How I did my FREE website

First of all, you should have a website by now and if you don't...it is time. If you can work ebay than you can work a website! In the early days of the web having a website was only for the computer geeks or companies big enough to hire the computer geeks. Now, there really is no excuse not to have one if you are active on the web.
You can get one free. There are several ways to get a free website. There are lots of companies that offer this service but of course there is always a catch. No company is going to do it all, no company is going to give you everything you want without something in return, so as you search the web please be a careful consumer when you sign up for things. Some may just want to put their logo on your site, some will keep ads on your page and also keep the revenue from those ads. Just keep in mind what you are comfortable with.
What I do:
For my main ebay store I have a yahoo hosted website. I pay a monthly fee for this one and it allows me the freedom to do what I want. Yahoo does offer a "store" feature that is more robust than what I have but they take a percentage of each sale. I've only got the hosted site and I design and do all the webwork myself. It is more time consuming but I keep more of the sale this way.
For this one http://www.powersellerdaily.com/ I use Microsoft Office Live. It is completely free. I have another site that is host by Microsoft Office Live too that I have had for over two years now and it has added more and more features over that time and there is still no price tag. To be honest, when I first signed up for it (the other site) I thought that it was going to only be a short time before they started charging, but that didn't happen.
MSOffice Live is a little tricky to customize but when it is free...who can complain?
If you are looking at my page right now thinking that it looks more like a blog than a website, you are right. It is exactly that. It is http://www.powersellerdaily.blogspot.com/
huh?
yes, THIS page is a blog, http://www.powersellerdaily.com/ is the one hosted by MSOffice Live and that one links you here. I've done it this way because blogger indexes into search engines and does alot of the blog work for me. On the actual website I am able to add more pages like "favorite sellers" and "resources" and things like that and I have a shorter URL.
MSOffice Live is pretty dull if you just stick with what they want you to do. I'm a rule breaker so I've skirted their templates as much as possible. I didn't make it easy for myself though. Once I picked the template that I thought would be acceptable I opened another browser to a WYSIWYG html editor and designed my content with the links and ads that I wanted. Then copied that html and went back to MSOffice Live and pasted it into their template. So essentially, I am using their border and background but not their text boxes and such.
This makes editing a three window process. I have open the MSOffice live control panel, my WYSIWYG html editor and the notepad document that I saved it in.
I know there is probably an easier way, but I am a stickler about having it show up the way I want it to, so I do it my way.
If you want to get a free site too, it is http://officelive.microsoft.com/ (FYI, I don't get paid for this endorsement...wish I did)

Yay, back from Vacation...sure did miss ebay!

I took 5 days off from everything over Christmas. I didn't check my email (ok, so I did...but just once and I only responded to one!), I didn't do any ebay listings, or even answer the phone. My friends think I'm rude but it was worth it. I love ebay, absolutely adore it, but taking a couple of days off is good for the soul.
Now, it is just depressing to see that low low number of sales!
I finally made a decision on which program to go with and I decided to go with Ebay's Selling Manager Pro. It is actually included in my premium store subscription! Now, I am just bogged down trying to get my inventory loaded in and learning how to use a "flat file".
I think it will definitely make 2008 a little simpler. I already love the automation for feedback and email reminders.
I'm so excited to get back to listing!

Have your Business card ready! Networking your Ebay business

When I first started 'ebaying' I did it as a hobby so I didn't really talk much about it or do any real networking. Then, for some strange reason, when I got into it full time I would only tell people about my website and not my ebay business. I would actually 'play down' my involvement with ebay. I did this for a long long time before I realized my error.
I make a living on ebay. Why would I not position myself as an expert in the field? I am not sure exactly why I did this... maybe it is because of ebay's garage sale reputation. Who knows!
The point is, that once I changed my personal outlook on this subject, my entire business improved. I embraced the fact that I was an ebayer and made sure that everyone I know, and everyone I meet, knows that I am an ebay expert. I still push my website (I pay alot less in fees there!) but I also let people know that I am an ebayer and proud of it.
Since embracing my ebay-ness I have gotten several very profitable consignment projects. I have also gotten a couple of special offers from my suppliers who were trying to improve their ebay presence.
Make sure to keep your business card handy over the holiday.
Lets say you meet someone at a Holiday party this weekend. You mention how you are an ebay expert. You get into a conversation about how great ebay is and how you can sell anything on ebay. Your new-found-friend just so happens to have inherited a complete collection of vintage widgets. How very fortunate for you!

Wish Lists - Using ebay express to boost your sales

The other day my cousin was asking me what it was like on ebay at Christmas time. She has seen all the commercials pushing ebay buyers and sellers, and of course, everyone knows that this is the season for retail.
One of the things she asked was if I had my site set up with a wish list. Hmmm. No.
Why don't I have a wish list?
She said that she keeps her "wants" in Amazon simply because she may find something that she wants but may not necessarily have the money at that time and wants to remember it for when she is ready to purchase.
I took the opportunity to pick her brain about it a little. She was mainly talking about books and CDs (neither of which are my niche) so I asked her about when she actually came back and made the purchase, was it on Amazon? or did she just use their site to keep notes and then shopped around elsewhere? She said that most of the time she didn't bother looking around because "the prices are just about the same everywhere and why should I bother?".
WOW. What a great tool. How can I put this to use in my shop? I started researching. For my website I'd have to switch web hosts which is something that I will be doing after the new year anyway, so I'll add it to my list of things that are 'must haves' when I shop for new software.
but Ebay... they are the tricky one. They are pretty strict about links that you add into your listings so using a third party is pretty much a no-go.
But what about one of Ebay's own?
Guess What!?!? Ebay Express ALREADY HAS a WISH LIST!
Most sellers I've talked to think that EE is a flop and has not really brought enough business to the table to even worry with it. I feel the same. I was actually quoted in the Wall Street Journal back in '06 about how it really did nothing for the seller other than contribute to the rise of our listing fees.
Right now, for a change, I am actually excited about Ebay Express. I may change my mind next week, but I'm going to push this wish list idea and see how it goes. It is not costing me anything other than a little time in order to educate my customers on how to use it.
First off I went and used it myself and set up a wish list of my own. Then I set up a newsletter about it, teaching my customers how to use it too. Or a the very least, letting them know it exists!
My products are not really 'gift' type products and are mainly things that people will buy for themselves and being that my target market is late 20s early 30s, I went with the angle of planning ahead for what to spend Christmas money on.
I'll keep ya'll updated on whether or not it makes an impact

