Lynn’s eBay E-zine Volume II, Issue Number 16

1. My Staging area for new merchandise was not in one place anymore. I had 3 large racks of new items in my rec room office, 5 boxes on the floor of my dining room, and another 120 boxes in the garage.

My brother was visiting and said, “It has finally happened. You have become Grandma and your family is living in the antique store.” Yikes! My worst nightmare. I knew then that something must be done quickly.

1. My area for writing up merchandise (formerly a table in the rec room office) was now my dining room table.

1. My outdoor photography studio was still just perfect! A girl has to get lucky sometimes.

1. My storage area for items currently at auction or currently for sale in my eBay store was no longer in my rec room office. I still had items stored in the rec room office but also all over my golf cart garage and in an old empty freezer in the other half of my garage. Not a good thing!

1. My shipping area had slowly moved from inside the rec room office to the golf cart garage. Maureen was constantly running back and forth from the rec room office (where her computer was) to the golf cart garage. Now, my house is not small and this was taking hours of valuable time.

After doing an analysis of each work area, my mom and I came up with a Great Five-Point Plan. I encourage you to do the same for your work areas.

1. The staging area for new incoming merchandise would be moved out of the rec room office and out of my dining room and it will now take over the entire golf cart garage. This made perfect sense for us because when I come home from garage saling, I can just roll up the garage door and set the boxes inside on a super long table that we purchased.

1. Writing up the merchandise will no longer be done at my dining room table. We are not living in an antique store anymore–Thank Goodness! The writing up of merchandise will be done in the rec room office (where it belongs). We have designated three shelves and a work table for this task.

1. The Photographing station remains the same!

1. All inventory (either up at auction or listed in my eBay store) will be stored in the rec room office. To accomplish this, we knew that major changes would have to take place. I had my desk and computer and my assistant’s desk and computer in this area. We realized that my desk, all my reference books, my greeting card company items, and all my paperwork did NOT have to stay.

Because of my Dralle Method of listing items, I don’t have to be anywhere near the merchandise and I could actually list from another part of the house. The reason I had purchased such a large house (4,000 square feet) was so that I could work from home and be near my kids. We have 5 bedrooms and two of them were being used as guest rooms. Guess what? One of the guest rooms was soon to become my very own QUIET and clutter-free office. What a revelation!

My mom and I started searching for office furniture and went all over town. It was quite pricey. There was an ad in our local paper for a beautiful 11 piece set but it was located in Yucca Valley and they wanted $3,500. Yucca Valley is about an hour away, so we called the gal and she sent photos and measurements. It appeared that it just may work. And I kept telling my mom, “I have a feeling about the Yucca Valley set”. Anyway, we ended up getting the set for $3,000 plus $50 delivery. As you can see from the photo, it was like the set was made for my room. I am so excited to be working in a clutter-free “executive” zone. Life is great!

My new office

The new wrap station

(The pink stool in the photo came from my grandma and was a fixture in the shop for probably 50 years! It is dangerous–please don’t step on it!)

I encourage you to analyze your working areas and come up with your five-point plan for improvement. Saving hours every day in wasted footsteps can add up to a lot of money in your pocket. Good Luck to you!

WANT TO SEE MORE ARTICLES LIKE THIS ONE?

See Lynn’s past ezines here.

WANT TO USE THIS ARTICLE IN YOUR E-ZINE OR ON YOUR WEBSITE? Yes, you may just as long as you include this complete blurb with it: The Queen of Auctions and eBay Power Seller, Lynn Dralle, publishes “eBay Tips & Tricks” a weekly ezine with 8000+ subscribers. If you’re ready to jump-start your eBay business, make more money and have more free time, get your FREE tips now at www.thequeenofauctions.com

My three-day eBay Boot Camp at LAX on November 3rd, 4th, and 5th was a huge success. We all had a blast and learned a ton!

Here is a note from one of my students…

Hi Lynn,

I just wanted to extend a huge THANK YOU to you, Lee, and your mom for such an inspirational eBay Boot camp. I have attended other seminars but never have I had such a hands-on experience where I left with a sense of accomplishment and the UTMOST confidence that I will succeed. Your method of teaching is so effective, the way you taught us to step by step EXACTLY what to do and then actually had us DO what you taught us – as you mentored us through the entire process!!! It was just amazing!! I learned so much!!! Your class is invaluable! You were right…you don’t charge enough!!….

