Should you Open an eBay Store?

eBay Store Subscription Page

Should you or shouldn't you? Open an eBay store, I mean. Many eBay experts or gurus would tell you no, or to wait until your inventory reaches a certain number.  I used to be one of them. However, a special lady has really changed my mind and opened my eyes to the incredible VALUE of an eBay store. Janelle Elms, of OSI Rock Stars  has taught me many, many things. To date, this shift in how I see an eBay store is probably one of the top three. 

I've been 'shopping' for an ecommerce store for several years. I've had an Amazon webstore, an Auctiva eCommerce store, a BISI store through InkFrog, a MailCar store, an independent site through GoDaddy and probably several other efforts I don't remember, LOL. John Lawson, on his BS Walks show today encouraged us to get thoroughly comfortable marketing and selling on eBay before we 'took off the training wheels' and started an ecommerce site. I think John is 150% right and I'm not sure if it would ever be necessary to take them off!  Building your own ecommerce site isn't easy at all and of the many places I've set up, NONE are as cheap as $15.95 for the features you get with an eBay store. If you click on the photo above and look at the list of features, you will be amazed. Another of the Big, Big problems with your own store is driving traffic. Granted, with eBay store items not appearing in search currently, you won't get the same volume as on an eBay core item listing, but you will still get some directly from eBay. For the rest of the traffic, it will be up to you to drive that. eBay provides some help for its store owners in that you have a well built SEO friendly website. You provide the keywords, and eBay inserts them correctly in the coding. You also have a free newsletter program included. And here is the BEST bonus - Five Free 'Custom' pages that you can fill with all the content and keywords that the search engine spiders love, love, love. So if you are thinking about an eCommerce website, don't count eBay out. Remember, you can always buy any domain you want and forward it so www.myownstorename.com would forward to your eBay store and no one would ever know :)

Around & around we go, where it stops, nobody knows!

I feel like I'm in a whirligig! First, we are moving in this house, out of those confining apartments; now, a friend has offered us a piece of property, and another lady is giving us a trailer! So, it's sort, toss, pack...eBay! I need MONEY! What better way to get it?

I started to sell, but got sidetracked. A friend saw this pattern for a doggy sweater. She knew I could crochet, so she bought me the pattern. I made it for her, she paid me, and sent me some more buyers! I have an order for a plush pet blanket.See pic...

Now, I know the picture is bad, & that AIN'T no REAL puppy, but you can at least get an idea of what I'm doing. I'm not allowed to have a pet here, (another reason to get our own place), so I had to improvise. ;>)

The sweater goes around the front and snaps or buttons or Velcro's across the chest, and also under the ribs. The blanket is made by crochet . VERY plush! These would also make great lap blankets, baby pads, etc. with just a little alteration.

So, I have been crocheting my little heart out the past few days. And, you know WHAT? A lot of my friends want me to sell these online...wow, talk about a turn around! They used to say I was wasting my time.

As soon as I get a good pic of this sweater ( the one here is mine to sell; I have to go to her house to take a picture of the one on her dog)  on her dog, or find a stuffed animal the size of a small dog, I'll be posting these for sale. I will be getting a stuffed animal for a model for now...
The blanket will be for sale soon, too.

Just got done talking to my daughter. Seems some folks in PA liked the hat & scarves I made, & she's getting orders as I write this.

So folks, be looking on eBay for auctions by jimmyorshell. All you gotta do to find us is go to community, click the link, type in our name and follow the rest of the instructions. Easy & fun!

Let me know here what you think of my making & selling pet clothing & blankets. Your comments are always valuable to me. Speaking of valuable...our bra for the bling my bra campaign on eBay sold! However, it's not over by a long shot. To see the hottest bras being auctioned, you can go here: http://blogs.ebay.com/woadieland/entry/BLING-MY-BRA-Charity-Auction-for-Breast-Cancer-R/_W0QQidZ1041458017..remember 100% of the proceeds are donated to  Breast cancer research...

Do You Brag Correctly?

I’ve just recently finished reading a book called "Brag!: The Art of Tooting Your Own Horn without Blowing It" by Peggy Klaus.

