Hi eBayers!
Our eBay house cleaning (or as Carmen calls it Office Makeover) continues. I figure if we (Carmen, Mo, Deborah, and I) can move five shelves a day, we will have it straightened up in twenty days.
- Lynn Recommends: Helping a Mom out (that would be me!)
- Special Announcement: Live Boot Camp 13 seats left
- Feature Article: What to Do When You Really Don’t Want to List Something
- The Queen’s Update: Requesting more stories from YOU
This ezine is published every two weeks.
February 12, 2009, Volume V, Issue 4
Happy Valentines Day in two days!!
I didn’t find much in Phoenix at the thrift stores. I didn’t have enough time to really do them justice. Thank you to everyone who recommended different ones.
However, I did find a speeding ticket. Darn! I didn’t even know about it until my dad called me to say that a ticket had come in the mail. So, that is how they do it in Arizona. I wondered what that camera at the side of the road was doing when it flashed in my face. Oh well.
It has been another very busy couple of weeks. We sat outside this past Sunday until 10 pm at a baseball tournament. It was freezing so I didn’t get much work done on my computer. The boys did take 2nd place and Houston hit his 4th home run of the year! Coach Mitch (our first base coach) says to him “You hit another one?” Houston just laughed. Indy was a trooper and stayed warm while napping under a huge blanket.
Several Saturdays ago, there were only four garage sales in the paper and I just didn’t want to go. I wanted to sleep in for a change. However, I dragged myself out and boy am I glad I did.
Check out this Nambe serving tray that I bought for only $1.00. Quite a score even in its’ scratched-up condition.
Click here to see the final value.
More good news, Houston just showed me his report card. A 4.0! His first one was in middle school. I am very proud of both him and Indy. Indy had a perfect report card last quarter also. Now, they are suggesting that I take them out to dinner to celebrate.
I told them that we would wait until later this week when my mom, sister Kiki, and nephews, Zach and Kyle come to visit. We are going to have a full house. Can’t wait to see the boys because they grow so fast and a visit is long overdue. Although, it is supposed to rain the entire time they are here. Bummer!
Here are Kyle and Zach.
Speaking of things being long overdue, do you ever feel like there are some items that should never be listed on eBay? You know the ones, the items that have been staring you in the face for several months or even a year!
Well, this past week I finally listed some tiles that were from my grandmother’s antique store. They had been written up and ready to go since I was on shelf E which means I had been carrying the I Sell sheets around with me for seven weeks. Yikes!
That is the reason for this week’s feature article, to help you get motivated and list things even if you think they aren’t worth $10. So don’t miss ‘What to Do When You Really Don’t Want to List Something.’
In the Lynn Recommends section, I am asking for your help. One of my favorite students, DivaDawnLV, sent me the nicest email. It was about a contest to pick a favorite mom-run business and she thought I should enter. Please read this section to learn more and place your vote (you can vote every day). I would appreciate it greatly!
In the Special Announcement section, we have an awesome email from Judy/Trudy one of my returning live boot camp students. You will not want to miss out on her find of lamp parts. It was a score that stared her in the face for two years until she took the plunge and got them listed.
Finally, we are looking for more of your stories. Read below to find out how to submit your stories for consideration.
Happy eBaying,
Lynn Dralle, ‘The Queen of Auctions,’ Creator of the best-selling eBay Boot Camp in a Box and Boot Camp in a Box Lite.
Here is that email I got from DivaDawnLV and why I signed up for the contest on StartupNation. Many of you have voted. Thank you! We are up to about 500 votes and would love to see it go higher. Thank you to everyone who wrote in to tell us that you can vote once a day. So, if any of you have time, please vote every day!
Hi Lynn,
I’m sure you’ve received this email. I’m just forwarding it to encourage you to sign up for the Top Mom-Run Businesses competition. I think you do a marvelous job of both running your business and being a mom — not to mention being a friend, daughter, sister and all around terrific person. No one can sign you up, you have to do it yourself, so please do! And then let everyone know that you are participating. I can think of “one or two” folks who might vote for you!
DivaDawnLV
Please go here and place your vote. I would really appreciate it! It has been a lot of fun so far.
Thanks!
Lynn
The value of Live Boot Camp is beyond measure. How do I know this? It’s because of the 10 seats that are sold, 5 are returning students. One of our returning students, Judy/Trudy, sent me the most awesome email. (Be sure to keep reading after Judy’s letter for some extra motivation to come to join us at Live Boot Camp this year.)
