Last Minute End Of Year Tips

I hope everyone is having a wonderful holiday season! Sales were great this year for me on both eBay and Amazon.  As the new year approaches, there are a few things that I would recommend doing now:

• As many people ordered gifts online, email family and friends and ask them for their boxes and packing materials. Post on Facebook asking friends to save them for you. It works and it's wonderful to get  free packing pillows and bubble wrap!

• Get your receipts and expenses in order now so you don't have to panic in April.  Remember, you will be required to report eBay income of $20,000 or more or if you've had 200 or more transactions. Even if you didn't hit that mark, you should still track your income and expenses. You DO need to know how much you make and how much it costs you to sell on eBay!

• I would highly recommend purchasing Easy Auction Tracker for 2012. This year the spreadsheet is able to import all of your sales information including the actual shipping charged. The only thing that you have to input is your cost for each item sold (that is how much you paid for the item).  They have other new features too and believe me, this spreadsheet is well worth the money!  As I mentioned before, I've used a lot of other spreadsheets (I've been selling for over 11 years and I've always tried to keep track of the income that I've made) and there is nothing that compares to Easy Auction Tracker in my opinion.  Plus, the owners are super helpful and give 5 star service!

One last thing, it's time to set some goals for 2012.  One of my goals is to write an informative blog post twice a month. If you have anything you'd like me to feature, please leave a comment below. 

I hope everyone has a happy and prosperous new year! Thank you for reading my blog and I look forward to selling and blogging more in 2012!

Happy Selling,

Jackie

Getting the Most from eBay's Free Auctions

Hello fellow sellers, it's been a while! I've been very busy trying to keep up with sales, shopping, family and holiday prep that I've neglected my blog. Sorry about that!

Back to business, lately eBay has been running a special offer for free auction listings, sometimes with free Buy It Now.  I have found this to be very profitable and hope that they keep up this trend.

I am not a big fan of auctions, they were great in the early days of eBay, but in the past 5 years or so, more people just want to buy it rather then wait to see if they've won it at auction. I prefer to list my inventory at fixed price and just wait for the right buyer to come along. However, since eBay has been running the free auctions special, I've been dabbling with some success.

Here are a couple of tips to utilize these freebies to the full extent:

Dig out all the unlisted stuff that you're not sure of the value.  Try it at auction, just don't start it at $.99; your opening bid should reflect the minimum amount that you are willing to accept for this item. Don't be upset if you only get the opening bid.  I sold these boxing gloves hoping that they would sell for about $30, but they only got one bid. It's OK I got them for free:

Tuesday night I listed 19 items at auction. Some of them I've tried to auction off before, but now I've lowered the price with the hopes to just unload them. Other items were things that I've acquired but am uncertain how to price.

My sister gave me a stack of games last week to either sell or donate -- my family donates unwanted stuff to me, then I sort, research and either sell or donate to a Thrift Store will 100% of the profits staying with me.  Anyway, one of the games was called Peanut Panic from 1994. I couldn't find it in eBay's completed or in Terapeak.  So last night I figured that I would take advantage of the free auction and started it at $14.99.  Well this morning it is up to $41!!  Honestly, I considered donating it because it really doesn't look like anything special. Here for is a link so you can watch it with me, and below is a photo:

My auction ends on Sunday, so if you have this game, wait to list it so you can see what people are willing to spend!

If you have an eBay store there are some do's and don't's when utilizing the free auctions. Don't expect that items that have been sitting in your store for a long time will suddenly sell at auction without changes. Auctions no longer give storeowners better exposure, so if it's not selling for $20 at fixed price, it's highly doubtful that it will suddenly sell at auction.

If you decide you want to do a clean out of your eBay store, take the time to edit your titles now that you have an additional 25 characters to work with. Also, since you may only get the opening bid, price the item so you'll still make a profit or at least make your money back if it's a dud.

For items that's you've only had listed at fixed price for 2 weeks or less, let them ride for another 2 weeks. You've already paid the listing fee for 30 days; changing it to auction style means that you didn't get your money's worth from the fee you paid, making the auction not really free. Hope that make sense!

Finally, this is a great time to branch out into a different product line.  Have you thought about selling clothing but aren't really sure? List a few items at auction, if they don't sell or if you decide that you don't like photographing clothes then you didn't lose the fees that you would normally pay to list.

Happy Selling,
Jackie

Gearing Up for the Holidays

It may still be August, but now is the time to get ready for the very busy holiday season.  The last thing you want to do is to run out of prime necessities when you have a large stack of orders to ship.

Make sure you have a large supply of the boxes in all sizes.  Order from USPS now if you use Priority Mail boxes. They can take 10 days to arrive during the holiday season, so stock up now!

