MY TOWN - Jewett City CT

Most people will say, " Where the Heck is this ? "

Well Jewett City is a Borough of Griswold CT..

Griswold is considered to be on the Northeast Coast of CT. We are approximately 3 hours NORTH of Manhattan and 3 hours SOUTH of White Mountains of NH.

Both of which are a few of my Favorite Places to visit even though they are Totally Opposite ends of the spectrum..

Jewett City is very small, only about 3,000 people live here and I swear sometimes 3/4 of them are kids !

Including my 2 grandchildren who live next door.

Every year on the Saturday before Memorial Day, the town puts on an event which is called " Youthtopia" It is a Big Fair type event geered just for the kids in the town.

It is held in the Park, which borders my land, and there are all kinds of events for the younger generation including a DJ who of course plays the " kids music".

There are Face Painting Booths, Vendors with all the stuff the younger crowd wants like CD`s and T Shirts with Rock Groups on them, of course Food Booths with Popcorn and Cotton Candy and Snowcones etc., and for the past 2 years there`s even been an Inflatable Climbing Rock Wall for them to try to defeat.

Here`s my 12 year old Granddaughter trying her best to get to the Top.

And the Highlight of the day every year is when the LIFESTAR Helicopter roar is heard overhead. The kids are amazed when it lands at the Park and then the Pilot and Co Pilot give all the kids a chance to look inside as they are given a lesson on what Life Star is and how important it is to the Community.

What a Huge response every year for such a Small Town.

So that`s MY TOWN Folks !

Where do you live ? What`s Your Town Like ??

My town! Levittown Pa

This is a new group effort organized by sushiboofay, where we each post a picture or two each month on the same day of the month. Our day is the 15th of each month. And every month there is a theme. September's theme is MY Town.

Well here is my first effort

I should title this BORING SUBURBAN STREET.

Lest We Not Forget......

Tomorrow morning will mark the 9th anniversary of one of America's most tragic events. So I'm going to take this moment to veer away from the hustle and bustle of our lives, our businesses and our recreation to get everyone who reads this to stop and and remember the nearly 3,000 people who lost their lives and the thousands more who had their worlds turned upside down due to this loss.

I also want to have everyone remember the strength America showed as a nation, no matter race, religion or political preference we all stood together in agreement that our America had been wronged, that we as a Nation needed to stand together and show our support, I remember not even being able to find an American flag for sale, cars had flags attached, homes had flags waving, it was awesome.

So as we are here 9 years later, let us not forget we are that same America, that our power is in our deep love of this country that gives us the opportunity to have so much and to be free to pursue our dreams.

Let those that died on Sept 11 not have gone in vain but be honored with us all coming together if even for one day, in remembrance.

Shipping Dilemmas? Solved!

Every online seller has parts of their job they love to do and other parts are a chore. Most love to shop for products, the thrill of a great find equals Christmas morning.

Taking the pictures isn't to bad with the right camera and location / lighting. Sometimes there is some prep though before we get to this step. Like cleaning and removing stickers. There are many products for that chore too. You may want to chime in and share in the comment section.

Step 3 is listing the item, not to bad when you are organized with a listing tool or a template to cut down on steps. Feel free to comment on your "Tool of Choice". Me, I like Turbo Lister and Art of Books, all with my templates set up.

Now your item has sold for big bucks! Back to the Christmas morning feeling. So how do you pack your item? This is the good part... I just found the tool of my dreams. It's a box sizer to make boxes fit your item with out stuffing them with unneeded filler. You can save a bit on weight but best of all it's so neat and compact when your done. It's so easy, I'm hooked.

http://www.bubblefast.com/store/pc/Box-Sizer-Tool-6p1249.htm

They also have a hands on demo on You Tube
http://www.bubblefast.com/store/pc/Box-Sizer-Tool-6p1249.htm#details

Thank You Bubblefast, Mark and Robin Le Vine, your company rocks with all your fine shipping products, they have it all.. No more shipping dilemmas!

These Are The DSRs Of Our Lives: Labor Day Sale in the "burbs" of the internet

These Are The DSRs Of Our Lives: Labor Day Sale in the "burbs" of the internet

Amazon Tidbits & Helpful Info

We were having an interesting discussion about Amazon and Merchant -vs- MarketPlace and SellerCentral and what it means, and here is some information I pulled together from various Amazon Help pages. Enjoy. And hope it helps, some great reading here.... (LONG POST!!)