Here is how to use it:

• Direct your customers to www.ebayexpress.com
• If they click the Wish List at the top right side of the page to get to the Wish List main page they will have an opportunity to search other ebayer's Wish Lists too! (you can check mine out if you want... my ebay id is shelley-faye) this is a great too to let your customers know about.
• Any item that you bring up in EE has an opportunity to 'Add to Cart' or 'Add to Wish List'
• This is the url you'll need to send your customers directly to YOUR items on EE: http://search.express.ebay.com/merchant/your-user-id

Growing Pains - Ebay business stepping up to the next level?

I am so overwhelmed right now. I am at the point with my ebay business that I need to get some help. The problem is that I want to make the right choice that is going to help most down the line, but in order to do that I need time to research. Time! The whole REASON that I need more help is that I don't have much time. Frustrating.
Up until now I have been running this whole operation solo with some sporadic help from my assistant (aka: my sister). It seems as though I have been calling on her more and I'm always behind schedule, so I need to get something permanent.
Ok, so, what do I choose? hire a shipper? Invest in more dynamic software? both?
I started this business with only $300 so I have been bare bones boot-strapping the whole time. Everything I have done, I've done on the cheap. I hate to dig into my profit margin for anything but am excited about taking off some of my workload.
My first step is to automate with software for now and reconsider hiring a shipper after the new year. So, I've spent so much time researching the software that is available for ebay sellers. This is an important step because I really don't want to invest time and money into something that I will outgrow in just a few months and then have to do it all over again. So, I've made a list of things that I am looking for in my software choice:

• web-based (I work in my studio/stockroom on a desktop at night but during the day when I am doing double-duty as a mom I work on my laptop so I need to be able to access from both)
• able to integrate with ebay.....duh!
• able to integrate with paypal
• able to print packing slips/invoices all at one time
• template with bulk editing
• cheap (because I'm thrifty....or a tightwad.....call it what you will)

Do you have any suggestions or advice?

html tips for ebay sellers. All you need to know about html code

When I first started really getting into ebay I decided that I was going to teach myself html. I purchased a couple of books on the subject and practiced and read and practiced some more. Then I realized that learning code is completely unnecessary. Well, if your business is designing templates or websites or something like that, it might be necessary for you, but for the rest of us....not necessary.
There are just too many programs and free websites out there at our disposal that write the code for us. If you just type in "WYSIWYG html free" in google and it will come up with 593,000 results!
WYSIWYG is the key. This means "what you see is what you get". Even ebay's SYI form is WYSIWYG. You may even have an html editor on your computer already. I did and didn't even realize it. Microsoft frontpage is part of some MS Office bundles and it is an html editor.
So, once you've found your editor all you need to do is grab your code.
Easy. Highlight your code then click the control button and C at the same time. Then go to wherever you want your code to be placed and click control and V at the same time.
tip: Make sure that wherever you are placing it is in the mode that accepts html and not in the wysiwyg mode.
If you have a code that you like and will use over and over, copy it into a notepad file. I'm pretty sure that all computers have notepad (It is under the accessories tab in 'programs'). Notepad is perfect for saving html files because it is simple and doesn't try to reconfigure the code to save it.
Honestly, that really is all you need to know about html! Copy, Paste and save in notepad.
And then, if for some reason you mess up your code and can't fix it, go to the html discussion board on ebay. All the experts hang out there and if you ask nicely they will fix your code for you..... no charge.
So you see, the key here is to let someone (or something) do the work for you. You have other things to worry about.

Becoming an Affiliate to supplement your ebay income

I keep a personal blog, mostly to post pictures of my kid for her grandparents and relatives around the world. But what I didn't realize until just recently is that I was actually making money on it and didn't even know!
I got a check in the mail for $45.00 out of nowhere. At first I thought it was junkmail or some sort of offer, you know the ones that have "by signing this check you are agreeing to a contract", but then I realized that it was really MY money and that I had actually earned it with virtually no effort. When I started that blog two years ago, I signed up for adsense ads by google to be posted at the top of my blog. I set it up through blogger (my blog host) and forgot all about it. The ads are pretty small and since we are so used to seeing ads everywhere, I never thought about it again.
Ok, so taking almost 2 years to earn $45 is kinda crapy, but really, what did I actually do for that money? Nothing I wouldn't have done otherwise besides that initial set up.

What exactly are affiliates? It is simple. Companies are paying you to bring customers to their site. You do their ad work for them. This is not an easy get-rich-quick thing like some people might think. If you want to make real money at this you will have to work to find creative ways to get people to click (and buy) from the advertisers that you are promoting. This takes work. No company is ever going to just give you money for nothing. You have to bring them customers in order to get paid.

As I'm sure you have already noticed, I have ads here on my blog, I'll show you how I did that so you can do it too.
My brother is of the opinion that I shouldn't put up ads because he thinks I'm "selling out" but I figure... what is the harm? You, as my readers, don't HAVE to click them. Geez, you don't even HAVE to read this!
Here is the thing though, if I am telling you about something that is truely useful and I would have told you about it anyway, why shouldn't I get a cut for sending you to that site? right? I would have sent you there anyway, at least this way I might make a buck or two for my time.
Like Skype
for instance. Ebay has made it possible to add skype chat or skype calling right from your ebay listing. This is a nifty little tool and something that I signed up for right away. I feel that the quicker I can answer my buyers questions the more likely I am to keep them buying from me rather than my competition. So, if I am going to be writing about Skype
here anyway, and sending folks to go sign up, wouldn't it be cool to get a couple of cents for each person that I get to sign up? I thought so too. (click here to read my blog post on how to add it to your listings)

Here is what I did to become an affiliate:
1. I signed up for adsense. If you already have a google account, this will be easy. They will generate "content relative" links for you. This is the one that you just post once and don't have to do anything else with. Probably the easiest but pretty limited in what you can do. You can't put it in an email and you can only insert a limited number of links. This one has nothing to do with ebay but if you keep a blog or have a website, this is an easy way to make a little extra with virtually no work. They offer a google searchbox that you can add to your website and this has been the biggest payout from google for me personally. I've got a button on this blog that will take you right to adsense to sign up, however, according to google's rules, I'm not allowed to point you in the direction of clicking it. I just have to hope that you'll find it on your own.

