Hi!
Well other than being attacked by a Parrot and spending three days in Las Vegas, my life has quieted down a little bit. Thank goodness!
- Lynn Recommends: Clothing Teleseminar #2
- Special Announcement: Lynn on Location (LOL) in Las Vegas
- Feature Article: You make your money with the JUNK
This ezine is published every two weeks.
September 23, 2010 Volume VI, Issue 18
Some weeks I have a great idea for my feature article and other weeks I need some inspiration! I usually go back and look at my eBay sales for the past two weeks and that gives me ideas for an article. I like to write about what is going on and selling now!
As I just leafed through my pages of eBay sales, what really caught my eye was the amount of really common items that were selling. Things that you may overlook when out buying because they could be considered JUNK!
Then I read an old letter from my grandmother that I found on my desk. It was dated 2/24/1987. Wow! 23 years ago.
Here is what it looked like…
Here is the section that jumped out at me…
Dear Lynn,
It was so good to hear from you. There’s nothing exciting going on here. Lee was here after school. We had a very good day yesterday in the shop, but nothing today!
My arms are still very sore, but I manage. Last x-rays showed the right arm nearly healed, but the left one still a ways to go. I try to be very careful as I am determined to lick this thing! [My grandma was such a fighter and this was right after she was dragged by her van through a parking lot and broke both her arms–she was 78 years old!-Lynn]…
Do you remember this story from Home Run #24?
Click to read the story.
…A man called for me to do an appraisal and I called him back to get somebody else as I couldn’t get in the van.
The man said he’d come and get me, so when I got there he wanted to sell his stuff. There were some good things & some junk. I bo’t it for 125. Sold 26.50 of it yesterday! It’s really the junk we make money on! It’s been a lot of work & expense to get it cleaned up as it was all greasy & dirty!…
…Had a good time at Martha’s [her best friend] yesterday. I drove myself–Lee fixed a footstool so I can get into the van! It’s nice to be independent again!
I love you.
Abuela (three little hearts with Xs in them)
My brother Lee and I both lived for a while in Spain–he is a high school program and me in a college program thanks to our parents and wonderful grandmother so we all called her “Abuela” (grandmother in Spanish).
Well, that was all the inspiration I needed this week to write my article about “Making your Money by selling Junk.” Don’t miss it!
As I was writing this email I got a frantic call at 10:41 am on Tuesday morning from Melissa (eBay Radio), “Can you fill in for us on eBay radio at 11:15?” “Sure…Can I talk about junk?” “Of course.”
Here I am in front of Griff’s radio studio on the eBay Campus from my visit earlier this month. (In case you missed the latest radio show, you can listen in to the archives on the eBay Radio website here.)
I am sure you are a little bit curious about the parrot that attacked me. The parrot is a beautiful bird named Phoenix who belongs to Jason and Carmen. Carmen is my assistant and Jason films all my events. We (me, mo, Carmen, Jason, and Deborah) were at their house for dinner to brainstorm and this bird liked my rings. She clamped down on my finger and would not let go. Carmen had to literally pull her off. I have a wound on both sides of my finger.
Here is the beautiful bird prior to her attack.
Once we got the bird safely back in her cage, we were able to brainstorm. We came up with a wonderful event that will be happening this March. It will be called LOL for Lynn on Location. Please read the Special Announcement section to learn more.
LOL will be happening in Las Vegas. I was there last weekend for a baseball tournament so I was able to check out hotels and arrange for a venue for our upcoming event. While there I also purchased an SUV full of stuff (of course I did). I got to see Diva Dawn and Ellen Beach.
Houston hit a home run over the fence on one of the bigger fields. It went 350 feet (I am told) and they gave him the ball that they named BOMBA.
Because the first Mel and Steve Woods clothing teleseminar were so fantastic I invited them back for another one this month! I have NEVER gotten so many rave reviews and emails after their call. This phone call is the Queen’s Court gift for September. Please read the Special Announcement section to learn more and to purchase the download if you missed the live call.
WARNING:
The new eBay announcements from 9/21 were mostly positive, but there are two that concern me. I will discuss this more on the next Queen’s Court call, but for now, here is what you should start doing.
