The Queen of Auctions » eBay Selling Tips

Are Coffee Mugs Trash or Treasure?

Lynn Dralle — Thu, 08 Sep 2011 18:19:41 +0000

As I was prepping for EOL (eBay on Location in Florida) and my speaking engagement there, I started making a list of unusual things that I had sold recently.

I know that this is not a huge score, but the fact that it sold and sold for over $10 is very cool.

See the listing here.

I was thinking about some of the crazier coffee mugs I’ve sold. I remembered a Starbucks travel coffee mug that I had sold for over $20 during the summer of 2006. Who knew? I had originally learned of the non-vintage coffee mug potential during my first eBay Boot Camp that was held in Palm Springs in 2006–Thanks CJ!

Starbucks Bas Relief World Map Travel Coffee Mug

that sold for a little over $20!

And, in More 100 Best Things I’ve Sold on eBay Money Making Madness, I discuss a coffee mug that originally came from my grandmother’s kitchen cabinet. Now, I knew this coffee mug had potential because it was vintage and jadeite. Here is that excerpt from the book with story #49.

The Story

I have never had a cup of coffee in my life. OK, I take that back. I had one cup of coffee in Paris in 1985, and it was laced with brandy. It was snowing, I was freezing, and my friends Juliette and Vicki said it would warm me up. It did warm me up, but I still can’t stand the taste of coffee. Instead, I drink about six Diet Cokes every day to get my dose of caffeine.

It’s funny, but I didn’t realize where I learned NOT to drink coffee until I was writing this story. This jadeite green coffee mug was in my grandmother’s kitchen cupboard for years and years. It finally dawned on me that my grandmother NEVER drank coffee. No wonder I had no desire to try it or like it. I was following the lead of my favorite role model.

Anyway, I inherited it in one of my boxes. I thought one coffee mug was never going to sell for very much, but decided to do some research anyway. I knew it was jadeite by Fire King. Fire King was a group of ovenproof lines launched by Anchor Hocking in the early 1940s. Jadeite was named for its green color, which resembled jade; it became a signature item of the Fire King line. When I got on eBay, I found that these are super collectible. Three of the jadeite coffee mugs together had recently sold for $100! Each mug’s handle curve is named for different letters of the alphabet–there are “c” and “d” curves. I guessed that mine was a “c” handle.

I put it on eBay with all of that information in the title. I started the bidding at $9.99 (my usual) and couldn’t believe it when it got ten bids and sold for $36. It was shipped to Japan and the buyer paid $14 more for airmail shipping. My grandmother would have laughed and laughed over this one. She would have gotten such a kick out of it!

Another thing that she would have gotten a big kick out of was that she and I were appearing in an article in the Antique Trader that very same week. I had interviewed Sharon Korbeck, the editor of the Antique Trader, for my McGraw Hill book, and she thought that my grandmother and I would make a great story. It was written in the spring of 2004 and published at the end of July.

The Antique Trader was my grandmother’s favorite magazine; she read it faithfully cover to cover every week. She would have been thrilled to pieces to be featured in this publication. I now include this wonderful article in each box that I ship out to my eBay buyers. I have heard such nice comments from my customers. Things like, “The article adds such a personal touch,” and, “I feel like I know you and your grandma!” I’ll bet they don’t know that neither of us ever drank coffee!

If you liked that story, you will love all of my 100 Best Things I’ve Sold Books. Click here to learn more.

Another type of coffee mug that I have had successes with is anything Disney. Check out this Large Cheshire Cat Coffee Mug that I bought for $1.50 at my favorite thrift store and sold for nearly $15.00

When you are shopping your thrift stores and garage sales, do not overlook the coffee mug sections. I think there are a lot of sleepers to be found in this arena. (By the way, a sleeper is what my grandmother used to call a bargain-–just waiting to be found!)

I have always told you to be wary of cups and saucers (they just don’t sell as well anymore) and the trend is just what this article is about–coffee mugs are the collectible item replacing the teacup and saucer collectibles of yesteryear.

As I was doing my research (last two weeks completed auctions on eBay), here are some more types to be watching for…

A Bazooka Bubble Gum Fire King mug sold for $129.05!
A Snoopy Red Baron Fire King mug sold for $99.00!
A Burger King Fire King mug sold for $91.00!
A Google Coffee mug featuring Dilbert for $41.72!

And a few more shout out scores from the Queen’s Court. Thank you QC!

Here is an email from Mandy,

Hi Lynn

I’ve been on a Swedish kick this week!! ALWAYS BUY SWEDISH anything!

Here is an Eames Era Stainless & Teak mug made in Sweden I found in GW for 1.99 & sold at auction with 3 bids and it ended at…Click here to find out! I started it at 24.95 thinking it was pretty good!

Mandy

Mandicrafts

Here is another email from Mandy,

Hi Lynn,

You specifically asked for Taylor & Ng & I had this one sell in July at auction for $89.88. I’d found it at Re-Use It for .25 cents. Cobalt horse CHEVAL from 1979 (original).

See the listing here.

I know Reta posted a score recently for a Taylor & Ng original too, & a different design.

Mandy

Mandicrafts

Wow! I got so many wonderful emails from other QC members. I couldn’t add them all as I have to speak tomorrow morning at 5 am my time…so watch for more QC scores in the near future.This has been so much fun. OK one more. This one is from Victoria…

This one is pretty cool for it’s history, and for my own personal link to the family

Paid 49 cents, sold for $21.87 to a buyer in Canada.

The Roy Roger’s Victorville museum — near Roy and Dale’s retirement ranch in Apple Valley, CA — was very popular with Roy’s movie fans, but is probably best known for the fact that Roy’s horse, Trigger, was stuffed and displayed there, as was Dale’s horse Buttermilk, and Roy’s German Shepherd, Bullet. Roy’s son Dusty (Roy Jr.) closed the museum in 2003 and relocated it to Branson, Missouri, where it was run by his son Dustin. The museum did poorly there, and was permanently closed in December 2009. The museum’s contents were auctioned by Christies in 2010, and Trigger was purchased by an Omaha TV station for $266,500.

I met Roy & Dale several times in the late 1970s, when I was working with Roy’s daughter Cheryl (and her husband and their 4 children) in Los Angeles. During the 2 years I worked with Cheryl, I attended many family activities, as well as her youngest daughter’s wedding. Roy and Dale were both extremely gracious, and Roy was an absolute hoot to talk with on virtually any subject. I have an old photo of myself standing next to Trigger, but have absolutely no idea where it is after all these years.

You can see this listing here.

-Victoria

Kitchen-Kitsch

Auction Girl Vintage

By the way, the QC came through for this ezine. They went out of their way to help me and I LOVE THEM. I will post more of their scores in upcoming ezine (as long as they approve…thanks QCers).

Bottom line: Try anything in a unique or fun coffee mug. They are usually cheap–25 cents to $1.00–and I don’t think you can miss! And remember, even if it doesn’t sell at auction, move it into your eBay store at $9.99 and I bet it will eventually sell!

Happy eBaying!

Lynn

Visit my eBay Store.

Visit my eBay auctions.

For more great eBay tips and stories, visit my web site at:

http://www.thequeenofauctions.com

WANT TO USE THIS ARTICLE IN YOUR EZINE OR ON YOUR WEBSITE? Yes, you may – just as long as you include all links as they are and append this complete blurb with it: The Queen of Auctions and eBay Power Seller, Lynn Dralle, publishes ‘eBay Tips & Tricks’ a weekly ezine with 10,000+ subscribers. If you’re ready to jump start your eBay business, make more money and have more time, get your FRE E tips now at www.thequeenofauctions.com

My Favorite Art Potters – Moorcroft, Mideke and Rookwood

Lynn Dralle — Fri, 26 Aug 2011 14:15:25 +0000

When I started writing this article, I realized that these are my favorite art potters, but really this article should have been titled, My Grandmother’s Favorite Art Potters. These are her top three by far! Isn’t it amazing what we learn from our elders? But I never looked at my grandmother as an elder, more like an amazing friend and mentor. I miss her a lot and so does the rest of my family. I hope that I can make that same impact on my kids and hopefully grandkids. Carpe Diem.

