Ramping Up 2013 - March

This month we are going to concentrate on business-related tasks to increase your business. The things we will work on are inventory, business records, and marketing. These are tasks that will not have immediate results but are important to your business:

1. Start spring cleaning to find inventory A great way to easily increase your inventory is to find it in your own home. If you have read my Stay-at-Home Mom Guide or if you follow this blog, then you know that is how I started my eBay business. Clean out your closets, get rid of those clothes your kids have outgrown or the toys they no longer want or use. You may have done this before but it never hurts to do it again. You may have bought more things you no longer need or find things you bought to sell that has not made it to your online inventory yet. If you are fortunate enough to run out of items from your home to sell, consider becoming an eBay Trading assistant. Other people may want to sell the items they clean out of their homes but do not know how to sell them online or they may not have the time (or want to take the time) to list, sell and ship the items. You could list the items on consignment for them.

2. Get into the routine of tracking your inventory and updating your records Recordkeeping is essential for your business. Knowing if an item is profitable or not is key to being an efficient and successful seller. You can only manage this if you are keeping records of your sales and your inventory. If you are savvy-enough to be able to create spreadsheet or logs to do that, now is the time to do so (if you have not already set that up.) I use the Basic eSales Bookkeeping Spreadsheet. It allows me to track my eBay and Amazon inventory and shows my profit margins. This helps me decide if an item is a good seller or not or if I should stop selling it. If you are selling on Etsy, there is a website that can help you manage not only your inventory and sales but also your contacts. That web-based service is Stitch Labs. For $45 per month, the service will track your inventory and contacts for the following outlets:

Etsy

Amazon

Shopify

Big Commerce

Sail

Storenvy

3. Update your social media profiles Take a look at your social media profiles. If you have not updated or completed your profile information, now is a good time to do so. Social media is based on cultivating relationships. Share some personal information about you. Tell why you started the business. Tell what you love about your business. Talk about your hobbies. These are things that will allow your customers to connect with you. It may even be the first step to finding repeat customers.

As the saying goes, slow and steady wins the race. Having key business practices in place will help your create a solid foundation on which your business will be built.
Related links:
Stay at Home Mom's Guide to Successful eBay Selling
 
Book Keeping Service for eBay Sellers
 
How to Use Pinterest to Market Your Business

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New Kindle Book for Teens and Young Adults

My daughter and I are thrilled to announce the release of our new Kindle book, "Sell It, Trade It, or Get it Free!" This is a young person's guide to making money online. 

According to a December 2012 article on US News and World Report:

“Un- and underemployment will rise. There's a perfect storm for increased unemployment: returning vets, boomers that can't afford to retire, 12 million illegal immigrants now eligible for legal employment, a sluggish economy here and worldwide, relative strength in China, people-replacing technology such as voice and pattern recognition, slowed hiring by government, and increased payroll costs of hiring Americans (e.g. Obamacare, paid family leave, rising workers compensation costs, etc.). Unemployment will thus rise and part-time and temp work become the new normal. And ever more work will be offshored to low-cost countries now that American companies are learning how to work more successfully with a remote workforce.”

The media has a nasty habit of projecting a bleak outlook, but because of the way we earn our living (and I have been doing these things since 2003), we don’t necessarily agree with this projection. Sure, on the surface the state of the economy isn't looking that great, but it doesn't mean we are all helpless and doomed. We are living in the digital information age, where most Americans own a mobile phone with internet access, have a home computer with internet access, and the common person can access the internet 24 hours a day. Communication technology continues to progress and goods and services are just a click away. There are many legitimate ways to earn money from home using the computer - and teens and college-aged kids can do a lot of them easily.

The internet offers endless opportunities for the average unskilled person to make money. You don’t need a degree in computer programming or graphic design to interact with millions of people online every day. You just need to learn what people are willing to pay for and give it to them. (Or at least test your ideas, put them out on the internet, and see if people respond.)  Based on what I see working with clients every day, the income-producing potential of the internet is a vast untapped resource.
The internet is highly underutilized as a source of income for young people, many of whom are struggling to find minimum wage jobs in their communities.

This book is geared towards teenagers and college students who are naturally more internet and computer savvy than their parents and grandparents, who have lived in the digital age all of their lives, and whose future will include technological advances we can’t even imagine. 

If you do not have a Kindle reader, you may still be able to read the book using one of several kindle apps. Click here to see a list of Kindle apps , including the Kindle reader that can be installed on your desktop computer. I am thrilled and honored to be a part of the Kindle community.