1. Start uploading all tracking numbers, or print from PayPal to ship (and your tracking numbers will be uploaded automatically).
2. DO NOT list any fixed item items separately that have the same title. It is OK to continue listing the same “sell similar” over and over at AUCTION but not OK in fixed price core store format.
By the end of October, these will need to be corrected or eBay will shut down your FIXED Priced similar listings. Within the next few weeks, there will be a tool in Selling Manager to help you find duplicate listings in your store. As an example, do not list “2 Cup Saucer Sets Noritake Pastoral Green Blue Bird” over and over at FIXED Price.
If you have 6 of them, this must be listed as a multiple store quantity with 3 available and 2 sets in each listing. Here is that listing at auction that is fine just the way it is, but they MUST be combined when moved to a FIXED price.
Here is the listing at auction.
This listing for cups and saucers, since very different, can be listed on its own when I move it to a fixed price.
Here is this listing.
I don’t agree with this for antiques, collectibles, and dinnerware. I do agree with it for new items like iPods and clothing. Overall, it should make eBay more easily shopped and is a good thing, but in my opinion, our unique categories should not have been included.
For more information on the announcements, click here.
Happy eBaying,
Lynn Dralle, ‘The Queen of Auctions,’
Creator of the best-selling eBay Boot Camp in a Box.
Lynn,
I am really looking forward to Live Boot Camp! I know I’ll learn a lot but even more I know I’ll actually get something done. Actionable days, that’s what they’ll be. I think I’ll even blog those days. It’ll be fun.
And I wanted to tell you how much I enjoyed this week’s call with the folks about clothing. Who knew? That was one super-packed, highly informational conference call–even more it was fun!
Thanks for all you, Mo, your brother and your mom do to help me and help all QC folks.
Vikk
Then this was posted on the Queen’s Court forums…Under a thread entitled “Lynn, Thank you for Mel and Steve.”
I just got a chance to listen to Mel and Steve’s teleseminar and it was just great! Never thought about branching out into clothing but the enthusiasm on the conference call was so infectious! I’m with Lynn–can’t wait to go shopping the sales now.
Thanks so much for sharing so much information, Mel and Steve.
Posted by Judy.
It was a really amazing teleseminar. I went right out and bought $540 of clothes at Macy’s. They totaled over $3,000 at original retail and I have them all listed now at about $2,000 on eBay with our best offer. I will be happy to double my money.
Here is the first piece of clothing that I sold! I paid $22.00 and sold it for the best offer. Thanks Mel & Steve!
Here is the listing.
Mel and Steve Woods are amazing at selling clothing on eBay. They buy directly from Macy’s and other high-end department stores. They know the ins and outs and tricks and tips to get the best deals. They double up on coupons and practically buy for free!
They joined us for Clothing teleseminar #2 on Tuesday night September 21st. It is the September gift for Queen’s Court members. Yipppeee! If you aren’t a Queen’s Court member you can still purchase the recording here for instant download.
Here are Steve and Mel at a cookout in Maryland. He is Melanie’s “bra man” and often lets her hang them from his arm while shopping in the store. What a great guy!
Mel and Steve are awesome. Mo joined us for the call. The call was fun, informative, and it will help you make money on eBay. Click here to buy the instant download and get started now. The first call is also still available here.
LOL
It will be two jam-packed days of teaching, networking, and just plain having eBay fun. I have already gotten confirmation from four very special guest speakers. Kathy Flood, jewelry expert, Mel & Steve Woods, clothing expert, and Diva Dawn, organizational expert, will be joining us.
I should have more details next week. We are super excited!!! As a side note, we were discussing and brainstorming for this event with Phoenix the bird in the background. When we said, “What about having Kathy Flood speak about Jewelry?” the bird went nuts!!! She knows the word jewelry and apparently will try and take your finger off to get her hands on it. I don’t think we will be bringing Phoenix to Las Vegas. 
But, many of the usual suspects will be joining me. Carmen, Jason, Mo, Deborah, my brother Lee, Houston, Indy, and hopefully my mom.
We can’t wait to see you all in Vegas!
