The eBay Fall Seller Update

Here is the email I received from eBay with info about the Fall Seller Update, in case you missed it:

	Fall Seller Update: Sell more this holiday season  Dear juliawww:  With the 2010 Holiday selling season just around the corner, updates are coming this fall to help you take full advantage of the increased holiday traffic, maximize sales, and streamline your operations. As promised, we're continuing to consolidate changes that impact you into two or three releases per year with lead time to adapt. This is the third and final release for 2010.  Updates to help you stay on top of holiday sales New Listing Analytics application: Monitor your listing performance and sales and spot needed adjustments. More bulk editing functionality: Adjust price, accept returns, edit descriptions, and more. Unpaid Item Assistant update: Get inventory back on the shelf fast with auto-relist; exempt your preferred buyers. Unpaid Item Assistant will be turned on automatically for all PowerSellers. Shipping updates to help you improve service, reduce buyer questions Industry-standard shipping terms prominently displayed with estimated delivery: Economy, Standard, Expedited, and One-day What this means for you: All the current shipping services will be  mapped automatically to the four new classifications. Your listings  with "Standard Flat-rate" will be mapped to the new "Standard",  and listings with "Other" will be mapped to the new "Economy."  Check your listings with these two services specified to make  sure the estimated delivery time is still accurate. Get details. Shipping to Alaska and Hawaii, US Protectorates, and APO/FPO addresses: Show exact rates based on the location  or exclude these buyers. Pass on your shipping discounts to buyers with the Shipping Calculator: Specify one domestic and one international  discount. Low-cost shipping insurance: Available exclusively with eBay  label printing. Streamline buyer communications Updates to reduce and manage buyer contacts: Ask a question link moved down on item page; Automated Answers turned on for all sellers. Enhancements to My Messages: Use it as your central inbox for  buyer emails with out-of-office reply, customized email signatures, and message filtering. Category and Item Specifics changes are also consolidated with rest of updates. Find out if your listings are impacted.  Get details on the 2010 Fall Seller Update.  For more insight, you're also invited to Talk with members of my staff during thenext two days on a special discussion board we've set up for this purpose. Join me and other leaders from eBay in a Town Hall meeting on  Wednesday, July 14. Check the Announcement Board for more details coming soon.  Take part in the upcoming webinar on Thursday, July 15. As always, thank you for selling on eBay. Sincerely, Dinesh Lathi Vice President Seller and Buyer Experience

Tips for Finding New with Tags Items at Yard Sales

Friend and reader Susan (who has a great blog about her weight loss and eBaying at http://susansjourneytokeepfit.blogspot.com) found a great new-with-tags swimsuit at a thrift store and it got me to thinking about how you can often find "new with tags" ("NWT" in eBay parlance) items. I'm going to give some tips on what to look for and how to find them but first, Susan's find:

"Hi Julia,

This just sold yesterday. I bought it at my new favorite thrift store for a $1.00 and sold it for 15.00. How cool is that? It's the time of year again where summer items are really in demand and this just caught my eye being so bold and all. Swim suits should be new though who wants to buy a used one yuck..."

LOL. Neat find! Of course you can find new with tags items at thrift stores as well. But I probably have the best luck finding them at estate sales. I think that's because many of us buy some things new, then stash them in the closet or trunk and forget about them, or just never get to wearing them.

Keep your eye out for:

- new sheets, tablecloths and napkins in the linen closet at estate sales. You can often get a new sheet set for a song. I've found shrinkwrapped Williams Sonoma cotton napkins at sales.

- new clothing in the closet. You have to comb through things carefully, one at a time. Just a glance at the closet rod won't do.

This past summer, I bought one of my favorite tops at a yard sale, black and white with rounded sleeves, new with tags, from INC, International Concepts Design. I paid a fraction of retail.

I also found a new BCBG Max Azria dress that had been priced at over $300 new. I paid around $30 for it..more than most yard sale prices, but only about 10% of the original price.

Another good area to look:

- in the living room, basement and bedrooms for shrinkwrapped cd's and games. These can be easily sold on amazon.com and even shipped to amazon using their fba (fulfillment by amazon) program.

(It's actually a lot easier to spot new cd's in a long row of cd's on a shelf or bookcase..just look for that flash of shiny clear plastic on the spine).

So when you're out trolling sales this weekend, make a sport of keeping your eyes peeled for those tags. And as we move toward the end of the summer, don't forget to check retail stores for their "clearance" bins as well..sometimes the savings can be as good as at yard sales. You may score a brand new swimsuit like Susan did!

 

A Whole Yard Sale in a Kit

The "All-in-One Yard Sale Kit" is something I think should have been around before now. All you need for your yard sale in one shrinkwrapped rectangle. Someone sent it to me and I just got a chance to open it up and check it out:

 

The kit features one really big yellow sign (above), four yard sale signs (upper right, in a stack), 10 slotted tags with plastic loops, 20 item price signs, 5 sheets of price stickers, 2 sheets of double-sided tape strips, 50 small sticky hang tags, and 10 large white adhesive hang tags.

