bidbits

Clean 'n' Green: My New omop

OK, this has nothing to do with eBay per se -- although you'd think you could buy one on there. Here’s a product I really love. It works well, it’s fun (my son recently was playing with it as some kind of swordlike object..fortunately it’s not sharp!), and with re-useable pads, it’s good for the environment.

It’s made by Method, a company that makes other good, environmentally sound products, so that’s a good sign. Here’s a photo of my Omop and the pad I bought with it, as well as the little pamphlet.

Neat, huh?

(You may need to scroll down a bit to see the mop head).

I've included the neat lil' cloth mop pad separately in the picture so you could see it. It just attaches like velcro to the mop..you just slap it on there...no poking in the wet or dry pad like with Swiffer (because yes, we're all that busy that taking five to ten seconds to stuff those pads in the slits of the Swiffer mop bottom is a nuisance..lol).

If you want to buy the thing via amazon, you can go to there via my affiliate link below.

CouponCabin

I got an email a while back from Kevin of CouponCabin. I've been meaning to put it in my newsletter, Yard Salers, at www.yardsalers.net, but now that food prices have spiked so high, and everyone is worried about prices in general, I figure this is a good time to catch up.

Eyeballing the site, I see coupons to a few places I already shop regulary...$5 off a $50 Target online order (I don't know about you but I tend to go into Target to get one thing, and walk out with a cart full). Maybe I'd be more restrained ordering from them online. VistaPrint, Home Depot, Weight Watchers, etc.

Here's part of the letter:

CouponCabin.com (www.couponcabin.com) is a leading online site for consumers trying to find the best deals and coupons.  I know you’ve already wrapped up your holiday season, but thought that CouponCabin.com and founder Scott Kluth might be a valuable resource to you on future online shopping stories and ultimately your audience.

 

Here are a couple great examples of statistics/trends that might be of interest:

 

• In September, CouponCabin.com visitors spent $6.2 million using 754,000 coupons and saving a total of $486,000
• CouponCabin.com represents savings and coupons for more than 800 retailers – up 25 percent compared to 2005
• The top 5 coupon categories hit by CouponCabin.com visitors in September were:

1. Women’s Apparel (169,376 clicks)
2. Home & Garden (151,146 clicks)
3. Baby, Kids & Toys (146,091 clicks)
4. Men’s Apparel (133,253 clicks)
5. Electronics (101,622 clicks)

Happy coupon-ing!

My want list at Flippid.com

Checkout my want list at flippid.com

My Top 5 Tips for eBay Buyers

Simple strategies every buyer should have in their bag of tricks

Buying on eBay has become something of an art form. My casual eBaying friends complain to me that someone else usually wins the auctions they bid on, for example. When I suggest sniping software, they give me a blank look. But without sniping, it's become very tough to get those in-demand items that attract multiple bidders.

And sniping is just one bidding strategy you should know about. Here are five tools I think every eBay shopper should have in their arsenal to buy wisely:

1. Watch an item before you bid on it

More and more, I see eBay users watching my items before they bid on them. Why? No doubt it's because as soon as an item gets even one bid, it's much more likely to get more attention and other bids, driving up the price. So they simply add it to their watch list until they're ready to place a bid.

Of course, watching is also a nice way to keep an item in your sights if you haven't yet made up your mind whether to buy it or not, and eBay will send you a nice little reminder when someone else bids on it.

In some cases, this means placing a bid at the last moment, which brings us to…

2. One word: Snipe

I think it's almost essential to snipe nowadays if you're bidding on an item with more than one bidder. Take your pick of automatic sniping software programs, such as AuctionSniper; just choose one, and make sure your bid is as high as you are willing to pay, without overpaying. Of course, even sniping won't guarantee you will win an auction. But I find that when I use sniping software and reasonably high bids, I win about 90 percent of the time.

3. Ask the seller a question

As a buyer I often have questions about items, and I like to use eBay's "Ask Seller a Question" feature. I've found that even if I don't have burning queries about an item, using this feature to ask something general is an excellent way to get a feel for the seller anyway. Do they respond quickly and politely? If they are a day or two late responding, do they apologize? Do they use reasonably good English (assuming they are in the U.S.)?

These kinds of things can give you an idea of the type of person you are dealing with, which is especially important on a big-ticket purchase. I always try to sound cheerful in my responses to prospective bidders, thank them for their interest, and apologize if I am getting to their query a day or so late.

4. Use both browse and search, and eBay's visual shopping tools

eBay is so vast that knowing how to sift through the site takes real skill. Many eBayers just use search queries to shop. But if you only do that, you may be missing out on some real gems that weren't blessed with appropriate title words.

So don't forget to browse too. And while you're at it, if you're in the mood for a treasure hunt, try to look sometimes at big lots and identify great stuff lurking within them.