So lets get back on track and learn about my grandmother’s three favorite art potters!

Moorcraft

My grandmother always loved Moorcroft pottery. It was not easy to find and she only ever had two pieces. One was this small pitcher or cruet that she had bought in England.

Sometimes on rainy days we would take a break from pricing and she would show me her collections. She was telling me about this Moorcroft piece on one such day and I told her how beautiful I thought it was. She said, “You like it, it’s yours.” “Grandma, you give me far too many things.” “No, I want you to have it,” she said. “Don’t say another word.” She got one of the little scrap cards that were always around and wrote “Property of Lynn Dralle” and taped it to the base. We usually left the things that she gave us in her home in her cupboards so that she could still enjoy them. But we knew that they were now ours.

When my grandmother started in the antiques business in the 1940s, there weren’t a lot of written materials available to help dealers learn about their wares. Antiques reference guides were few and far between. One of the ways my grandmother acquired some of her knowledge was by reading antiques magazines like Hobbies and Antiques Dealer. One of her favorites in later years was the Antique Trader. We bought and sold many things through this great publication. She would cut out any pertinent advertisements or articles and place them inside the items they referred to. This Moorcroft pitcher had one of those little scraps of paper tucked inside. It was a clipping from the Antique Trader in 1990 which listed a Moorcroft vase for sale for $1,010, so we knew the pitcher was a good piece.

Moorcroft was originally founded in 1897 in England as a studio within a larger company, Macintyre Potteries. The designer was 24-yearold William Moorcroft, who soon began to sign or initial each piece of pottery he produced. This did little for the Macintyre company, and in 1912 William Moorcroft went out on his own. He began making his most popular “Pomegranate” ware around 1914. Queen Mary collected his pottery, and in 1928 he was named “Potter to the Queen.” He passed away in 1945 and control of the company went to his son, Walter. The company is still in business and their pottery is fabulous.

I decided to sell this piece and found that it had the script signature of the actual William Moorcroft! The other piece my grandmother had was just signed with a stamped signature. I knew this made it a great piece and I put it on with a $499 reserve. It sold for $1,092 and went back to Great Britain. We got more than she had thought it was worth in 1990. She would have been happy!

Mideke

Several years ago I sold a Mideke coffee mug that I found at a Goodwill in Cathedral City for almost $50, When My mom saw that, she decided to sell some of her Mideke pieces. Here is one of those pieces. A lovely bowl that I remember being in our house when I was growing up.

This sold for a lot of money.

With all these Mideke pieces being talked about, I decided that it would be a great time to do an article about Louis Mideke and his wife Jean, who was also a potter.

I grew up hearing about Mideke and what a fan of his work was my grandmother! She often bought pieces from his studio. They were friends and both had their businesses located off of Sunset Drive in Bellingham, Washington. I don’t think I ever met Louis but from what I have read about him, he was quite the character…just like my Grandmother!

I had moved back to Bellingham in 1993 to run my grandmother’s shop and one day in 1994 we got a phone call from Robin Reynolds, owner of The Good Earth Pottery in the Fairhaven area of Bellingham. Louis Mideke had passed away in 1989 and Jean in 1993. When the estate was closed in 1993, hundreds of pieces were found throughout the attic, house and grounds. A small selection was reserved for museum donations and the larger selection was purchased by Robin and sold at the Good Earth Pottery. After about a year of handling the pieces, Robin wanted to sell the entire collection.

Off went my Grandmother and I to see Robin. We ended up buying what remained, about 200 pieces. There was nothing that made my Grandmother happier than spending money–on stock for the store! As we packed up box after box, Robin mentioned that she had put together a packet of articles about Louis and Jean and that she had worked on it with Louis’s son Michael. Robin gave us this packet to hand out to anyone that purchased the Mideke pieces now located at Cheryl Leaf Antiques.

Line sketch of Louis Mideke done in 1958

When I decided to write this article, I searched all over my office for those papers. Couldn’t find them anywhere. How was I going to write this one? I got on Google, but couldn’t find much of anything about the Midekes. I decided to start cleaning my office–about time anyway—and there on a shelf was the pile of articles!!! Yippeeee!!!

I immediately tracked down Robin Reynolds who now lives in North Dakota and asked her permission to share all this wonderful information with you and she said, “Of course!” She said that we should also credit Michael Mideke with helping to draft the articles and the timeline. Robin is a very talented artist and now works with the clays in North Dakota. Check out her amazing web site here NDClay.com.

So here we go….Courtesy of Robin Reynolds and Michael Mideke

This first section was written by Robin Reynolds in 1993:

Jean Mideke 1911-1993

Louis Mideke 1908-1989

Many Whatcom County residents knew Jean and Louis Mideke as an extraordinary couple who made many valuable contributions to the art and life of our community. In 1981 Louis was honored as a “living treasure” by the Municipal Arts Commission in Bellingham, Washington as a potter whose work was characterized by his use of local materials; distinctive, utilitarian, and elegant.

Jean Mideke’s early work sculpting clay and jewelry fabrication culminated in a later period of lost-wax bronze birds and jewelry of exceptional quality. Perhaps less productive than Louis, Jean “subsidized” the pottery until her retirement from teaching in the mid-1960s. “Although Jean and Louis worked independently,” says their son, Michael, “they almost always worked cooperatively, constantly providing each other with critical and technical support.” The Midekes closed their Sunset Drive showroom in 1985 and announced the pottery was sold out.

I was an apprentice potter when I met the Midekes in 1980, not long before the eruption of Mt. St. Helens. The following years of “shop-talk”, exchange of St. Helens glaze formulas, and socializing seem balanced in my favor as I recall the combined effect of the Mideke’s sharp humor, opinions, and philosophic gems. Their generosity stands in contrast to Louie’s (as everyone called him) reputation for crustiness. In her Living Treasure Tribute speech, former Arts Commissioner, Marian Boylan related, “Louis is like a good loaf of sourdough bread; crusty on top and soft as a marshmallow inside….leavened by many years of hard work and mellowed by the gentleness of his temperament and soul.” Perhaps he was not unlike what he found true in pottery; that a round pot has many sides.

“Early in his career,” according to Michael Mideke, “Louis entered pieces in shows and won some honors, but this aspect of the “Art” business did not appeal to him. He felt pottery should be useful, beautiful to see and touch, and accessible to the people. As in everything he did, Louis was a self-educated potter. He gathered his inspiration from books and museums, grounding himself in a tradition that was predominantly oriental.”

Louis used local materials as both clay bodies and glaze ingredients for endless experimentation and record keeping. He also believed his pottery ought to be smooth enough to sit on the finest mahogany surface without scratching, according to his former student and friend, Bob Jeffcott, who also said Lou believed one pot in a thousand was museum quality.

Once he got started, pottery dominated the rest of Louis’ working life. But he was never exclusively a potter, since he continued to work in metal and wood. Louis’ health became increasingly fragile from the mid-1970s and during the 1980s arthritis began to hamper his wheel work. Eventually this, in conjunction with the demands of firing, became more than he could manage and pottery production ceased.

Perhaps understanding the Mideke legacy is better navigated in an answer given by Shoji Hamada, world-renowned potter, when he was asked how he felt when one of his pots was accidentally broken or otherwise lost. He replied, “What is important is not how you feel when you have or see the pot, it is in what remains when the pot is gone.”

1993 Robin Reynolds www.ndclay.com

Robin and I discussed Louis’ signatures and we think that the one with the tree was one of the earliest. Sorry, I don’t have a photo. Also remember that he didn’t always sign his wood or metal pieces.

Then came the MIDEKE block stamp as shown here on the base of my favorite Mideke vase.

Cross vase and signature.

Then came the Mideke script signature as shown here.

His real autograph!

Chronological Notes–Robin Reynolds and Michael Mideke

Louis Mideke

1908 Born in Grandview, Washington to a farming family.

1923-1940 Keeps a diary, honing his skills as a writer. Photography another active pursuit in Washington and later in Alaska. The surviving snapshots reveal a sensitive eye and a solid sense of design.