Hey Lynn,
I just want to tell you the story behind those chandelier parts I recently sold. It was in mid-October of 2007, a month after Live Boot Camp. I was still learning and practicing the yard sale techniques you taught. You may not remember but I had never been to a yard sale before Live Boot Camp and I was a really intimidated and nervous shopper. Anyway, this was a barn sale with really nice things, many overpriced by my estimation. There was a box with these lamp parts…
…as I was picking through, I remembered something I learned at Live Boot Camp about these types of items. I couldn’t remember what it was, but I knew I needed to buy it. I asked the seller, “What if I buy all of the pieces?” She said, “How about $50?” and I said, “I don’t think I want to spend that much.” So she said $35 and I said, “Okay.” In my head, I believe I said to myself, “SCORE!!“
But I had no idea that these lamp parts would do as well as they did. I also was completely daunted by the whole idea of listing them so they stayed packed in the box for over a year. Your advice on the Queen’s Court was invaluable. Breaking that lot into so many auctions really maximized the final tally. Final Tally total sale of $390.32!!!! Yippee!!!
So basically, you were a part of this whole process from start to finish and I thank you very very much! That’s why I am coming back to Boot Camp this year. I am hoping to fine-tune many of the things I practice every day plus learn more!
Thanks again, Lynn! I so appreciate you!
Sincerely,
Judy (Trudy) Sales by Trudy
Live Boot Camp is a wonderful and life-changing experience. I can’t wait to see my returning students and meet the new ones in La Quinta next August.
Click here to sign up now and remember we have a great six-part payment plan that is ending soon.
And to make this easier for you, we are giving away a $50 gift card to use at the La Quinta Resort for everyone who signs up during February. Treat yourself to the Desert Healing Waters at the spa or use it towards one of La Quinta’s other spa treatments. Or you can treat yourself to dinner at one of the world-class restaurants at the La Quinta Resort.* Sign up here.
I hope to see you in La Quinta and we (Carmen, Lee, Mo, Indy, Houston, and I) can’t wait to help you change your life and your eBay business for the better!
Click here to request your special invitation if you own Boot Camp in a Box, Boot Camp in a Box Lite, my ecourse, or are a returning student.
We hope to see you there!
Lynn
‘What to Do When You Really Don’t Want to List Something’
by Lynn Dralle, The Queen of Auctions
It happens to all of us. We get home from an estate sale, garage sale, or thrift store and we immediately list those items that we think are the scores. Or we list the dinnerware or flatware set that is going to be quick and easy. Then we make a pile of those other things.
Those “other things” that end up staring us in the face for weeks if not years. By the way, don’t feel bad, I have a garage and storage unit full of these items!
In fact, two of those “other things” were Batchelder tiles that had been in my grandmother’s antique store for years. I had them priced at $9.50 each in the antique store. When they didn’t sell, the lady helping us run my grandmother’s estate sale marked them down to $1.00 in a big red price tag.
Check out that price tag on my I Sell sheet.
Why on earth would I ever get around to listing these tiles when I had so many more other items that would certainly sell? No one had even wanted these for $1 each.
They wound up in a box of really random items. Haley was here over her college winter break and I asked her to start writing up boxes of these items on my I Sell sheets.
Tip #1: Hire someone else to do your write-ups.
I had been without extra help since the summer. Since I didn’t have anyone to write up my descriptions for me, I was going for the easy-to-list sets and expensive items. With Haley here for three weeks, it was so much easier to get those random items written up, photographed, and ready to go.
Here is a box of some of those random items.
Tip #2: Try and find something interesting about the items to get you motivated for listing.
Can you believe that I had the gall to list these two tiles separately?
Flat edge tile auction here.
Round edge tile auction here.
Well, it wasn’t really my idea, but it was the way Haley had them written up, so I went with her instinct. They were signed Batchelder and that name rang a bell. I did a little Google research and found out some fascinating facts about Ernest A. Batchelder.
Here is one of his quotes: “The fireplace is a permanent built-in feature of a room. Rugs, wall coverings, draperies, and furniture may be changed…but the fireplace remains a source of perennial satisfaction.”