Bob Willey

If you ask different people at Amazon you almost always get different answers.
The details on the setup of accounts and databases is a very complicated and confusing mess,
and not even many at Amazon understand it all.

I know that when I setup for FBA, it switched me over to SellerCentral (you see it when you go into your Seller Account) https://sellercentral.amazon.com

Let me see what I can find:

Differences Between Pro Merchant and Individual Seller Accounts

Seller Account Feature	Plan Type
	Individual	Pro Merchant
$39.99 monthly subscription fee	No	Yes
$0.99 per-item closing fee	Yes	No
Ability to create new product pages in the Amazon.com catalog	No	Yes
Use of feeds, spreadsheets, and other tools to manage inventory	No	Yes
Access to order reports and order-related feeds	No	Yes
Amazon set shipping rates for all products	Yes	No
Seller-customized shipping rates for non-BMVD products	No	Yes
Use of the Vacation feature	Yes	Yes
Promotions, Gift Services, and other special listing features	No	Yes
Eligibility for Featured Merchant status and listing placement in the Buy Box	No	Yes
Price limit of $10,000 for each listing*	Yes	No

*This price limit does not apply to Individual sellers approved to list in the Collectible Books category.

Marketplace

Amazon Marketplace is a sales platform used by sellers outside the Amazon Merchant program. Marketplace sellers can be businesses or individuals, who can sell new, used, refurbished, and collectible products.

Not all product lines are enabled for Marketplace selling. For example, the Apparel category is currently not open to Marketplace sellers.

For stores that offer Marketplace, you can find a link to offerings on the product detail page, in the More Buying Choices box. For example, when you view a product detail page, you might see "51 used & new from $13.73." If you click this link, the offer listing page appears, showing all listings, including listings from Marketplace sellers, merchants, and the Amazon.com retail Web site.

"Seller Agreement" means the Selling on Amazon Service Terms, the Merchants@ Program Agreement, the Marketplace Participation Agreement, any successor to any of these agreements, or any other similar agreement (as determined by Amazon) between you and us that permits you to list and sell products via the Amazon Site.

The new Amazon WebStore provides many advantages and improvements over the original WebStore by Amazon. However, there are some differences between the two products. The following table notes some key differences. Feature New Amazon WebStore Original WebStore by Amazon Seller Branded Checkout pipeline option Yes (with Amazon WebStore Accounts) No Support for multiple sites Not Yet Yes Choice of Customer Account Type Yes, choice between Amazon WebStore Accounts or Amazon.com Accounts (See FAQ) No, Amazon.com accounts only Integrated multichannel applications for store and phone ordering Yes No Integrated customer service application Yes No High Upsell Cart Yes No Ability to sell in Amazon.com restricted categories (e.g., Watches, Jewelry, Beauty, Cell Phones & Accessories) Yes Limited (seller cannot use both Amazon WebStore and Selling on Amazon.com) UPC restrictions No Yes Customer “Your Account” functionality Seller branded Your Account features Most links point to Amazon.com Support for pre-order items Not Yet Limited (Pre-order of FBA products not supported) Store Design and Merchandizing Supported using new and enhanced Store Design Tool Supported Add and Edit Products Supported using Inventory Tool with major enhancements like interactive and batch editing, search wizard, advanced search and feeds. “Add a product” tool, feeds

Related Topics Why isn't all the product detail information appearing for my products on my WebStore? What if I want to close my WebStore account? Can I use third-party tools like Google Analytics to track site activity? Can I add meta tags to WebStore pages? Can I generate a site map for a WebStore site? How can I remove my Starter Store? 200448430

When registering as a seller on Amazon.com, you create a single selling account for your business. Operating and maintaining multiple seller accounts is prohibited.

