for a few days, since the news that today would be the Big Announcement with details regarding the restructuring of eBay's fees and feedback policies. If you heard the rumble change to a roar early this morning, that's when the details hit the news - and eBay sellers hit the ceiling.

Fortunately, now that it's afternoon the roar has subsided and even the rumbling has settled down since wise sellers have started doing the math and assessing how the fee changes might actually affect their businesses. Initially lost in the roar was the fact that, after being rumored for some time, the fee for gallery photos indeed will be eliminated. That in itself means a huge savings for sellers who use the gallery photo option and is great news for eBay buyers as hopefully this will make it easier for them to shop (which turns into good news for the seller, who is more likely to make a sale). It seems that most of the sellers who have done the math have figured out that the change in the fee structure will have little effect on their final, bottom line fee. In fact, many who have a low sell-through rate are thrilled that their overall listing fees will be significantly lower.

Of course, there is the feedback issue, the fact that sellers will no longer be allowed to leave neutral or negative feedback for buyers. On the surface that certainly stings but, as I've said before, practice excellent customer service and you should not have to worry about any but the very occasional negative buyer, and there's even a policy to handle and remove those negatives in certain cases. Read all the details about the feedback policy changes on this page.

There's a lot to learn about the policies that were announced today. Rather than getting caught up in the hysteria, savvy sellers should study the changes, do the math and then decide how much worse off - or better off - they might be in the long run. Here's an overview of the announcement with links to the details. Read and study, then decide for yourself what changes if any you will need to make in your eBay business to stay a step ahead of the crowd and take advantage of the void to be filled by those disgruntled sellers who jump the eBay ship. Fee changes take effect February 20, so that gives you plenty of time to make any pricing or policy changes of your own that you deem necessary to best serve your customers - and help your business grow.

How to Sell Other People's Stuff on eBay

2008-01-21T09:43:00.000-06:00

Another idea when looking for products to sell on eBay is to sell other people's stuff for them. In fact, consignment selling on eBay can be very financially lucrative. Experienced sellers who sell items for other people on eBay are called Trading Assistants. EBay supports the idea and provides resources and a directory where you can list yourself as a Trading Assistant (TA) as well as provides training documents and a toolkit with research which you can study and use in order to build your TA business.

The first question most sellers ask when considering selling for other people is, "How much do I charge?" There is no set answer to that question as TA commission and fee structures vary widely. One suggestion is to research other TA's in your area, find out what they charge their clients and set your fees competitively. Another good piece of advice is to be careful and not under-charge your clients. Consider all the steps involved in selling an item, including taking possession of the item, researching the item (especially if it's in a category you are not familiar with), taking photographs, writing an excellent listing with a great title, packing and shipping the item, handling feedback or any problems, then paying the client his share of the profit. That's a lot of work and you deserve to be paid accordingly! A fee of 40 to 50 percent of the selling price with you paying the fees is not uncommon, with perhaps a sliding scale based on the value of the item.

Another question is, "Where will I find clients?" First, list yourself in the eBay TA directory. Then, begin to spread the word locally. Tell your friends and family members and ask them to spread the word, purchase business cards and distribute those to people that you meet, or place a notice on your local grocery store bulletin board with tear-off tags with your phone number. That should get you started. Provide excellent service for your clients and word will spread to the point that you may have more business than you can handle.

I recommend starting with this book, How to Start and Run an eBay Consignment Business, to answer all of your questions about how to get started selling on consignment, how to decide what kinds of items will be the most profitable, and how to set up your own eBay consignment business. You can find out from eBay about their Trading Assistant program here.

91 Things To Sell On eBay

2008-01-13T10:56:00.000-06:00

What a great list! You probably have some of these things lying around your house. If not, your neighbor does or your mom does or the folks having the next yard sale you go to probably have several of them. They're that easy to find and the great thing is, they actually sell well on eBay. The research that proves it has already been done for you and is included.

To get the list, you'll have to download an ebook. No charge. Just fill in your email address to get the download link. Really. It's that simple and there's no catch.

Here's the link. Fast, easy, and a terrific bunch of items that you can find and you can sell on eBay. Isn't that just what you were looking for?

Look Out - I'm Back On My Soapbox

2008-01-12T18:01:00.000-06:00

My friend, Suzanne Wells, The eBay Coach, has written a new blog post called, "How the Fair Tax Plan May Impact eBay Sales." I like it!

I'm a huge supporter of the FairTax and intend to convince as many people as I can to support the plan. It's especially attractive to me as, being self-employed, I have to pay that killer self employment tax. Quarterly taxes are due in a few days, so the timing is good for me to get up on my soapbox and shout out for support of the FairTax, which would eliminate all income taxes (among other taxes) and replace them with a consumption (sales) tax on new goods.

In her blog post, Suzanne points out that the FairTax would favorably benefit eBay sellers by boosting the market for used goods. Additionally, since the FairTax would eliminate the self-employment tax, there would no longer be a need for all that record-keeping and having to jump through hoops looking for ways to reduce our tax burden.

I'd encourage you to read Suzanne's post and then read this page for a comprehensive overview of the FairTax plan. Then, urge all your friends to do the same. While "everyone" says that the FairTax will never pass, it's grassroots efforts that start with you and me that can prove "everyone" wrong - and help grow our eBay sales in the process.

More About eBay Income and Taxes

2008-01-06T11:08:00.001-06:00

NOTE: For 2009, the ebook referred to in the following article has been replaced by an updated ebook, which expands on information presented in the post below. Click the banner to gain access to more important tax information.

The question comes up all the time: "Do I have to pay taxes on my eBay income?" I've addressed it here before, but now a true tax expert has addressed the subject - just in time for tax season.

How do you know if your online business is a business and not just a hobby? How do you find out what online income you are required to report to the IRS? What tax forms do you use? Are there any legal “loopholes” you can use to keep from paying out all your hard-earned profits to the IRS? Aacckkkk! Too many questions! You want answers, right?

I’ve found all the answers for you in this brand new, hot-off-the e-press book called eBiz Tax Tips: How to Minimize Your Taxes and Maximize Your Profits. In this book and its accompanying audio and visual presentations you will learn:

How to turn personal expenses into deductible business expenses
How to save hundreds to thousands in taxes each year by choosing the right business structure for your business
The key strategies to keep the IRS from reclassifying your business as a hobby
How to take full advantage of the home office deduction
How to maximize the business deductions you are entitled to
How to pay your kids $5,350 tax-free, every year
And much more...

Note that the information in this great new book applies to all online income, not just income from eBay. So, if you earn money elsewhere online, including affiliate commissions on your own websites or even on places such as Squidoo, then you really need this resource.

Click on the banner above to read the 2009 version of this excellent product now.

Last-Minute Tax Deductions for Your Online Business

2007-12-29T13:23:00.000-06:00

Hurry! You have until the end of the day on December 31 to purchase and pay for items for your eBay or other business and use those expenses as a tax deduction on your 2007 income tax return.

Some qualifying items that you probably need anyway, or will need soon, include items for shipping such as bubble wrap, padded envelopes for mailing, maybe a new postal scaleor even inkfor your printer if you print your own labels. In fact, if you need a new printerfor your business computer, this is the time to make that purchase.

Other tax deductible items that you might not have thought of include books for your eBay education, titles such as The Official eBay Bibleor How to Start and Run an eBay Consignment Business. If the information applies directly to your business, the books are deductible business expenses on your Schedule C.

Do you plan on joining a dropship service such as Doba or Shopster next year? Do it now, pay the fee by the end of the day on Monday, December 31, and that expense will also be deductible on your 2007 taxes. Speaking of fees, go ahead and pay your December eBay fees early; they’re deductible as well.

If you’re dreading gathering your business information in order to be able to complete your tax return, you may need a bookkeeping system like this one and yes, you guessed it, the price is a deductible business expense as well.

If you’re going to need these things anyway in the next few weeks, might as well make your business purchases now to take advantage of the tax deductions. Just be sure the items are paid for before January 1, 2008.

P.S. Disclaimer: This information is believed to be accurate but should not be considered definitive in your situation. Always check with your tax professional to determine the eligibility of items for business deductions.

P.P.S. Don’t like all the work that goes into paying taxes and trying to understand the tax code? You can help get rid of the IRS. Look into this alternative, a truly fair and simple way to pay taxes.

3 Ways to Snag Those Last-Minute Christmas Shoppers

2007-12-13T08:50:00.000-06:00

Did you know eBay is having a fixed-price listing fee sale today? Just twenty cents will get you a fixed price listing on eBay today only, Thursday, December 13th. This is the perfect opportunity to promote those higher-priced items and save the higher listing fees at the same time. And, here are three quick ways to turn those reduced-price listings into holiday sales.

Offer “Get It Fast” in your listings. Include both Priority and Express mail shipping rates as options. Mention prominently, at the top of your item description, that you ship fast and offer Express shipping for those who need the item next day. Be prepared to uphold your end of the deal, even if it means an extra trip to the post office in order to get the product to the customer on time. Last-minute shoppers are often very willing to pay a premium on shipping to be sure they get your item, the perfect gift they’ve been looking for, on time.

Use one, three, or five-day listings for your hot items, those things you know people are shopping for. Items listed today will close Friday, Sunday, or Tuesday with those shorter listing intervals. I had a number of sales last Friday afternoon, not typically a great time for my products, but people seemed to be trying to find their gifts online before having to fight Saturday shopping crowds last week – and I predict the same thing for tomorrow.

To draw attention to your items, consider springing for the extra 50 cents for a subtitle. You’ll barely notice the extra today, anyway, since you’re already getting a deal from eBay on the listing fee. Remember that subtitles are not searchable unless the shopper is searching on title and description, so keep the important keywords in the title but use some great extra sales copy in that subtitle to excite your customers and make them want to shop with you.

So, take advantage of eBay’s special sale, apply these tips to your listings, and have a very productive last week of pre-Christmas sales. And, if you’d like more great ideas for selling on eBay during the holiday season or any time of the year, check out these great business building tips.

Free EBook & Limited Time Offers

2007-11-25T11:21:00.000-06:00

I have a valuable freebie for you today.

It's from Worldwide Brands, the creators of OneSource. They have the world's largest database of genuine wholesale suppliers and every year they hold workshops for eBay sellers on how to find wholesale products for their eBay business. They recently compiled all of their 2007 eBay workshops into one eBook.

The eBay workshop titles included in the eBook are...

* From Hobby to Home Business
* How to Compete in a Crowded Market
* What is the difference between Liquidation, Closeouts, and Surplus
* Understanding the Basics to Importing Physical Products to Sell
* Building Supplier Relationships is Very Important, Especially for the Holiday Season

You can download it for free here.