I've been to many sales with poor signage. These signs are just the right size and super colorful. Also, you could potentially reuse them if you use erasable markers. They're sturdy enough that they won't bend in the wind or fold over.

I think this kit is an idea whose time has come. My one suggestion for the makers -- and I'll have to check with them to see if this is not already the case -- is to make the signs waterproof...because often enough you find that it rains between the time the signs are posted and the sale itself. Or between the sale and when you get to taking the signs down.

But overall I think this is a convenient product that will be well worth it for anyone giving a yard or garage sale.

 

Getting Rid of Your Kids' Clutter? eBay Classifieds Donation Program

Anyone remember Kijiji? That's what eBay Classifieds used to call itself. I think the name change was a good move for them...much clearer, especially given not many folks are familiar with Swahili. I recently got this note about how much parents spend on baby and kids' stuff (having two, I can vouch they're expensive!) -- and also a new donation program eBay Classifieds is doing for every new ad posted in the For Sale category thru July 31:

 

"According to the survey, parents spent an average of $1,171 on gifts for their children in just the past year, which has decreased from the $2,577 that parents spent last year on their baby. In addition, 62% of American Parents surveyed said that their babies accumulated more stuff in a year than they themselves had in five years (at a total expense of $1,442), which is down from last year�s 77% of parents.

 

"This year�s survey also found that:

• 93% of parents said their babies accumulated more stuff in a year than they themselves did in five years


• After their children have grown out of the items, 67% of parents gave them to a friend or family member, 63% donated them to charity, 27% sold them and 11% just threw them away


• The most common outgrown items include backyard toys (42% of parents said they still have them), sporting goods and equipment (39%), furniture (46%) and electronics (45%)


• 46% of parents said their kid clutter takes up a corner of a closet, 28% said it takes up the better part of their attics and 6% said they no longer park their car in the garage because their children�s items have taken over their entire home


• Parents said they spent an average of $1,171 on gifts for their kids last year


• 15% of parents say they often sell unwanted items online (perhaps on a site like eBay Classifieds!) and a quarter of parents said they occasionally do, depending on the item

 

"Instead of allowing all these items to clutter up your home, why not sell your children�s outgrown items and earn back some of the money you spent? From now through July 31, eBay Classifieds will make a donation for every new ad posted within the For Sale category (up to $25,000), to Enough is Enough, a non-profit organization dedicated to making the Internet a safer place for children and families. Getting rid of your unwanted items can not only help you reclaim your space, but can also help others, too!"

Does Revising Your eBay Auctions Help Sales?

Can revising your eBay auctions help your sales? I have one Yard Salers newsletter reader who thinks it does. I'll let her tell it:

"Hi
Julia,
 
"Forgot to tell you something that has been working for me.  Don't
know why, but it's happening to often to just be a coincidence.  
 
"I
have been revising about 10 my eBay store auctions a day (catching mistakes,
adding things that didn't get added when they were listed, etc, etc).  And more
than once or twice, a few days after revising the item, it sells, and quite
often at the full price.  I've also been adjusting my selling prices upwards -
not a lot, just $.50 cents or so - and they have been selling at the new
prices.  It must have something to do with the way eBay is now showing ALL items
listed, not just auctions, but sure don't know what that has to do with it. 
I've also speculated that maybe the computer thinks it's a NEW auction and gives
it a better placement.  But anyway, it seems to work!  So you might want to tell
your readers to try revising their auctions a little and see what
happens."

So there you have it! As it happens, I am revisiting many of my eBay auctions anyway - in some cases to relist them or change the prices, and in others to take the listing down anyway and move the item to amazon.com. (In the latter case, it is mainly true for my slow-moving collectible books such as old yearbooks, which I think no longer make sense to let sit on eBay and rack up fees.

    [  Left: an example of the kind of specialized book, a prep school yearbook, I am looking to shift off eBay onto amazon. ]
 

I still have other types of listings which I think are best suited to eBay, such as my jewelry and handcrafted bracelets. But I am taking a hard look at what I sell where and what does best in which online venue.

Give it a try or leave a comment here if you have feedback.

 

Stamps.com Introduces New Online Reports Feature

Stamps.com just released a new online reports feature...details are here:

"The new Reports feature gives you reporting on all your postage balances,
expenses, and prints. 

"Create tables showing your postage balance over time including postage printed, purchased, or credited."

More info here.

I use Stamps.com all the time for my business, along with the PayPal print postage feature. Another thing I love about it is that you can save the addresses of people you ship to frequently.

Coupons Savings so Far, another Coupon Site

I've been using the CouponMom "stack your coupons" system and have been making a real dent in my grocery and drugstore bills. I'll make a full report soon, but with combining store specials, 2-for-1 deals and manufacturers' coupons, I'd estimate I've saved $50-$80 this past week.

One of the big secrets of the CouponMom system is you save all the newspaper coupon circulars for each Sunday in a box, then the couponmom.com site alerts you to when grocery and other store deals match up with those coupons, so you can "stack" your coupons and get the most off for a purchase.

Also, I wanted to mention another coupon site someone suggested to me a while back: http://www.webbyplanet.com/ (WEBBY planet). You can search for coupons on all sorts of stuff from one search box.