Use eBay's picture gallery and new "snapshot view" feature to give you lots of visuals on one page and speed up your "window shopping."

And eBay's "saved search" feature is a real boon for shoppers who don't want to remember to keep submitting the same query over and over.

5. Be careful with feedback

This may seem like something for sellers to worry about more than buyers, but I think buyers should still be very careful about leaving bad feedback, and only do so after exhausting all other possibilities. Not only will your eBay feedback karma be better, you lessen the risk of some other unforeseen retaliatory behavior that may lurk on the eBay horizon-whether it's the seller buying something from you in the future and purposefully leaving bad feedback, or something else.

Oh yes, and don't forget to pay for your items on time! Happy shopping.

 

My Top 5 Tips for eBay Sellers

My Top 5 Tips for eBay Sellers

Increasing your competitive advantage in the online auction world

 

The eBay selling landscape is never static, but never has it changed so much as in recent weeks. The new policy of sellers not being able to leave negative feedback for buyers is a sea change in the way eBay handles its ratings system. And the new fee structure presents not only a challenge but also an opportunity in some tranches of final sales price levels and eBay Store items.

In this new world of eBay selling, what are some of the most important things for you to do as a seller to stay on top of the game—bearing in mind, of course, that the rules may change again very soon?

Some are the same meat-and-potatoes customer service-oriented things that were always true; others are tweaked for the recent changes.

1. Take a few ounces of prevention for bad feedback

With the new policy, it will be harder to avoid negative feedback now. Feedback is also more important than ever, as eBay is including Detailed Seller Ratings (DSRs) in the "Best Match" algorithm that is the new default for search. You can't completely protect yourself from "negs," but there are a lot of things you can do to lower your odds of getting them in the first place.

Make it very difficult for your buyers to be disappointed. Be up front about shipping costs, any flaws in your items, and anything else that needs disclosure. Go a little overboard if possible, while still stressing your products' good points.

One thing I do is write, "Please contact me if there is any problem" on the printed receipt I put in the box. Extra touches, like a thank you card, can go a long way in creating buyer goodwill. You may not have time to hand-write one out, but even a stock printed thank you is a nice plus.

If you do receive a bad feedback, you can still try to work it out with SquareTrade, according to eBay. (eBay's own mutual feedback removal system "will remain in place until the second half of 2008," according to the announcement Q&A). Also, the feedback may now automatically be removed if the buyer who left it gets suspended by eBay, or if he/she doesn't respond to the Unpaid Item process.

2. Shipping: Broaden your horizons

Shipping costs are a key factor for many buyers. They can see 'em now right in the search results. Granted, some care more than others about them. But, it's always nice to offer as many different shipping options as you can, in different price points.

If you are selling a book or printed matter that does not contain advertisements, be sure to offer the "media mail" or "book rate" option—it is much cheaper than priority mail.

With the dollar in its current weak state, many foreign buyers are snapping up bargains from our virtual stalls. Why not open yours up and offer worldwide shipping? I know, you may not be crazy about that customs form and subsequent epic post office wait, but some online services like Endicia can make that a lot easier.

I've sold to every continent except Antarctica, and it's always fun to see who buys an item—and sometimes even why.

And believe it or not, you can fit a lot of different types of things in the U.S.P.S. Priority Mail flat rate envelope, which you can send pretty much anywhere in the world for $11 (and only $9 to Canada and Mexico).

3. Optimize for search

Among the foofaraw about feedback 'n' fees, the dark horse that may ultimately be a bigger influence on sellers' bottom lines is eBay's decision to make the "Best Match" option the default in search results.

 

OK, so what are the factors that make your listings a "Best Match"? Like Google's "secret sauce" search algorithm, which it keeps under wraps, eBay isn't exactly saying. It does say that two factors going forward will be that sellers with DSRs 4.6 and above and at least 95 percent customer satisfaction in the last 30 days will have increased exposure in the search results; also, sellers with low customer satisfaction or shipping & handling DSRs will have decreased exposure.

As to the other factors, one blogger tracked down eBay's Best Match patent application and found that most of it "describes the relationship between search terms, the text in the auction title and how relevance and desirability are determined." In other words, how well does your title match the buyer's search terms? Meaning: Choose your title words wisely and include as many relevant words as you can.

If you have more descriptive words you want to add but they aren't essential to the search, I suggest buying the subtitle feature and throwing them in there. I think a nicely worded (and preferably typo-free) subtitle really sets your listing apart.

The Best Match patent goes on to describe other factors that can influence search result rankings including: pictures available, seller ratings, price range, geographic proximity of searcher to seller, shipping prices, time left in an auction, number of bids, and Buy it Now.