It's a great book and I'm sure you'll get a lot of value from it.

Also, if you sell on eBay or plan to in the future, OneSource is a great place to find wholesalers and drop shippers for your eBay auctions.

And there are 2 big reasons you should become a member of OneSource today.

The first reason is right now, they are running a $30 discount to a lifetime membership to OneSource. The discount only lasts until the end of November. It's the lowest price you'll be able to get a lifetime membership to OneSource.

Click here to get the full details on OneSource and get the discount.

The second reason why you should get OneSource is wholesalers have begun offering steep discounts on their products. They are trying to get inventory out of their warehouses before the end of the year, so they won't have to pay taxes on the inventory.

That rarely happens this time of year. But, with the combination of the housing and mortgage market, the low consumer confidence index and wholesalers overestimating retail sales, wholesalers are looking for a way to liquidate goods immediately.

It's a great opportunity to stock up on items to sell right now and for the first quarter of 2008. But you need to take advantage of this now. This window of opportunity closes on December 31st, 2007.

Chris Malta, the founder of Worldwide Brands, explains how you can take advantage of this rare opportunity and buy low from wholesalers and sell high for nice profits in a brief audio. You can listen to his 8-minute audio here.

Enjoy the free eBook and the audio, and we'll see you back here soon.

Got Old Books and Magazines?

2007-11-07T10:12:00.000-06:00

Tear them up and make money on eBay!

How about selling old books and magazines on eBay, in pieces? In this book you will discover, in precise detail, exactly how to operate one or a string of eBay businesses, all selling individual items removed from old books, newspapers and magazines, and how to turn every single page of those publications into a profitable earnings source for you.

Here's an extra hint. Consider advertising in the "Wanted" section of the classifieds for the type of old books, magazines, or newspapers that you'll need. Some people would love to get rid of boxloads and would be more than happy for you to take them off their hands. Click here to find out just what books and magazines you should be looking for.

EBay for Fun (as well as profit)

2007-10-29T14:25:00.000-05:00

From Weird Al's eBay song to talent shows at eBay Live to eBay commercials, the YouTube crowd loves eBay videos.

Next time you take a break or if you just feel like having some fun, visit our eBay Video Showcase.

(Bet you can't watch just one!)

New eBay Sign-In Page: Are You Prepared?

2007-10-28T17:25:00.000-05:00

EBay is rolling out another change, something that sounds minor but if you don't know about it, you may have a freak-out moment first time you see it. (Maybe they'll release it on Hallowen . . .)

They've made a new login page and, indeed, it does look different. You can read all about it here and see a screen shot. The picture reminds me of the Paypal login page, which also has changed recently.

Security is a big issue with eBay and should be for you as well. The announcement page also includes some ways to ensure that you are logging in to a legitimate eBay site. One of the suggestions they make is to download the eBay Toolbar which includes a feature called Account Guard. I have had the toolbar for a long time and particularly like the Account Guard feature as it shows me when I am on a legitimate eBay/Paypal site and when I am not. Also, it lets me know when I am about to transmit my eBay or Paypal password to a non-eBay/Paypal site. I have different passwords for nearly every site that I have to sign in to and occasionally I will type my eBay password in place of the correct one. When I do, the Account Guard lets me know, and I'm glad it does.

Hopefully the transition with the new login page will go smoothly, but every eBay account holder should be aware that there is a change coming up. Read the announcement for yourself and consider downloading the toolbar. You may be very, very glad you did.

Drive Traffic to your eBay Store with This Tip

2007-10-11T15:32:00.000-05:00

Skip McGrath had a neat tip in his newsletter this week that I thought I would pass along. If you have multiples of the same item to sell, list one at auction and charge shipping, but include an enticing line in the listing such as, "Buy this item now from my eBay store and get Free Shipping!" Hyperlink directly to your store. Build the shipping cost into the price of the additional items in your store and list them there with free shipping. What a great way to get people to visit your store.

If you'd like to read more of Skip's great ideas, as well as his take on eBay news and much, much more, click here to read the lastest issue and for your free subscription to The eBay Seller's News. Don't miss the article called "Tune Up Your eBay Store for The Christmas Season."

Make This One Change to Grab Your Customers’ Attention

2007-09-30T11:04:00.000-05:00

Do you use email marketing to promote your eBay store? I hope you do. And if you do, I hope you make those newsletters interesting for your potential buyers. The most important place to start is by writing a killer, attention-grabbing subject line.

It’s easy to put together a store newsletter using the marketing tools section from your “My eBay” page. The first thing the process requires you to do is select the type of email that you want to send. The drop-down menu includes several choices (newly listed, etc.). After you have made that selection, on the next screen you will have several options. One of those is “subject.”

The subject line is what your customer will see first, right in their inbox. What they read there will make them decide to open the email or to simply delete it. Why leave the subject line, like so many people do, with the default “Check out my Newly Listed Items” (how boring is that?) when you have 55 characters to work with, 55 characters just waiting to make or break your entire marketing effort.

Here are some examples of subject lines that have enticed me to open and read an eBay store newsletter.

“Newly Listed Items – Hair Accessories, Jewelry, Lenox”
“100 sales, auctions, pet tips ANNIE STAR PET SUPPLIES”
“New Auctions and Tons of Sales!”
“Limited Time Special for our Newsletter Subscribers” (Who could ignore that!)
“Sale! Shop Dragonfly for Big Savings”
“March Inventory Sale! All Items Reduced!"

Aren’t those better than the default? It’s easy and doesn’t take but a minute or two to create an interesting subject line for your store marketing emails. Get creative, grab your customers’ attention, then see if your “opened” rate – and your eBay sales – increase. It’s worth 55 characters of your time to find out.

How to Run a Successful Drop-Shipping Business

2007-09-21T18:31:00.000-05:00

Are you tired of looking for great stuff to sell on eBay? Would you rather use your garage to store your car instead of those boxes full of unsold inventory that eBay shoppers don't like any more than you do? If so, drop-shipping may be the solution you're looking for, and Doba may be the company to provide that service for you.

Doba is a certified eBay service provider with interfaces that make it easy to list their items in your eBay store. Doba offers a free 7-day trial with no obligation, giving you full access to the site including the wholesale prices of their one million item inventory plus their library full of educational articles to help you learn how to run a successful drop-shipping business.

If drop-shipping sounds like something that might be of interest to you, I would suggest signing up for the free 7-day trial and dedicating several hours to researching the site. That should give you plenty of time to explore the products and read the excellent educational articles. Then, with no obligation, decide if dropshipping is the right choice for you.

You can learn how to run a successful drop-shipping business. Sign up here for your no obligation free trial.

Get Tons of Fresh, New Traffic to your Blog

2007-09-18T14:46:00.000-05:00

It's new, it's easy, and (the best part) it's f r e e.

See it on my blog? Over there, on the right. Scroll down a bit, below my labels. See the BlogRush widget? I know many of my blog readers are bloggers as well, so I wanted to share this with you.

BlogRush can help you drive tons of traffic to your blog on an ongoing basis, but you need to HURRY as there is a definite advantage to being an early adopter of this amazing service! I could tell you more, but the BlogRush intro video is excellent and explains the viral syndication process much better than I can.

So, go read the BlogRush intro page and watch the video. Then sign up for BlogRush and start generating lots of fresh traffic right away.

EBay Income and the IRS

2007-09-11T08:49:00.001-05:00

People ask it all the time. "Do I have to pay taxes on my eBay income?" The answer is really very, very simple in terms of the IRS. Answer is: You're asking the wrong question!

The question is correct in spirit, but not quite in semantics. The IRS says you must report income. All income. Doesn't matter if that income is from a business or a hobby. Doesn't matter if it's from eBay or your 40-hour-a-week employer. In fact, it doesn’t matter if it’s “just” the $50 gift certificate you won in the local photo contest. It is income and you are required to report it. Whether or not you pay taxes on that income depends on the combination of all your income, deductions, etc. and what happens when you get to that bottom line on the tax form.

So, the correct question is not, "Do I have to pay taxes on my eBay income?" and it's not "When does eBay become a business rather than a hobby?" but rather, "Do I have to report my eBay income?" The answer is yes, you do. You are required by the IRS to report all income. If you want to claim business expenses for your eBay business, you may do that. Just make sure every expense is fully documented. I would suggest obtaining a schedule C form from the IRS (or the IRS web site) so that you will know what types of expenses are reportable and keep records accordingly.

Tax returns can be cumbersome and tax law is long, detailed, and sometimes complicated, but the basic rule is very simple. You earn it, you report it.

P.S. Home Business Tax Deductions: Keep What You Earn is an excellent, well-reviewed resource to learn about what business expenses you can deduct. A very comprehensive resource - recommended!

P.P.S. Don’t like filling out those complicated tax forms? Do you think the tax code is unfair? Then consider supporting this alternative way to pay taxes.

Make Money With eBay Items on Squidoo

2007-09-05T07:28:00.000-05:00

I blogged a little about Squidoo a few months ago, but I think it's time to mention it again.

Squidoo consists of individual pages, called lenses, each created by regular people called Lensmasters. Cool thing is that Lensmasters make money when people click on links in their lenses and, especially, if said people buy the things they click on. A good lens contains a lot of good information as well as some great products or items to click on.

So, how does this affect you as an eBay seller? Let's say you have a niche on eBay. That makes you an expert in that niche, right? Sure it does! You research it, you describe it, you list it, you sell it. You should know as much about that niche or that type of item as anyone, and more than most. So, take that expertise and turn it into a Squidoo lens.

Your lens doesn't have to be about eBay, but it can contain a module, or section, that features your eBay items, those same items that you have written about and shared your expertise about, in the Squidoo lens. For instance, I sell Arkansas Razorbacks fan items (among other teams) on eBay. To get those on Squidoo, I made a SquidWho lens (SquidWho is the new people lenses part of Squidoo) all about Darren McFadden. (If you're a college football fan, then you've probably heard of Darren McFadden, last year's Heisman Trophy runner-up.) When people find that lens on Squidoo, they'll see my eBay listings. What great free advertising!

Keep in mind that Squidoo pays the lensmaster a commission on other people's eBay or amazon listings, too, so feel free to promote those items on your lenses as well, as I do on, for instance, my Shirley Temple lens.

So, choose a person, a niche, or an eBay item you would like to promote, go make a lens and make some money.

List for FREE on eBay!

2007-08-25T14:45:00.000-05:00

If you've never sold anything on eBay before, I'd like to invite you to start now and get your first three listings free!

All you have to do is contact me with your e-mail address by leaving a comment below and I will have eBay send you an invitation to list your first three items, including a gallery photo, for free on eBay.com.

