Hi eBayers!
Thank you to everyone who bid on the boy’s baseball charity auction items. It was a huge success! And Happy Easter!
- Lynn Recommends: Selling Toys, Kids and Adult Clothes Teleseminar
- Special Announcement: We are having a sale!
- Feature Article: How to Take a Vacation and Not Let Your eBay Business Suffer
- The Queen’s Update: Requesting more stories from YOU
This ezine is published every two weeks.
April 9, 2009, Volume V, Issue 8
This past weekend was quite hectic for me. Indy had a track meet and Houston had a baseball tournament in Temecula. What to do? Well, Houston actually got up early and went to some garage sales with me before the tournament. I asked him in the car, “Why did you decide to go with me? You never want to do this.” He says, “I knew I would get breakfast out of the deal.” Too funny! And he was right.
We found some neat Ralph Lauren salad plates for 50 cents each. Check out one of my auctions here. The dinner plates in this denim pattern sell for $59.99 on Replacements. So watch for Ralph Lauren dinnerware!
After the garage sales, Houston and I were able to rush over to see some of Indiana’s track meet. Here she is getting ready to do the long jump. Her relay team took second place and she got 4th place in the softball throw. Good girl! And, one of her best friends had her stay over that night, so she had a great weekend and I was able to take Houston to Temecula for his first tournament with the Longhorns.
Check out her new tennis shoes!
I was nervous for Houston to play at that tournament because he was playing a year up with 13-year-olds. The bases are each 10 feet further apart and the pitching mound is 4 feet further than he is used to. Amazingly enough, he stepped right into his position at 3rd base and did an awesome job! He even pitched like a champ. I was very proud and the team took 3rd place.
We decided to spend the night in Temecula at the Pechanga Resort. I had Houston’s best friend with us and I let them order banana splits from room service. Check them out! Have you ever seen such a huge dessert?
At the Pechanga resort, I had a very interesting experience in the elevator. Please read the special announcement section to find out more about my chance meeting with Debbie and the teleseminar we are going to be having in May! What a small world.
I got to spend a few days last week at the Ten Thousand Waves resort in Santa Fe, NM. I lost one of my grandmother’s diamond earrings and amazingly enough, when we checked out, the staff had found it outside on the ground. What a relief! Thank you to Catherine and Jason. I just shipped them a bunch of my books as a big Thank you!
Every time Indy and I go to the post office, there seems to be a gift waiting for us! It has become an adventure. Indy just loves all the stuff we have been getting and she is decorating my office with it.
Check out this pillow from Linda Bostock.
It says “It Ain’t Easy being Queen.” Linda is a Queen’s Court member who really scored with some survey equipment lately. Her husband found it all for $10.00 and she has already made $500.00. Exciting.
Here is one of her items that sold for a lot. After looking at this, please check out other things she has for sale.
Then I got this darling coffee mug from Nancy Kantor that says, “It is Good to be Queen.” Well, I will tell you some days it is and some days it isn’t. Thanks, gals!
Check out Nancy’s auctions at NancyAuctionsNow.
Remember the contest to pick a favorite mom-run business on Startup Nation? Well, we ended up with 1663 votes. So once again, THANKS!
In the Special Announcement section, I’m announcing that we are having a sale on everything but seats at Live Boot Camp and Queen’s Court memberships. Now is the time to stock up on supplies!
I really struggled with what to write about in this week’s ezine. I think writing the 4th 100 Best Book is taking its toll on my brain. I am on story 45 and still need to finish 55 stories before it can go to press. Yikes! Wish me luck.
I was discussing the article with my mom, and at the same time giving her some great advice on what to do while she is on vacation with her eBay items. Guess what? An article was born! Don’t miss our feature article “How to Take a Vacation and Not Let Your eBay Business Suffer.”
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.
In the elevator on the way to the ball field, I was talking to Houston about his cleats and making sure he had both molded and steel so that he would be able to pitch. A gal in the elevator looked at me and said, “Are you Lynn?” “Yes,” I said and introduced myself.
Her name was Debbie. She has a website to help people sell kids’ toys, kids’ and adult clothing. She reads my ezine and it was wild! We are going to do a teleseminar together next month (on May 13th) for the Queen’s Court members’ gifts. If you are not a Queen’s Court member, you can pre-purchase it here and get your questions posted now.
Here is an email I got from her, with a link to her website.
Hi Lynn!
Thank you SO much for being so kind in the elevator at Pechanga. How random was that?! I had always thought that I might meet you some day, but I wasn’t really prepared that day!! It was weird; I had thought of you that morning while we were watching our son at his little league game.
Anyway, I love your ezines and THANK YOU for sharing your knowledge! I also have a website, www.ebay-mommy.com, but my fan base is nowhere near yours. I mostly sell clothing and toys and the occasional collectible (thanks to you!).