2. I signed up for commission junction. Here is the site http://www.cj.com/. They are the ones who gave me all these colorful ads that you see to the right. They are also the ones that I have made the most money from.

3. Started putting links everywhere that is allowed. Then hope that people click.

Ok, so how you go about posting ads is completely up to you and your business strategy. You may not want to "sell out" like my brother says, but at the very least you should be earning money off ebay by becoming an affiliate. Ebay spends BIG bucks on advertising and when you advertise YOUR ebay auctions on your blog, website or wherever (outside of ebay) you could actually make money from ebay as well as making the sale!

Here is how to do it:
1. Sign up for cj
2. click 'get link'
3. in the search box type in 'ebay'
4. you will get results for all things ebay. Find the one that is just ebay (not stores, proshops, etc.) and click 'view links'
5. you will get a pop up describing the details of their advertising payouts. Then click to apply to the program.
6. Now, once you are approved you can view the links. If you scroll here there are many options of things that you can paste on your websites and all over. These are cool and if you are going to "sell out" than copy and paste away. You would use this same process for any other company that you want to advertise for.
7. Now, get out of there and go to http://affiliates.ebay.com/ns/Tools.htm and play around with the options there. You'll need your PID (The Publisher Identification #) handy. If you read my earlier blog post about using ebaytogo you'll see that you can create that same widget from this site instead AND get paid if someone buys!

For an example click here to see my myspace page (and while you are there, add me as a friend!). See that ebay-to-go widget there? If someone were to click that widget then go to ebay and make a purchase within 30 days I would get paid for it! If it is someone who has never used ebay before and I'm the one that got them hooked, I get $25!

See what I mean about advertising anyway? You are already doing it, or should be, so even if it is just a buck or two a week....it all adds up so go sign up now!

*Important note: Do not put the ebaytogo affiliate widget (or any other affiliate link) on your ebay pages, this is NOT allowed!

10 things you need to know about Dropshipping before you list on ebay

Many new sellers or people who want to become sellers hear about drop shipping and think it is the key to making quick money on ebay. Well the truth is, it isn't that simple. There are ways to make money with dropshippers and many people do. But it isn't as simple as the advertisers make you believe.
Here are a few things you need to think about if you are considering dropshipping.
1. Know the company that you are working with. Learn as much about them as you can. Any company worth their salt will give you their information without blinking an eye.
Ebay requires that you indicate where the item will be shipped from so you will, at the very least, need the zip code of their warehouse. Call their support phone number and see how easy it is to get someone on the phone. Do anything you can do to get to know them. They are going to become your business partner. You wouldn't go into business with a person you didn't know without checking them out first, treat a dropshipper the same way.
2. How often do they ship? Ebay customers, just the same as any other buyer in the world, want to have their item as quickly as possible. You, as the ebay seller, need to know how long it will usually take so that you can write an informed listing or answer questions from potential buyers. If a buyer wants to purchase something from you and needs it in two weeks, they need to be able to calculate whether or not they would have time to purchase from you. If you aren't able to answer that question than you should not use that dropshipper. And, "ships right away" is not good enough. You need to know if "right away" is a matter of hours or a matter of days.
3. How does payment work? and are you set up for it? Most dropshippers will require you to pay for items prior to having them sent out. Do you have a credit card with consistently enough credit available to handle the volume you plan to do? Remember that paypal takes a few days to be able to transfer the money from paypal to your bank account, are you prepared to cover those few days? It would be unreasonable to expect your customer to wait during that time.
4. Returns. There will be returns from time to time and if the company you are working with doesn't allow for returns will you pick up the slack? Even if you state that 'all sales are final' in your listing, paypal can make you take a return in certain cases. Be prepared for those.
5. Quality. Do you know the quality of the product(s) that you are going to be selling? One picture of the item is not enough. You'll need to be able to write a complete description too. The size, weight and feel. If possible, get samples. You may have to buy them but would be worth it in the long run. Customers on the internet are dependant on you to describe to them what they are getting and if you are unable to do that, you won't make as much money as you could.
6. Quantity. Will you have access to the inventory numbers? If you list 100 items and sell 60, will they be able to fulfill the order? It would not be fun to have to go in an refund 40 of your 60 sales! And, even though paypal would refund the fees, it would be a real hassle to get back your ebay final value fees. Also, think of the impact that would have on your feedback! Some buyers would understand when you tell them that it is out of stock while others will leave you a negative. So, if half of those 40 we talked about, left you a negative, what would your score look like? And, more than likely it would get you kicked off ebay, or at least suspended. If you do have access to inventory levels you should check them daily.
7. Competition. This one should be a factor in all selling on ebay, not just with dropshippers. Research your competition and what kind of numbers they are actually pulling. Look at how many of this item are already listed, how many actually sell and at what price. There are many research tools out there and too many to go into here, that is for anyother blog entry. The important thing is that you do your research.
8. Know how the item will be sent. The best would obviously be with a tracking number and insured. If you want to every have repeat customers you need to make sure that the dropshipping company puts your name or company name on the label and not theirs. This may sound minor, but it is important.
You are the seller so if the buyer is unhappy or the item never arrives, or arrives broken, YOU are still responsible!
And, do they do international sales? if so, what are their policies and timeframes?
9. Don't get caught up with scams. If someone is asking you for money before ever giving you anything than more than likely it is a scam. If you think it may be legit than call them up, go in person to their offices, or ask to speak to a rep, don't just hand over your money. There are many many websites that promise lists of dropshippers for a fee. Please be aware of what you are getting before you ever hand over your money. Is a list of dropshippers what you need? You may be able to find this on your own using a search engine and a little extra time.
10. Start out slow. If you have done all of your homework and you are convinced that you will be able to make money using this company, start out slow. Don't go in and invest a ton of money designing a website and printing up business cards just yet. Start out with a dozen listings or so but no more. Sell those items, fulfil those orders and tweak whatever needs to be tweaked in your system. Then, as your feedback builds, start adding more listings a little at a time. I hear horror stories about companies that came through perfectly on the first transactions and then closed up shop leaving the ebay seller with hundreds of orders and no way to fulfill them. If things are going to go bad, it would always be better to only have a hand full of problems. Make sure that whatever you do, you do it small enough that you can recover if things go bad.
Good Luck.