This is an eBay promotion and the details and requirements will be contained in the link inside the e-mail. I just need your e-mail address in order to have eBay send the invitation. Your e-mail address will be safe with me. I promise to never use your address for anything else, ever again, and won't sell or rent it to anyone.

You know you'd love to make some extra money and eBay is a great way to do that, so if you've been putting it off, now's the time to make the decision to get started selling on eBay - and save from 55 cents up to $5.15 in fees for each of your first three listings!

Again, just contact me through the comment form below this post, include your e-mail address and let me know you'd like to receive the invitation. HURRY! The promotion ends September 15, 2007!

How to Receive eBay Free Listing Days Notifications

2007-08-17T11:39:00.000-05:00

There was another free listing day on eBay this week, free listings when you chose a gallery photo upgrade. Did you take advantage of this money-saving special? Did you know about it?

If you didn’t know about the special, you might not be receiving e-mail notifications of special events from eBay. Go right now to your “My eBay” page (find the link at the top right corner of any page on eBay), look down the left column of that page for “My Account.” Below that, click on “Preferences.” You might be surprised to see how many choices you have there.

The top section is called “Notification Preferences.” Look for “Newsletters, Promotions and Event Notifications” and click on “Show” at the right. There will be several items shown. Each one should say “Email” next to it. If they do not, click on “Edit” at the right and check off the boxes of the notifications you would like to receive. I would recommend checking all of the boxes just to make sure you don’t miss out on receiving an important announcement you might otherwise miss. Be sure to click the “save” button at the bottom of the page if you change anything.

If all of the choices are selected and you’re sure that you’re not receiving notices from eBay, certainly go back to the “Personal Information” section and make sure that your e-mail address is correct. If it is, perhaps some of eBay’s e-mail is being filtered into a junk mailbox on your e-mail account, so take some time to look into that possibility and then take measures to correct the problem. You need to be able to receive information from eBay.

Don’t miss out on another money-saving eBay special. Go check your settings now!

(Speaking of not missing out on a special, have you signed up for your favorite sellers’ store newsletters? I receive several and often find some good deals, not to mention some very creative ways that other sellers promote their listings. You can start by signing up for mine!)

EBay Shoppers Have Stars in their Eyes

2007-08-04T09:45:00.000-05:00

The new stars feedback system on eBay has been in place for a few months now and some sellers are still complaining. Yep, it's hard to take anything less than a 5 on "shipping and handling charges" when you charge actual postage, hard to accept a 4-point-anything on "item as described" when you include multiple pictures and write a really decent description, but what's a seller to do? At least the playing field is leveling out with all active sellers now in a similar situation. (If you have four rows of perfect 5's, please leave me a comment. I want to see what you do that I don't do!)

On what I thought was an interesting note, my sister-in-law recently wanted to purchase something on eBay, a specific item from a specific seller. She (new to eBay, no account yet) told me that the seller "has a very high rate of satisfaction." When I went to look, I found that the seller has 99% feedback with stars at 4.6, 4.7, 4.7, and 4.2. Personally, after reading the feedback comments and seeing several recent neutrals and a negative, I didn't feel that was a particularly "very high rate of satisfaction," but this was the opinion of a brand new buyer on eBay and she felt quite comfortable with the stars that weren't nearly as colored-in as mine and many others' are.

I suppose the value of the stars system really is in the eye of the beholder/buyer. It is a subjective system, so all we as sellers can do is to do our best to hold up our end of the deal in each of the star categories so that our ratings will stay as high as possible. And remember that stars really do get in our shoppers' eyes.

Now you can offer your shoppers 5-star merchandise.
Read this!

Is eBay Really Paying Attention?

2007-07-27T08:13:00.000-05:00

Judging by this post on "The Chatter" eBay is listening regarding the new search, or "finding experience," changes.

I found the post very informative regarding how eBay is testing and what they're still working on in regards to changing the search. They actually say they're not happy with what the search results page looks like (neither was I when I tested it) and they address the major issue of integrating stores and completed listings into the search. (These don't appear now in the Playground version, but the explanation is that they wanted to roll it out to be tested before they added these and a few other components into it. As a former programmer I understand that would save them a lot of backtracking in their coding, but couldn't they have stated that up front?? Leaving stores out of anything on eBay is certainly going to raise issues - and tempers - with store owners.)

The section on "Multiple paths to the same inventory" was interesting and implies that sellers won't necessarily need to pay double to list an item in two similar categories. The new search will provide a multi-dimensional result for sellers searching by category. They explain it in the example and it sounds like a great idea.

If you haven't gone to eBay's Playground to try the new search and leave feedback, please take a few minutes and do so. It appears that they're actually paying attention.

Today's Quick eBay Tips

2007-07-18T10:24:00.000-05:00

My oldest favorite fr ee eBay newsletter is written by Jim Cockrum of Silent Sales Machine fame. Jim is very generous with fr ee information but, besides that, he’s a heck of a good guy, which is easy to tell when you’ve been following him for as long as I have. If you want to receive his tips or if you want to get to know Jim, sign up for his newsletter here. I also highly recommend his books, which you can find at the same link.

Jim’s latest newsletter includes a link to a page on AuctionBytes.com (if you don’t get their newsletters, be sure to sign up for them) with a comparison chart called “Auction Management Services at a Glance.” A lot of people use auction management services to help with their eBay businesses. I use and recommend two, Auctiva and Turbolister. If I needed another, I’d probably try Inkfrog first since I know successful sellers who use and love it. All three are listed on the comparison chart, which you can find here. It includes a long list of services, many of which I’ve never even heard of. A good resource.

EBay is having another special today and tomorrow (July 18-19, 2007). The Value Pack, which includes a gallery picture, subtitle, and listing designer, is available for just 25 cents. I hope you use a gallery picture in your listings; you should in most cases. That upgrade itself usually costs 35 cents, so you can save 10 cents per auction or fixed price listing today and tomorrow, and those dimes do add up. Be aware, though, that you MUST choose Value Pack to get the discount on the picture, even if you aren’t interested in the other two upgrades. If you choose the gallery picture alone, you’ll still be charged 35 cents. If you don’t want to use the subtitle or designer, that’s fine as you don’t have to, but be sure and choose the value pack option. If you do use the subtitle (and why not – at that point it’s fr ee), remember that those words do not show up in a search unless the search is for title and description. Another thing to keep in mind is that if the item doesn’t sell and you re-list it in the future, you’ll be charged the original 65 cents for the value pack, so you might want to change your options when you re-list.

Those are your tips for today. Have a great one!

Advice from the Storage Auction Momma

2007-06-30T19:07:00.000-05:00

I received a comment recently on a previous post about Product Sourcing with Self-Storage Unit Auctions. The person who commented wanted some examples from our own experience and wondered why people would buy old things and sell them again. My friend Karen Davis, author of Storage Auction Momma, was kind enough to leave a reply which I thought was worthy of its own post. Here's what Karen said:

Hey Susan, if you don't mind, I thought I would drop in and answer the question "Could you give some examples of your own experience?"

But first, let me respond as to the benefits of buying "old things" and selling them again. Benefit number one: To make some money!! One of the secrets to making money is to Buy Low and Sell High. It doesn't matter whether a product is old or new, used or not, As long as there is someone out there wanting to buy it and you can get it for less than they will pay and resell it, you can turn a profit. This goes not matter where or how you are sourcing (finding) your products.

Benefit number two: It is good for the environment!! If no one buys those storage units that must be auctioned off, all that stuff goes into the landfill. Some of it may end up there anyway, but I put most of it back into use. Someone gets a bargain on something they need and I make GREEN money while being GREEN at the same time.

Benefit number three is really more of a comment: The stuff in storage unit auctions isn't necessarily old. Some of it may be new or unused. At my first storage auction, what caught my eye was a whole box of special Barbies - and they were in mint condition still in the box. There were enough to set aside for birthday presents for my daughter's friends and still some left over to sell.

Another storage unit yielded a boatload of high end Christmas decorations including Christmas Village pieces still in the boxes and Radko Christmas ornaments. Check those on ebay and you will see why I was excited.

I have found a Craftman tool box complete with tools, new artwork that still had tags on each piece upwards of $200, complete beds, nice sofas, designer clothes, videos/dvds, china cabinets and an antique desk that was worth $700.

In another unit, I found a solid gold heavy link necklace in a box of junk that otherwise went to the dump. You just never know.

Hope that helps!!
~Karen Davis
Storage Auction Momma

Thanks, Karen, for that great response!

Summer Sales Slow on eBay? Consider These Suggestions

2007-06-28T09:55:00.000-05:00

We see it every year about this time, on forums and on group posts: “My eBay sales are so slow this summer. I’m really discouraged. What can I do?” Here are a few suggestions.

Remodel. Look at your listings and your store, if you have one, with a fresh eye. Think back to all of the advice you’ve heard but not taken and consider applying it. Try something different for a change. It couldn’t hurt and might just help. I’m talking about advice such as taking better pictures with better backgrounds or using more pictures; using excellent keywords and all 55 characters of every title; not centering the text in your descriptions; using a properly-sized font, not too big and not too little; using a font color that is easy to read; including well-written, non-threatening, professional-sounding shipping, payment, and return policies in your listings; or working on building your brand by standardizing colors and templates so people will recognize your listings in a crowd.

Reassess. If your products aren’t selling right now, why might that be? Are they just one item in a gazillion with nothing that makes them stand out or rise above the crowded marketplace? Find a high-volume seller who sells similar items. Examine those listings and try to identify what makes their items sell when yours don’t. Search for items similar to yours on completed listings and take a look at the ones that sold. What’s so special about them? Could listing/closing time have anything to do with it? Did they have a Buy It Now option whereas your items do not? What does that seller do that you don’t do? Does he or she offer a newsletter? Do you? Don’t ever copy another seller’s listings, but take notes about what appeals to you as a buyer and incorporate some of those ideas into your own listing and marketing practices. Determine what you can do to make your store and your items irresistible to your shoppers.

Restock. Sell something else. If your listings are perfect and need no improvement at all but the items are still not selling, consider the fact that not everything listed on eBay sells. If it hasn’t sold within a reasonable period of time, consider donating it or having a yard sale. Perhaps your products are out of season right now and should be put on the shelf for awhile and re-listed later. Think a month or two ahead to the next holiday or, during the summer, to back-to-school time and find items that should sell well then and get those listings ready. Or, think in a totally opposite season; have a Christmas in July sale or list items with a gift-giving theme.

If you’re not busy this summer shipping out sold items, you probably have some time on your hands. Use the time wisely by studying both the market and marketing principles. Start with our remodel, reassess, and restock tips, apply them, and perhaps you’ll see your summer sales begin to take off again.