If you ship clothing or soft goods, consider using a poly mailer instead of a box.  They are easy to store and come in a variety of sizes. Here's what a poly mailer looks like if you're not sure what I mean:

I buy my bags and poly mailers from The Paper Mart but you can find a lot of shipping supply sellers on eBay too.  Another popular place to get everything from tape to boxes is Uline.

Stock up on tape and bubble wrap or whatever padding materials you need.  I keep a large supply of packing peanuts, bubble wrap and blank newsprint so I have some options depending on what I am shipping.  I always make sure my item isn't banging around inside the box; it shows that you care about your buyer's item IMO.

I love the Scotch 3M packing tape, it's thick and I rarely have to "pick" at it to get it started if it ends up back on the roll.  BJ's Wholesale Club has a coupon right now for $5 off an 8 pack on 3M tape if you have or know someone that has a BJ's membership.   Last month Costco Wholesale Warehouse ran a similar deal and hopefully they will run it again before the holidays. Whatever tape you use, buy a large supply so you don't have to fight crowds during the busy shopping season.

I place a high percentage of my items in some sort of plastic bag for protection in case the box gets wet. I have a lot of different sizes of zip-top bags and cello bags.  I use these for everything from toys to shoes and believe me it's worth the money. If a mail carrier leaves something out in a huge water puddle doesn't mean the buyer isn't going to come screaming at you because the item is ruined.  It may not be your fault but it becomes your problem!

Finally, consider getting some of your personal holiday shopping, planning and chores done early so you can enjoy the season.  I try to write my Christmas cards and buy gift in advance so I'm ready and not stressing about everything I need to do to ensure a great Christmas for my family.

Happy Selling,

Jackie



Back to School Sales

I'm happy to report that the buyers are back! Summer can be a slow time on eBay, but the end of July starts to heat up in more ways then one.  Back to school shoppers are looking for deals but people are still looking for summer gear too since the retail stores are sold out of summer merchandise.

For instance, these Ralph Lauren swim trunks just sold for $129.   Check out this Victoria's Secret swimsuit that just sold for $110.00.  The seller says "sold out in stores and online"!  I've used that line before even though I purchased the item the day before at a retail store.   Don't be fooled, you can often find "sold out" items in stores.

It's a great time to purchase summer merchandise on clearance. You can either hold it until spring of 2012 or if you have an eBay store, put it in there and hold out for your price. If you ship internationally your summer things may fly out of your store in the winter.

Hopefully while you're out hunting for summer bargains, your fall and winter stuff is selling out of your eBay store.  For me, I'm selling both winter and summer at the same time.  Last night someone bought these kid's boots:

The day before someone bought these summer shoes:



This is why I like to keep all seasons of merchandise in my store. You never know what will sell!

Back to school is a very busy time on eBay.  People are looking for a good deal or for a hottie that they can't find in stores.  If you have kids, you need to sort last year's outgrown clothing ASAP and get it listed. Personally, I like to list small lots of items; I find that Gap jeans are hot sellers in sets of 2 to 4 pairs.  Last year I was able to sell my son's jeans that he outgrew for $50 when I put them in a lot of 4.  Not bad for something that we can no longer use.
Obviously backpacks and school bags are popular sellers.  I listed this L.L. Bean backpack the other day and it sold in a few hours. I guess I should have listed it for more! I only paid $2 for it and sold it for $20.

Whatever the item, get it listed because it won't sell if it's not listed! I just purchased a large lot of items from a friend that was moving, so I'll be listing right along with you.

Happy selling,

Jackie

Ahoy Matey! Pirate Ships and Shopping!

If you haven't been shopping at your local thrift stores lately, now is the time! Here in PA our thrift stores are packed with merchandise.  The donation bids are overflowing and the sales floor is brimming with goods. This week I found several toys that were new in box and they were immediately listed on Amazon (the holiday selling season will be here before you know it).  I also found everything from designer shoes to house wares.  Look for Hallmark ornaments if your store holds a Christmas in July sale. See, now you know what I haven't written lately, but a girl's got to shop, right?!

Summer is super busy, so I need to keep this short.  I just wanted to give you a little prod in case you've only been hitting yard sales.  As much as I love yard sales, I get tired of driving around and only finding duds lately.  I haven't given up on yard sales by any means, especially since I got this Playmobil pirate ship for $5:

and sold it for $80 in a few days! It's my third toy pirate ship this summer, so now it's something I look for if they have accessories with them. Be on the lookout for the Fisher Price Imaginext pirate ships too.

Now for some shameless self-promotion! Last month I was a featured in Auctiva's education newsletter.  I love Auctiva and have used their service for many years.  Here's a link to the article.

Happy selling (and shopping),

Jackie