Funny people on ebay Buyers AND Sellers

I use ebay to earn an income, as well as shop, and even to play. So, there are some funny things going on at that site too.
I was selling a pair of gloves. Long black gloves mainly for novelty purposes. I received a question from a potential buyer. She wanted to know if such long black gloves would look great while smoking a long cigarette. She inquired about weather or not they would inhibit the hold of a long stem. Huh? And this email was about a paragraph long and very very serious too!
Of course, I checked out her buying/selling history through her feedback and then I checked out her store. She sold empty cigarette boxes! Not even old vintage ones that might be considered collectible or maybe someone needs them to decorate the set of a play or something. These were just the ones that she had emptied. I guess you could call it recycling?
So, on that line of thinking I discovered that ebay has built a place for this:
Weird Stuff
Slightly Unusual
Really Weird
Totally Bizarre
I'm not difference between Really Weird and Totally Bizarre or the difference between Weird Stuff and Slightly Unusual either. Maybe ebay's attempt to get sellers to purchase the extra category listing?
Anyway... it is an interesting way to waste some time.

Pictures - Probably the MOST important element in your Ebay listing

Put yourself in the seat of your buyers. Lets say today we are looking for a formal dress to wear to holiday parties this season. Here are some examples of pictures that I've run across in this pretend search.


Really, would you spend good money on a dress that you can't even see? As sellers we are already crippled by the fact that our buyers can't try on our clothes or feel the fabric, so we must make sure that they can at least see what it looks like! That wedding dress up there has a $600 starting bid and that was the BEST of all the pics that seller posted. Do you think it will sell?

I've read some debates in the discussion boards about whether or not a model should be used. Some say no and I agree in some cases (like underware), however, I think seeing how something fits on a regular human being versus hanging on a hanger can be very effective. So, when possible, I use both. I have some listings that have a picture of a shirt laying flat on a table, on a mannequin AND on a model. I figure, what can it hurt?

I don't really get the controversy about the models. What exactly is it that folks assume? When you go to a store and try something on then buy it, wouldn't it be safe to assume that you probably were not the first one to put your body in that garment?

Any-hoo.

The fact is, no matter what it is that you are selling, pictures are important. If you sell clothes, invest in a mannequin (you can get them on ebay for cheap!), if you sell small items where detail is important you should get a light box and some lighting. Something like this would be great.

I just found this on ebay and borrowed the pic from seller id: time_4_bidding

The one I have is not as fancy as this because I rarely have small items to sell, but because I am a trading assistant and you never quite know what you're gonna get next, it is good to have. You'll obviously need to choose whatever is appropriate for you.

Photo editor - You need a photo editor. If it is just the one that came with your camera, fine. Just learn to use it! Even the lower level editors have many functions that can do some amazing things. 2 seconds would be all that it would take for those sideways pics up there to be right side up again. Photoshop is very well known but also very very expensive. Maybe if you are in the photography or design business, but for everyone else....I think it is unnecessary. I've got adobe's lower level software called Elements. It is about a hundred dollars but has saved me hours and hours of manual editing time. It does so much that I really just can't imagine how much extra stuff photoshop would have to have in order to justify the price being over ten times higher!
I've got this weird thing about backgrounds. For some reason I can't stand them so I go in and take them out. This took some time back when I was using the software that came with the camera, but now it only takes seconds. Here is an example of what I'm talking about.


I know, it is a little silly, but I just prefer to have the background in all my photos match. Just my personal thing.
It also will give you the ability to put more than one picture into a single picture therefore getting the most for your money when it comes to gallery. Take this on for example:


I got the model and the shirt all in one pic!
And you can use it to watermark your stuff too if you like. I don't bother, but my competitor does. (Ya always gotta know what they are up to!)


As you can see, my competition takes some really GREAT photos so I need to quit blogging and get to work on my photos!

Hooray for the sellers who make ebay great

Earlier I had written a post about the sellers who ruin it for the rest of us, well today I'm writing about the opposite.
I made two purchases on ebay this week and both of them deserved some recognition.
I am a seamstress and I was about half-way through a project when I discovered that I was a quarter of a yard short on fabric. So, l look it up on ebay. There were about 6 sellers that had what I needed and all of them were around the same price and all with good feedback. How do I choose? I narrowed it down by the seller closest to me because I wanted it fast and figured the quicker the better. I chose right!
This seller clockcrazylady was awesome. I paid right away and sent a note saying that I'd appreciate if she would send it right away. I know, I'm a seller, I should know better but I tried to be as polite as can be.
Clockcrazylady responded right away and even though it was a holiday week, got my fabric to me in 1 day!!
She mainly sells clocks, if you want to see her store click here
She's got a Hannah Montana clock that I'm pretty sure I will be getting for my 7 year old cousin for Christmas. Little ones are CRAZY for that Hannah Montana!

And then, after I cut the fabric and continued on with my sewing I realized that I didn't have enough boning to finish the project either! How frustrating. So, again, I go straight to ebay. I've bought boning from this seller before so I knew right where to go. Seller lilmunchin has never let me down. I purchased, paid right away and got it in three days. One of those days was Thanksgiving, so I guess you could say I got it in two!
if you want to see her store click here
this store is a sewer/crafters dream come true. Tons of great products and prices that put the local brick and mortar shops to shame.
Sellers like these are what makes people continue to come back to ebay. Simple, honest selling.
Kudos.

