How is your holiday season shaping up? I took the kids to get their picture taken with Santa this weekend and I am anticipating a robust season on eBay. I hope yours is the same!
- Special Announcement: Troubleshooting
- Feature Article: Get your family involved–eBay is fun!
- The Queen’s Update: You have asked for IT…and IT is coming!
- Lynn Recommends: Getting an eBay Store BannerDesigned by…!
This ezine is now published once a week.
December 7, 2006 Volume II, Issue 19
Hi everyone,
With the holidays already upon us, it is time to take some time and enjoy the season. This is hard to do when we are in the midst of an eBay shipping Frenzy. Check out how one of our troubleshooting solutions turned into a blessing!
We got our Christmas tree last night and it is beautiful. We are just finishing putting on all the ornaments and here is a photo.
Notice, the Cheryl Leaf Antiques Sign above it. This hangs over my eBay office room to remind me why I love eBay and who got me started in all of this madness! Also, notice the friendly Santa Claus on the wall, He used to hang in my grandmother’s living room every Christmas. I don’t know which one of my kids is going to be the one to take him over. There could be a battle.
Speaking of battles, my daughter has been bugging me for months to let her list something on eBay (with my direct supervision, of course.) Well, she finally wore me down and my feature article talks about getting the entire family involved in your eBay business. Hey, if a seven-year-old can do the research and fill out the I Sell Sheets (Click Here for info)—Couldn’t just be about anyone?
Once again, I have some good resources for you to check out. Get a custom banner made by my brother–graphic artist extraordinaire and visit my friend Julia Wilkinson’s auction resource page.
Finally, don’t forget to check out my big exciting news about my ‘IT’ product.
Happy eBaying!
Lynn Dralle,” The Queen of Auctions,” Creator of the best-selling six-week “How to Sell on eBay” eCourse.
With the Holiday shipping frenzy going on, it is inevitable that mistakes will be made. Of course, our goal is to make as few as possible! With Mo leaving and my mom taking over as shipper, we had a few gaps. I sat down this week to look at all the old I Sell sheets in the “Waiting for Money Book”–and there were some doozies!
One sheet even dated back to October, and these items had not been paid for. So, I immediately sent out Unpaid Item reminders through the eBay System. One that caught my attention was from about two weeks ago and was for $39.99 worth of Dansk Mesa from our eBay Store. I had remembered seeing an email from the lady who bought it wondering where her things were. I immediately pulled up the item numbers on eBay to find that she had paid on November 17th through PayPal. Oops! It fell through the cracks during our transition.
That’s just one reason that the I Sell system works so well–because of this built-in system of checks and balances. Anyway, I immediately emailed the lady to ask if she still wanted the items and that I was so sorry about the delay. Because it was our mistake, I offered to refund her $15.95 in shipping.
I got an email from her husband that said, “Dear Lynn,
Will you refer to an auction number, or tell me which pieces you are referencing? My wife is in surgery right now, and she will call home when she has a chance this evening.”
I was mortified. The poor lady did not have her dishes and now she was in surgery. I emailed back to say that I hoped her surgery went well and that we would ship the dishes asap.
Email as the only method of communicating with your customers can be deceiving–as I was about to find out. The husband sent back this,
“Dear Lynn, Good evening. I did not make it clear, she did not have surgery, she is a surgeon. I believe that everything went well for the patient, as my wife was quite cheerful. It was really very good of you to refund the shipping charge. She will be impressed with that as well. I am sure that she will email you in regards to the transaction, and it is not an issue – no worries.”
And in fact, I did receive another wonderful email from the surgeon.
“Lynn…I just wanted to touch base with you. I had a long night at the hospital or I would have sent a missive last evening. I want to assure you that there is no issue with your shipping a bit late. It is the holiday and in the larger picture of things, this is nothing. Positive feedback will be left when the Dansk Mesa arrives. Kindest Regards.”
I let them know that they were both gems to work with and I wish ALL my customers were just like them! See, problems can quite often turn into opportunities to make and keep customers for life.
‘eBay can be a Time for Family Fun & Togetherness’
by Lynn A. Dralle, ‘The Queen of Auctions’
My seven-year-old daughter has been bugging me to let her list something on eBay. Well, we all know that you have to be eighteen years old to actually list on eBay, but I figured she could do a lot of the busy work for me.