Circa 1927 Comes to Bellingham. Meets the Hibners. Works Northwest jobs: mills, fields, sheep ranches, steamers and forest fire fighting. Dreamed of Alaska and announced a determination to be his own man.

1929-1930 Heads North. Later to call these his “energetic years.” Homesteads in SW Alaska, a year on Glacier Bay, runs the length of the Yukon River in a rowboat, works for the Lammers Exploration Company, and dredges gold around the Arctic Circle. Comes south winters and gravitates to Bellingham and his ten year correspondence and courtship of Jean Hibner.

1938 Marries Jean Hibner.

1938-1940 They go north. Jean working as cook for a small mining camp where Louis was foreman.

WWII Bremerton, WA. Works as a shipbuilder; instructor-welder.

1943 Son, Michael, born.

1947 Family moves to Bellingham. Louis was still off on occasional expeditions with Lammers, but they grew shorter and more local–Wyoming, Idaho, California and British Colombia.

1948 Buys the Sunset Drive property. Louis immediately sets to work improving the place and putting in a garden. But “work” was no fun and money scarce, and in the evenings he whittled whimsical things by the fireplace.

1950 Gets his hands in clay and once he got started, pottery dominated the rest of Louis’ working life. His work in metal and wood continues, and from time to time his excursions into metal left the wheel briefly idle. First studio in the laundry room.

My metal mideke lamp.

1951 Wins the L.T. Butler award for excellence at the Northwest Craftsmen’s Show in Portland Oregon.

Peter Volkous invites him to work in Montana at the Archie Bray Foundation, but unthinkable for the solitary worker to join the “Wildman” at the Bray scene.

Beginning with commercial clays, he quickly shifted to local clays…from natural inclination and to save money. This step dictated the development of locally based glazes.

1953 Converts an elderly chicken house into a studio. Fires wares in a small electric kiln.

1954 Sales shop open for business.

Wins Clay Purchase Award, Henry Gallery, University of Washington, Seattle. Northwest Craftsmen’s Exhibition.

Continues to work with local materials. Midrange electric firing vitrified clay bodies.

1964 Meets Bob Jeffcott and uses trapline clay from Jeffcott’s tile plant near Everson, WA.

1965 High fire, reduction kiln (gas) installed at Jeffcott’s allowing him to work in porcelain and stoneware. Although commercial clay bodies, local materials continued to play a significant role in his work. Commercial bodies allowed him more time making pots than he’d previously spent processing local clays.

1967 Moved kiln to the backyard at Sunset Drive.

Mid 1970s His health increasingly fragile.

1974 Retrospective show at the Whatcom Museum of History and Art in Bellingham, WA.

1981 Designated a “living treasure” by the Municipal Arts Commission, Bellingham, WA.

Arthritis hampers his wheel work.

1985 Business at Sunset Drive closes in March

1989 Dies, survived by wife, Jean, son, and two grandchildren.

1993 Jean dies, survived by her son, one sister, and two grandchildren.

Here is another piece of Mideke that my mom

sold on eBay.

This next interesting quote comes from an article written by Mary Kay Becker for “Northwest Passage” in November of 1971….

“Though his work has been exhibited and sold from coast to coast, you might live a long time in Whatcom County without knowing of him. “I don’t beat a very big drum,” he told us. A small sign almost hidden by shrubbery marks the location of his home and backyard workshop (open Wednesday thru Saturdays) at 1906 E. Sunset Drive. Visitors interested in high quality pottery can there observe the process as well as the product.

Hanging on the wall as you go in is a handmade poster, sent to Mideke by a “fancier” in Greenwich Village and inscribed with a quotation from Hawthorn: “Men are earthen jugs with spirits in them.” Here, in the front of the shop, the finished pots are for sale – a few shelves of pitchers, bowls, cups and jugs. In back is the work area where squarish lumps of grey Washington clay the unfired beginnings of the pots emerge whirling and wet. Under the guidance of Mideke’s hands and tools, necks are narrowed, lips flare out, and eccentric contours are smoothed into symmetry. Fingers as well as eyes find a feast here.

Mideke’s setup includes three wheels, a large and a small kiln, and row upon row of glass jars containing the materials from which he compounds his own glazes, experimenting frequently find new effects. An old favorite is the crackle pattern produced by shrinking of the glaze around the pot during firing, the basics techniques for which were perfected by the Chinese a thousand years ago……

His own total production he estimates in the neighborhood of 100,000 –”more than there’s room for in Whatcom County, I guess”. Outlets in Seattle and Berkeley have spread his pottery far and wide. Some he has seen reappear in second-hand stores, and once his signature was found on some shards of pottery that washed up on the beach.”

Wouldn’t Louis Mideke be surprised at how well his pottery is still selling and that it is being traded worldwide (mostly due to eBay)!

I really hope my sister’s pieces of Mideke sell for a small fortune. Here is a link to what she has for sale on eBay today.

Rookwood

Back in 2009 I was at an estate sale. I had bought a few things and was getting ready to leave when I spotted a beautiful vase in the garage. It obviously had lived a pretty hard life and had held a lot of flowers over the years, but there was just something about it that drew me closer.

Here is a close up of the vase.

My grandmother always said you can tell quality and this was quality. Cheryl Leaf also used to say, “If it was a quality piece when it was made, it will be a quality piece 100 years from now.” My grandmother only collected quality items and when I saw this vase, I just knew it could have been something I would have seen in one of her cabinets growing up.

I turned over the vase (which was marked $5) and couldn’t believe it when I saw the Rookwood signature. I immediately got goosebumps.

Here is a picture of that signature.

The Rookwood Pottery signature is a Backwards R attached to a P–called their monogram signature. You can date a piece of Rookwood by looking at the candle flames above the signature and also looking for a roman numeral incised into the base.

The monogram signature was first used in 1886 (but remember the company was founded in 1880), and a flame was added around the symbol every year after until 14 flames were there and it was 1900. From 1900 on, the year was incised in the base in Roman numerals. I could tell from my signature that because there were 14 flames and a roman numeral IX (nine) that this piece was from 1909. Wow! As I write this article, that vase is exactly 100 years old!

I think my Grandma is helping me out with my writer’s block this week for many reasons. The first reason is her saying that “a quality item is quality when made and will still be quality 100 years from now!” And the fact that Rookwood was started and owned by a woman named Maria Longworth Nichols. Maria began the business in an old schoolhouse that her father bought for her and she named it Rookwood after her family’s country estate.

Maria was one of the high society women in Cincinnati, Ohio who in the late 1800s painted china blanks as a hobby. Rookwood started out as a sanctuary in 1880 for talented artistic women but soon turned into a well respected business. Rookwood was one of the first companies in America to be owned and operated by a woman. My grandmother was also a pioneer like Maria and was one of the first women to own and operate her own antiques store back in 1950.

After 1914, Rookwood began marking their pieces with the color or type of clay. Examples: P stood for soft porcelain, S for a special piece, Z for a matte glaze and a V for Vellum glazes. A trial piece was marked with a T and seconds were marked with an X. My piece was earlier than 1914, so did not have any of these marks.

Shape numbers and size letters were also used over the years. The style number of my vase was 952 and the Size was an E. The Sizes ranged from A being the largest to F being the smallest, so my vase was the second to the smallest size in this cylindrical shape.

Artist’s ciphers (or signatures) were found on the best pieces and the cipher on mine appeared to be a CE. Could it possibly stand for Cheryl Eldonna (my grandmother’s first and middle names)? Couldn’t name any of my kids that middle name–that is for sure!

Anyway, the CE that I could make out turned out to really be a CS that stood for Caroline Frances Steinle (Carrie). She was one of Rookwood’s famous artists (although it started out with just women, many men were eventually employed by the company). The famous Rookwood artists would sign their pieces differently. Some incised on the base like Carrie, and other signed with their initials within the pattern on the side of the piece.