Using Ebay to Go to promote your stuff all over the place

Ebay has traffic. Lots of traffic. But, wouldn't it be great to have even MORE?

I try to look at things from the eyes of my buyers. Lets say that someone was looking for a pair of FSU medical scrub pants (or as I would think of them....pajamas)

If they go to google and type in "FSU scrubs pants" you won't get an ebay listing in the result, and even if you did... would it be the ones that you are selling? Doubtful.

So, why not bring in your own traffic? Do you have a blog? A website? the ability to add an html signature to your emails? a MySpace page? All of these things are just things off the top of my head that you should be advertising on.

I've been doing this forever but ebay finally came around and gave us a tool to make it look nice. EbayToGo!

Here is what the difference is, if you click the picture of those pants, it will take you right to the listing. And, so will clicking the widget below. I don't have to explain the difference to you... it is plain to see. Someone reading your blog or your myspace page may not know to click. Also, if it is an auction, I think the widget drums up some excitement too.

I'll try my best to walk you through the process of using it, so here goes. First off, I personally find it difficult to find so make sure to bookmark it once you get there. http://togo.ebay.com/

You will need to choose the one you want. This really just depends on what you are advertising. You can advertise your whole store if you want to, or just a few items.

It is up to you. If you are just going to advertise one item or a select few, than you will need the item number(s). Then you will need to choose an eBay search that will show up after your item has ended. This is something that you have to enter, but I recommend taking down or updating your widget before it gets to this point because what is the use if you aren't showcasing YOUR stuff?

Then Voila... it generates the code for you.

Now all you have to do is copy and paste it wherever you like.

You can even post it on eBay's blogs!

*special note: if you plan to use it on craigslist, you can't do it directly without breaking their rules. You will have to post it on your website or blog or somewhere else then post a link on craigslist.

I just LOVE ebay! But, some ruin it for the rest of us.

I love ebay! But, one must admit that ebay has a bad reputation sometimes. Recently FedEx lost my brother's ipod. He was staying with me for 6 weeks and had forgotten it at home out of state, so he had his friend ship it to him. We chose FedEx overnight thinking that it would be the most reliable. Well, it wasn't. It never showed up. So, we filed a claim and got some money from FedEx. He didn't want the new video nano ipod, he wanted the old one, just the regular ipod nano that he had before. Well, they no longer sell them in stores, so where do you think we could find what he wanted....hmmmm.....EBAY.

So, we go online and of course there are thousands of them for sale on ebay. He rarely uses ebay and has been burned so he is very worried about this. So, I volunteered to help. Just about every listing that we pulled up had something questionable about it. It took me, an ebay junkie, over an hour to find one that I believed wasn't a scam.

Over and over I found ipods that were listed with all the details then way down buried in their fine print in very small font tells that it is refurbished.

I don't have a problem with a refurbished product, what I have a problem with is the seller who tries to mislead someone.

I also found several that clearly were meant to look and sound like it was an ipod but if you read into the listing and read through their purposefully misleading text, you'll find it is for a CASE or a pair of headphones and not the ipod itself!

I realize that some products have a higher rate of fraud than others, and I'm sure that there are many many ipod sellers out there that are wonderful. But it sure is annoying to have to dig through to find the good ones.

There have been times that I was researching my competition and have run across a listing for a new with tags product in a brand that I carry that is listed for below the wholesale cost. When I find that, I switch to my buyer ID and bid right away. My competition is probably trying to use the low priced auction to drive eyes to their store, I do it too. So, if figure I'll take the gamble and if I win, great, I'll sell it for a profit later. If I don't win, that is ok, I've just driven up the price of their auction, in turn driving up the market value of a brand that I sell. Win-win. However, sometimes it is a loss.
Not everyone is honest. I've gotten things that were CLEARLY used, reeking of perfume and smoke. I've gotten things that were factory seconds with crooked seams, I've gotten things that were ripped, damaged and discolored. I've dealt with sellers that were rude. I've dealt with sellers that took a month after taking my money to put my item in the mail. I've dealt with sellers that charged me $8.00 for UPS shipping and then sent USPS parcel post. I've dealt with sellers who only sent me the top half of a bathing suit and half the money back without ever contacting me first. (Now what good is half a suit?)
Well, my point being, if I wasn't already an ebay junkie who made my living off of this, I'm pretty sure that I wouldn't shop at ebay anymore after experiences like these. I've boycotted brick and mortar stores for much smaller offenses.
To those out there that ruin it for the rest of us: Please, be honest. If it is a factory second and has a missing seam, just state that. If you take a month to get around to shipping something, just state that. And if you run into a problem like loosing half the merchandise, email them first letting them know before sending half of it. Please, either shape up your business or sell somewhere else.... you are ruining it for the rest of us!
Ebay's marketplace is huge and there are buyers out there for everything. I personally have purchased ripped or damaged things before on purpose (I am a seamstress and I was going to cut it to pieces anyway). I've purchased things that I didn't need until a month later so it wouldn't have mattered if you told me that I'd have to wait. Just don't lie!
And, as proof. All but one of those damaged, missing or otherwise items that I've written about here were sold by me on ebay later, for a profit! I took good pictures of the damage, stated clearly what the deal was and have a good reputation to back it up. You can do this too.

Cool new feature ebay has added

I am so excited! Ebay has recently added a cool new feature. Most times lately the things ebay has added haven't really been useful to me but this one is! I love the 'Best Offer' option and use it for just about every listing. I set the automatic decline threshold at about 50% of the price. I set it so low because I like to send a counteroffer when the initial offer is too low, however, if someone is offering me less than $75 for a $150 dress than it is obvious that we are not going to agree on suitable terms so I don't waste my time.
Now, you can set an automatic ACCEPT amount. What a time saver! I can't wait until I get an automatically accepted offer....so exciting!