I like to include as much information about the listing as I have time to fit in. For example, if I am listing a piece of art, I may put a bit about the artist's life in the description. You can cut and paste this from other sources. As long as you attribute it and it's relevant to the listing, eBay doesn't consider it "keyword spamming."

4. Sell in multiple channels

That old saw, "don't put your eggs in one basket" still holds true. What better time to explore your options in selling in multiple venues? This makes sense even if eBay's policies don't change. There are many benefits to having your own Web presence, such as creating your own mailing list of loyal customers. It's also a good idea to explore specialty selling sites that match up with your listings; for example, if you sell collectible books, you can also sell on AbeBooks, alibris, or amazon.com.

eBay sellers have been closely watching one link that shows different auction sites and their percentage changes in listings. Visit the page yourself here.

5. Sell the best stuff you can

This one may seem obvious. But with eBay's final value fees going up, does it make sense to look at your business model and either sell fewer, more expensive items, or group some inexpensive items into lots to make more money per transaction? Obviously, not every product lends itself to selling in lots. But as many bloggers and analysts are saying, it's the sellers with the tightest profit margins that will be negatively affected the most by these changes—and may stop selling on eBay altogether. If you had infinite time, and a crew of trained monkeys, you could make millions with $9.99 items. But you have neither.

If you don't have an eBay Store yet, it makes even more sense to get one now. Not only because it's a good, inexpensive place to store your items until that right buyer comes along, but insertion fees are even lower now: $0.03 down from $0.05 in the $1.00-$24.99 price range, and $0.05 down from $0.10 in the $25.00-$199.99 price range.

Moreover, with listing fees down overall, you can think about listing more with less risk, depending on your sell-through rate and profit margin.

And lastly: Don't forget to have fun. Remember fun? It's what brought a lot of us to eBay. The policies and fees have gotten ever more complicated, and the days of laughing over a human kidney for sale may be gone, but look for those simple joys. Who knows, maybe someday I'll even make a sale to Antarctica.

Prospecting at Yard Sales: How to find the best stuff and the best sales

 Ah, the yard sale. You never know what you'll find, and that's part of the fun. Sometimes it's fabulous stuff, like the time I came across a set of Wedgwood cups and saucers in the coveted black-and-gold Florentine pattern for 20 bucks. Other days, it's slim pickin’s.

But having the right yard sale strategies can increase your odds of finding quality items to resell. Here are a few tips to get the most out of your yard sale-ing adventures:

- Go early to get the best stuff.

This is probably the most obvious tip. But yard sale culture is an early one, and the early bird
often gets the best dishware, pottery, art, books, and whatever else is sitting out. In fact, many
people show up before the advertised sale time, which is why many sales specify "no early birds"
in the ad.

However, this does not necessarily mean you can't find good stuff later in the sale. Which brings us to...

- You can often still find good stuff late in the sale.

Sometimes, things in the nooks and crannies have been overlooked by other people. Be sure to look all over the sale and look completely through any boxes that are set out. Other times, there are hidden gems lurking there of which other folks did not recognize the value.

And some people make a point of going late to sales so they are in a better position to bargain
with the sellers. They'll make an offer for a whole box or group of things, and often these are
accepted because the sellers are eager to get rid of the stuff at that point.

3) Ask what else is there.

How do you get your hands on stuff no one else has seen yet even when you get late to a sale? Ask the seller if he has anything else he hasn't put out. It's best to ask for something specific; so
if you specialize in an area, such as cameras or clocks, you can ask for those.

One records dealer I know, who co-wrote my Albums special report, asks sellers at yard sales if
they have any records they haven't put out for sale. This strategy has worked for him many times.

- Search listed and unlisted sales.

Of course, check your local newspaper classifieds for sales, as well as craigslist. (Craigslist
has probably become the better source around my neck of the woods, as many folks don't want to
shell out the $90 or so it takes to place an ad in the major metropolitan-area paper).

And don't forget Kijiji.com, eBay's own classifieds service. I once found a yard sale that was
advertised on there and nowhere else. It had great stuff and not too many people. You just never
know.

But my favorite kind of yard sale is the "unlisted" or unadvertised sale -- they simply put up a
sign and start the show. These sales are great, because, of course, there's not as much
competition. Often you can find them around the sales that did advertise in the newspaper, because they are piggybacking off that ad. So keep your eyes peeled for those signs while you are driving or walking.

I usually pick out the sales I want to go to the night before and print out the mapquest maps for them so I’ll be ready to go in the morning. And many people swear by their GPS systems for finding their destinations.

And what about actually buying stuff at these sales? One expert dealer I know of goes by the 25% rule: buy it for no more than 25% (or less) of the price for which you think you can resell it. Speaking of which…

- Dicker down, but don't insult.