Help Seller Central Help: Account Settings: Getting Started: Things You Didn't Know You Needed to Know to Sell on Amazon.com Things You Didn't Know You Needed to Know to Sell on Amazon.com Now that you've read your Amazon.com seller agreement and associated policies and guidelines, we want to give you additional information that is key to selling successfully on Amazon. We find that new sellers on Amazon.com often bring with them their experiences with other selling platforms and assume that all seller platforms work the same. They may think that there's no need to pay much attention to the details in your seller agreement and the platform policies and guidelines. As a result, we receive communications from sellers that begin with "I didn't know I was supposed to...." Key = Things to Know = Things to Do = Things to Avoid = Policy Violations We don't want you to find yourself in that position, so we are presenting you with some of the things that are most commonly overlooked by new sellers. The icons at right will help you identify what you need to know, do, or avoid doing. Your Account Listing Products Customer Orders Customer Service Your Account Things to Know When registering as a seller on Amazon.com, you create a single selling account for your business. Operating and maintaining multiple seller accounts is prohibited. You can help build buyer trust in your business by providing clear and detailed information about your policies. Your returns policies must be at least as favorable to buyers on Amazon.com as the Amazon refund policies. Note: Amazon's refund policies allow for the return of new, unopened items within 30 days of delivery for a full refund. Things to Do Provide the business name that will be displayed on Amazon.com so that they remember your company. Make sure your business contact information is current (e-mail & phone number if available) so that we may contact you, if necessary. Keep credit card and bank account information current for payments and settlements Provide shipping and returns policies to help build buyer trust. Describe the gift messaging and gift wrap services you offer Upload your logo—your storefront logo image must be exactly 120 x 30 pixels Only enter company info specific to how you manage your business on Amazon.com Choose shipping rate settings so buyers know what your shipping costs. Things to Avoid Registering for multiple seller accounts. Including website URLs in product feeds, business name, or other company information that may refer buyers to your or any other website. Assuming other sellers are doing it right. Always double-check your practices against the applicable platform policies and guidelines and the seller Help content. Listing Products Things to Know Listing products in the right categories and with the correct information is critical for good buyer experience and strong seller performance. You can help build buyer trust in your business by providing clear and detailed information about your policies. Your returns policies must be at least as favorable to buyers on Amazon.com as the Amazon refund policies. Note: Amazon's refund policies allow for the return of new, unopened items within 30 days of delivery for a full refund. Amazon.com buyers expect their purchases to be well-packaged and to arrive on time. Product detail pages do not belong to any one seller. The product title, image and details must be specific to the product, not to any seller or any individual seller promotions. Set up your shipping charges, sale pricing, and promotions using Amazon tools; don't include any of this information in your product listing details. Your Amazon seller agreement requires that the price at which you list a product on Amazon.com and the other terms of your offer must be the same or better than for the same product offering on your other online sales channels. Things to Do Product Titles Provide information about the specific product only Keep it short, but include critical information 100 characters maximum Start with the product brand where appropriate – not seller Include a model number, when available Use only plain text (no HTML formatting) Capitalize the first letter of each word Use numerals (2 instead of two) Images Use white, clean backgrounds that do not distract from the product Create images with 300 dpi minimum; 1,000 dpi is best Show the entire product. It should occupy at least 80 percent of the image area Include only what the buyer will be receiving JPEG (.jpg), TIFF (.tif), or GIF (.gif) format; JPEG preferred. Use photographs Things to Avoid Product Titles Marketing information (“x% off” or other marketing messages, seller URL, seller name) in product information Using categories that do not match the existing Amazon.com browse tree HTML code ALL CAPS Symbols (! * $ ?) Promotions or other information that is not descriptiove of the product itself Images Promotional text such as "Sale" or "Free Shipping" Colored backgrounds or lifestyle pictures (for the main image) Borders, watermarks, text or other descriptions A single image displaying multiple colors of your product together when they are sold separately Line drawings or artistic representations Animated images URLs or seller logo/name on product images Customer Orders Things to Know When you set up your account, you'll find information about shipping expectations that you will need to integrate into your order and fulfillment processes. You'll also see that you're required to confirm to Amazon when you have shipped your orders, so we can keep buyers informed about the progress of their orders and charge their credit cards for the purchase. You are required to ship media products (books, music, DVD and video) within 2 business days. Non-media products must be shipped by the shipping availability date you specify in the product feed for such products. You must confirm to Amazon that you have completed shipment in order to receive payment for an order. This confirmation will also trigger Amazon's shipment confirmation e-mail to the buyer and will set the expectation for estimated delivery date. Things to Do Review default shipping settings and customize to fit your fulfillment model Check your account at least daily for orders Schedule order reports to ensure an authoritative report of all orders and order information Things to Avoid Including any marketing or promotional materials with packing materials Relying on e-mail notifications of account activity. E-mails can get lost or deleted. Customer Service Things to Know You are required to take returns and provide refunds up to 30 days from the date of delivery in accordance with Amazon's Returns and Refunds policy. Selling on Amazon.com requires less communication by you to buyers than most other online sales channels because much of the process communication is handled by Amazon. Amazon will provide all the order and shipping e-mails to buyers; you must not send order or shipment confirmation e-mails, to avoid conflicting messaging or confusion for the buyer. You must not market or advertise to Amazon.com buyers, nor divert them in any way from the Amazon sales process—not even in otherwise permitted communications, such as when responding to buyer inquiries about your products or their orders. Things to Do Fulfill all orders within the promised lead time and shipping windows and ship exactly what you listed for sale. Clearly explain your shipping, returns and refunds policies and processes, along with other pertinent information. Seller return policies on Amazon.com, at a minimum, must be at least as favorable as the current Amazon Refund Policies. Learn about buyer communication policies for doing business on Amazon.com; be aware of when Amazon handles the communications to buyers and when it is appropriate for your company to communicate (or not). Generally, you will not send communications to buyers other than as necessary for order fulfillment and related customer service. Respond promptly to buyer questions about the status of their order. Keep in mind that buyers have come to expect the same level of customer service from sellers that they receive from Amazon. If you don't meet that standard, you may have to deal with some unsatisfied buyers. Be courteous and patient with buyers when they request information, returns or refunds. Things to Avoid Bribing buyers for positive feedback. Using buyer information for online or offline marketing purposes, or directing buyers to your own or another's website. Engaging in arguments with buyers rather than courteously working to resolve the problem. Assuming that buyers read your policies. Pass this along to your friends, link to your Facebook and/or Twitter, Enjoy!!! Brought to you by: Bob Willey http://BobsNeatBooks http://BobsNeatStuff.com http://BobsNeatStore.com http://BobsStuff.com