The weak dollar

I don't know the exact numbers because I've just got too much to keep up with to follow that too, but I can tell you that I've seen it in my sales!
The dollar is very weak right now and with the dropping housing market too, if you aren't selling internationally, it is time to start.
Yes, shipping international does take more time and slightly more effort but it is worth it. I'm looking at my pile of outgoing packages and today there isn't a single domestic one in the bunch! I sell clothing so I am mainly shipping items under a pound or just slightly over a pound. And my items are on average around $50 per sale so First class international is my best option.
The drawback is that I cannot get tracking or delivery confirmation. This means if something goes wrong I'm screwed.
But, if I were to lose one or even two of just today's outgoing packages it would have still been worth it!
Priority international is a little better, but for items under a pound, significantly more expensive. Under a pound to Australia = $5.20 for First class (very affordable!) but $21.00 for priority! $21 to ship would be alright for a high dollar item, but if it is a $20-$50 item, no one is going to want to spend that to ship. You'll need to weigh out what would be appropriate for you.
If you use paypal shipping, like me, and you want to ship first class international you'll either need to go to the post office or sign up for a service in order to allow you to print labels from home, paypal only offers priority international or express international.
As I'm looking at this pile of international shipments I can tell you the $9.95 a month I spend with Endicia is worth it. I have a slightly higher handling charge on international shipments and this helps me justify the extra time and pays for the service.
Think it all through and put your policies in place. Also, consider the worst case scenerio too and have a plan for that. Also, make sure to have your policies for payment in place. I've had some interesting requests from international customers. Some countries doing bank transfers is commonplace, or even sending cash!
Good luck.

Customs charges, duty, taxes and fees for importing and exporting

My policies state that I do not forge documents and I refuse to do so. I don't have it written in huge font clearly across my listings, but it is there if one chooses to read all the fine print.
I mulled over placement and wording of this policy for quite a bit and still don't know if my way is the right way but here is my logic. I figure that paying the taxes, duty or whatever other fees that your government accesses is the 'right thing to do'. As much as I feel that governments (in general) over-spend, having income is a necessity in order to keep the country running. So, fees and taxes that are accessed at the borders are just a part of that system. Just like our state taxes, federal taxes and sales taxes, of course we would like to keep them to a minimum but we can't avoid them.
I feel that it is actually rude for someone to ask me to lie for them. It would be rude in other instances so why is it acceptable when it comes to shipping out of (or into) the country?
I feel that filling out the papers honestly is what I am SUPPOSED to do and that stating that I will do exactly what I am supposed to do is unnecessary. This is why I have only stated it briefly and in the fine print.
I am SUPPOSED to send them their item, but I don't feel that it is necessary for me to state "I will send you this item" in my listings.
Things always look a little different when taken out of context.
Like the request I got once asking me to still state that they paid XX amount but to manipulate it to state that they paid only $29.99 for the item and the rest was shipping costs. If I went to sears and purchased a new refrigerator, what do you think the clerk would say if I asked could my fridge be rung up for $99.00 and the rest be rung up as a delivery fee in order to only pay sales tax on the first $99?
I also understand that sometimes the fees are quite hefty so I am sympathetic, but just not wiling to risk my business.
What are your thoughts?

Using ebay to drive sales to off-ebay sites

Every ebay seller knows that ebay fees are high and that ebay is a great tool to drive customers to your off-ebay site. The trick is knowing how to do that. I haven't quite figured it out yet because 90% of my sales are ON ebay even though I have the exact same products listed with the exact same pictures listed at a lower price on my website.

Makes ya wonder huh?

For me, there are a couple of problems. 1. My website needs work. I spend 90% of my time working on my ebay listings so of course it would only make sense that 90% of my sales come from there. 2. I haven't spent a dime on advertising my site. I read (and am in the process of re-reading) the Guerrilla guide to marketing so I am doing all sorts of no-cost things. I just haven't gotten my site the way I want it to look yet, so I don't want to put ad dollars out just yet. So, at this point I am using ebay as my primary traffic generator.

I can think of two main ways to get buyers from ebay to your website. 1. links and 2. direct your repeat customers there. Ebay is pretty strict on rules about linkages on their site. Can you blame them? They spend mega bucks on advertising and strategies to keep people on ebay. Notice that when you google something, anything, more than likely you will get an ebay page in the top five results. Have you noticed all the silly games and activities that they offer? This is all in an effort to get folks to spend more time there. The more time people spend on their site the more revenue they create. So, obviously you are NOT allowed to add links to your listings. You aren't even allowed to REFER to another site if it is one that has things for sale. I once got listings pulled for this line of text

"we have this product and more in our website, check my about me page for a link"

So, here are some things that you CAN do to move traffic from ebay to your site:

• link to pages that do not have items for sale. I've been adding links to size chart pages. These pages are website pages that still have the nav bars and my website logo at the top, just don't have anything on that particular page that you can buy. Click here for an example of the kind of page you are allowed to link to. *Notice the "click here to return to ebay"? that link doesn't just go directly to ebay.com, it goes to stores.ebay.com/addicted-to-rockabilly-and-punk?refid=store so that way it takes them right back into my store and if they make a purchase, I'll get a 75% discount on the final value fees! This way even if they are insistent about buying on ebay, I still get a discount on the fees. All I have to do is get them to click there.
• Promote your off ebay site through your buyers. Ways you can do this are to add coupons or flyers into the packages when you send products. Make sure that the coupons or specials that you advertise are for your website, NOT your ebay store. You want your re-peat business to go directly to you.
• Get people to look at your about me page where you do have a link. You can offer some sort of incentive to get folks to click there. I haven't done it yet, but eventually I will be offering a free tanktop on the 5th purchase and I will have the guidelines to that promotion listed on my me page. I figure FREE will get people to click! But there are tons of creative ways that sellers do this, just use your imagination.
• Host your photos on your website. This is a tricky one and with the templates I use, it would be more trouble than it is worth for me, so I don't do it. Maybe in the future when I am using more sophisticated software I'll incorporate it though. You can host your pictures on your website in a large size and then have them in a smaller size in your ebay listings making them clickable to the page on your website where they are big. It would be the same concept at the size chart that I talked about above. You can keep your nav bars, header and footer as long as you can't buy something directly from that page. Auctiva does this. If you look at a listing where the seller uses auctiva to host their pictures it says "click to supersize the image" and if you click, it takes you to auctiva's site. You can do this too, but directing people to your own site.