Negotiation is fine at these sales, but do it within reason. Personally, if I see a great item priced at a quarter, I don't try to dicker down the price to ten cents. Sometimes you can just anger the seller and you may even make them less likely to make deals with you on other things.

But if prices seem too high for a "yard sale," by all means offer what seems fair to you. The worst thing they can say is no. Do be polite, and don't make negative comments about the stuff. If you need to point out a flaw to get a better price, try to couple it with a compliment to soften
the blow: "This is a lovely lamp...I see it has a crack, though…would you take $15 for it?"

Enjoy your yard sale travels. One of the best things about yard sales in my mind is they get me out of the house, enjoying the fresh air, and meeting people. Combine that with making money, and what’s not to like?

 

Julia Wilkinson
Author, "The eBay Price Guide" (No Starch Press, 2006); "eBay Top 100 Simplified Tips & Tricks" (Wiley, 2004-6); "What $ells on eBay for What," www.yardsalers.net/bookstore.asp; "My Life at AOL," www.booklocker.com; Publisher, Yard Salers, www.yardsalers.net
Blog: "bidbits," at http://juliawww.typepad.com/bidbits
juliawilk@aol.com

Yard Salers: Feb 29: Art, Pricing, More Flips -- 30 days to a Million?

 

Subscribe at:  www.yardsalers.net

Hello, all!

The stars aligned and I finally made it out to a preview at a local auction house, Weschler's, here in DC. I attended the 15-minute prep session for people who've never been, which was basically an informal tour around the display room with Margaret, a friendly and knowledgeable employee.

She explained to me and another person how the whole process worked: every week, all the paintings, rugs, pottery, books, etc. on display is auctioned off and a whole new set of stuff comes in.

They put the stuff they think is of lesser quality in the back, with lower lot numbers, the nicest stuff in the front and front window, and the other stuff in between.

Although, as she said, sometimes great finds were lurking in the lesser area in the back. She showed me the books tables, where all the books are set out, and people can pick out books and create their own little book bundle with twine, which the auctioneer will then hold up and sell off as a lot.

By the time I got there, around 9:30, several little bundles had already been created. I wrote down the names of some items that jumped out at me so I could research them when I got home.

The next step will be to go to both a Monday preview and a Tuesday auction, and then bring home the stuff and see how it sells. So I'll be sharing all that with you. I'm not at today's auction because I just had too much work to get done, including getting this newsletter out, and also because none of the paintings jumped out at me.

I got out to three estate sales this past weekend. Along the lines of what we've been talking about in this newsletter, I've been looking for more art and other higher-end items. (Not that all art is necessarily high-end).

My most interesting finds have been unusual pieces: one, what looked like an actual chunk of fresco from a Greek palace, mounted in a wooden frame -- I later came to find it's a hand-painted recreation of part of the fresco in the Queen's Palace in Knossos, Greece. The fresco shows two dolphins frolicking in the water with a faint netting image in the back.

It was funny, because it was in a box on the floor in the basement of the sale, and written on the back was the date "1500 BC." I figured if it was an actual chunk of the wall that dated back that far, it wouldn't be sitting in a box on the floor of a sale. Of course, stranger things have happened at these sales.

In fact, it was while browsing some jewelry at another sale that I overheard some of the juiciest gossip about flips. One of the guys running the sale said a lady had brought him a pearl necklace to appraise that she'd found in a thrift store. I think she paid like $20 for it.

"And they were South Sea pearls!" he exclaimed. "I would have priced it at $950."

He said she also found a ruby ring for $40 from a lady selling it on craigslist. It was indeed real ruby and gold, he said, and she'd made another score. I don't remember what he said he'd appraise it at, but I think it was a few hundred dollars or so.

Later in the day I got onto craigslist and I think I found the very ring he was talking about. I emailed the lady and she said it had sold that day. Just shows you the early bird gets the worm on craigslist.

Anyhow, my other find. It was another piece of art in the basement of that sale, a print that was signed Henry Napartuk and titled, "Eskimo Returning from the Hunt."

I googled around, and from what I could tell, it is a limited edition print by Inuit artist Henry Napartuk. "Known as an imaginary and versatile artist, his prints and sculptures often combined animal and human forms," read the info on one site.

The only comp price I was able to find was $325 for a Napartuk titled "Eskimo Hunter and Seal." Although I still don't know if the print was limited edition, how many were made, etc. There don't seem to be a lot of them floating around out there, so I think it's fairly rare.

So we'll see how that does.

 

Speaking of art, I'm reading a great book I want to recommend to you all. It's called "31 Steps to Your Millions in Antiques & Collectibles." I must send a shout out to my friend Skip McGrath for calling attention to it. He wrote about it in his own newsletter, Auction Sellers Resource, which you can find on his site at www.skipmcgrath.com. I'll tell you more about it in the first article.