Ms. Klaus is a world-renowned Fortune 500 communication coach and an expert “braggart” in every sense of the word. However, not the obnoxious, self-aggrandizing braggart that everyone hates. No, she’s an expert in the art of communication and how to capitalize on being yourself and making the most of your efforts without sounding like the world revolves around you.

Her book shows simple and easy to understand scenarios and by using her techniques, you will be able to interact with people in a positive way that will make them want to know more about you and your accomplishments. She has a Take 12 questionnaire that allows readers the opportunity to answer and interact with the book itself and help you frame your accomplishments in a crystal clear way so that you can come up with the right responses whenever you need them. It might be in a sales pitch scenario, job interview or simply in everyday conversation without sounding phony or unnatural.

She offers practical advice in a clear and polished way and really makes you think about what to say in an unpretentious but memorable way. It’s a fun book to read and I learned a lot about what to say to people when they ask about my art and how I sell it. I highly recommend it!

Why wait?

I know you've heard it before, but what are you waiting for? Why haven't you made your appointment? The one you've been putting off because you're scared or you think it's too uncomfortable, or maybe it's too embarrassing. I'm talking about the appointment for your mammogram.

The mammogram is helping to lower the number of women who die from this most common form of cancer in women every year. It only takes a few minutes out of your life and it could add years to your life if you have cancer and it's detected early. Early detection is crucial to having a better cure rate.

If you don't have medical insurance and can't afford a screening, there are organizations that will help with low cost or free mammograms. You can go to the American Cancer Society website at http://www.cancer.org/ or call the National Cancer Institute at 1-800-4-Cancer to find organizations in your area that may be able to help. There is also a large list of helpful sites to look for a free mammogram at the Health Central free mammogram page at http://tinyurl.com/yzo9ay9

One of the organizations that does a lot to promote awareness and help fund research for breast cancer is the Susan G. Komen for the Cure foundation. You can visit this website at http://ww5.komen.org/ It is also one of the sources that you can look for a free mammogram.

The month of October is Breast Cancer Awareness month and a group of online sellers have banded together to help this cause with a Bling My Bra Campaign to raise money for Susan G. Komen for the Cure foundation. They are auctioning off fantasy bras on ebay and 100% of the profits go to this worthy foundation. You can see these unique and one of a kind bras at http://tinyurl.com/yh3kz94 or you can go to http://www.depressionglasswarehouse.com/ and look for the Bling My Bra category on the left-hand side of the page.

Whatever you do, don't wait to make an appointment for your mammogram. Your family needs you; do it now while it's on your mind. Don't wait until you have symptoms, many times there are no signs of a problem until your cancer is advanced. Don't be a statistic, be a survivor. Pick up that phone now and make that appointment!

Why Didn't This Sell?

I've been selling on eBay since 1998. I've had quite a few things that I can't believe sold, and others that I can't believe DIDN'T sell. This is one of those things I am amazed it didn't sell.

Just look at this.. who wouldn't love a cup holder lamp?

It even has a fabulous lace up shade from the 1950's



Look at cup hooks. How cute would this be in a man's study or 1950's black and white kitchen?

Obviously I was more in love with the lamp than any buyer on eBay. I'm not giving up hope. One day I know it will sell.

Offering a Second Chance

What do I mean by Offering a Second Chance ? Well this can be explained in 2 different ways .

When you sell an item on ebay and unfortunately the highest bidder doesn`t pay for the item for whatever reason, ebay allows you to Offer to other bidders on that item, what`s called a Second Chance Offer

Usually the 2nd offer chance will go to the next highest bidder under the Winning bid.

There is a link to use for this purpose in the Items Sold Column on your My Ebay Page

Clicking this link will send an email to the bidder that you choose (by checking the box next to their ebay ID ) explaining about the 2nd Chance offer and how to complete the transaction

You have the option of waiting 1, 3, or 5 days to give the person time to receive, read, and choose to accept or decline the offer

Offering a 2nd Chance will help you the seller in 2 ways.

