Ugly Christmas Sweater Contest 2011

It’s Ugly Christmas Sweater time again! These are hot sellers on eBay this time of year. Here’s why – hosts have a Christmas party and invite guests - but everyone must wear an ugly Christmas or holiday sweater. The winner gets a prize. Some of these parties are done as charity benefits, held at a public location, to raise money for needy families during the holidays. Some are just for fun. These sweaters are nauseatingly festive and disturbing.

You can find these gaudy sweaters in thrift stores for less than $5. In past years, ugly Christmas sweaters have sold for up to $100. America seems to have vast reserves of these in thrift stores. If you can’t find one in a thrift store, create one yourself. Here is a video to show how easy it is to make that perfect ugly sweater:



Head on over to my eBay Seller's Facebook group to participate in this year’s virtual ugly sweater contest. Here is how it will work:

To be eligible, sweaters must be listed before December 5.

The sweater selling for the highest price wins!

You can post links to your ugly sweaters on the Ugly Sweater Contest thread in the group if you like.
(We can all use a daily laugh during the stressful holiday selling season!) Just search the box in the top right corner to find the Ugly Christmas Sweater Contest.

Winner will be announced on December 20 and will receive a $25 Amazon gift card via email.

Feel free to repost this contest anywhere - your Facebook page, Twitter, or your own blog. Let's have some fun with ugly sweaters!


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Great News for Children’s Book Sellers!

I read an interesting article yesterday on the New York Times titled, “For Their Children, Many eBook Fans Insist on Paper.” I have agreed with the points in this article since the beginning of eBooks – that electronic readers are not a threat to all types of printed books. (Refer to my blog post from September 2010, “Amazon Kindle Will Not Make Printed Books Obsolete.”)

This article should provide comfort and encouragement for those of you who sell children’s books on both eBay and Amazon. The author states that although parents are technologically savvy and may have an e-reader, electronic reading devices are not such a good fit for little children. Any parent knows how messy little kids are and that accidents happen. Printed books won’t necessarily be ruined if a sippy cup turns over on them, or if they are dropped in the bath tub. (Been there, done that.)

Printed books are also more interactive than e-readers. Scientific research shows that there is a direct connection between learning and brain stimulation when holding a physical printed book while reading – whether a child is reading (or just looking at the book) alone or an adult is holding the child and reading the book to her. Not every learning experience is going to translate to an electronic device. (I had a math teacher tell me one time not to try to do problems in my head. There is a direct connection between the brain and the pencil in your hand that helps you work through the problems and arrive at the answer. Same concept with physical old fashioned books – the tactile experience.)

So keep those children’s books coming to eBay and Amazon. If you are not yet selling on Amazon, now is definitely the time to get started. Check out my free report about selling books on Amazon.


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eBay Seller Success Story - Tracy Reese New York Dress

Melanie sent in her success story. She paid $12 for this dress at a Neiman Marcus Rack store. It sold for $274.95! Here is her listing:

Visit Melanie's eBay store - I'm Your Personal Shopper, where she has all sorts of good finds from high-end department stores.

Don't forget stores like Nordstrom Rack and Neiman Marcus Rack for sourcing inventory. You may uncover some real deals!

If you are not already a member, come join us on Facebook where over 2,600 online sellers network and share their great finds!

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Preparing for Holiday 2011 Selling - Podcast

My colleague and co-author of The Amazon FBA Recipe for Success book, Kim Tarrant and I will discuss how to prepare for holiday selling. Some topics we will cover include:

* How to determine what and how much to buy - even without a scouting tool

* Getting the most for your money - how to determine whether to sell items on eBay, Amazon, or both!

* Holiday selling isn't just about toys - other popular categories to consider

* Getting the most out of your mobile device when shopping (some cool tricks!)

* For Amazon sellers, why you should be prepared to merchant fill as well as use FBA

* What you can do now to prepare for a successful holiday selling season - make your battle plan

* How to make money buying items at full retail, and resell them for a nice markup

*Q&A session for questions from listeners

During the podcast, we will also give away 2 copies of our book, Amazon Recipe for Success, and 2 1 year memberships to my membership site, Online Selling Coach.

The live podcast will air on Tuesday, November 8 at 10 AM Eastern time. The recorded version will be available for download shortly after the broadcast ends.

Click here to join us!

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Hot Item to Sell on eBay - Women's Capes Winter 2011

A recent article by AllVoices.com, explains that capes are the new coats for Winter 2011. Capes can be considered an accessory worn with casual wear, every day wear, or evening wear.

Many fashion conscious women are wearing capes as a substitute for a jacket or sweater. Capes work with skirts, pants, jeans, dresses, or leggings. This winter accessory item is showing up in all the major department stores such as Nordstrom, Macys, and Saks. A member of my Facebook group (shout out to Melinda S.!) recently mentioned that she found a gorgeous wool Coloratura cape at a thrift store for $10, and completeds where showing over $300 for the same cape. Wow, what a find!

Here are some recently completed listings on eBay for used capes, that you may be able to find at thrift stores:








Keep your eyes open for capes, wraps, shawls, and cloaks as you are out thrifting!

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Do you have a success story to share? If so, email it to me at ebaycoach @ yahoo for consideration. We can all learn more (and make more money) by sharing this information.

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