Before I forget, I wanted to share this story: one sale I just completed on eBay that shows you can still get good stuff when you come late to an estate sale: two Depression scrip notes (money that was issued during the Depression in some areas in lieu of real money when the banks were in trouble) in a frame sold for $66. I picked it up for $5, hanging on the wall in the bathroom of a sale, around noon.

A guy actually picked it up before me to examine it, read the inscription on the back about the scrip, said "hunh," and put it back. As soon as he left the room, I plucked it right off the wall and into my bag. So that was my good flip for the week.

We have also more  "Flip of the Week" contest entries in this issue.

Keep those good flips coming to juliawilk@aol.com. Please mention what the item is, what you paid for it, and what you sold it for. A photo would be great too, if you can swing it. But not mandatory. I'll feature one flip per week.

Now let's get to it!

*********************
Julia's NEW special report sneak peek at limited time low price of $4.95: Make Big Bucks Selling Vinyl Records on eBay. Records expert spills his secrets!

Records. You see boxes and boxes of them on the floor at yard sales, thrift stores, and estate sales. How do you know which to buy out of the legions you come across?

You'll find out:

- which classical labels you should keep an eye out for, and what specific thing to look for on the  label of each.
- what local treasures are lurking right under your nose that are sought after in the rest of the world, and why this can mean money in the bank for you.
- which famous artist designed album covers in his early days, and the big bucks they're bringing in now.
- the most consistently valuable jazz label. What two cities to look for on the most valuable blues labels (no, it's not New Orleans).
- the rule of thumb to find rap records worth reselling.
- which literary figures are going for big bucks on "Spoken Word" records on eBayville.

Plus: things that affect record values, myths and truths about records, many photos of hot-selling albums, prices from the top down to $100 for Rock and Pop, and much more.

For a limited time, you can get this special report for $4.95. Just PayPal juliawilk@aol.com, specifying "records report," and I'll email your choice of Word or Adobe Acrobat file, so you can start your record buying and selling fun tomorrow. Price goes up to $8.95 soon.
***********************
In This Issue:
***********************
1) 31 Steps to Your Millions in Antiques & Collectibles
2) Flip of the Week Contest Week 2
3) Reader Mail
***********************

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*********************
1) 31 Steps to Your Millions in Antiques & Collectibles
*********************

Quick! Answer this within 5 seconds without thinking about it too much. If someone asked you if you'd rather have a) A Million Dollars or B) they'd give you a penny, but every day, the amount you receive doubles, so the second day you'd receive two cents, the third day four cents, and so on...for 29 days. Which would you choose?

If you said b, you made the correct choice. By Day 28, in fact, you will have surpassed $1,000,000 and that day's pay would be $1,343,488, for a cumulative total of every day's earnings of $2,686,975.

This is the example Daryle uses in the book, 31 Steps to Your Millions in Antiques & Collectibles although his question actually goes up to 31 days, by which time you will have received $21.5 million dollars total for the 31 days.

He uses this to illustrate the power of not only compounding, but of a strategy of buying and selling antiques and collectibles. Buy one item at 25% retail (his rule of thumb), resell it, and use the proceeds to buy another item that you can flip for twice as much. And so on.

Of course, that's simplifying it, but you get the basic idea.

Daryle's book is full of great stories of his finds and flips. But one of my favorites comes in the beginning, when he tells the story of how he put himself through college with his coin collection.

He used to go back and forth to the bank, buy a bag of coins, sift through them and save the good ones. The rejects went back to the bank.

By the time he was 18, already married with a wife and child, the collection had grown in value enough to pay for his entire collection to Kentucky Wesleyan College.

If you want to buy Daryle's book, simply go to amazon.com, or Daryle's site at http://www.31corp.com.

*********************
2) Flip of the Week Contest Week 2
  *********************

Flip of the Week Contest #2 Entries

Got some more great ones, people..including some wonderful tips for the offline auction house. Read on!

Hi, Julia!

Great newsletter, thanks for all the great stuff. I'm especially excited about your new feature regarding flipping because I enjoy swapping eBay stories.

My latest best flip was for a "Ming's of Hawaii" ivory pin I bought at a white elephant sale for only .50-cents. I did a little research and discovered Ming's jewelry is quite collectible, so I started the bidding at $24.99, confident it would bring at least $50-$75. Imagine my surprise when I immediately got an offer to take it off-line for $100! Being one to follow eBay's stringent rules and now knowing I could possibly get a bid of a- hundred bucks, I graciously declined. Imagine my surprise when the bidding ended at $241.50, the most I've ever gotten for any item I've sold since joining eBay in April of 1999. (http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=150179589707)

 

Thank you for indulging me and keep up the great work!