I feel like I’ve made so many new friends. The relaxed atmosphere really made it easy to get to know everyone. By the third day, I felt we were one BIG happy family!!! It was just an AWESOME experience! I didn’t want to leave to catch my plane and I cried as I walked to the shuttle.

-Cathi Lender, Florida

Another of my students, Elizabeth Van Pelt from San Diego, sent in this note…

“I can’t believe I got the vase — I was # 6 and was sure it would be gone. I remembered from your teleconference that you said you would have a couple of Cloisonne vases that would be worth a lot, and I was sure the others would have remembered and snagged it before I got it  Lucky me!

Thanks for all your great help. I think my hubby is getting tired of hearing your name  He must think I’ve joined a cult or something – LOL”

–Elizabeth

As some of you may remember, I set up a faux garage sale for my students. Elizabeth was number six in line to shop it and she snagged a beautiful Japanese Cloisonne vase that sold for–you won’t believe this–$315.00 on eBay last week. Congrats to Elizabeth! Here is a photo of the eBay page.

Click the image to see the live page on eBay

I did a live teleseminar last night with these awesome graduates. It was great to hear their success stories, challenges and questions. To pre-order a copy of our conference call (almost two hours of audio) at a special early bird discount, click here.

eBay Power Seller and third-generation antique dealer, Lynn Dralle, is the creator of the online e-course “How to be up and selling successfully on eBay in less than 6 weeks”.

If you liked today’s issue, you’ll love this step-by-step course that is guaranteed to be the most complete and enjoyable guide to selling on eBay that MAKES YOU MONEY.

Read what students are saying about it here.

The Queen of Auctions also offers free articles, free teleseminars, how-to-books, tracking guides, DVDs, eBay Boot Camps, and other resources to help entrepreneurs make their eBay business a six-figure sales machine. Click here to learn more.

The Queen of Auctions/All Aboard Inc.

PO Box 14103

Palm Desert, CA 92255

760-340-6622

Lynn@TheQueenofAuctions.com

My friend, Jim Kamnikar, owner of GoAntiques.com and PriceMiner-(my favorite research site) has just released a really neat DVD called “An Insiders Guide to Antiques and Collectibles.”

I watched it the other night and it is really interesting and informative. I encourage you to check it out. For more information click here.

The DVD features dealer experts on a variety of Art, Antiques, and Collectibles topics. Host Jim Kamnikar takes you straight to the source to learn what to look for in each specialty discussed. Learn how to use cutting-edge technology to assist in the process, keeping you one step ahead when buying – whether adding to your collection or sourcing to sell.

Featured Dealers and Topics:

• David Crockett, Artifacts – Tips when buying Paintings
• Ray Kisber, Ray Kisber Designs – Modernism and Art Deco
• Alan Grodsky, Adele and Alan Grodsky – Tiffany, Pairpoint and Handel Lamps
• Michael McClintock, Artful Eye – American paintings featuring New Hope artists
• Jack McAuliffe, Fancy That Antiques – American Art Pottery and Art Glass
• Aurora Dugan, Toulouse Antique Gallery – Fine Antiques including Linke furniture, Dresden and Royal Vienna
• Michael James, The Silver Fund – Georg Jensen Silver

Another of my friends, Julia Wilkinson, author of the super cool book The eBay Price Guide (click here) has also just announced a really neat section on her website.

Here is what she has to say about it…“Need a one-stop-shopping place to find newsletters, blogs, communities, and other resources about auctions, eBay, and selling online, all on one convenient page? Check out the new site, Julia’s Auction Links here.

And I am featured! Too Cool.

Happy Buying & Selling!

Lynn

Visit my eBay Store.

Visit my eBay auctions.

For more great eBay tips and stories, visit my website at:

http://www.thequeenofauctions.com

Lynn is an experienced eBay Power Seller, author, and teacher. If you want to know the eBay tips, tricks, and tools that Lynn uses for buying and selling at an online auction click here.