Do you have some great advice for avoiding the summer sales slump? Leave us a comment!

The Complete eBay Marketing System will teach you the professional techniques you need to become an eBay power seller.

Marketing Your eBay Store - How to Help Buyers Find Your Listings

2007-06-25T07:39:00.000-05:00

You're a seller on eBay and you've decided to open an eBay store. That's simple enough to accomplish. Then, suddenly, you realize that your store items don't show up in eBay searches. At this point the $64,000 question seems to be, "What do I do so that people will find my eBay store items?"

The first piece of advice it seems everyone gives when that question comes up is to be sure to run eBay auctions regularly and mention in your auction listings that you have an eBay store so people will go there to see what else you have. That's good advice, but the problem is that too many times people just stop there. Next thing you know they've closed their store because so few people seem to be finding it. That's too bad because there are numerous methods they could have used to market their store more effectively. Here are a few.

1. EBay Express, assuming you and your listings qualify. EBay provides this check list to help you grow your business on eBay Express. Read it to learn about seller and listing criteria for this eBay venue. If you qualify as an eBay Express seller and want your listings to show there, make sure you follow the specific guidelines.

2. Make sure your items show on Google search and other search engines. Always enable your store listing feed (read how here) and export your store items regularly to Google base. Your items will show up when people search and look at the results on Google Products (formerly called Froogle). You don't have to understand the technical aspect of how this works, but know that it does work and it is an important marketing method that should not be overlooked. Make sure that you are optimizing your items for search engines by using excellent keywords in your store description and in your listing titles.

3. Blogs or other web posts. If you have a blog, or if you ever leave a comment on a blog or if you post on an online forum, put your store link in your signature line if that's allowed. People really do click through on those. The nice thing about having a store is that you have a specific web address, http://stores.ebay.com/yourstorename. I also recommend that you consider purchasing a domain name that you can use to forward to your store link, something easy for people to remember. In my case, my52cents.com is much easier to remember than http://stores.ebay.com/my52cents. Make yours an appropriate and memorable name. Include it with every blog comment or forum post. Post often, but don't spam post; that's just tacky.

Those are just a few examples. Marketing your eBay store is an important part of having an eBay store. You can depend on the store being found via your auctions, of course, but why not take a few minutes and notch it up a level? All of the methods I mentioned, aside from purchasing the domain name ($10 or less at godaddy.com) are free and easy to accomplish.

By the way, you can track how people find your store by looking at your traffic reports on your "manage my store" page. If you haven't looked at that, you may be very surprised to see where your store traffic is coming from.

These are just a few suggestions and you can find more on eBay, who actually wants your store to succeed, so don't overlook the eBay help section when you're seeking good eBay store marketing advice.

The eBay - Squidoo Connection

2007-05-30T09:44:00.000-05:00

I didn't mean to, but it seems I've been holding out on you by not blogging here about Squidoo. When I discovered Squidoo several weeks ago, little did I know that I was going to fall in love. Well, you could call it love or you could call it an addiction, but either way I'm crazy about Squidoo and how it has worked to improve my online business, and especially my eBay business.

Quoting from the Squidoo home page, "Squidoo is the world's most popular site for people who want to build a page about their passions." Squidoo also has its own interesting vocabulary. For instance, each page on squidoo is called a lens and each person who builds a page is called a lensmaster. Squids have big eyes and long tentacles and they make an awfully cute logo, thus the name Squidoo. It isn't a blog site, though you could create a lens about your blog. You could create a lens about anything you love or want to promote. Thus, I have created a lens about eBay. (I've created a bunch of other lenses, too, but I will try not to digress.)

The best way to see what Squidoo is all about is to visit there and explore the lenses. A great way to understand why Squidoo is what it is is to explore the mind of Seth Godin, its creator. A superb way to do that, and especially in relation to how Squidoo can benefit your eBay business, is to listen to this interview that Ina Steiner of AuctionBytes recently conducted with Seth Godin. Ina and Seth talk about Seth's latest book (did I mention that he's also a prolific writer and highly sought-after speaker?) and how the concept Seth writes about relates to eBay sellers.

So, if you're curious about Squidoo or about how Seth Godin and Squidoo can help you become an exceptional business person, do take 11 minutes and 20 seconds to listen to the interview. Then visit Squidoo and do some exploring to decide if becoming a lensmaster might be something you should do. You may start, if you wish, with my eBay Squidoo lens (and I thank you very much).

(To build your own Squidoo lens, click on the cute squid below.)

Buying Wholesale Lots on eBay

2007-05-28T11:48:00.000-05:00

Buy it on ebay, re-sell it on ebay. What a great place to get started! If you're already a buyer on ebay, you may have noticed the category called "wholesale lots" when you are searching for an item. While there is a "wholesale lots" sub-category included within most of the main categories, you can access all of them on this page.

A word of caution about lots advertised as "wholesale" on ebay. More often than not these items are not listed by true wholesalers but are repackaged lots from ebay sellers who are cleaning out their own inventories. Sometimes they will be items that the particular seller could not sell individually. Often, though, they are smaller lots that the seller has acquired in bulk and broken down into smaller, more affordable lots for other sellers on a budget or without a place to store a large inventory.

You'll also find that some people don't take seriously the definition of a "lot" and use this category to offer single items at what they consider to be wholesale prices.

So, as should always be the case, buyer beware. Make sure you understand exactly what it is you are bidding on. I have found real treasures from the "wholesale lots" page and you will, too, if you spend some time being a wise shopper.

Sell What's Hot!

2007-05-22T14:18:00.000-05:00

Still haven’t decided what to sell on eBay? Think hot! Not sure what’s hot? Here are a couple of places you can check to find out.

First, check the pulse. The eBay pulse, that is. That’s where you will find up-to-the-minute popular search terms by category on eBay. These are the search terms that eBay shoppers use the most. It’s a great way to see what people are looking for today. Just go to pulse.ebay.com and you’ll see the top 10 popular searches in all categories. Click the drop-down menu to narrow the category. For instance, if I click on “Clothing, Shoes & Accessories,” now I can see the top 10 search terms for that general group of categories. When I use the drop-down menu again and narrow the category to “Women’s Shoes,” I find Gucci and Nike, among others. If I had Gucci shoes to sell, I would know that people are looking for them and it’s a good time to get them listed. Next, scroll down the page a bit and you’ll see the “Most Watched Items” in that category, which gives you even more of an idea what people are interested in today. On the top right of the page there's a section listing the largest ebay stores selling items in the shoe category. If you want to see how somebody else sells shoes, or what shoes are actually selling, explore those stores and look for things they do that you might do to improve your own shoe listings. So, check the Pulse for items that you think you might like to sell and remember to use those hot search words in the listing titles.

Next suggestion, google it to find out what’s hot. Google has a project called “trends.” Want to know the top 100 search trends on google, the terms that have suddenly gained in popularity? You should want to know because if it’s hot on google, then it probably really is hot and the trend may well spill over to eBay. An example of this would be when Steve Irwin, the crocodile hunter, died. You can be sure that thousands of people googled “Steve Irwin” and “crocodile hunter” and other similar terms when they heard the news. You can also be positive that eBay was suddenly flooded with Steve Irwin items. Talk about hot, now that was a very hot topic for a few days, then it cooled gradually and went back to normal over time. One-day auctions for Steve Irwin items were the norm that week on eBay; who knew if seven days later people would still be looking for the crocodile man’s items. (While it may seem inappropriate to take advantage of a tragedy such as Steve Irwin’s sudden death, you can be sure that a lot of people made money as a result of that event.) So, to find search terms that have gained rapidly in popularity and may be getting really hot, or to see what trends your favorite searches or keywords show, visit trends.google.com. Read the “About Google Trends” page for a full explanation of how it works.

These are just a couple of ways to decide on what might be hot items to sell on eBay. You may have others and I would love to hear about them. So, how about it. No need to reveal your top-secret sources, but I’d love to read your comments and suggestions!

USPS Postage Changes May 14 – Are You Ready?

2007-05-11T09:38:00.000-05:00

Are you using the new postal service rates in your ebay listings yet? If you’re not, you’d better go ahead and get those updated. If you don’t know what I’m talking about, you may be in for a big surprise when it’s time to pay shipping charges on your sold items next week.

For regular mail, there will now be three categories, letters (41 cents for the first ounce), large envelopes or flats (80 cents for the first ounce), and packages or parcels (which use priority mail or parcel post rates). All letters must be uniformly flat as well as flexible. That means that if you include a piece of cardboard in an envelope with photos so they will not bend, these will no longer qualify as letters but will fall into the new category of flats/large envelopes. Lightweight bulky items placed in padded mailers will generally NOT qualify as a flat and will now be subject to package/parcel rates.

If you ship using the postal service’s priority mail envelopes, you should know that the rate for those flat-rate envelopes and all priority mail up to one pound will now be $4.60, up from $4.05. The two shapes of flat-rate priority mail boxes will now cost either $8.95 or $9.15 to mail, depending on which postal service publication you believe. The priority mail boxes and envelopes are still available FREE and will be delivered to you FREE if you order online at www.usps.com, so I do recommend using those to help keep your shipping costs down.

Size of packages is an issue as well. For packages exceeding 1 cubic foot (12x12x12 = 1728) or larger than 84 inches combined length and girth, a balloon rate may apply, so try to use boxes that just fit the items you’re mailing to avoid paying for mailing that extra space. There is also a balloon charge in some cases when a package exceeds 20 pounds.

There are major changes in international rates, but it appears to me that overall the categories will be simplified. The great news is that all of the domestic priority mail boxes can now be used for international mail as well, so you won’t have to scrounge for boxes to use to send your packages overseas.

If you’ve read this far, you’re probably as confused about the new rates as everyone else I know, including my local postal workers. Hopefully the online calculators on both ebay/Paypal and the USPS site will be working correctly by May 14, but it will still be up to us as sellers and shippers to understand what class of mail we need to use based on size, shape, and weight so that we can quote correct shipping to our customers. As with most changes, this will work itself out over time and in a couple of weeks hopefully everyone will have the changes down pat. In the meantime, if you go to the post office next week, be kind to the clerks. They’re going to be just as frustrated as many of their customers will be.

Here are some links to help you find more information on the new policies and rates:
http://pages.ebay.com/shippingfaq/#usps
http://www.usps.com/ratecase/ratecase_faqs.htm
http://www.usps.com/ratecase/welcome.htm
http://pe.usps.com/RateCase2007/DMM300_HTML/ratesandfees2.htm

Rating the New Feedback System on eBay

2007-05-04T10:26:00.000-05:00

Have you heard? Ebay has rolled out a new feedback system. I just received an item in the mail that I bought last week on ebay and was able to give my first detailed feedback. Here's what I learned.