I love your stories about your grandmother and can’t wait for your 4th 100 Best book. She reminds me of my late grandmother. :o) Keep up the great work and I look forward to seeing you again some time soon.
Debbie
I get recognized quite a bit in Palm Desert and Bellingham, WA, but I have never been recognized in Temecula! As we walked out of the elevator, Houston said, “That was so cool!” I should have taken a photo with her. Oh well! Next time.
Don’t miss our Teleseminar on Wednesday, May 13th at noon. It will be a lot of fun! Queen’s Court members can start posting questions for Debbie on the forum.
We are having a sale. Just in time for Garage Sale season and Spring Cleaning. 33% off of everything!!*
Enter discount code April 33 at checkout.
Queen’s Court members — can be combined with your discount code.
Stock up and save!
(*Except seats at Live Boot Camp and Queen’s Court memberships.)
‘How to Take a Vacation and Not Let Your eBay Business Suffer‘
by Lynn Dralle, The Queen of Auctions
The reason my mom and I were talking about vacations is that she is on her way down here this Sunday to spend Spring Break with my kids and do a little work for me. What an awesome mom! I just didn’t know what I was going to do with a house full of bored kids while I am frantically writing my new book. Now, we have a solution.
My mom with my kids.
They love their Mor Mor (Swedish for Mother’s Mother).
My mom was mentioning to me that for her to visit for 12 days, it is almost like shutting down her eBay business for 30 days because she stops listing a week before she leaves and won’t get ramped up again until she returns. I said, “Wait a minute. It doesn’t have to be like that.” “Let me give you my top three tips for planning a successful and stress-free vacation.”
Keep in mind that I was giving my mom these top tips while in a thrift store. You have just got to be able to multitask. I found a bunch of Fitz & Floyd and Dansk that morning. How exciting!
Here is one of those Fitz and Floyd plates I found.
Isn’t it darling?
And I found this huge Fitz and Floyd shell vegetable bowl or soup tureen with an underplate. Not quite sure what it is–but I listed them separately.
Here…
…and here.
But back to my top three tips.
#1. Don’t stop listing. Just schedule your auctions to start one week before you return home.
I said that she needed to make a goal for herself. If she is flying back to Bellingham on April 23rd, she needs to schedule 50 to 100 auctions to start on Thursday, April 16th. That way they will be ending the afternoon she arrives back home.
You can pay 10 cents for each auction to do this through eBay and that is what I do when I go on vacation and don’t want to be working. It may sound like a lot, but 10 cents times 50 is only $5.00 and for 100 auctions only $10.00. Isn’t it worth it for the peace of mind?
Here is what that section of the eBay listing page looks like. I schedule mine to start every five minutes. That way if customers want multiple items, they will have time to place their bids.
#2. Put your store on a vacation schedule.
This is such a cool feature and one that works incredibly well. Mo used it this past summer when she was in Canada, New York, and Minnesota for six weeks. While out of town, she was still able to sell about $900 worth of merchandise and the customers were fine with waiting for her to ship when she returned.
Unfortunately, this can make for a lot of work when you get home. But who cares, I would rather have the $900 and a little bit of work!
To find the Store Vacation Settings go to Manage my Store. In that section, you will see “Store Vacation Settings.” Click on that and this screen will pop up. This is how I would recommend setting it up.
#3. Make sure you check your messages and questions once a day and email any winners.
Even though you are on vacation, try and check your “My messages” and “Questions” once a day and answer customers. If you are lucky enough to have an assistant (like me!) then ask them to do this for you. And DivaDawnLV just hired an assistant. I was so happy to hear that!
Also, this was a great tip from Mo. Email every winner and say again,
Dear Buyer,
I am out of town until April 23rd. Your item will not ship until my return. If you decide you don’t want to wait for this item, I would be happy to cancel the transaction. Thanks for your business.
This is just extra insurance that you won’t get any negative feedback.
#4. Work for your daughter while you are visiting her in Palm Desert (I just couldn’t resist).
I did ask my mom to please work for me when she is here. She can help me a lot while I am trying to write a new book. I have been getting behind in listing 100 things a week because of so many deadlines. So, remember all those hundreds of little girls’ dresses that my mom wrote up for me but I have not listed?
I have the folder waiting for her on my desk! I will just copy all of the photos onto a disc for her and let her loose on Carmen’s computer when Carmen isn’t here. Awesome! And strangely enough, another one of those little dresses just sold this morning.
Check it out here!
I hope these tips give you some ideas about how to have a vacation that is not stressful and one where you don’t have to worry about lost income when you return.
If you haven’t yet set up your eBay store, my special report Fifteen Things You Must Know and DO to Run a Successful eBay Store is the best place to start. You can get it on our April sale until 4/14 for 33% off. Click here to purchase and enter discount code April 33 at checkout.
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
Visit my eBay Store.Visit my eBay auctions.
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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.