#1 Hopefully you will sell the item to the next bidder and avoid having to relist the item and pay listing fees again.
Although you will be charged the Normal Final Value Fees for that item

#2 When you have multiples of an item listed on ebay you can also offer to any of the bidders from the 1st listing a 2nd Chance Offer and therefore selling 2 or more of the same item from One Listing.

Again offering a 2nd Chance like this will avoid having to do a New Listing and being charged Listing Fees BUT you will be charged the Final Sellers Fee for each Offer that is accepted.

I have used the Second Chance Offer many times for both Reasons and rarely have the Offers rejected although that can happen.

You can find me on ebay here http://stores.ebay.com/KDMORE-CRAFTS-AND-MORE?refid=store

Offering a Second Chance however is NOT the same as an actual bid during a Live Auction therefore the other bidders are not contractual committed to purchasing the item.

So I hope this explanation is Helpful to some and Profitable as well.

Thanks for reading my Blog

Kathy

How Do You Manange Your Time?

The world of online selling today is quite a challenge for most sellers. Years ago when online selling was new things seemed so easy. You signed up to sell and then made a listing and sold your item. Those days seem to be over now and selling is much more complicated and there is also much more competition. The selling world today is not necessarily bad just different and it takes a different approach to make money. The other thing today is all the social networking that is around and also is needed to help sell your items. Twitter and Facebook are two that come to mind but there are many others. The time spent on these sites can both help sell your items and take up valuable time you could spend listing. I think today it is a trade off and each of us has to decide how to manage our time. The other key to all of this is finding some kind of balance in your life on the computer and your life outside of the computer. I do believe we all need some kind of balance there but that is an individual choice.

I am also part of a wonderful yahoo group of dedicated sellers that help each other deal with the every day life of selling online. I keep saying online selling since today there are so many places to sell. I have started my own website which I am just starting to work on Book Corner Cafe

There are also 2 great online selling resource sites that have helped me so much with focus and also learning and they can be found at Web Sellers' Circle and OSI Rock Stars.

I think the most important thing we each learn is how to find the balance and time that works for each of us.

Missing - Brian Wehrle

Brian Wehrle - Last seen in Carrollton, GA driving a '92 blue Buick Lesabre on Wednesday night/Thursday morning 9/23-24. Any information goes to the Carrollton PD (770) 834-4451

Usually when someone goes missing and you hear it on the news - you think "hmmm, that's terrible - I can't imagine what that family is going through and you go about your business."

This time though - it has happened to someone I know. Brian is the brother of a friend of mine. She and I have known each other since elementary school. I remember Brian as the typical little brother in the typical family situation. He liked to bug and torment my friend back then as little brothers are known to do. She always got annoyed - he always thought it was funny....your normal brother and sister stuff.

I last saw Brian at my friend's wedding. He was, as usual, making jokes and complaining about being stuck at the wedding reception - but you could tell he was really happy for his sister.

She and I usually talk once or twice a week, so I thought it was odd when I didn't hear from her last week, but she's been planning her son's birthday party and she had some other things going on - so I didn't really give it much thought.

Last night though - someone asked me if I had heard he was missing.

I hadn't.

My friend is one of those people that when things get tough - she retreats to her safe place and just doesn't want to talk about it. I could tell on the phone last night - that this was one of those times.

I'm not sure if I said the right things to her....IS there proper etiquette when some one's family member goes missing? You don't want to treat it lightly and yet you already know that the person you are talking to - is thinking the same thing you are....THIS CAN NOT BE GOOD.

I'm still trying to think positive. Brian can be very moody. I can see him going somewhere to be by himself until he gets over it.

But....she said he didn't take his cell phone with him. He left things out like he planned on returning and he's a neat freak - so even if he was going off to pout somewhere - she doesn't think he would have left things in the house like he did.

Tomorrow - if she calls (I've already tried calling her this morning) - I may be handing out flyer's or helping the family search. Just as I don't know what else to say - I don't know what else to do. I will try to remain positive, for her sake - if nothing else. But...as the days tick off (it was a week ago Weds)....in the back of my mind....I can't stop thinking....THIS CAN NOT BE GOOD.....