‘It’s the Junk that sells‘
by Lynn Dralle, The Queen of Auctions
Like my grandmother said, “It’s really the junk we make money on!” So let’s take a look at some of those items that could be considered “junk.” I will share a few of my top tips for each category. By the way, my grandmother used to refer to costume jewelry as “junk” and we know how high that can go! Let’s jump into “junk”.
Halloween costumes
I bought some used Halloween costumes in Las Vegas and listed them from my hotel room. Oh the beauty of eBay!
[By the way, we have started filming a reality series and part of that was caught on tape by Indiana. We will see if Jason lets it make its way into our pilot show .]
Here is Indy filming what not to buy at our house. This is a pile of items on their way to be donated!
Here is one of the costumes that I paid $2.99 for at Goodwill. Notice the lovely hotel carpet in the background.
Here is the listing.
Here is a costume that I paid $9.99 for at the same Goodwill. How do you like my use of the armoire to take the photo?
Here is the listing.
Tips for selling Halloween Costumes:
1. They sell year-round (not just the months prior to Halloween)
FYI kids like to dress up year-round! Mostly the younger ones, so look for sizes 2 to 8. These were the years and ages my kids had their own costume closet. Those were the days! I never knew if a Thomas the Tank Engine or a Sleeping Beauty would be coming down the stairs in the morning. “Surprise, Mom!”
2. Buy Costumes after Halloween when there are deep discounts. ToysRUs used to mark theirs down to 75% off and then they would go to 99 cents. That is when I used to stock up!
Coffee mugs
In the past two weeks, I think I have sold 15 coffee mugs. That is pretty much a coffee mug per day. At an average sales price of about $10.00 that would be $3,650 per year. Not a bad category!
Here is a coffee mug from Edible Arrangements that I just accepted the best offer on. I can’t believe that Edible Arrangements is still in business. They are like a florist but they deliver fresh fruit arranged to look like flowers. It is such a strange concept to me! [Lee says it is delicious and healthier than chocolate.]
Here is the listing.
Tips for Coffee mugs:
1. Don’t pay too much. You can usually pick up coffee mugs for 10 to 50 cents each. Some thrift stores (Like Goodwill in my hometown) are getting greedy and pricing them at $1.99 with chips! Pass those up and watch for cheaper ones at yard sales and in other thrift stores.
2. Look for mugs with signatures, brand names, and great subject matter. It almost doesn’t matter what is on the mug as long as you can think of a 55-character title that will pique someone’s interest.
Check out this crazy zodiac coffee mug I sold this week. I had two different ones and they sold to the same person but I knew that anything zodiac would probably sell.
Here is the listing.
Used Stuffed Animals
Yes, plush vintage stuffed animals sell (preowned). Thanks to Debbie Ybarra for all of this. (You can still get the plush teleseminars here, available for instant download: Teleseminar 1 and Teleseminar 2.)
I sold this plush stuffed animal for full price. When I got the best offer on it on my iPhone, at $20.00, I went to accept it and it wouldn’t let me. I was very confused. But, when I got to my computer to check on it, the buyer had been impatient and had purchased it at full price. Yippeeee!!! Thanks to Darryl (Jackie Chapman’s husband and Queen’s Court member extraordinaire) for making me purchase it.
Here is the listing.
Here is another plush item that is currently up for sale on eBay and already has a bid.
Here is the listing.
Tips for selling plush…
1. Never pass up any stuffed animal at a garage or estate sale or thrift store that is reasonably priced (25 cents to $3.00), pretty clean, and/or a good brand. Also, look for cute themes. Apparently, items like fish, dolphins and other sea life do very well in the stuffed animal category.
2. List your plush at a $9.99 starting auction bid price. If it doesn’t sell, move it into your eBay store at a much higher price. I typically raise the prices from $24.99 to $49.99 and add the best offer feature.
Some other really weird/junk items that I sold in the past two weeks on eBay…
Check them out!!!
Here is the listing.
Here is the listing.
Here is the listing.
Remember my grandma’s words from 23 years ago and don’t pass up the junk (or junque) as we sometimes called it. “It’s really the junk we make money on!” Thank you, eBay for making this all possible!
Happy eBaying!
Lynn
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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.
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Happy eBaying!!
Lynn
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.