Dorothy
eBay ID: dawt
*DuplicateDaughters: http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=46914 and soon-to-be-open Web site: http://duplicatedaughters.com/

**

Since most of my auctions deal in vintage crafts, when I saw this $2 bag full of vintage silk thread by Corticelli at a garage sale, I knew I had to have it. Even if it wasn't something that sold on eBay, I would find a use for it. When I got home to do my research on the purchases I had made, I realized I had found a gem. Yeah! They were good sellers on eBay.

I listed the spools for a starting price of $9.59. When the auction ended seven days later, they had 11 bids and an ending bid amount of $59.86. Someone from the UK had won them.

There were several other partially used spools in the bag I hadn't included in the auction. I decided to add them to the package I sent to my buyer as "extras". It was very fortunate I did, especially after she had to pay a pretty hefty duty tax that I had not warned her about. Even with the extra tax, she was delighted and left glowing feedback.

I learned my lesson, now I let the buyer know in my Terms, they are responsible for any duty tax that would arise with their purchase. I assumed the International buyers knew they would have to pay a duty tax over a certain amount. You know what they say about assuming.

So that's my flip of the week. A $2 purchase that brought $50 in profit after fees!  I love vintage crafts!

Debra, Vintage Crafts and More

~~

The next letter comes to us from the UK, eBay ID idlehippy, who has his own site at http://www.idlehippy.co.uk. Rodney shows us both the power of the right words in the title, and how a savvy Buy-It-Now strategy can lead to a good flip:

"I thought there would be a little bit of profit in a Duff beer can puzzle (Rubik's) I saw in a local charity shop for £1 so I quickly snapped it up.

"Doing a little research to establish what it might be worth on eBay, I found one that sold a while ago for about £35. There was also one currently listed which was ending in a few days so I made sure that when I listed mine, it would end after the one already being sold.

"I listed in the usual way, low start, no reserve. After all I only paid a pound. There was immediate interest, approximately 16 watchers in about 2 days. This got me thinking because the other Duff puzzle listed didn't have nearly the same level of hits on the its view counter as mine had. I realised that it was the Rubik's cube collectors who were watching the auction and not the Simpsons collectors. My initial thought had been that the Simpsons aspect would be the main attraction but that wasn't the case.

"Anyway the other puzzle didn't have any bids and still had three or four days to run. I noticed the title didn't have 'Rubik's' in the title which mine did so I decided to take a chance and emailed the seller to see if she would give me a Buy It Now price. She did, revised the listing and I got it for £7.50 including Special Delivery.

"The upshot of all this was that my £1 charity shop special finished at £43 and I was able to give second chance offers to the other bidders. The one I received for £7.50 went for £26 to one of the other bidders. This meant I saved a little more as I only had one listing fee to pay.

"So £8.50 spent and £69 in - my chest was swollen with pride at my success and the £60.50 profit on just two items. Percentage wise, the supermarkets would kill for that kind of mark-up percentage!

"It doesn't always work out quite so wonderfully for me, I've had my fair share of bombs too, but it's nice to learn something new and make a little money at the same time. I do love eBay."

Rodney

~~

Hi Julia,
I am a new subscriber to your newsletter, and I just had to let you know of my recent flip.

Purchased a set of books at a yard sale for $3.00 (she asked $5 and I offered $3). I sold these books on Ebay to an Australian buyer for $510.00. I am still in shock!. This was auction #300193986637

Well back to work!

  Thanks,

Diane
www.heavensgate.ecrater.com

~~
Hi Diane!

Welcome to Yard Salers! I'd love to hear where you found out about us -- I'm always trying to figure out what advertising works..was it an ebay auction..or other? Thanks!

Wow! That is amazing! Sounds like a home-schooling buyer, maybe? Or maybe a teacher? I love that on top of it all, you dickered down. LOL.

You are duly entered into to the contest and have a good shot at winning! Thanks and hope u enjoy the newsletter. :-)

Julia
~~

Ok, as always it was a very tough call..everyone's entry was great. All the flips were fabulous. And as I did with last week's contest, all the entrants get to pick a free ebook of their choice. Entrants, please email me at juliawilk@aol.com and let me know which ebook you'd like.

I'm picking the two below as winners of the signed paperback both because of the high dollar amounts the flips went for and the kinds of tips they gave us about how we can ferret out our own good stuff. (Although, again, we can learn things from everyone's entries).

Here they are:

This next letter, from Michelle, tells us not only about several great flips, but shares some wonderful tips for bidding at live auctions. I plan to keep them in mind next week as I head back to the live auction house:

Hi Julia,

I love your newsletter. I’ve had a few great flips over the last year and I couldn’t pick just one so I’ll give you my top three:

A 1964 Volkswagen Beetle manual set that I bought at a neighbor’s yard sale for $1.00 – The covering the set came in (manual, service ticket book, and radio manual) was filthy. I took it home, wiped it down and listed it. It sold for $62.00.