Pretty fascinating isn’t it?

I knew that my grandmother had only ever been able to buy two pieces of Rookwood in her 50 years of being in the business and that those two pieces stayed in her private collection. (Strange but just like Moorcroft…only two pieces) and I have already found one of each maker…I may beat her record.

My grandmother loved quality and apparently so do I. I also knew that Rookwood pieces in perfect condition could sell in the $1,000 range. As you can see from this close up shot, my vase had definitely been used to hold flowers and from the earlier photo–it had quite a bit of crazing. I knew this vase wasn’t going to sell in the $1,000 range.

I did my research but didn’t feel comfortable listing it without knowing more. I decided to pay for an online appraisal. There are many companies offering these now and I think they are a really neat idea. I took my photos, did my write up and sent off the info with my $11.95 Paypal payment. Then I sat around and twiddled my thumbs. Just kidding, I got back to listing other stuff on eBay but I have to admit, I couldn’t wait to see what the appraiser had to say.

The appraisal came by email the next day. I had already figured out most of it and it didn’t really tell me anything else about the piece. What I was really paying for was the valuation. I wanted to know what I should start this auction at and if I should use a reserve.

I was a little disappointed when the appraisal came in with the value at $100 IF IN PERFECT condition. Well, I didn’t agree and that is why I wrote this article—you have to trust your gut reaction. I went with my instinct and started the auction at $99.00. I think you will all be very surprised to see what it ended up selling for.

Score! Sold for $305.00!

I still value the $12 I spent on the appraisal because it did help me establish a starting price and it made me feel confident that anything I got over the $99 starting bid price was gravy. I got quite a bit of gravy from this vase!!!

Also, the appraiser was very nice, and said that she, “would love to go shopping with me.” I bet she would! And those of you who are attending Live eBay Boot Camp this year (yes it is 2011!) will get that chance to go shopping with me. Can’t wait!

The appraiser also said that the pottery works is now the Rookwood Pottery Restaurant. We both agreed that this is a very sad ending to one of America’s top makers of fine quality art pottery.

You see once Maria Longworth Nichols married (she became Mrs. Bellamy Storer, Jr) she lost interest in the business. Fortunately, she had hired a very talented manager, William Watts Taylor in 1883 and he was responsible for Rookwood being sold in stores like Tiffany and other fine department stores. While many of the pieces were done by famous artists like my Carrie Steinle vase, Rookwood eventually employed 225 workers that made production pieces. These are not typically worth as much as one with a well known artist’s signature.

Rookwood also became very famous for their architectural tile. The Great Depression (less discretionary income) is what really brought down the company and in 1941 they filed for bankruptcy. Many people tried to save the company, but Rookwood closed their doors in 1960. The original molds were purchased by a Michigan dentist in 1983.

Even though Rookwood is no longer in business, just like my grandmother’s antique store, the legacy of both women lives on.

My Grandma

I hope that you find a piece of Rookwood pottery in your treasure hunting!

I know that by putting this article out there, some of you are going to come across pieces by these and other amazing companies. I can’t wait to hear your art pottery scores! Don’t overlook antique pottery, even with crazing. When you see well-done art pottery, you get a feeling that it was made by a master. Follow your instincts!

Happy eBaying!

Lynn

Visit my eBay Store.

Visit my eBay auctions.

For more great eBay tips and stories, visit my web site at:

http://www.thequeenofauctions.com

Following Your Instincts When Sourcing

Lynn Dralle — Fri, 05 Aug 2011 20:27:08 +0000

I have had some incredible sourcing successes lately and I wanted to share my five top tips for following your instincts when out in the field.

1. A flashback to a Childhood memory

When I pick up something at an estate sale or garage sale and it reminds me of my childhood and it is cheap. I buy it!

My grandmother taught me that we are all trying to rebuy our childhoods. We all want to relive those idyllic days, don’t we? Today as I sit in the dugout (because it is pouring rain during the Colorado tournament) writing this, I am amazed at how much fun the boys are having. I am also amazed that the coaches are letting us sit here. This will probably never happen again!

But back to the boys, someday, these boys will want to rebuy these golden days. Now that we are in the 2010s, the baby boomers have money and are trying to rebuy their childhoods. So think about those toys that were popular 20, 30 and 40 years ago.

Here is an example of an item I bought for 50 cents a while ago that totally reminded me of my childhood. It’s a Wham-O Magic Window. It sold for a lot of money! Over 100 times what I paid for it. You can read about it in story number 59 in The 3rd 100 Best, Ka-Ching!

2. You recall that people collect these items

My friends Lori and Lou (Indy’s best friend Paige’s parents) collect a lot of things! Their house is decorated amazingly well with antiques and collectibles. When you are in their house you don’t feel like it is overrun with their collections. It is very tastefully done. My grandmother always taught me that if you were going to collect and invest in antiques, you should enjoy your collections and display them.

So, as I was turning that pink and white paperweight over at the estate sale to check it out more closely, my mind went to the collection of paperweights that Lou and Lori display on an antique organ in one of their hallways.

And I also remembered that my Grandmother loved loved loved paperweights and also collected them. FYI paperweights were made to hold down the paper items on your desk to keep them from flying away in the breeze. It is amazing to me that over the years this utilitarian item has become a work of art–but only in certain cases–like mine!

Also, pink was my grandmother’s favorite color. How could I pass up a rare pink and white paperweight? Funny thing was, I didn’t realize it was rare until much later. Once again, I was following my gut instinct.

Most millefiore (it means thousands of flowers) paperweights are colorful–often in primary colors. It didn’t dawn on me until the emails starting coming in that there was something very rare about a pink and white paperweight.

Here is another photo of the paperweight. My original title was Vintage Paperweight Venetian Millefiore Italy RARE Art Glass. As you can tell, I really knew nothing about it. It didn’t even turn out to be Italian!

Here is the first question I received about an hour after listing the paperweight.

“Will you please end this listing and accept my offer of $150?”

I replied that, “No, I can’t end this auction early as I have had too much interest and don’t want to upset my customers. Thanks. Lynn”

Then this email came in the next morning from a different eBayer. (There are some real nice people on eBay, aren’t there?)

“I just want to let you know that this is a rare paperweight and people are going to ask you to shut down the auction early and accept offers. I recommend that you don’t do this.”

I asked that eBayer why it might be rare and here is their response.

Dear thequeenofauctions,

I think it may have been made by the Gillinder Glass Company in Pennsylvania around the 1860s or 1870s.

Wow! With that info I was able to change both my title and description since there were no bids. If you can believe it, I started this auction at only $24.99!

New title and description:

OLD Glass Millefiori Paperweight RARE Pink Gillinder

Vintage Art Glass Millefiori Paperweight. This piece has some damage as can be seen in the photos and described below. We have been told that this is most likely an American Art Glass Paperweight by Gillinder Pennsyvlania and done in the 1860’s to 1870’s. 2 1/2″ by 2 5/8″ tall. 6 BRUISES and nicks to inside of glass. Could be popped bubbles on the inside. CHIP on base. Pink and white with clear glass. Neat piece. Shelf WS.

With my gut instinct to always buy what people collect, all that great info from eBayers, and my ability to change the listing, my $12 investment turned into over $400 with just 6 bids. Amazing!

3. Less than $50–but use your own judgment and have your own floor limit

OK folks, yes I have upped my floor limit. I don’t do $5 anymore, I don’t even do $10 nor $20. I will spend up to $50 on a whim WITHOUT research. You will have to decide on your own your limit of how much you will spend, but for me, I have raised mine to $50.

Here is an item that I invested $25.00 in to buy quite a few months ago. They were new-in-box Harley Davidson boots. Why not? I had to hold them for a while in my eBay store but they just sold this week for a nice return.

You can see this listing here.

4. Unique

When I see something that is so unusual that I have never seen anything like it before and the price is right, I will buy it quickly.