If you are a teenager or young adult, or the parent of a young person interested in finding ways to make extra money using the internet, this book is for you. Get your copy today!

Sell It, Trade It, or Get It Free!

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International Shipping Webinar Planned

One area that I get many questions about is international shipping. Shipping to other areas of the world could be lucrative for eBay sellers. You would be surprised at the items many sellers are shipping to buyers in other countries around the world. If you are looking to take your eBay business to the next level and have not reached out to buyers in other countries, you may want to look into it.
On top of reading my articles about international shipping, you may want to register for this webinar. DYMO Endicia and Forrester Research are teaming up to offer the FREE webinar. “Demystifying International Shipping – From Australia to Zimbabwe” will be presented on Tuesday, December 26 at 1pm EST/10am PST.
The webinar, presented by Zia Daniell Wigder, will cover these topics:

Typical challenges and solutions to selling internationally

How to simplify international shipping

The pros and cons of international transactional websites

To register for the webinar, please click here. Related links:

eBay International Shipping Tutorial
 
eBay Coach’s Top Five Ways to Get More Bids on eBay Items
 
Barbie Makes a Case for International Shipping

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Online Seller Success Story – Smith Corona Typewriter

I love getting success stories from other sellers. There are so many items out there that are thrown away or donated that others simply treasure. I recently got this email from Denise McNabb:

I just purchased a nice Skywriter typewriter at my local thrift store. I paid just $4.00 and sold it for $99.50. I did throw in free shipping but this ended up selling to a customer in Canada so that added $27 to my expenses. Love your site. I've been selling on eBay since 1997. I always look for new items to resell and recently retired from teaching, 31 years in the profession, now I'm ready to move on to selling full time on eBay and Amazon. Thanks for all you do for your readers.

Here is a screenshot of the closed listing for the 1957 Smith Corona Typewriter:

Even with the additional shipping costs, Denise profited nicely on this sale. Vintage items are great sellers on eBay. (This is a list of vintage items that usually go well on eBay.)

Thank you, Denise, for sharing this eBay Seller Success Story! Click here to visit Denise’s Good Bye Antiques Shop on eBay.

Do you have a great sale or an interesting eBay item to share? Send your find to eBaycoach@yahoo.com for consideration.

Related links:

eBay Seller Success Story – Hard Rock Café Cologne Hurricane Glass

eBay Seller Success Story – Sega Saturn

eBay Seller Success Story – Texas Instruments Speak and Spell

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eBay Creates Selling Course for the Visually Impaired

Many of us are using eBay to replace income lost, to replace a corporate job, or even to supplement retirement income. eBay is now helping the visually impaired learn to use its site for selling . In partnership with the Hadley School for the Blind’s Forsythe Center for Entrepreneurs, eBay’s Accessibility Team has created a course is going to allow those with an impairment the same opportunities and abilities as everyone else who uses eBay.

The free, one-lesson course, Selling On eBay, is designed to not only explain how eBay works, but it also show how to set up a Paypal account and other basic eBay information including selling on the site. There are some rules, regulations and fees that must be known by all users, and the services are designed to help those people understand about the fees and what goes on with an eBay account.
With all of the services eBay is currently offering to other individuals, this is a great start for those who are visually impaired, yet still want to use the Internet in order to make a living at home. For more information about the course, click here.

Related links:

Online Seller Success Story – From Unemployed to Living the Dream
 
Tips for Selling on eBay – Huge List of Resources
 
Building Passive Income Streams – Anyone Can Do It

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Where to Sell Your Items

It may seem that this blog concentrates on only eBay and Amazon with an occasional mention of Etsy. Those happen to be the sites that I (and my many of this blog’s readers) sell on mostly. Of course, there are other outlets and this list continues to grow. If you are looking for other outlets to sell your items and reach other buyers, then keep reading.

While it may be easy to sell on only one outlet, remember there may be other buyers out there that are looking for what you have to sell. Not every buyer uses eBay. Amazon is not always the first site other buyers check.

Amazon

eBay

Etsy

Articents

Goodsmiths

Ruby Lane

Abe Books

Artfire

Tophatter

Buy.com

Tradesy

This is just a few of the sites you may use to get additional exposure for the items you sell or if you are ready for a new place to sell. For more options, visit this post.