First, I rated the transaction as positive overall and filled in the box with my comment, then the drop-down part of the page appeared with the opportunity to rate the details:

I rated the seller 4 stars for item as described (the colors weren't quite what I expected).
I rated him 3 for communication because I heard absolutely nothing from him, but it wasn't a big deal because the item arrived quickly.
I rated him 5 for shipping time - I bought it Friday night, it arrived this Friday morning.
I rated him 5 for shipping and handling charges - I would have given him a 6 if it was available; he had very low, reasonable shipping.

After I completed the form and posted my feedback, I went to check his overall feedback. He does a large volume, so he already has 28 of the detailed ratings (ebay does not show them until a seller receives 10). At first glance it appears he has 5 stars on everything, but if you look closely you see the last ones aren't quite colored in all the way. Hover over them and you see he has 5.0 on “item as described” and 4.8 on everything else. Kind of interesting because I gave him a 4 on “item as described” and a 3 on communication and his ratio is still quite high, and I seriously doubt he communicated with anyone since he did not communicate at all with me.

So, as a seller I feel rather relieved by what I see. Again, at a glance his feedback appears excellent (and it is - 100% positive) but if I were going to purchase from him and had any special concerns about any of those categories, I could examine them further. Which brings up another observation. There is no category for how well the item was packed. Packing is very important and I'm curious why that wasn't included. Perhaps that is an even more subjective category than the others? I don't know.

What can sellers learn from this? Number one, describe your item accurately and thoroughly. Number two, do communicate with the buyer. Drop a quick e-mail to let them know their package is in the mail. Say thank you; that goes a long way. Three, ship quickly. And four, set your shipping and handling at a fair and reasonable rate. In other words, keep doing what you should have been doing all along. Provide five-star service – and you’ll get five-star feedback in return.

eBay To Go

2007-05-02T07:18:00.000-05:00

My new friend Tom wrote in his blog about something new on ebay that I hadn't heard about yet, something called ebaytogo.com, or eBay To Go. Just go to togo.ebay.com and you can quickly and easily complete a widget for an ebay item that looks something like this one:

Fun! Use the code on your blog or on your website to feature an item or items that you are selling or would like to promote. Gadgets and widgets are so much fun! What are you waiting for. Go try it.

The Used Blue Jeans Family

2007-04-30T09:51:00.000-05:00

Always the critic, I love to find stores on ebay that I think stand out as a super example for the rest of the ebay community and, particularly, as examples for new ebay sellers to emulate. Yesterday, I found a winner.

Tom Meester and his wife sell used Levi jeans on ebay. That’s all they sell and they have sold over 20,000 pairs of jeans in the last seven or eight years. Tom’s a power seller with a feedback score of well over 15,000, receiving only 14 negatives in all those years (you can’t please everyone, I guess). Let me point out for you a few things that I like about Tom’s ebay store and his listings, things that both new and experienced ebay sellers can learn from.

1. He has a niche product, even a sub-niche product, that he researched, found suppliers for, refined, and has stuck with because it works. You won’t find blue jean pens or mugs here, and you certainly won’t find Pez containers, beanie babies, or other totally unrelated items. And the name of the store can’t be stated any more clearly: Used-Blue-Jeans.

2. He has created a look for his store and his listings that once you see it, you’ll recognize his listings forever. That’s called branding and it’s what store owners should strive for. Tom uses a simple denim blue with red highlights look that complements the product perfectly. Pictures of his jeans are always identifiable, with the jeans “posed” in the same position, all pictures with a bright red background.

3. His item listing template is clean with a great picture, perfectly sized, followed by a description that is short and sweet but complete. Included is a thank-you, which is always nice, links to add his store to your favorites list and another to search for similar items, both simple but important marketing tools, followed by his store policies. The policies are presented simply in positive terms, answering any questions that a potential buyer might have. No “Don’t bid if you’re not going to pay!” threats, just professionally-stated shipping, payment, and return terms. Complete contact information is at the bottom. A perfect layout in my opinion.

4. Tom’s store format is perfectly understated with the pleasant denim blue with red highlights color scheme and a logo that looks like it belongs, not too big, not too small. There’s nothing extra to get in the way of the whole point of the store, the product.

5. Tom’s family is pictured on their ‘me’ page with a story of the history of their family and their ebay business, the perfect approach to building confidence in the seller. Coupled with the impressive feedback, who wouldn’t buy their Levi jeans from this family?

The simple niche market approach with a clean layout is very appealing to me as an ebay shopper and an easy example for ebay sellers to emulate as they look to improve their own listings and store designs. I give The Used Blue Jeans Family two thumbs up and a hearty “Well done!”

Online Auction Research: What's Hot? What's Not

2007-04-21T17:11:00.000-05:00

A key factor in your success as a retail merchant is your ability to pick a product that's in high demand and then set a price that customers are willing to pay for that item. By employing savvy online research strategies, you can quickly determine what's hot, what's not, and the prices that people have actually paid for the products or similar products you're planning to sell.

In this article, you discover some cheap and easy research strategies that can help you select potentially profitable products and set prices that are inline with your market.

Remember: Never compete on price alone. This often causes a price war that drives down prices for all retailers, including you. Combine a reasonable price with effective marketing.

Checking the going rate on eBay

An important part of doing proper research on eBay is finding out what's selling and for how much. The simplest way to do this is... Read More

(Note that you must be a Doba member to read the rest of the article. Good news is this - You can sign up for a free trial with Doba during April and be entered to win a trip to eBay Live 2007! Click on the green button below to be eligible for the contest. Hurry! You must sign up in April to eligible!)

Sell What Sells, NOT What's Cool

2007-04-19T12:02:00.000-05:00

(This is a bit long but one of the most important articles you need to read!)

by Chris Malta & Robin Cowie

Our company publishes the Internet’s leading Directory of genuine wholesale “Drop Shippers” (wholesalers who ship products, one at a time, directly to your customers; eliminating the need to stock inventory). It's called The Drop Ship Source Directory. We also publish the Internet's Leading Directory of genuine Wholesale Suppliers who will sell to you in small Bulk Quantities, while still giving you larger Bulk Quantity prices. That's called The Light Bulk Wholesale Directory. As a result of the information we research and publish, we get questions all the time about what products Home-based Internet Business owners should try to sell online.

I’ve been at this for years, and have become very successful in my Internet business. But let’s face it, folks. If I knew what was going to sell well on the Internet tomorrow, next week, or next month, I wouldn’t be writing this article. I would have retired and purchased a small private island by now. In the retail business, whether you are online, in a physical store in the local mall, or at a roadside stand, it makes no difference; choosing the products you are going to sell is always the hardest part of getting started.I can’t whip out a crystal ball and tell you what to sell. However, I can tell you about the biggest mistakes that I see new Home-based Internet businesspersons making, all the time.

Too many people are fixated on four things:
• Selling only products they like.
• Selling only products they know a lot about.
• Selling only products they think are “Cool” or “Sexy”.
• Selling only products they think “The Hottest Products on the Internet”.

I get four basic emails from people who are stuck in this rut, and I can pretty much tell that right off the bat, by the way the email begins.

• An Email from a person who only thinks they can sell what they like starts something like this:
“Dude, I’m like, a Sk8ter, and I need to find a Wholesale Supplier for, like, Sk8tboards + wheels + stuff”.

The first problem this person is going to run into (aside from the fact that he needs to learn how to write a business email!) is a problem for all four types of people here. There may not be a Wholesale Supplier for the products they want, that will work with a Home-based Internet Business. We’ll talk more about that in a few minutes, though.

The second problem is “tunnel vision”. This person may actually find a Wholesale Supplier for “sk8tboards + wheels + stuff”. If he does, great. However, someone who has such a narrow vision of the Internet Marketplace will never branch out and fulfill his own potential in that Marketplace.

Say he does find the Wholesale Supplier he’s looking for, and opens a store. Because of the narrow vision that led him there, he’s likely to stick with that store, and that store alone. He’ll make some money, but unless he gets really lucky, he won’t make a really good income out of it. He’ll piddle along selling “sk8tboard” stuff forever, when he could have done so much more.

What he needs to do is broaden his scope. If he’s interested in “sk8ting”, wonderful. But instead of focusing on just that, he should explore selling all kinds of sporting goods.Sam Walton, the revered Founder of Wal-Mart, was once a starting quarterback on his High School football team in Columbia, Missouri. He also liked to play basketball. Can you imagine what would have happened if Sam Walton never tried to sell anything besides football and basketball equipment? There would probably be a pretty big store in the US selling just footballs and basketballs today, because Walton was a very good retailer. But it never would have grown to the size and scope of Wal-Mart today if Sam had allowed tunnel vision to crowd his overall view.

It’s okay for our “sk8ter” buddy here to open an Internet store or run Auctions that sell skateboard equipment. Niche marketing is a good thing. But in his overall business, he should look for other products with which to eventually run other Online Stores or Auctions as well. One store leads to two, two lead to four, and so on. Never get stuck limiting your entire business to just one type of product!

• An Email from a person who only thinks they can sell what they know about goes like this:
“Hey there;I’ve been riding horses all my life, and I own a small stable where I teach riding. I’m opening an Internet Store where I’m going to sell all kinds of stuff that other riders will want to buy. I’ve got to find a Wholesale Supplier for saddles and Western Wear and such”.

Again, this person’s first problem is going to be that he may not find a Wholesale Supplier of the products he knows so well, that's willing to work with Home-based Internet Businesses. But, we’ll get to that in a bit.His second problem is similar to the first person’s problem, but not exactly the same. This person isn’t fixated on selling only what he likes; he’s just a little bit scared of having to learn about something new. He’s obviously going where he feels safe. That’s okay, but let’s remember what I’ve mentioned twice so far: he may not find a Wholesale Supplier for the products he likes. Genuine Wholesale Supplier do not grow on trees, folks, and most of those who are out there do not want to work with Home-based Businesses. There isn’t one available to you for every possible type of product. It’s very important to keep that in mind when you start out!

So, what does this person need to do? He needs to understand that being in business is about learning new things every day. New ways to market, new software to get used to, simpler ways to do his monthly books, etc., etc., etc. Learning new products is just as critical. Again, never limit your business to just one type of product. You don’t have to like what you sell. You just need to make money selling it!

• An Email from a person who only thinks they can sell what’s “Cool” goes like this: “Hi;I’m looking for a Wholesale Supplier of electronics, like MP3 Players, Plasma TVs and such. Please tell me where to find them.”