Aguie the Donkey Baby Has a Sex Change #blogboost

Got your attention there right?? Well, it's a true story.  I have a friend in a western state who when she and her husband retired, bought a small farm.  Just 10 acres. They wanted it because they wanted animals.  They have at varying times up to 5 dogs (that I know of) and a dozen cats, inside and outside and barn versions, a horse or two and a donkey. (one of those "Adopt a wild animal" things you know?

Well this week she sent out Birth Announcements:


"We had a new baby donkey born Saturday night. It was a girl so we named her Augustina and christened her Ladyship Augustina "

Then today she sent this
"We had a new baby donkey born Saturday night. The mother wouldn't let us get too close at first and we thought it was a girl so we named her Augustina and christened her Ladyship Augustina - sent out pictures the whole 9 yards".http://www.squidoo.com/strayspaylenography


"When we could get close enough, though, we discovered our "precious little girl" was actually a feisty little guy so we named him Augustin, aka AUGIE..  So Welcome to the World Augie.... stay away from mama Carol, she's just liable to change you back to a girl!


This wonderful lady is another one of my "super seller" OBS friends -



http://www.amazon.com/shops/strayspay
http://www.alibris.com/bookstore/abbykins
http://www.biblio.com/bookstores/patandcarol.html

And a wise-acre fellow group member made this remark (hey Griff!! LOL)


A baby donkey!?! .... a new Above Standard Seller is born !.... just give him a bit and he'll grow up to be a TRS!

AUGIE!

 

Picture credits to strayspray and kudos for the animals you house!

Beth
WOADIELAND

Labor Day Sale in the "burbs" of the internet

This blog is written by committee - and on that committee are people who've been selling FOREVER as we like to remind each other.  Typically we run sales on eBay, in our eBay stores (we did that in July and early August if you've been paying attention).  But this week we decided to promote the sales of our alternative venues if we have them.  Places like Bonanzle and eCrater and I-Offer and etsy and our own websites. 

Of course some of us don't yet have alternative venues but those folks, many of them are having mark-downs in their eBay store (they don't want to be left out of the fun. )

So beginning on Monday August 28th at exactly the stroke of midnight and continuing until Tuesday September 7th at 11:59 PM we're having a sale... a Labor Day sale.

Our first link goes to Elisia's Shop where the owner Meryl is offering   10 % off of craft and book items during the sale.  I've shopped in her store and she offers beautiful things. 

Next is Marion - She's offering 5% off at any of the following stores
My eBay Store:


My eCrater Store:

My Bonanzle Store:

My Blujay Store:
My Addoway Store:
Marion makes some jewelry and offers some skin care items as well as some fragrances.  Ask her how she caught 5 bass with 2 minnows!
 
Super Seller #3 is one VERY DESPERATE HOUSEWIFE who is offering 20% off selected items in her eBay store.  She gets some of the best deals on things...check out this item Vintage Southwest Indian Blanket Dress and she's not just a fashionista!  She's also got some discontinued items that are getting pretty darn hard to find like this one..Vintage Party napkins - Aren't they adorable?? I collect cat-themed items so you better go buy them before I have time to.