Unique, unusual, or strange is always worth buying and usually sells well on eBay. I saw a set of three plush stuffed animal trophy heads at a garage sale this past December. They wanted $15 for the three. I thought that was a lot for them but I had never seen anything like these before. If you don’t think used plush sells on eBay you should really check out my teleseminars with Debbie Ybarra. Actually, I need to invite her back for an update.

Instant download Volume I, $19.95
Order here.

Instant download Volume II, $19.95
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In any event, used plush sells incredibly well and I just sold two of these trophy heads for $30 each (I paid $5 each) and this one sold a few days ago at a different price point. Seriously amazing!

See this listing here.

Batch Buying

Let’s go back to that amazing estate sale where I got the paperweight on a Sunday. On that same Sunday, I saw a set of 21 perfumes that had been marked $295.00. The man running the sale said that I could have them for $75.00.

Well, I love buying in bulk, I also know that perfumes are highly collectible and at an average of less than $4 per piece, this was a no brainer.

Here is the perfume collection that I got for $75.

Here is one of those 21 perfumes that sold already. With getting ready to go out of town and finish my move, I only listed one out of the entire set . Oh well, it sold for over $50. Almost paid for my entire purchase. Yay!

See the listing here.

And while sitting in the dugout during the rain in Denver, I got a couple more perfumes listed while writing the newsletter.

See this listing here.

I had to share this really wonderful view from the dugout. I will probably never be allowed to do this again. That is Houston #22 leaning against the fence and I love the rainbow behind them to the right.

Love the rainbow behind the boys!

Remember, if you follow my five top tips for following your instincts when out sourcing, you will be successful selling on eBay. And also remember, my grandmother taught me you make your money in the buying. If you buy right, you can hold your item and wait for the right final purchase price. Don’t be afraid to hold onto a wonderful item and get the highest price you can!

She also taught me that you can ALWAYS lower your price, but it is very difficult to raise it. I hope you find lots of rainbows after the rain and lots of great items to sell on eBay. I can’t wait to hit the four thrift stores I saw while driving around today. Wish me luck!

Happy eBaying!

Lynn

TRS and Removing Negatives

Lynn Dralle — Thu, 30 Jun 2011 14:49:18 +0000

I was going to be TRS (Top Rated Seller) by July 6th (my birthday) and I didn’t make it. I want you all to know that it is a difficult distinction to achieve and don’t EVER give up. Also, a huge congratulation to those of you who do have the honor of being Top Rated Sellers!

I spoke about this at the eBay Radio party as I felt that it was very important for the powers that be to hear how hard we work at it and that as sellers we do take it very seriously. But sometimes, we need a little extra help from eBay corporate.

If you can believe this, my DSR (Detailed Seller Ratings) have improved in every category except…Item As Described. How did that happen? Those DSRs actually got worse.

Here is a photo of my current DSRs.

I believe that to be a TRS, eBay should really be looking at the total ratings, the 4.9s and 4.8s that I have achieved in the past twelve months. I don’t think that they should be looking so harshly at those low 1s and 2s.

In the past three month’s rating period, I am being judged on 934 transactions. I got 10 1s and 2s in Item as Described which at 1.07% puts me in jeopardy of losing my premium eBay store (and we aren’t even discussing TRS yet).

You can have no more than 1.00% of 1s and 2s in the Item As Described category to be a premium store owner. You can have up to 2.0% in the other three categories and not be in jeopardy but Item As Described is looked at very seriously. And I do take it very seriously. I never misrepresent my items.

Losing my premium store would be a disaster to my bottom line. If I were demoted to a basic store, my insertion fees for a GUC (good until cancelled) listing would go from 5 cents per listing (I have over 6,000 listings) to 20 cents per listing. That translates from a current $300 per month fee to a $1200 per month fee. This got my attention!

I have to tell you that this did ALMOST happen to me several months ago when I got 20 1s and 2s in shipping time. I quickly got that fixed and to give eBay credit they do give you 60 days to get it taken care of before they demote your premium store to a basic store. So if this happens to any of you, don’t panic–you have some time.

Luckily, I got that fixed but now I was in a quandary. How do I fix item as described ASAP? I pulled up my recent feedback and I saw the culprit who had put me over the 1.00% level. I couldn’t believe who it was.

Remember that “eBay Deal of the Day” satellite radio docking system that I thought I was so smart to buy and resell?

See this listing here.

I had bought it before Christmas as an “eBay Deal of the Day” for $12.99, which included shipping. I sold it for over $20 plus $14.95 in s/h/I charges. Then I received an email from the buyer saying, “It looks used and you didn’t say in the description what systems it works with.” I could smell trouble. I immediately emailed and said:

I am very sorry about this. We did open it to answer some questions about the item for other customers. It is brand new. I will immediately refund your entire purchase price with shipping and you can keep the item.

I refunded all his money that second, including s/h/i. The guy still left me negative feedback. Are you kidding?

So, I decided I would go in and ask him to revise his feedback rating.

Here is the link the the customer support page. Type in ‘revise feedback’ and follow the links to check and see if you are eligible to ask for feedback revisions. eBay has a limit on these based on your total transactions and how many days ago the feedback was left.

Here is what that screen looks like.

I had already asked for him to revise his feedback, so on the screen capture above, it shows that currently I am not eligible to have any feedback revised.

It turned out that the buyer was nice enough to revise the feedback. What a relief! Here is what his new and revised feedback reads.

When I saw that he had revised it, I quickly went to my seller dashboard to make sure that the low 1 or 2 was taken away from my Item as Described DSR. Guess what? It was still there. Not cool! I was very vocal about this at eBay radio last week. I truly believe that if a buyer revises his feedback to a positive based on a seller going the extra mile that the low 1 or 2 DSR should also be retracted.

In any event, those low 1s and 2s in Item as Described will be falling off soon and I should be fine in the next evaluation period (end of this month).

Let’s also look at my numbers in relation to TRS.

As you can see, the only category that I qualify for Top Rated Seller is in communication (you have to be at .50% or less in all 4 categories). I am very close in shipping time and not too bad in shipping and handling charges either. So, to end on a positive note, we are making progress! YAY! I will continue to work with my buyers to make eBay a very positive place for them to purchase and I know that you are all doing the same!

Happy eBaying!

Lynn

Visit my eBay Store.

Visit my eBay auctions.

For more great eBay tips and stories, visit my web site at:
http://www.thequeenofauctions.com

A Five-Point Plan to Fix Your Workflow Bottleneck

Lynn Dralle — Thu, 09 Jun 2011 14:47:35 +0000

Originally Published in November of 2006…still makes sense today!

When my mom and I took a look at my workflow setup in my home back in 2006 we realized that it had turned into a monster! It was literally out of control! I had known this for some time and was even considering leasing office space but decided at that point to make my home work.

As you probably know, four years later I did make the move into commercial office space and boy am I glad I did!

Here is that original article. I know you will learn from this.

My mom and I first analyzed our work areas (of which you should have 5). Please analyze your own work areas and draw a floor plan.

Staging Items to be Put on eBay

Writing up merchandise

Photographing area

Storing auction and store items

Shipping area

When I originally set up my rec room/eBay office (600 square feet) I was only handling about 200 items at a time. I did not have my eBay store going full force and our flow was just fine. As my eBay business grew and grew–(Now we handle about 4,000 items at auction and in our eBay store)–I realized that I had created a monster!

Check out the mess!

My Staging area for new merchandise was not in one place anymore. I had 3 large racks of new items in my rec room office, 5 boxes on the floor of my dining room and another 120 boxes in the garage.

My brother was visiting and said, “It has finally happened. You have become Grandma and your family is living in the antiques store.” Yikes! My worst nightmare. I knew then that something must be done and quickly.

My area for writing up merchandise (formerly a table in the rec room office) was now my dining room table.

My outdoor photography studio was still just perfect! A girl has to get lucky sometimes.

My storage area for items currently at auction or currently for sale in my eBay store was no longer in my rec room office. I still had items stored in the rec room office but also all over my golf cart garage and in an old empty freezer in the other half of my garage. Not a good thing!

My shipping area had slowly moved from inside the rec room office to the golf cart garage. Maureen was constantly running back and forth from the rec room office (where her computer was) to the golf cart garage. Now, my house is not small and this was taking hours of valuable time.