Technically you aren't allowed a link on your me page! Click here for the rules. But everyone does it and it is even suggested on ebay radio from time to time so I'm pretty sure that this is one of those rules that is not enforced.

ebay's Power Up Quarterly report

I got my Power Up Quarterly report from ebay today, well, actually it was yesterday but since I devote Saturdays to College Football, I didn't read it until today.

I might be mistaken, but I remembered the Power up as having personal reports on it in the past. Maybe I'm mixing up two different things, but if I'm not, I'm a little disappointed that they didn't continue that service. I really enjoyed the breakdown ebay sent me before. I know I can get the same (and more) information in the store sales reports section of myebay but there is just something different about having it there on paper. I've tried before to the the silly reports to print from the computer and all the graphs come up blank. (If anyone reading this knows how to do it, please contact me or leave the instructions in the comment box)

I'm also curious about this, do ebayers who are primarily buyers get a different one? or are they encouraged to start selling too?

Right now I am featured in Entrepreneur's ebay start up guide in the Holiday sales planning section. The article I interviewed for comes out with pretty much the same information that is here in the Power Up. (Of course, this one is Free) Ebay is very smart to do this sort of marketing. It is such a positive spin and seems so hopeful. I love ebay and I am very hopeful, but at the same time I know that there are tons of people out there that work very hard and end up taking a loss at ebay. It is depressing to read their posts on the discussion boards. From ebay's perspective it is very profitable for sellers to do well. However, it is also profitable for them when folks don't do well. If they create a huge frenzy making everyone think that selling on ebay will make you rich in just a couple hours a day....they make money, and more than likely you won't.
Like I told the interviewer at Entrepreneur, last Christmas I sold exactly the same numbers as I did in the summer and the fall prior. Why is that? he asked. The only think I can think of is that ebay did such a great job promoting sellers and bringing in new sellers, that the market got somewhat flooded. Again, I am no expert, just my experience and opinion. My biggest week of the year this year was in early September and the second biggest week was late January. Doesn't make much sense considering that I sell clothing and costumes. Oh well.....that is why I find ebay so intriguing I guess.

Silly plan to avoid international duty and taxes ... didn't work

I try not to write about my buyers and their specifics because I feel that people deserve a right to privacy but this one is just too much NOT to share. I'll make sure that I don't write anything expressly identifiable.
A few weeks back I get a question from a potential buyer on ebay who lives in Europe asking me would I be willing to mark the item as a gift. I take my business seriously and really don't need the trouble, so my policy is to always fill out forms honestly and I stated this to the potential buyer. (I'll include my thoughts on this subject in another post....I could go on and on)
so anyway, buyer responds back asking me to mark that he paid less for the item and more for shipping to equal the same total. I responded again that I fill out the paperwork honestly.
The next email was asking me if I would be willing to sell him the shirt for $29.99 and the buttons for $29.99. After a couple of emails back and forth to clarify, I finally agreed. He sent me a best offer for the shirt minus the buttons and even paid with two seperate paypal transactions.
I think it is completely ridiculous, but yes, I cut the buttons off of a brand new shirt and sold them to him for $29.99 and then sold him a shirt, button-less, for $29.99.
He paid for shipping separately too, and I sent them out separately with invoices for what was inside.
The shipping he paid extra in order to do this was $12.50. I don't know what the duty and taxes and all that are, but I just can't imagine them being more than $12.50 for a $60 shirt. Plus the extra trouble of having to sew the buttons back on too. And, the risk of one of the packages getting lost.
I expressly told him that he would be nullifying our return policy because the shirt would be considered 'altered' when I took the buttons off. He agreed and also agreed that this was completely his gamble.
End result?
Customs is holding the button-less shirt! The buttons, which were sent via USPS first class international have arrived but the button-less shirt, which was sent via USPS Priority (also his instructions to send by two different methods) is held up at customs.
This just makes me chuckle.

The anonymity of buying on the internet . . when is discretion necessary?

As an internet retailer I spend quite a bit of time surfing the net. I have been researching a particular brand of hosiery lately and being that it is an intimate product, I've been surfing through lingerie shop after lingerie shop. And, as I just received my Frederick's of Hollywood catalog so I got to thinking about how wonderful the internet is for those seeking anonymity in particular purchases.

And, as a retailer, how does this effect me?

Most lingerie sellers, will include a bit of text saying that items will be shipped discreetly. When should one make this leap? I'm holding a catalog in my hand that has a picture of a beautiful woman in a teddy. I did not order this catalog, it just showed up here in full color, not wrapped, covered or hidden in any way. Of course, you don't see nipples or hair or anything REALLY obvious, but she is still in a teddy! Personally, I don't mind. I am glad to receive these catalogs and don't have a problem with it whatsoever. But, what if I did? What if I DID have a problem with seeing these images of women in lingerie? The catalog's ship to address reads "or current resident". At what point does the need for discretion come in?

I sell to many cross dressers, so would I need to be discreet then too? My webstore is not a lingerie shop but we DO sell sexy costumes and hosiery, should I ship these items without a label?

or, is the need for discretion in the hands of the buyer?

My thoughts on Selling times, Is Sunday the best?

Sellers always want to know the best time to list auctions. Me too. The only problem with this question is that there is no answer. Because if there were an answer to this question than it would only be relevant for a split second because everyone would list all of their items at that exact time making any other time better.

There are several factors that go into the timing equation.

There could be more, I'm no expert. Competition. Sometimes listing among your competition could be good, other times bad. I carry a particular line of dreeses that at any given time there are about seventy to a hundred of them listed at auctions from about ten different sellers. Just a rough estimate, but about 60% of these listings end on Sundays. So, my first thought was to NOT list mine on Sundays, and I did this for awhile. However, these dresses consistently get a higher price when I DO list on Sundays. AND, I sell more of them from store inventory on Sundays as well. The only thing I can think is that because all these other sellers have been listing on Sundays it makes customers SHOP on Sundays. It is a curious thing.