I bought a Pilot printing press at a live auction for $25.00. I sold it for $325 and the winner was so excited to get it she drove from northern Michigan to central Ohio after a BIG snowstorm to pick it up rather than wait for it to be shipped.

At another live auction I bought a set of 15 books titled John Stoddard’s Lectures for $15 after heavy bidding… I sold the set to a man in Poland for $649.97. This was, needless to say, my very favorite flip of the week!

I know that you’ve been talking about attending live auctions. I highly recommend them. I use AuctionZip.com to find auctions going on any day of the week within a given radius of any zip code I put in. Lots of people use this tool and auctions are becoming more crowded but I find that many people specialize in particular areas and I always come away with something good.

For example, this past week I sold an American Colonial Era (1815) Bible for $102.50 that I got for $3 dollars when the loan bidder against me wouldn’t go $4 on it. I guess that’s another great flip, eh? Anyway, this happens a lot at live auctions with books and paper items. No one ever wants to spend more than a dollar or two on them.

I’ll give you one trade secret about live auctions: there are break points that few people will cross. If you’re willing to go over $5, $20, $50, or $100 on an item, you’ll win the item almost every time. Going $6, $21-$22.50 (depends on the auction house and when they start raising the incremental bids), $55, or $105-110 has worked for me time and time again.

Take care Julia. I hope you can use one of my flips of the week or my live auction tips in your newsletter.

Regards,

Michelle

eBay ID: MJsConsignments

~~

Winner Number Two is Tubular:

Julia,

I picked up this Audio Research Tube Pre-Amp (Model LS7) at a thrift store for $7. I sold it on eBay for $560 the following week.

I didn't know much about the brand but modern tube amps are always hi-end equipment, actively sought by audiophiles. I'm a bit of one myself and I was tempted to keep it but this would have only been one of the 5 or 6 (potentially 4 figure) components that I'd need to buy.

I'm going back out today to see if my luck holds.

Regards, William Smith
hangfirebooks.blogspot.com
Hang Fire Books
Rare, Obscure, Eclectic, Synonymous
www.hangfirebooks.com
http://stores.ebay.com/Hang-Fire-Books

TRUNK STORIES
one creepy little magazine
www.TrunkStories.com

and yes...I'm blogging
http://hangfirebooks.blogspot.com/

~~
Hi William!

Wow..you're the second one I heard from in the last month or 2 who is into tube stereos. I asked the other guy how you can tell if a stereo is tube, but don't know if I heard back..is it just telling how old it is? And how would u do that? I'd love it if u'd share some secrets with us.

Thanks so much for sharing that great flip.

Again, any tips you can share would be much appreciated..I saw a couple old-ish stereos at an estate sale last weekend but had no clue if they were tube or not.

Thanks again!

Julia

~~

Julia,

Not sure how you can tell with any given manufacturer without looking into the works. I'm no expert. However if you can see through a vent or a grill, tubes are about 2 1/2 inches tall and look like cylindrical light bulbs. Most stereo equipment made between say, 1965 and the present is solid state based (not tube), some of this equipment is collectible as well (Marantz and early Kenwood are always good names to look out for) but is not as highly sought out as tube equipment.

Modern tube components tend to be very minimal with only a few switches/lights. That's one easy clue. And if it is of recent origin it is always high end since the audience is audiophiles with relatively deep pockets.

Hope this is helpful.

Will

~~

Congrats, Michelle and Will! Please email me your physical mailing addresses so I can send you the signed book. juliawilk@aol.com.

Everyone, keep those entries coming for next week!

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Hi, Julia --

Thanks so much for your newsletters, I really enjoy reading them and learing new and inventive ideas from you and other readers.

One quick question: You have a BigCrumbs link on this newsletter - I would like to join, but I'd like to make sure that you get my referral. Do I simply click on the link in your newsletter and it will be tracked to you automatically?

Thanks again, and keep up the outstanding work!

Sincerely,

Kaytee

Hi Kaytee!

Thanks so much! I appreciate that a lot. Yes, you will go to my referral page at Big Crumbs if u click on the referral link, and I will get credit. Then you can refer your own people and create your own network..lol.

I really think BigCrumbs is a good idea and "win win" as the owner says..if I didn't think it was good I wouldn't recommend it to folks. So join up and let me know how it goes! It may take a while for us to build up some $$, but I think after months it will start adding up. :)

One other note about BigCrumbs, which I meant to mention in the AuctionBytes article that I did (but didn't because I didn't think to ask until later): if you just go to the main site and join that way, they will simply randomly insert you into someone's referral system. In other words, there's no negative to using someone's referral link to join; it doesn't set you "farther back" in the system as it were.