After doing an analysis of each work area, my mom and I came up with a Great Five-Point Plan. I encourage you to do the same for your work areas.

Staging area for new incoming merchandise would be moved out of the rec room office and out of my dining room and it will now take over the entire golf cart garage. This made perfect sense for us because when I come home from garage saling, I can just roll up the garage door and set the boxes inside on a super long table that we purchased.

Writing up merchandise will no longer be done at my dining room table. We are not living in an antiques store anymore–Thank Goodness! Writing up of merchandise will be done in the rec room office (where it belongs). We have designated three shelves and a work table for this task.

The Photographing station remains the same!

All inventory (either up at auction or listed in my eBay store) will be stored in the rec room office. To accomplish this, we knew that major changes would have to take place. I had my desk and computer and my assistant’s desk and computer in this area. We realized that my desk, all my reference books, my greeting card company items, and all my paperwork did NOT have to stay.

Because of my Dralle Method of listing items, I don’t have to be anywhere near the merchandise and I could actually list from another part of the house. The reason I had purchased such a large house (4,000 square feet) was so that I could work from home and be near my kids. We have 5 bedrooms and two of them were being used as guest rooms. Guess what? One of the guest rooms was soon to become my very own QUIET and clutter free office. What a revelation!

My mom and I started searching for office furniture and went all over town. It was quite pricey. There was an ad in our local paper for a beautiful 11 piece set but it was located in Yucca Valley and they wanted $3,500. Yucca Valley is about an hour away, so we called the gal and she sent photos and measurements. It appeared that it just may work. And I kept telling my mom, “I have a feeling about the Yucca Valley set”. Anyway, we ended up getting the set for $3,000 plus $50 delivery. As you can see from the photo, it was like the set was made for my room. I am so excited to be working in a clutter free “executive” zone. Life is great!

My new office

The shipping area had to move from the golf cart garage and we wanted it back inside in the rec room office with all the merchandise that was being shipped. Makes a lot of sense doesn’t it? To accomplish this, we got rid of a couch and added a long table in front of the hearth. My dad and brother were out visiting so we got them to help install our Packing Peanut Holder and a bar to hold bubble wrap. Check it out! It is an awesome improvement.

The new wrap station
(The pink stool in the photo came from my grandma and was a fixture in the shop for probably 50 years! It is dangerous–please don’t step on it!)

I encourage you to analyze your working areas and come up with your five-point plan for improvement. Saving hours every day in wasted footsteps can add up to a lot of money in your pocket. Good Luck to you!

Happy eBaying!

Lynn

Visit my eBay Store.

Visit my eBay auctions.

For more great eBay tips and stories, visit my web site at:
http://www.thequeenofauctions.com

WANT TO USE THIS ARTICLE IN YOUR EZINE OR ON YOUR WEBSITE? Yes, you may – just as long as you include all links as they are and append this complete blurb with it: The Queen of Auctions and eBay Power Seller, Lynn Dralle, publishes ‘eBay Tips & Tricks’ a weekly ezine with 10,000+ subscribers. If you’re ready to jump start your eBay business, make more money and have more time, get your FRE E tips now at www.thequeenofauctions.com

HQ Redo to Regain Top Seller Rating

Lynn Dralle — Thu, 05 May 2011 14:45:29 +0000

TRS (Top Rated Seller) status as an eBay seller is super important. It will become even more important after the eBay final value fee changes take effect on July 6th. To get a back office 20% discount off of your final value fees you MUST be a top Seller.

I have been writing and talking about TRS a lot lately because it is so important.

To achieve TRS status you must have a very small number of 1’s and 2’s given in your DSRs (Detailed Seller Ratings).

Here are the four things you are judged upon and the maxes by both number and percentage for TRS. You are only judged on max count if you do a small number of transactions. eBay is lenient with this and takes the larger number for your limit.

As an example, as of today, I have three for my three month total number in 1’s and 2’s for Item as described. If eBay was going by the max count (2), I wouldn’t be eligible for TRS. However, my percentage (out of total feedback left) is only .34% so I am eligible.

Max Percentage

Max Count

Item as Described

.50%

2

Communication

.50%

2

Shipping Time

.50%

2

Shipping and Handling Charges

.50%

2

Our TRS has been a struggle to obtain and maintain. Griff did mention on eBay radio this past Tuesday some fantastic news about maintaining TRS. He said that in the near future, once you have attained TRS, it will be harder than it is now to have it taken away. Thank Goodness!

Well, the category that really shut me down was shipping and handling time. We got 21 (yes I said twenty one) 1’s and 2’s in March in this ONE category and there are FOUR that we are judged upon. Yikes!

That was really a tough pill to swallow. With our super busy year putting on a huge event in Las Vegas (LOL), moving into HQ and trying to get organized, etc. we had let our quick shipping time erode.

Also, with me not dealing with emails and problems on the weekends (too much travel baseball and yard saling) customers were getting understandably upset. I am the same way when I buy on eBay. I want my questions and concerns answered within hours, not days. How you handle customers from that very first contact is going to highly affect the feedback that they leave you later on.

Also, as Lee Mirabel pointed out on our eBay radio interview on Tuesday, with the business out of my house I MUST schedule time to be at HQ. I can’t walk into the eBay room at any time of the day or night like before to weigh items, look for defects and deal with problems. Brilliant observation Lee!

So, what am I doing to regain TRS with my HQ Redo?

A.   Respond to problems immediately by scheduling time to be there every morning and every afternoon/evening. I try and make it there at least twice a day.

If there is an issue, (i.e. we can’t find something or we mixed up our shipments) we notify the customer immediately.

If you missed my ezine from last month that talks about mix ups and other customer service issues related to TRS you can read it here.

When we can’t find something, now I email immediately and say, “I am very sorry but we have been looking for your item and haven’t been able to locate it. We just moved our business into office space and the logistics of moving 10,000 listed items was difficult. If you would like us to continue looking we will be happy to do that and let you know within two days. If not, we will refund your money immediately. Thanks for understanding.”

I always say thanks for understanding at the end because how can someone not understand when you thank them ahead of time?

Here is an item that sold that we couldn’t find right away. I honestly didn’t think we would ever find it as it had originally been listed in April of 2004. OH MY GOODNESS! I emailed the buyer and said, “Please don’t pay until we can make sure that we have this item.” Well, she went ahead and paid and luckily Mo found an entire set in this pattern.

See this listing here.

And once we (I had better clarify that and say Mo) found the entire set, we (Mo) realized that only three of the items were listed. Mo quickly listed the remaining part of the set and got 22 auctions out of it! Yay.

B.    Email every buyer of not perfect merchandise ASAP.

I learned this from one of my Queen’s Court members Serena and her note was featured in the last ezine. Thank you Serena!

When an item sells that is defective, I immediately email the buyer to make sure that they knew that when they purchased it. This has alleviated sooooooo many problems I can’t even tell you. Serena actually calls them (she requests their contact info through eBay and phones them).

I don’t go to that extent, but since I have started doing this and implementing my other strategies, I am ecstatic to report that for the month of April, I only got 2 (yes that says two) 1 or 2 rating in all FOUR of my DSR categories!!!! Amazing after getting 21 1 or 2 ratings in just ONE category in March!!!!

As an example, a man bought a coffee mug last week. It had a chip. Said CHIP in the description and we included a photo of the chip. I emailed him and said Thank you for your purchase. We appreciate your business and this is a lovely coffee mug and I want to make sure that you saw and read about the chip in the listing when you purchased your item. Thanks again. Lynn

I don’t apologize for the damage and I always say what a great item. He emailed back and said, “I didn’t see that but I will honor my commitment to purchase.”

Check out his feedback. Wow!

“Excellent communication from seller; quick arrival of described china mug”

If I hadn’t contacted him can you imagine the feedback rating I would have gotten for “item as described” even though I did describe it correctly?

Here is the listing for that coffee mug.

A little prevention goes a long way.