She reminds me so much of how I used to help my grandmother when I was her age. She is always willing to do any job–no matter how big or small–and with a cheerful attitude. I can already imagine just how big of help she is going to be.
Here I am at Indy’s age helping out
my grandmother in her antiques store.
So, for our first undertaking, I decided that listing books would be fun and easy. As many of you know, if you have books with an ISBN (International Standard Book Number) and you use the eBay system, a stock photo and detailed information about the book will appear. Also, the eBay system gives you the average start price and average sold price. It is so cool!
A few weekends ago I was out garage saling with my kids. My mom was in Washington State for the Thanksgiving holiday and my ex-husband did not have them that Saturday morning. So, off the three of us went. At one sale, we found a box full of hardcover newer books–all in great condition. The lady only wanted 50 cents each and there were 25 of them. I offered her $10 for the lot and she said sure. Indy and I had our books!
Two nights ago, while I was pulling eBay items to ship, I set her down in front of the computer.
I had her fill out the I Sell sheets by writing the name of the book, the category (378 non-fiction), the auction start and end date, the time, day of the week, starting bid price, and shipping cost. I also had her look up the ISBNs and type that into the eBay system on the correct screen.
See the I Sell sheets:
When the research from eBay came up with the average starting and selling prices, she and I discussed it and came up with a starting bid price. If the book sold for more than $5.00, we started it at $4.99. If the book sold for less than $5.00, we started the auction at 99 cents. I input the starting bid price into the eBay system and adjusted the set eBay title that comes up automatically from the ISBN. Then I clicked submit and I had Indy write down the eBay item number on both the front and back of the sheets. Then I had her write down the listing fees on the backside of the sheet.
She and I worked well together and we listed 20 books that night and the next morning. See the big pile of books! Who knows if they will sell, but I will let you know. And if they don’t sell at auction, guess where they will be going? Right into my eBay store!
Speaking of eBay stores, you can still get a copy of my special report–’15 things you must know and DO to run a successful eBay Store.’ Click here.
There are many ways you can utilize your family members to help in your eBay business. Here are some ideas:
Smaller Children
- Bubble-wrap items to be shipped
- Cleaning items
- Polishing silver
- Taking off price tags–a great job for little fingernails
- Helping to find things that have sold
- Accompanying you to garage sales, thrift stores
Teenagers
- Shipping
- Answering Questions
- Helping to find things that have sold
- Initial Measuring and Noting Condition on the I Sell Sheets
- Photography
Plus any of the things that the smaller kids are doing.
Don’t forget to pay your kids. It will teach them to be responsible, helpful, respectful and they will learn a good work ethic at a young age. There are also tax benefits to hiring your kids. A great reference book for this is Tax Loopholes for eBay Sellers by Diane Kennedy and Janelle Elms. You can find it here.
Husbands/Wives & Parents
- Relisting at Auction
- Moving Auction items into your eBay Store
- New Listings
And any of the Smaller Children/Teenager duties.
Bringing your family into your eBay business is not just a way to make your business more productive, it can also be a fun time to spend with one another. Try it out!
WANT TO SEE MORE ARTICLES LIKE THIS ONE?
See Lynn’s past ezines here.
WANT TO USE THIS ARTICLE IN YOUR EZINE 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
Something big is about to launch!
So many of you have been asking me about this that I have finally decided to do IT!
My brother and I have been working like crazy on this amazing project that is about to launch right before Christmas. Don’t worry–you will be one of the first to know about it. A little hint–It has something to do with an eBay Boot Camp that you don’t have to travel to attend. Oops! Enough said. There will be a special announcement coming out soon–so please watch for an email from The Queen of Auctions.
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 Six 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
There is nothing that brands your eBay store better in your customers’ mind than an eye-catching banner. My brother, Lee, is a wonderful photographer and graphic artist. He has worked for me for years and during our last eBay Boot Camp, he FINALLY agreed to design other people’s banners. Thank Goodness! Click here to learn more.
For a nominal fee (much less than I would charge) he will work with you personally to get your banner just right! Click here to order now. What are you waiting for? For the price of a bottle of perfume, you could be making AND keeping customers for life. Now, that is a smart investment.
One 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:
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.