A request for Wholesale Supplier of electronics is a dead giveaway. Almost everybody who starts a Home-based Internet Business wants to sell electronics at first. It’s the Cool, Sexy market, and even if you never sell anything, you can show your friends your site and say, ‘Dude, I can get you an Xlent deal on the hottest new stuff!

Electronics, like any other Cool or Sexy market on the Internet, is not the place for most people to start. That market is absolutely flooded with other people who already had the same idea, and the profit margins have plummeted. Why? Too many inexperienced Internet sellers. They start price wars, figuring they’re going to clean up by undercutting everyone else’s prices by a little bit. Problem is, the second guy comes along and undercuts the first one a bit. Then the third person comes along and undercuts the second. And so on.

Pretty soon all you have left are tens of thousands of people trying to sell electronics for pennies more than what they pay for them, just to advertise a slightly better price than their competition.

Not good.The person who wants to sell Cool and Sexy stuff needs to understand that they are not out here to look Cool or Sexy. They’re here to make money. Four Slice Toasters and Propane Camp Stoves aren’t sexy, but they sell and their markets are not overcrowded, and that’s what the goal is.

• Finally, an email from a person who thinks they need to sell only the Hottest Products on the Internet goes like this:

“Hello; Can you tell me were I can find out what the Top Selling Products on eBay are? I want to know what everyone else is selling and get in on it.”

BAD IDEA!

Look at it this way. If you were in a giant field filled with nothing but concession stands selling Salted Peanuts, what’s the smartest thing you could do? Set up yet another Salted Peanuts stand, or set up a Lemonade Stand?

I’d sell Lemonade, wouldn’t you? :o)

In our business, we look at the Lists of Top Selling Products on the Internet, too. Then we run the other way as fast as we can. We don’t want to be just another face in the crowd selling the same thing as everyone else. We want to think about products that may be complementary to the Hottest Sellers, that not many other people are selling.

If everyone and their Grandmothers are selling Salted Peanuts, we want to be the ones selling Lemonade. :o)

BIOGRAPHY: Chris Malta and Robin Cowie of WorldwideBrands.com are the Writers and Hosts of The Entrepreneur Magazine EBiz and Product Sourcing Radio Shows. Click Here for more FREE eBiz info from Entrepreneur Magazine Radio!

Selling Teacher Editions? Not on ebay!

2007-02-19T15:03:00.000-06:00

Books are easy to list on ebay. Provide a description of the condition and an ISBN number and ebay helps by providing the rest of the details. But don't try it with the teacher's edition of a textbook!

People often turn to ebay to look for used textbooks, and a large number of those shoppers these days are homeschooling families. Indeed, it doesn't take much time shopping for teaching materials to discover that new textbook sets are very expensive. For homeschoolers, families need more than just the student books, they need the teacher editions as well.

Ebay used to be the place to shop to find bargains on all the books that homeschoolers need. Families were anxious to sell their used textbook sets to other homeschooling families in order to make money to buy their own sets of books for the following year or grade level. About this time last year, though, ebay began a policy of disallowing all teacher editions of textbooks to be listed and sold. While this makes sense when you think of college textbooks, it seems ebay totally missed the point when they expanded the no-teacher-editions policy to include books needed by homeschoolers - as if those first and second graders were going to buy up the books with the answers so they could cheat on their weekly spelling tests!

So, what's a homeschool teacher to do? Enter This Little Piggy Stays Home, the online auction site created specifically for homeschooling families. This Little Piggy Stays Home is a new site, developed as a result of ebay's policy change, offering a comprehensive selection of ABeka, Bob Jones, Christian Liberty, Apologia, Saxon, Sonlight, and so much more! There are no listing fees on TLPSH, photos are free, and the final value fees are reasonable.

So if you're a homeschooler looking to buy or sell textbooks or other educational materials - including teacher editions - take a look at This Little Piggy Stays Home. I recommend it.

Ebay Education on the Go . . . On the Radio

2007-02-05T18:23:00.000-06:00

Doin’ anything Tuesday between 11 a.m. and 2 p.m. Pacific time? Need some ebay education? There’s an easy way to do that by just tuning in eBay Radio on your computer’s radio dial, presented at wsradio.com.

Your host on eBay Radio is Jim Griffith, better known as Griff on ebay. Griff and his guests discuss all sorts of news and information having to do with buying and selling on ebay. Want to be a guest on eBay Radio? Give them a call and you may be one of the lucky callers asking a question live on one of the Open Phones segments.

Two of last week’s guests on eBay Radio were Janelle Elms, author of books about building an ebay business, as well as lead instructor for ebay University, and Lynn Dralle, known as Queen of the Internet Auctions, a successful seller and ebay entrepreneur. Janelle talked about how to retain customers while Lynn talked about getting great deals on collectibles at estate sales.

Now, if you’re kicking yourself because you missed Janelle’s or Lynn’s advice, don’t worry. Just visit the eBay Radio site and listen via the radio archives, or download the podcast and listen at your convenience. With eBay Radio on your ipod, you can listen and learn anytime, anywhere.

If three hours a week isn’t enough, stay tuned just one more hour on Tuesday afternoon for PayPal Radio with all the latest in PayPal news that you need to know as an ebay buyer or seller. And there’s more about ebay on wsradio.com, including the weekly Ask Griff show and the archived Entrepreneur Magazine shows about ebay.

If you want to build your ebay business, it’s a good idea to set aside some time every day for some ebay education. With the resources of eBay Radio, you can get an audio education anytime, any place. Isn’t technology amazing?

Need an Extreme ebay Makeover?

2007-01-22T15:17:00.000-06:00

One of the services offered by ebay for their sellers is their online community workshops. Today's workshop was called "Listing Template Design & Layout Clinic," hosted by Debbie Levitt of the company As Was. During the workshop, Debbie presented some excellent general advice about things to include and things to avoid when designing your ebay templates and listings. To read the complete workshop transcript, go to the ebay workshops calendar page and choose Debbie's workshop from January 22, 2007.

Debbie presented just tons of great information and advice and I feel sure you'll learn something you didn't know by reading the workshop posts. One great tidbit is her advice about running a "wife test" on your listings. She suggests showing a friend or loved one your listing and then asking them these questions:

What are the first and second things your eyes were drawn to?
How much of my description and policies did you read?
How did you feel after reviewing the item?
Did you feel like you knew what you'd be getting and when you'd get it?
Did you feel like you could trust me and you wanted to buy?

As she states, you might be surprised by the answers.

A number of ebay sellers asked Debbie questions about their specific listings during the workshop and I would encourage you to look at their listings and consider her advice. After all, this is a woman who runs a very successful business and charges a nice sum to improve designs for successful ebay sellers - who then become much more successful as sellers.

For some terrific before and after ebay layout examples provided by As Was, take a look at their portfolio pages. Even if you're not ready to invest in an extreme ebay makeover, chances are you'll pick up a tip or two that you can put into practice in your own ebay business. Please feel free to leave a comment here about something you learned and put into practice in your listings and how it worked for you.

Communicating With Your Customers

2007-01-09T07:42:00.000-06:00

As an ebay seller, one of the most important things you do is communicate with your buyers. Ebay has done a great job of automating notifications to winning bidders, but it is still up to you to add a personal touch to let your customers know that there’s a caring real person behind those automated messages.

As a buyer, I prefer dealing with sellers who show me the consideration of a brief personal thank-you when I have paid for a purchase. It’s always nice to know that my package has been shipped so that I’ll know when to expect its arrival. The seller who lets me know these things is much more likely to get repeat business from me due to their simple courtesy. As a seller, I like to offer the same to my buyers. When I receive their payment, I make it a rule to drop them a quick reply to let them know I have received their payment and tell them when their item will ship. When I print the mailing label through Paypal, I always put a quick note in the comments section to let them know their package is on its way.

In order to save time writing these little messages, which are usually the same things over and over again, I use a great tool that was recommended to me by some other ebay sellers. The tool is called ShortKeys, a utility that I have on my computer to help save typing time. On my mailing label comments, for instance, if I type, say, ppallbl, my code for the message that goes with my Paypal label, the entire message then appears in its place. I don’t have to remember everything I wanted to say (the package is on its way, thanks, please shop with me again, etc.), and I don’t have to type all that out; ShortKeys takes care of it.

ShortKeys can be used with any application you have on the computer. Use it to set up a variety of signature lines, your name plus any messages or links you include below your name. Then when you write an e-mail, you can just type in the code for the signature that you want that recipient to see. You can probably think of other places you would like to eliminate repetitive typing as well.

ShortKeys Lite is a free version of this software utility and it works just great. The full-blown version includes other features that you might find useful as well and is available for a very reasonable price. You can read all about ShortKeys at the ShortKeys website.

Whether you choose this utility or prefer to do all your typing yourself, in either case be sure to communicate well with your ebay customers. As in the rest of life, treat them the way you would want to be treated.

Calculating the Costs

2007-01-07T11:34:00.000-06:00

I've seen so many items selling on ebay at such a low price that I figure the seller can't be making any money at all. In fact, I've been guilty of under-pricing items as well. Have you?

Well, my friend Joe has a tool that we can all use to help us determine the net profit or loss of the items that we sell. Joe's Curiosity Shoppe has many tools, in fact, and you'll want to check them all out. The one I'm referring to here is his eBay Fee Calculator. Joe has taken into consideration the item's cost to you, the starting and ending prices, as well as such things as item upgrades (bold, gallery, etc.), PayPal fees, and the cost of your packing supplies. Joe's calculator tool is a simple, one-page form that you can just tab through and fill in the blanks, click "calculate" at the bottom, then see how much money you're making or (gasp!) if you're losing money.

You can use this tool before you even purchase items to sell, projecting sales prices and calculating costs in order to determine a limit of how much you should spend on items for inventory.

Give Joe's tools a try; I think you'll really like them. Oh, did I mention that they're F*R*E*E? Yep, Joe's very clever and he's a generous guy as well. (Thanks, Joe!)

Selling With the Seasons?

2007-01-06T11:23:00.000-06:00

It’s January. Have you listed those swimsuits? Okay, maybe it’s a little premature to be selling swimsuits. Or, is it? Do you sell worldwide? Remember that on the bottom half of the world they’re having summer weather while here in the good ol’ USA we are suffering with snowstorms. If you have some highly desirable swimsuits or sandals or other summer items, there may be someone in a warmer climate who would pay a premium for them now, in January, while the listings are slim.