C.    End old listings and make sure current listings are correct with the right quantity.

eBay has a fantastic tool in Selling Manager Pro. I love it. You can tell when an item was originally listed. Not when it renews as GUC (good until cancelled) but when it was originally listed.

As I prepare for the new eBay seller changes and need to add international shipping and handling charges, I am first deleting all really old listings that were left on as a mistake or we missed taking off of eBay.

As many of you know, I leave my items on eBay for about two years before marking them down, repurposing them (a great idea! For example, if you had your dinner knives listed in 2’s and they didn’t sell, relist them in 4’s–this has been working fantastically well for us) or donating to charity.

Here is an Adirondack pattern teapot by Mikasa/Studio Nova (heads up, don’t EVER buy this pattern) that was listed in my store for about two years at $39.99. I even marked down all of my Adirondack by 50% using Markdown Manager and it didn’t sell. Before donating it to charity, I put it back up at auction (repurposed it) and started it at $9.99. Yay! It has a bid.

See this listing here.

With my HQ REDO, I am going through those old listings, item by item and checking them by oldest first and deleting them or repurposing them. It has been an awesome start to my housecleaning at HQ. Indy (my daughter) has been helping me and it has been a great way for me to spend time with her and get some free labor. Well, nothing is really free. I just bought her a few clothing items she wanted (actually needed) at Target on Sunday and everyone is happy .

We have pulled the I Sell sheets, found the items on the shelves and then made our decisions.

It has been extremely enlightening to actually touch everything, find it, dust it off and make decisions with the items in front of us. This process is going to make attaining and maintaining TRS status entirely doable and fun!

In fact, by kicking up the dust at HQ, we have sold some of the items that have been left on by mistake since 2004. Amazing! These mistakes happened because we didn’t have our shelf lettering system in place. We didn’t start lettering our shelves and positioning our stock by date listed until about 2 1/2 years ago. Those of you that attend Live Boot Camp at HQ this September will get to see firsthand how beautifully this lettering system works!

In addition to the Caliente flatware I talked about earlier, check out this purse that just sold that was also left on eBay by mistake from 2006–eBay’s or our mistake—we can never be sure!

See this listing here.

This entire process is a lot of work (and honestly a full accounting and inventory check should really be done once every two or three years) but it is going to pay off big time in the end. Especially with multiple items at a fixed price in our stores, a lot of times we sell things and eBay doesn’t adjust the totals correctly. Not all of the mistakes with incorrect quantities and missing items are necessarily our fault. Sometimes the eBay system can be to blame.

Every two years I have been taking a look at my collector plate inventory (now I am doing it for EVERY ITEM) and making sure the quantities are correct. I just did it again this past week for my collector’s plate and amazingly enough, about 50% of the quantities were wrong and 17 items were not even listed. FREE inventory and great Royal Copenhagen and Bing & Grondahl items to list. YAY! I love this HQ Redo .

Here is one of the items that I got listed at auction that wasn’t showing up at all on eBay. It may have even sold, the buyer never paid, and it fell through the cracks and was not properly relisted. With eBay’s automatic upi (unpaid item) system in place for auctions and the new shopping cart for store/fixed price listings (where you must pay before an item is yours), these problems will hopefully be a thing of the past!

See this listing here.

I am always a little unnerved by the eBay changes that come out every Spring, but there is always a silver lining and I hope that you all see that.

The eBay changes force us to re-evaluate and make our businesses run more like “real” businesses. When I was a buyer for May Company, your slow moving inventory (6 months or older) better be gone or you wouldn’t get a raise.

It is the same way when selling on eBay. We are our own bosses and that can be both good and bad. These new eBay changes are in a way a better boss and will help all of us Entrepreneurs get a raise this year! If we don’t monitor our inventory, take care of slow moving items and strive for TRS, we are going to drastically lower our profits. It is very motivating–especially for me and I hope for you also!

Happy eBaying!

Lynn

Visit my eBay Store.

Visit my eBay auctions.

For more great eBay tips and stories, visit my web site at:

http://www.thequeenofauctions.com

WANT TO USE THIS ARTICLE IN YOUR EZINE OR ON YOUR WEBSITE? Yes, you may – just as long as you include all links as they are and append this complete blurb with it: The Queen of Auctions and eBay Power Seller, Lynn Dralle, publishes ‘eBay Tips & Tricks’ a weekly ezine with 10,000+ subscribers. If you’re ready to jump start your eBay business, make more money and have more time, get your FRE E tips now at www.thequeenofauctions.com

Local Buying Trips are FUN

Lynn Dralle — Thu, 21 Apr 2011 14:44:08 +0000

On Sunday in Hemet, the boys won their first two baseball games. Yay! The second game was a nailbiter that Houston pitched innings 4 through 7. In the top of the 7th we were down 0 to 2. Somehow the boys scored 3 runs and we went into the bottom of the 7th with a 1 run lead and Houston on the mound. The first kid bunted and got to first. Then there was a sacrifice that got him to third. One out and the tying run on 3^rd base. That is when I walk away and hide behind the snack bar . I can never watch.

Houston was pitching to his buddy Ian and Ian caught an incredible game. They intentionally walked the next batter Eric (a great hitter who the boys have played with before on different teams). Now, there are runners on first and third. Houston strikes out the next kid. Two outs.

The final batter hit a dinker and was thrown out at first. YAY! It was incredible. When I saw the boys leave the field running, jumping and yelling I knew it was time for me to head back!

It was lunchtime so I took some of the boys to Carl’s Jr for lunch. It was fun to hear about the final inning from Houston and Ian during the car ride. Ian said it was nerve wracking because he knew that he needed to call pitches with a lot of movement but nothing that could get past him or a run would score. Houston said it got stressful with that tying run on third and the go ahead run at first.

Houston and Ian at Dodger Stadium

I can’t imagine how it was for the boys. I wasn’t even on the field and I was a nervous wreck.

After lunch, I dropped the boys back at the baseball field and with an hour to kill, I headed into downtown Hemet to shop the thrift stores before the championship game.

There is a fantastic site for finding thrift stores when you are out of town, TheThriftshopper.com. I think Victoria from Bakersfield told me about it at a live eBay Boot Camp. Here is what came in when I put in Hemet.

I ended up in the Goodwill for about an hour. I spent $34.00 and got two boxes full of dinnerware, etc. There were two awesome Tabletops Unlimited patterns (once called H20 and one called Barcelona), some Wedgwood and an iced tea set that said “Big K” brewed tea.

Mo got a lot of it listed for me on Monday and Tuesday. She refused to list the “Big K” tea set when we found out it stood for “Kroger.” (Just kidding).

All kidding aside, apparently I will be listing that one myself.

Here is one of the listings for the Barcelona plates.

I also got some Pfaltzgraff Rooster Luncheon plates. I have been having great luck lately with Pfaltzgraff and these were darling and half price. I got four of them for $2.50.

See the listing here.

Remember that buying trip I took to San Diego back in February? The stuff I got on that trip is still selling for top dollar! It is seriously amazing.

I was at a Salvation Army in San Diego in a really bad part of town. I was almost afraid to go inside alone. I am so glad I did! It was 12:30 pm and I overheard someone saying that at 1 pm on Monday (yes it was a Monday) that everything goes for half price. I thought it was insane that people were buying things before 1:00 pm but the registers were humming.

At 1:00 pm exactly, I took my things up to the register. At that point, I noticed a set of dishes marked $45.00 in the showcase. I asked to see one and couldn’t believe it when they were Wedgwood! I said “I will take that set” and to my complete astonishment a lusterware coffee pot, creamer and sugar also came with it. You can see that if I sell everything in my recap below, I will make over $900. Buying trips out of town can be fun and profitable!

Here is a little recap I did for a presentation at LOL.

I have sold almost all of the Wedgwood in just two months! Here is what I have left in the set.

Here are some tips to keep in mind when you are lucky enough to be in another town and have some time to go out and source.