Having said that, BigCrumbs discourages high-pressure tactics to get peopel to join. So I hope any mentions of BigCrumbs I make are seen as suggestions and not strong-arming. ;) Personaally I don't see a disadvantage to it, and as long as one is careful about about how and when one mention's one's referral link, i think it's a neat program. (Whew!).

thx again for reading!

Julia

~~~

 

*** end of Reader Mail **

 

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That's it for this issue. Until next time! - Julia

------------------

Questions about My eBooks Ordering

You can certainly purchase from me directly, as can anyone. Most of my ebooks are now available via the website's bookstore at www.yardsalers.net/bookstore. Any others you have questions about, all you have to do is email me and let me know which ebook(s) you want, if you are a subscriber and thus eligible for the discount, and then PayPal me to my PayPal id at juliawilk@aol.com. I'll be tweaking and updating the ebooks page on my web site soon.

-----------------------------------------------

Do you have a Flip of the Week? I'd love to hear about it! Email me at juliawilk@aol.com and let me know.

Way Cool Features in eBay Desktop

I've just started playing around with eBay Desktop, the new, well, desktop app from eBay. It's substantially improved the eBay browsing experience, I think.

Here are a couple of my favorite things so far:

- When you click an item from the search results list, now you can see the whole search list on the left side of the screen while you're viewing the actual item. This makes it a lot easier to navigate in and out of items on a search results list. Before, the whole list would disappear, and you'd have to root out the "Back to list of items" link to get back to the search results to keep browsing.

For example, here's a pair of boots I was looking at. You can see the list of results on the left still as you view the item.

<--  You can see the list still to the left of the item. (Yes, I know there are some men's boots in there).

(Click on the photo to enlarge it).

Another thing I really like is their search/watch feeds. You can add items to your watch list and the feed will continually update when items meeting those criteria are listed. For the collector who wants to keep a close eye on when anything new he or she is looking for is listed, or get a jump on a good Buy It Now before someone else does, say, this feature is a boon.

More on eBay Desktop (based on Adobe Air technology) as I continue to play with it.

A shout out to Alan Lewis at eBay who keeps me posted on eBay Desktop.

Page Watches Percentage Change in Auction Sites Usage

Here's a link a lot of eBay sellers have been checking frequently during the boycott week:

http://db.powersellersunite.com/auctionsitewatch.php/

It shows the percentage change in the number of listings on different auction and selling sites at different points throughout the day. At the top you can also see a chart of the activity on eBay for each day of the boycott week.

eBay's Striking Sellers and Petitions, Feb. 18-25

I received the below letter the other day about the eBay strike. Some sellers are boycotting listing on eBay next week (Feb 18-25) to protest the new feedback and other policies (sellers can no longer leave negative feedback for buyers).

I'm not sure what's going to happen. I personally am not going to strike, though I am not thrilled about the new feedback policy. With the new fees, I suspect sellers will have to adjust their business plans accordingly so they can make enough money to make it worth their while.

But..it should be interesting to see what happens next week. eBay and others have seen talk of these things before, to not much difference. Will this one be different?

Below is the letter (I made some edits for clarity).

--

"The stock holders WILL FEEL THIS, maybe not today, but they will.

 

"E-commerce Giant Ebay faces largest protest to date, Ebay  Boycott Feb 18-25, due to implimentation of new policy and fee hike that will eliminate the small sellers.

 

"Sellers stripped of the ability to rate transactions in the feedback system,  while allowing buyers to continue (that's right buyers can rate sellers -- sellers unable to do the same). Buyers can rate their transactions Pos -Net- or Neg plus grade seller in 4 categories of preformance.

Seller are NOT ALLOWED  to rate the buyers. ONLY POSITIVE feeback is permitted for buyers!!

 

"Ebay's ....company PayPal implementing new policy by which they can hold payments made to a seller for up to 21 days-as they "DEEM" necessary! No details provided!

 

"Below are 2 petitions that carry 30,000 member signature opposed to these changes.

 

"Ebay and PayPal have turned a deaf hear to thousands of sellers on whose backs Ebay became the giant it is.

 

"I have personally talked to 100's of sellers have already registered with different auction sites.

We need this to [be] heard, we need this brought to public."

 

http://www.petitiononline.com/mod_perl/signed.cgi?ebayfee

 

http://www.petitiononline.com/mod_perl/signed.cgi?FVF

 

http://money.cnn.com/2008/01/31/smbusiness/ebay_fee_hike.fsb/

 

http://money.cnn.com/2008/02/07/smbusiness/ebay_boycott.fsb/