So what items are hot in the USA right now? An easy way to find out what clothing or accessories you want to be sure to be listing now is to take a walk through the mall, or even your local discount store. I was surprised a day or so into the new year to see new tote bags and purses in spring colors for sale at Wal-Mart. A day or two later I noticed some cute little children’s outfits with short sleeves, and it’s definitely still long-sleeve weather where I live. Obviously some people shop ahead or grab those new items while they’re available.

Wal-Mart didn’t get to be the world’s largest retailer by displaying Christmas items in January. In fact, by the day after Christmas those seasonal mark-downs were moving out and the Valentine’s Day gifts and candy were moved right in. The lesson? Keep an eye on the calendar. Next month’s calendar.

Last year I sold numerous pairs of sandals to buyers in Canada – especially in February and March! I was certainly surprised, but it occurred to me that March is Spring Break month. Perhaps those lovely customers of mine were planning a vacation, you think?

While we can never second guess our shoppers, we can at least be prepared for them by keeping seasonal as well as off-season items in our ebay stores. Learn to think like your customers and anticipate what they might be shopping for. You just never know when someone may be planning their next skip trip in July!

Today's Tip: Payday Shoppers

2007-01-04T09:35:00.000-06:00

It is my observation that ebay sales, and specifically payments for sales, revolve around paydays. In the USA, people are generally paid either on the 1st and 15th of the month (or 15th and 30th), every Friday, or every other Friday. There are exceptions to those days, of course, but you can pretty much count on any Friday that happens to fall on the 1st of the month seeing long lines at the grocery store. Then, after the groceries are put away, those same people sit down to relax and shop on ebay!

So, my quick tip for today is make sure you have auctions listed to close very close to the first Friday of each month and then again around the 15th and the 30th of the month. Make sure that those tired payday grocery shoppers are able to find your items when they're ready to do their online shopping.

Product Sourcing with Self-Storage Unit Auctions

2006-12-30T14:25:00.000-06:00

The first question I hear most people ask when they decide to sell on ebay is, “Where do I find stuff to sell?” While there are many answers to that question, my good friend Karen Davis has written a great e-book with her solution to the product sourcing question.

Storage Auction Momma - Turning Storage Auction Bargains into Online Auction Gold contains a wealth of information on finding products to sell in abandoned self-storage units. You know the places – they’re everywhere – with rows and rows of little attached garage units where people temporarily park their excess belongings. Occasionally the renter of a unit will default on paying the monthly fee. After a predefined period of time, the owner of the storage facility is, by law, allowed to offer the contents of said unit to the highest bidder. That’s where you and I come in.

Storage Auction Momma is directed particularly to moms, even stay-at-home moms, but if you’re not a mom don’t let the title scare you away; this e-book contains information anyone can learn from and use. Karen takes the reader step by step through the process of acquiring the contents of these storage units, assuming her reader has never done this before. The book was perfect for me. I had seen ads in the paper for storage unit auctions, but I had no idea what to do after I read the ad. Since I have read the book, not only do I know what to do and what to expect, I have complete confidence that I, too, can show up at one of these auctions and not look or feel like a totally uninformed newcomer. In fact, I have learned how to conduct this aspect of my online auction business in such a way that the owners of the facilities will be happy to see me each time I come back.

Karen taught me how to find auctions, what to expect, what to take with me (cash and a broom are on the list), how to quickly evaluate the contents of the storage unit, and even taught me that it’s okay not to bid. She also gives suggestions of how to get rid of items that I might not want to sell on ebay, such as large items or hard to ship items. Going back to the “momma” aspect, she even tells her readers how to get their families involved.

In short, I really like this e-book and feel very comfortable recommending it as an inexpensive resource with a whole lot to offer to anyone looking for a source of products to sell on ebay or elsewhere. The subtitle, Turning Storage Auction Bargains into Online Auction Gold, may not fit every single storage unit auction situation, but I am confident that self-storage unit auctions may well be my own new product sourcing gold mine. I can’t wait to put these suggestions to work.

Now, what are you waiting for? Check out Storage Auction Momma today!

Big Guy Business Practices for Your Little Guy Business

2006-12-26T07:35:00.000-06:00

Have you ever ordered an item from a catalog or online and when you opened the package found a new catalog or a special offer inside? Big companies have been including advertising materials in their packages for years, so it must be a business practice that works. If it does work, why not adopt their practice for your business?

Do you have business cards for your ebay business? If you do, include one of those in each package you send to a customer. Carry a few with you and if ebay happens to come up in a conversation with the postal clerk or the lady behind you in the checkout line, hand him or her a card or two. If you don't have business cards, consider ordering some. Would a brochure suit your business better? You can design very professional-looking, very nice quality business cards, brochures, and other advertising materials and get them at very reasonable prices online at VistaPrint. Just register with VistaPrint and you'll begin receiving weekly e-mails with specials, often for FREE items; you just pay the postage.

Consider some of the other products you can utilize in your business, such as calendar magnets (perfect to send to your customers this time of year), note pads, or postcards. Look for the products that are best suited for your business and make a small investment. Including a reminder in each package to help your customers think of you next time they're in a shopping mood just might get you some repeat business. Remember, too, that advertising supplies are a tax deductible business expense, so print and save those receipts.

When it comes to marketing and advertising practices, take a lesson from the big guys. If we little guys work hard at promoting our own businesses, maybe someday we'll be one of the big guys, too!

P.S. Click through my VistaPrint link here and receive 25% off on your first order.

99 ebay Tips from the Big Fish

2006-12-17T17:59:00.000-06:00

They say an expert is someone who knows more about a subject than you do. So, to some I am an ebay expert. To me, Skip McGrath is THE expert. If I'm just a little fish in the big ebay pond, Skip is the whale.

I've never met him, but I just know I'd like Skip if I did know him; I just like his style. He has so much wonderful information that he has learned first-hand. He's an expert who actually practices what he preaches - and he's happy to share that information with others.

So today, I'm going to share Skip McGrath with you. Skip has a huge website with just tons of excellent information. To get started learning some of what has made Skip a very successful seller on ebay, spend some time reading and studying Skip's FREE 99 Tips for eBay Buyers and Sellers.

Then come back here, leave a comment and let us know which tip you liked best - and we can all continue to grow into bigger ebay fish together.

Last-Minute Shoppers - You've Gotta Love 'Em!

2006-12-09T13:18:00.000-06:00

It's coming down to the wire for holiday shoppers on ebay. I've had a good sales week and expect that the next few days will be even better. Thank heaven for last-minute shoppers!

Something that I am going to be prepared to do is to offer expedited shipping. In fact, I changed the message on my ebay store today so that, along with the Christmas countdown banner, I let potential customers know that I ship fast, but I'm prepared to ship faster and to contact me with their zip code for a quote on upgraded shipping options. That's not a bad message to include on all of your ebay listings this time of year.

It's a good idea to have on hand supplies to make wrapping items for expedited shipping easier: Priority Mail boxes or stickers and Express Mail boxes, stickers, and forms. Did you know you can order those from the post office online and have them delivered directly to your door? It's too late now to get them for use for this holiday season, so visit your local post office and pick some up to have on hand. For the future, check the USPS website and place your order. It's not unusual for delivery to take a few weeks for these supplies, so keep that in mind when you do order. If you use other delivery services, such as UPS or FedEx, check to see what supplies they have available as well.

When a customer contacts you for a quote for expedited shipping, go to the USPS website to calculate the shipping costs. Enter the weight of the package in pounds and ounces (you do have a scale, don't you?) as well as your zip code and the ship-to zip code to see the available options. Quote the parcel post (slow) rate and the estimated number of days for delivery, as well as the Priority Mail and Express Mail rates. Obviously Express Mail is much more expensive, maybe three times the cost of Priority Mail, but you may be surprised that people are willing to pay the extra to get a package delivered to a loved one on time.

Consider offering to gift wrap the item either free or for an additional charge. Make sure you have plenty of gift wrap on hand; a last-minute trip to Wal-Mart or the Dollar Store could turn you into a Scrooge for sure.

Whatever you promise the customer, just make sure you follow through and do your very best to help him achieve his goal of getting a great product, in great condition, to his someone special - on time. You can't control the post office, but you can do everything possible from your end to make that happen. Happy shipping!

Ebay Ads - Putting Two and Two Together

2006-12-02T10:25:00.000-06:00

I get ebay ads in my email, how about you? I got one this morning, in fact. The subject line starts out, "Free Shipping on PlayStation 3, TMX Elmo . . ." and continues by listing and showing some other items and categories that offer free shipping.

Remember the listing special that ebay offered on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday of this week? Yep, free upgrades when you offer free shipping. Did you take advantage of that offer and list some items with free subtitles, free border, and free shipping? If you did, good for you. If you did and your items are in any of the categories shown on ebay's ad this morning, double good for you!

I wonder how many ebay shoppers received this ad in their email boxes this morning? I wonder how many are going to click on the "shoes" category link and find the boots that I listed this week with free shipping? I wonder how many will click on the action figures, video games, cocktail dresses, or cell phones graphics and find your items? I wonder if next time ebay offers a listing special I'll put two and two together and list, list, list!

Have a happy selling weekend!

Ebay Special Offers

2006-11-28T07:14:00.000-06:00

Ebay is having another terrific listing special today. Did you know about it?

The special is for three days only. If sellers offer “Free Shipping” on their listings, they get border and subtitle at no charge. That's a savings of $3.50 in listing upgrades! (To read the details of this promotion, click here.)

To receive notification of all of ebay's special promotions and other important ebay announcements, you can do so by:
1. Going to www.ebay.com
2. Clicking on "Community" in the top header.
3. Clicking on "Groups" underneath the "Connect" heading.
4. Going to the "News and Events" heading and clicking on the "Announcements" link.
5. Clicking "eBay Announcements" on the next page. From this page, just click "Join Group" on the right-hand side, and you're all set!

Go on. Go sign up to receive ebay's special announcements now. Don't ever miss another money-saving ebay promotion!

My World on ebay

2006-11-27T13:38:00.000-06:00

Have you personalized your ebay "My World" page? If not, why not take just a few minutes to do so. "My World" is a relatively new part of ebay. Any time anyone clicks on your user id from one of your listing pages, your feedback page, your "me" page, or just about anywhere your user id appears, ebay shows them your "My World" page.

The "My World" page offers you the opportunity to share your world with, well, the rest of the world, and as widespread and well known as ebay is, that's no exaggeration. So, what do you want the world to know about your world? The page is limited to a handful of components, or modules, but you have the freedom to include or exclude most of those modules (your profile and feedback are always included, though you can specify how many feedback comments to display). You may display and personalize modules including your bio, your ebay blog, your listings, information about your store, your favorite searches, sellers, and stores, and your ebay reviews and guides. In the profile section you can also include an image, perhaps a picture of yourself so that people can see what that otherwise anonymous person they're transacting business with looks like.