Ernest was born in 1875 on the East coast but eventually relocated to Southern California. He was an art teacher first and then became an artist. He opened his tile company behind his Pasadena bungalow in 1909. He soon outgrew his makeshift factory and at his Batchelder-Wilson Tile Co. near downtown Los Angeles, Batchelder and his 175 workers created amazing colored tiles and many others that had animals, medieval motifs, and landscapes. The style was Arts & Crafts.
From what I can tell, the ones with animals sell for the most money. I saw a few listed on a website in the $400 range. One that caught my eye was a 3″ tile with a dog on it for $420.
Here is a link to a website that shows the range of his artistic talent.
Batchelder tile was used most prevalently in Pasadena, but it can be seen in homes throughout Southern California. It can also be found nationwide including in the Lake Yellowstone Hotel, a New York Swimming pool, and in Union Station in Chicago.
A home with a Batchelder fireplace can help to raise its value and make it more desirable to potential buyers. Unfortunately, Batchelder went out of business in 1930s during the Great Depression. Ernest sill continued to create art pieces, but the great tile business was kaput. He died in 1957.
These tiles were pretty easy to get motivated to list. And yes they did sell. In fact, the lady that won them wanted them so badly that she bid twice on each one.
If you don’t have a famous maker name like I did on these items, try and look at your items in a new and unique way. Think about how maybe someone has been looking for that item for years and that you are doing them a great service by making it available to them.
Tip #3: Always list it on eBay FIRST before donating it to charity or having a garage sale.
Check out this email that I just got from Bobbie Quandt, who is returning to Live Boot Camp this year also.
Hi Lynn, Mo and Carmen,
I had this picture for quite a while, got in a box of “Stuff” at the auction and was going to put in our garage sale this spring but decided to list it last week for $9.99 (see Lynn, I did learn something at the camp!), anyway am totally shocked at what it has gone to so far. The whole box of stuff was probably $10.00. Do you have any clue as to what is so special about this item?
See the auction here.
Had a good January, sold over $800, my best so far. Finally got 500 items listed (but now down to 485, sold some in Feb. How are things going out there? Everyone I talk to says things are slower but I am pleased with what I have done so far. Each month gets a little better.
Can hardly wait for August to come back to Boot Camp again!
Bobbie (eBay ID bquandt2)
What a great lesson we can learn from Bobbie. ALWAYS List it first on eBay before donating or selling at a garage sale. Congrats! And, by the way, silhouettes typically do quite well on eBay.
Tip #4: Once a month go through your I Sell sheets and list those ones that you have purposely passed by.
I don’t know why I keep buying clothing. It isn’t my area of expertise, but I keep doing it! I have a pile sitting on my dining room table right now that has got to be moved for my company that is coming this week.
I was carrying around about 150 I Sell sheets all written up and ready to go. Six of them were for men’s shirts from about six months ago. I was procrastinating because they were going to take more time to list.
I have decided that once a month I am going to take 30 of the sheets that I have passed by and make myself list them. The men’s shirts were part of that process.
Well, I am happy to report that one has sold and the rest will be making their way into my eBay store
See the auction here.
You can’t sell it if it isn’t listed!
I hope this article gets you motivated to list some of those “other things” and that you see the untapped potential in everything you have bought. Otherwise, why would we have bought it?
Happy eBaying!
Lynn
WANT TO SEE MORE ARTICLES LIKE THIS ONE?
See Lynn’s past ezines here.
We are looking for your eBay success stories to share with our ezine readers and possibly make it into a book of our reader’s best eBay stories.
A big thanks to everyone who has already submitted a story! We are looking for more great stories of your eBay adventures. We know there are many great tales out there, so please submit your story along the lines of the stories from the 100 Best Books and a great side story with photos will help. If we use your story, you will receive a $35 merchandise credit on my website and you will have your story featured–along with your user ID–in my ezine! It may also eventually end up in a published book!
By the way, when I mention my ezine readers’ user IDs with links to their auctions–it actually helps their sales! Amazing how that works. Click here for the guidelines for submitting your stories.
eBay PowerSeller and third-generation antique dealer, Lynn Dralle, is the creator of Boot Camp in a Box, the home-study course where you can learn to implement the Dralle Method to maximize your eBay profits.
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 all about it here.
The Queen of Auctions also offers articles, teleseminars, how-to books, tracking guides, DVDs, eBay Boot Camp training, 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
Happy eBaying!!
Lynn
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