Of course, you have to stock up on videos for the cold dreary months ahead and Videotowne has a enormous stock of adult movies - and here is their link on our website (www.video-town.com) They're offering free shipping on orders of $10 or more.

Then there's Beth - she offering 15% off anything in her Bonanzle Booth aka Antique Daze -

Have you met our Gail? She's the proprietor of this eBay store - http://crystalsandtrinkets.com/.  Gail sells some beautiful items, for instance, got a girly-girl heading back to school?? How about these insulated lunch bags?
Personally I need one of these CELLPHONE HOLDERS   (my favorite thriftstore calls me regularly "we found your phone AGAIN". LOL)

And Kat is offering a discount on her bonanzle booth KatsKloset I think she has every conceivable windspinner made as well as some adorable cell phone covers like this Florida Gators one

BookcornerCafe is run by one of my favorite people on the internet.  There is a 15% off sale there too!  Deb is an amazing and very caring seller.  She has a lot of racing memorabilia because she and her husband are both racing fans but she also has a lot of other neat stuff.  She's on Amazon too with lots of books.  

Remember a couple of weeks ago I told you about the custom blanket lady?  Well she's here too - 10% off in her store KDMORE-CRAFTS-AND-MORE

I like her blankets for sending my great nephews off to nursery school with. Since they are "customized" or themed to their favorite (of the moment) TV shows or cartoon characters, there's NO possiblity someone else will claim it  - course if the kid is college age, you can order a bigger version in a themed blanket for their sport or school   Seriously what could help more with homesickness than a blankie from Mom or Grandmom?

Still have Christmas shopping to do?  Check out Bob's Neat Books  for 10% off on most items.  Course  you can always use his make an offer button if it's not already marked, ya know? Bob has lots of unique items and books.

Then there's Grandmom Bev - who's offering a 10% discount in her eBay store Grandma-Bevs-Stuff  Grandma Bev has some beautiful clear glass vases that would look very witchy filled with those little orange pumpkins as well as tons of funny, unique coffee mugs!

And last but never least, the mastermind behind our group sales, BirdhouseinMysoul - Miss BirdhouseBooks herself!! She's offering a 20% off sale and she  has lots of childrens' books particularly Little Golden Books, so if you home school, check there for reading material. Or if you're a grandparent, she has lots and lots of wholesome bed-time stories and gift quality books you can hand the child and not worry about what he's reading (or she).  In addition to which she has lots of other ephemera, including postcards and vintage valentines etc. that make wonderful graphics and decorative items even if you're not a collector.!

On My SoapBox Again - KNOW the Signs of Stroke

In 1994, on Father's Day (June 19th to be exact) at the age of 46, with no previous history of it in his family, my husband had a stroke. Fortunately, we were both home, I recognized that what was happening was not normal.  He put on shorts, but couldn't stand up without assistance. I literally carried him to the van and boosted him in and raced 1 mile up the road to the closet hospital.
And fortunately for him, there, the ER doctor was experienced enough and astute enough to recognize the same symptoms I had seen and gave him the clot-buster drug.

IF either one of us had NOT recognized his symptoms, he would either be a partially crippled 62 year old now or dead.  We had a 13 yr old at that time. I'm still grateful his father survived to help raise him.  Not a job for me alone.

PLEASE read this article and in particular the bottom section with the symptoms of Stroke - If you are lone and don't "feel right", go to the bathroom or the bedroom or a mirror anywhere, look at yourself?

Is one side of your face not working??
can you touch your nose?
What is your name (Say it out loud...if you don't sound right or look right CALL 911) 
do you know the name of the current president? (whether you voted for them or not) - SAY IT OUTLOUD...if you can't or it's garbled or you can't understand yourself...CALL 911.

SM ILE at yourself in the mirror - if you can't? Call 911

If you're still not sure? CALL 911 just to be on the safe side.


later this week I'll tell you about ARCHANGEL PATTI and why she's an archangel in stead of still being my sister-in-law.   Meanwhile, READ THIS
STROKE

#blogboost  #stroke

Announcing the Grand Opening of ElfCloset

It's hard to believe that 12 years ago this little venture called Ebay would result in a family full of entrepeneurs! When I started on Ebay Jordan was only 6 years old, through the years she has helped in the family business not only with helping pick out cool stuff but assisting in the shipping and photography departments as well.

Now here we are with a second generation Ebayer! Her id is ElfCloset - this is due to her tiny size and her nickname of Elfy.

She is specializing in trendy teen fashions, and boy does the girl have an eye for finding this stuff!

Check out her great Back To School Fashions!