Related links:

How to Market Your eBay Store/Listings
 
Free Promotion for Your eBay Products
 
How to Use Pinterest to Market Your Business

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Amazon Returns to the Lone Star State

It was just a few years ago (2011) when Amazon closed its Dallas-based fulfillment center due to a disagreement over state taxes. Now it appears that Texas and Amazon have reconciled. Amazon has just announced that it will be opening three new fulfillment centers in Texas in the upcoming months.
Amazon has recently changed its opinion on state tax collection in other states (including New Jersey, California , and Pennsylvania). With the opportunity to move into these states, Amazon opened more than 20 new fulfillment centers in 2012. The three in Texas will add an additional 3.3 million square feet of warehouse space. The new locations will be:

• Schertz (near San Antonio)
1.2 Million square feet
Will handle large items

• Coppell (near Dallas)
1 Million square feet
Will handle large items

• Haslet (also near Dallas)
1.1 Million square feet
Will handle smaller items like books, small electronics and DVDs

Having more fulfillment centers helped Amazon dropping the amount of shipping costs within its yearly budget. In 2011, the shipping costs for the holiday season covered 5.4% of Amazon’s budget for that quarter. In 2012, the amount for that same time period was only 4.5%.

Not only will the state benefit from the taxes collected, the three locations are projecting to hire more than 1000 workers (and this number will most likely increase dramatically during the holiday seasons).

Around the world, Amazon currently operates 79 fulfillment centers.

Related links:

List of eBay Friendly Wholesalers
 
Amazon Fulfillment Course – Automate and Grow Your Business with FBA
 
Amazon FBA Recipe for Success

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Niche Item – Vintage Personal Care Items

I have often spoken of the popularity of vintage items. I have talked about vintage cookbooks, dinnerware, even telephones. Who knew that level of popularity would carry over into personal care items, as well!

An eBay Seller recently sold vintage StayFree Maxi and Mini pads. The set of three, unopened boxes from 1985 and 1990 of various types sold for a rather high profit. A screenshot of the closed auction is below:

No, your eyes do not deceive you. After 36 bids, the set sold for a whopping $199.51. Included in the sale was:

10 Unscented Mini Pads (1990)

12 Super Maxi Pads (1985)

12 Deodorant Maxi Pads (1985)

It goes to show you that vintage items (no matter the category) can be great sellers! Now, what do you have laying around in your basement/attic/closet that you can list?

Related links:

Niche Item – Vintage Measuring Cups
 
How To Sell Vintage Cookbooks
 
Vintage Items to Sell on eBay – Huge List

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Ramping Up 2013 – February

If you are a member of the Facebook group, then you saw many of the members post their sales numbers for the month of December. With Amazon continuing to grow by leaps and bounds and eBay making more changes to help compete with sites like Amazon, online selling is a great way to create income. It is never too late to start. Over the next few months, I will be sharing tips and ideas to help prepare you for success. Many of these are simple things that Here are a few things you can do to get ready for the upcoming season:

1. Create a (social) media frenzy If you are not using social media to help market your online store, you should start. If you use Twitter, Facebook, or Pinterest for personal posts, consider peppering in a few posts that market your store to your network. If you wish to open new accounts, try to name them as close to the name of your store as possible. Include your logo or a common picture on every profile. Doing so helps you create a brand. Your buyers will begin to recognize you and become interested in what you are offering. Remember not to flood your followers or friends with your store information. Post a few times a week. Make sure you mix some posts that show your personality with the posts that share your store or listing information. Also, start following others. Often they return the favor and their followers may find you through that connection. To make this a successful venture, make sure you set up a plan or schedule for staying in front of your fans and followers.
2. Consider new wholesale partnerships Take the opportunity while sales are not overwhelming you to look at possibly using wholesale partnerships. If you are already a reseller for a company or two (or more), look at expanding your line to include a new supplier. This is the perfect time to try them out. Watch how they deliver, monitor their customer service, and take the time to review their product offerings in depth. Look for product and company reviews online. If this is a new venture for you and you don’t know what to sell, take a look at things you would buy. Find things that you know about.
3. Consider selling St. Patrick Day itemsIncrease your income for future product sourcing by selling items for St. Patrick’s Day. Many people go all out for this holiday and are always looking for unique items that feature the holiday. If you are planning to sell by Amazon, you may want to get those items in quickly! If you are selling by eBay, there is no time like the present to start listing them!

Even if getting ready for Holiday 2013 is not your current goal. These tips can help you become successful.

Related Posts

How to Prepare for eBay Holiday Selling – Part 1
 
Taking Your Business Into 2012
 
Drop Shippers and eBay – Can You Really Make Money?

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