Customer Base- If your primary customer is a blue collar worker than you probably won't sell much if all of your auctions end on weekdays during working hours. This, as all theories go, is also not an absolute.

Product - what you are selling makes a difference too. Like that dress I referenced earlier, it sells well on Sundays but the men's T-shirts I sell do well early in the week. So, this has to be taken into consideration too.

Location - your location as well as the location of the customer makes a difference. I sell several brands that are very popular in the UK and Australia. I can list these brands very late at night or even early in the morning because my target is in a very very different time zone than I.

So, basically I just wrote a bunch to say that there really is no answer. Each product and each seller will have their own 'best times' the difficult part is trying to discover them!

Judge Judy sticks it to ebay Scammer

I just found the funniest video on youtube! Judge Judy is awesome in how she doesn't take any crap from idiots. I know if you are someone reading this blog, than you are someone who enjoys making money on ebay and people like this chick really hurt our business. GO JUDY JUDY!

I finally figured out how to add Skype to my auctions

I have been wrestling with this stupid skype thing for so long and have wasted so many working hours trying to get it right. Well, I think I've finally done it. Notice that I said "think"? I am not completely certain of the working capability or my ability to ever do it again, but here goes.

First, you must set up skype by downloading it onto your computer and signing up with a skype name. This is completely free click the logo (it will open skype in a new window)

Well, it is not COMPLETELY free. There are services that they offer that ARE free but of course, we all need to make a living, so they have paid services as well. What you want to use it for on ebay though, really is free.
You can call computer to computer worldwide for free. What costs money are the specialty stuff like calling actual phones.
Video calling from computer to computer is free too! We use this to talk to my inlaws in Africa so they can see the baby.
Anyway, back to ebay. So, where were we? Ok, so you've downloaded Skype and now you have a 'SKYPE NAME', this is what you need for ebay. Go into your my ebay page and under 'My Account' click on preferences. Now scroll all the way down and then click the edit link in member to member communication preferences. There is a spot there to enter your skype name. Do that and then you are ready to roll.
Now, you can go back and revise your auctions and it will give you an opportunity to include skype. And, when you go to list your next auction with the SYI form, it will give you a choice to add skype.
Personally, I really hate to talk on the phone and most of the time I am not presentable enough to be seen using the webcam. So, I've set mine to only use chat. It will give you an option to click 'chat' and 'voice'. You can click one or the other, or both.
If you do chose to use voice, it will not automatically run the webcam. Once you are in a connection with someone you will have the option through skype to turn on the webcam or not.
And, obviously, if your computer doesn't have a microphone and you don't plug one in, than the voice option is not an option for you. Ebay won't know this, so you'll have to only click 'chat'.

I am not sure yet about wether or not different listing services have skype available yet. I know that auctiva has not yet added it, but I am sure they will soon. Feel free to post here and let us know if your provider offers it or not. Maybe a little publicity on the subject will get someone working on it.
Feel free to skype me if you need extra help.

Shipping solution to save you time on shipping International

I must tell you, I really over-did it last night so I am not moving very quickly today. What a horrible way to start a new month!
Anyway. Since I am not having such a good day, I'd like to refer you somewhere.
You simply MUST check out this company if you are an ebay seller. I could go on and on about how much time they have saved me, but instead I'm just going to give you the link.
(Click the picture)

Halloween Sales on Ebay - tips for selling Costumes

October 31, 2007
Today, is Halloween. For me it is an ebay breather! I've been selling Costumes and I have plenty to write about this ridiculous experience too. I don't even know where to start. I guess I could start by reflecting on what I learned in the process.
Costmes are a category where the "immediate payment required" feature MUST be used.
Time tables for shiping needs to be at the top of the listings
a cut off time should be used for shipping
cross promotion is a must
very very clear policies are needed
1. "Imediate payment required" is a feature that I have never used before and now, after a season of selling costumes, I will never sell a costume again without it. Costumes, are something that brings people to ebay who may not have ever shoped at ebay before. This is a wonderful thing, however, it can be troublesome sometimes.
Here is the scenerio. Customer is frantic. They really want to be XXXXXX for Halloween but can't find the costume anywhere locally. All their friends and co-workers say "have you tried ebay?" because they know, you can find "it" on ebay! Great advice, however, searching for something that you need to have arrive in less than 3 days when you have never bought on ebay before is a dificult thing to do.
Here are some of the problems I encountered that would have been avoided if I had used the "immediate payment requrired" feature.
a zero feedback customer purchasing 2 of the exact same costume because she couldn't figure out how to "make the system accept a check"
countless non-paying buyers who just take the item out of the system and don't respond in any way to invoices or emails
"oh, nevermind, I found a cheaper one, I'm going to buy it instead of this one"
2. Shipping time tables. Even though ebay so conviently lists the time tables for USPS and UPS, even if they are the only two that you use, customers need to be told. I don't intend to be catty, but sometimes what seems obvious to me, is not to others. I have the time that it takes to ship Priority, Express and UPS ground listed in my TOS, and ebay has it listed with the options, and I have it spelled out on the FAQs that pop up when someone clicks to "Ask Seller a Question" and I STILL must have answered the question "Will this get here by Halloween?" a dozen times a day. I am pretty sure that my neighbors wonder about me because I scream at my computer on a regular basis.
3. Time cutoff for shipping. I ship daily and I advertised that in the listings for costumes because I knew it would be important because everyone needed their costume by a certain time. I very quickly ammended this because I'm on the east coast and I would get emails over and over asking me why their item shipped the next day instead of the day that they paid when they had paid me after 5PM EST. A three hour time difference doesn't seem like it would make that much difference, but it can! I then stated clearly on EVERYTHING that payment had to be received by 2PM EST in order to get same-day shipping. And of course....I still got the question..."if I pay for this today, when will you ship it?"
ARRRRRRRGGGGHHHHHHHH
HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!!!