The bio section has the most possibilities for customization, from a list of languages you speak to your hobbies and interests, as well as a couple of sections that you can title as you choose and include anything that you want to share that doesn't fit in any other category. This is a good place to include such information as your payment or return policies, perhaps in more detail than you would in an auction listing.

Whether you are a buyer or a seller on ebay, it's a good idea to update and personalize your "My World" page. Providing unique information about yourself gives you the opportunity to add personality to the otherwise very impersonal process of buying and selling online.

To personalize your own “My World” page, go to “My ebay” and click on your user id. Ebay will walk you through it from there. To view my “My World” page, look here.

Subscriber-Only Specials

2006-11-24T08:27:00.000-06:00

Do you have an ebay store? If you do, I hope you're using the store email feature to promote your auctions and fixed price and store items - and subscriber-only specials - to your customers.

Do you have a store mailing list? If you're not sure, go to your My eBay page and, from there, go to the Manage My Store page. Near the top of that page, in the store usage section, you should see an Email Marketing section with the number of subscribers that you have. If you have subscribers, good for you! If you're wondering how you got subscribers, it happens this way. When people choose to add yours to their Favorite Stores list, they are given the opportunity to sign up to receive newsletters from your store. If you have newsletter subscribers, then someone must have liked your store enough to sign up. Don't disappoint them, send them a newsletter!

Do you have a store newsletter? In the same Email Marketing section of the Manage My Store page, there's a link that says "Create email." Ebay does a good job of walking you through the process of creating a store newsletter. There are limitations as to how often you can send the newsletters and to what you may include in the newsletter (no off-ebay links!) and those are clear in the instructions.

Do you have a subscriber-only special? If you don't, why not create one and send a newsletter today! Take advantage of every advertising opportunity that ebay provides.

Free Shipping!

2006-11-20T13:50:00.000-06:00

Everyone loves a bargain and when it comes to shopping online, free shipping is a big selling point, even on ebay.

This weekend I decided to try offering several items with shipping included and, by golly, I've had some success already. Okay, I'll admit that I set the prices of the items to help cover my cost to mail them, but the total was still quite fair and a good buy for the customer. Would they have purchased the items anyway? Maybe, it's hard to know for sure, but I can't help but think that with quick turnover on a couple of items I've offered for sale before the free shipping probably had something to do with helping to close the sale.

Give it a try. Offer your customer a bargain with shipping included and see what happens. I'd love to hear how it works for you.

Make Your Listing Stand Out!

2006-08-27T17:22:00.000-05:00

"Ebay has millions of listings at any given moment. How do I make my listing stand out?"

Good question! Here are a couple of quick tips for sellers old and new to consider when creating a new listing on ebay.

First, write a great title for your listing. Use every one of the 55 spaces that ebay provides by being complete, accurate, and descriptive. Think like a buyer! What words would you search for if you were looking for an item like yours to buy? Those are the words to include. Remember to follow ebay's rules - no keyword spamming, no misleading titles. If you're selling a pair of shoes, what color are they? What style? What size? Are they leather? What brand? Be honest and complete. Be creative! Dressy, formal, casual? Let those potential buyers know! Selling boots? Are they work boots, cowboy boots, fashion boots, suede boots, leather boots, brown boots, black boots, new brown leather cowboy boots? I think you get the idea. Now, choose a couple of the best words in the title and CAPITALIZE them. Please don't use all caps - that really does make the title hard to read. However, by capitalizing a couple of the key words you accomplish two things. One, those words stand out; two, your title will be pushed onto a second line which makes the space for your listing just a little bit bigger, helping it to be more easily noticed on the search page.

Second tip, list your item with a gallery photo. Gallery photos are the pictures that show up on the search results page. Make it a great photo! Use lots of light to make the picture bright and clear. People looking for your shoes don't want to see the spots on your carpet and they don't want to see your kitchen cabinets, so be sure to place the item on a clean surface of a contrasting color and aim the camera down at the item, not across the item to include the rest of the room in the background. Use a photo editor to crop the picture close to the item so the item fills the space. Try to create a nice vertical format for the picture. This, like using the capital letters, will make your listing take up more space on the search results page and make it stand out and be noticed.

Always follow ebay's rules when you create your item listings and consider the above tips to give yourself the edge and make your listings rise above the crowd. Happy listing and happy selling!

(The above article is reprinted from my ebay Guide of the same name. To read all of my ebay Guides, click here.)

Photo Tips

2006-08-19T11:59:00.000-05:00

Someone told me the other day that she thought I did an excellent job at photographing my items for ebay, and she asked for tips. I had to laugh because I have really struggled, and still do sometimes, to get just the right photo. I did give her a couple of suggestions, though, and thought I would share them here as well.

Tip one is to use a lot of light. We recently bought one of the large silver, dome-shaped, clamp-on lights and got a Reveal by GE lightbulb, which produces a very nice, clean, bright light. I back that up (unless I get lazy) with a second one (one we had, which is smaller) and use a white sheet (most of the time - unless it's a light-colored item and then I use red or dark blue) as a backdrop and surface. Position the lights in such a way to avoid shadows as much as possible.

When you compose the photo, try to fill the frame with the item you're photographing and, most certainly, avoid clutter in the background. Look beyond the item to see what will show, in two dimension, in the background. (Did you ever take a picture then get it back and see a tree growing out of the person's head? The tree was there, in the distance in 3D! You just have to learn to look beyond the subject and see the result, which will be flat.)

What has helped me the most is to use Picasa, the free photo-editing software from Google. It is very easy to use. Even with good light my pictures are still somewhat yellow, so I use the Auto Color feature to level that out, the Auto Contrast if I feel it needs it, then add fill light if necessary. I crop the picture to delete as much of the background as possible and I try to make a vertical aspect, as I mentioned in one of my guides, if I'm going to use the picture as a gallery photo because it takes up more space on the search results page.

There are other solutions for photo problems, including using a purchased or homemade light tent or light box, and I may elaborate on those more later. In the meantime, I hope these couple of hints are useful for you.

Have a great ebay day!

It Pays to be a Pack Rat

2006-08-09T15:41:00.000-05:00

Take a look at this auction: (click here).

Wonder where this seller got these items to sell? The seller happens to be, ahem, moi, and these items were found in a basket in my vanity. Without getting into the, uh, personal details, I’ll just say that these come with another product that I buy. Instead of throwing out the excess of this item, I just toss each one into a basket and save them. When I accumulate enough to make listing an auction worthwhile, that’s exactly what I do.

Cost to me: $0. Final bid: $16.50. After ebay fees: all profit.

Here’s another example: (click here). Not all empty printer cartridges bring $5 apiece on ebay, but this model does. When I accumulate five of them, I put up a quick BIN (buy it now) and they sell within a day or two.

Do some ebay research to see what your empties, or maybe something you have in a basket under your sink, are worth. You just might be glad that you’re a pack rat like me.

P.S. Have you subscribed to my weekly Auction Tips newsletter? It's free. Sign up here.

My Number One Rule

2006-07-29T13:18:00.000-05:00

As an ebay seller, my number one rule is, “Think like a buyer.”

When I’m creating a listing, I do my best to look at the item objectively and answer the following question: If I were shopping for this, what would I want to know about it? Some things are obvious – color and size if I’m listing an item of clothing, for instance. Be as descriptive as you can be when talking about the color. “Robin’s egg blue” may be more specific than “light blue” and certainly better than just “blue.” If size is a factor, certainly all sizes are not created equal, so don’t forget to include measurements in your listing. Measure a garment lying flat and include chest width, waist, length from the waist, sleeve length, inseam length, whichever measurements would help you, if you were the potential buyer, decide if the item is likely to fit. How about fabric type. Is it silk or cotton? Is it washable or dry clean only? Just what are the care instructions? If they are included with the garment, include those in your listing.

Remember to be very specific when describing the condition of an item. “Good condition” may mean something different to you than it does to me. If it’s a book, is there any writing in the book? A name written inside? Is the book new? If you have read the book, it is NOT new, regardless of how carefully you turned the pages and how clean you kept the cover. “Read once but gently cared for, this book looks, feels, and smells as good as new and includes no writing, dog-eared pages, or stray marks” would be enough information to make me, the potential buyer, feel good about the book I’m about to bid on. Speaking of smelling good, do state if the item, book or otherwise, is from a smoke-free or pet-free home. Sorry, smokers, but the non-smokers out there will be able to tell and we won’t be happy when we receive your otherwise beautiful book that makes our eyes water and our noses run. You’d might as well be honest about that up front if you want to keep your buyer happy.

If you’re thinking like a buyer, you will certainly want to include a picture when you list your item. Invest a little bit of time into taking a clear, bright photo of the item, then take one more step and crop the photo so that only the item is included in the final picture. I’ve seen more kitchen counters, couches, and carpets in pictures on ebay when none of those were the item being sold! This buyer doesn’t want to see your room décor, I want to see details of the shoes I’m thinking seriously about buying from you. If you don’t have a good photo editor, one that is very easy to use and reaps excellent results is called Picasa, a great, free product from Google. You can find it at http://picasa.google.com/. I love this program!

There are many things that buyers think about when they’re shopping on ebay and these are just a few examples. You’ll think of more. When you’re writing your listings, simply always remember to make them as complete as possible. For some additional ideas to consider when creating your auction listing, read my ebay guide called “Make Your Listing Stand Out!” Click on the title to go to the guide. Now, put on your buyer’s hat and go sell something!

P.S. A great resource for ebay sellers is The Cyber-Moms’ Guide to Creating Home Income with Internet Auctions. You don’t have to be a stay-at-home mom to benefit from the excellent advice included in this 300-page book. Highly recommended!

Hello from my52cents

2006-07-28T11:01:00.000-05:00

I'm Susan, also known as my52cents, my userid on ebay. You've heard of ebay, right? I guess just about everyone has, or at least it certainly seems that way.

Ebay has literally millions of buyers and sellers. If you're reading this, you probably count yourself among them. I've been a buyer on ebay for a number of years and an active seller for some time now. I also believe that as ye sow, so ye shall reap. Therefore, my purpose here is to sow some seeds of ebay success - in order that you the reader may also benefit from many of the business and marketing tips, for both buyers and sellers, that I have learned during my ebay career. I hope that together we can become better, more productive members of this huge online community.

There's a lot to learn about ebay - and my goal as an ebay seller is to learn something new every single day! I hope you'll join me here and visit often in order to harvest some fruit of the ebay wisdom that I share, wisdom that hopefully you can apply to your own ebay business. Thanks so much for visiting my blog. Now, let's get started!