1.    It doesn’t matter why you are in a different town. You could be there for your “real” job, vacation, an errand or a child’s sporting event. MAKE TIME to CHECK OUT the local Thrift Stores. Keep a Sourcing Mindset (Lisa Suttora!)

2.    Use TheThriftshopper.com or another similar site to find all the thrift stores in your new area.

3.    Once in your first thrift store talk to the regulars and salespeople and ask them which thrift stores are their favorites. This will help get you to the best ones the quickest.

4.    Ask what colored tags or items are on sale. It amazed me how many things I got last Sunday in Hemet that were red tag (1/2 price) that had been just sitting there for months! Don’t forget that you are a new set of eyes in that thrift store.

5.    Take your time and poke around. Look high and low. My grandmother always taught me that if I couldn’t find what I was looking for in her antique store/house to look up and down. Many times things were hidden from my usual line of vision.

I did this just last week here at home in one of my usual thrift stores. There was nothing on the dinnerware shelves, so I bent down and sat on the ground and started pulling out serving pieces. They all looked boring but I thought, why not? The second one I pulled out was the Mexico pattern by Bing & Grondahl. TOTAL SCORE! I got it for $5.99 and I have it priced super high at auction right now. I don’t care if it doesn’t sell. I will raise the price and move it into my eBay store.

See this listing here.

One of the beautiful things about selling on eBay is that we can take our job with us. We can list from anywhere and we can source anywhere. Have fun with it! Like my grandmother always told me, “If you follow your passion, the money will follow.”

Happy eBaying!

Lynn

Visit my eBay Store.

Visit my eBay auctions.

For more great eBay tips and stories, visit my web site at:
http://www.thequeenofauctions.com

WANT TO USE THIS ARTICLE IN YOUR EZINE OR ON YOUR WEBSITE? Yes, you may – just as long as you include all links as they are and append this complete blurb with it: The Queen of Auctions and eBay Power Seller, Lynn Dralle, publishes ‘eBay Tips & Tricks’ a weekly ezine with 10,000+ subscribers. If you’re ready to jump start your eBay business, make more money and have more time, get your FRE E tips now at www.thequeenofauctions.com

Customer Service is King (or Queen) on your way to Top Rated Seller

Lynn Dralle — Thu, 07 Apr 2011 14:41:54 +0000

The Top Rated Seller Back Office Discount is Super Important with the new eBay changes

As you may remember, I spoke with a rep at eBay in Salt Lake City several weeks ago about my personal account and ways to bring down my fees. He had great advice for me! Thank you, Doug! He felt that the 20% increase in my final value fees due to shipping being charged, could be offset with the 20% TRS (Top Rated Seller) final value discount.

I haven’t qualified for this in quite some time. I know that I need to spend more time at Headquarters providing fantastic customer service to get the TRS ranking back.

I want to share with you three emails that came in on Monday night when I was working late at HQ and being PROACTIVE instead of REACTIVE to potential problems.

These examples and the way I dealt with them are the kind of fantastic customer service that will get us all TRS and keep us there. I was very pleasantly surprised at how NICE customers are if we just keep them in the loop.

Example #1: Broken Saucer

Dear thequeenofauctions,

Hi,

I received my order today; however, one of the saucers arrived in two pieces. Do you possibly have another?

Thanks,
Joe”

I immediately emailed back.

Hi Joe,

Darn it! I hate it when that happens. I am so sorry. We don’t have another saucer. I will process a partial refund for you for the breakage. How much would make you happy?

Thanks for your business,
Lynn

He wrote back…

Dear thequeenofauctions,

Since it wasn’t anyone’s fault, let’s call it even steven. If you ever come across one, please keep me in mind. Have a great night and an even better tomorrow!!!

Wow! What a super nice customer. I was very quick to email him again and let him know it.

Joe,

You are super nice and I really appreciate it. Thanks! A pleasure doing business with you.

Lynn

PS I wish all of our customers were so awesome ”

Joe’s next email…

You were being fair, so I returned that in good faith. I have been on an eBaying binge lately, so who knows, I may be back to your store soon. Take care.

After that, I decided I needed to ask Joe for his permission to publish these emails to show how reacting quickly, being an honest seller and being nice can really work in our favor!

Here is his reply…

Dear thequeenofauctions,

Lynn,

Any time I can do anything to put manners and goodwill out to the masses, I am in favor. You have my permission and my blessings.

Thanks,
Joe”

NICE LESSON! Customer service is all about manners and goodwill.

Example #2: Items mixed up and sent to two wrong buyers

We have been shipping out a lot of items lately. Our business is up over last year and that means more packages and the potential for more mistakes. Check out this note that came in late on that same Monday evening.

Hello,

I won this plate but was shipped a set of four Pier 1 bowls instead. Please let me know how you want to proceed.

Thanks,
Susan

Yikes was all I could say! How was I going to get this one unraveled? Well, I pulled up Auctane (love it) and saw quite quickly that the Pier 1 bowls and the collector’s plate were processed in our shipping log one right after the other and they were both being sent to ladies named Susan. I think I had solved the mystery and it only took a few minutes. Yay!

To learn more about Auctane you can read my ezine from December 23, 2010 here.

I immediately emailed Susan #1.

Hi Susan,

These bowls definitely go to a different Susan in Massachusetts. We are waiting to see if she received your plate but I am almost certain she will be receiving it as your orders were processed one after the other and both of you have the same first name. So sorry! If you would please ship those bowls to the other Susan and let us know what we owe you for s/h/i and your time I would greatly appreciate it? Thanks for understanding.

Lynn

There was no way the other item had made it to Massachusetts yet so I took a preemptive stance and quickly sent a note to Susan #2.

Dear Susan,

Your Pier one bowls were sent by mistake to a lady named Susan in Kansas. We are hoping that you will be receiving her collector’s plate. If so, could you please ship the plate to Susan and let us know what we owe you for s/h/I and your time? The other Susan is shipping your bowls to you today. I am so sorry about this and thanks for understanding.

Lynn

I received two very nice emails back from both Susans.

Susan #1

The bowls will be on their way to the other Susan tomorrow. I will let you know the cost.

Thanks. Sue

Susan #2

Hi! I got your message. No worries, mistakes happen. Please send me the address of the other “SUSAN” and I will send the plate out to her directly.

Thanks, Sue

I love it when people say “no worries”. It is one of my favorite sayings. Problem averted. Now, on to the next problem on that Monday night .

Example #3: Missing Coffee Mug

(Remember I am NOT perfect like Diva Dawn–we actually lose things–not garage door openers but eBay items )

I got an email from a lady that wanted to buy some Laurie Gates coffee mugs but she wanted to know if we could ship them for cheaper than $10.95 for two. I weighed one (doubled that weight), actually looked up her zip code and it was going to cost $13.40 by UPS. I told her I would ship the two for $12.95 but that I would be losing money on shipping.

She went ahead and bought them both. On that Monday night April 4th, I noticed that there was just one coffee mug on the shipping table and that it had been paid for a full week earlier. She had paid on March 28th. Panic at the disco! Waiting a week to ship is not going to get me five stars.

Here is a photo of the mug we could find.

I immediately went to the other shelf and the other Laurie Gates coffee mug in red she had purchased was not there. Oh boy! I had better be really creative to get myself out of this mess.

I just started walking up and down the aisles at HQ. I ended up finding two similar Laurie Gates mugs and I figured I could offer to substitute one of those. When I went to pull them up on eBay, they were not even listed. I quickly took a photo of the three mugs and wanted to email it to her but figured I had better just bite the bullet, request her contact info and call her and explain.

Here are the three mugs all together.

I went into advanced search and clicked on “Find Contact Information”. I received an email with her phone number and I placed a call. I left a message and kept it very vague. You don’t want to leave too much information on an answering machine. The item could be a secret, maybe a gift.

She hadn’t called me back or emailed me by Tuesday morning. I made an executive decision. That is the fun of running your own business–you can actually make important decisions!

I was just going to send her the three coffee mugs for the same price she had paid for two. When you have a customer that asks a lot of questions before the transaction and you have to do a lot of hand holding, it behooves you to treat them extra especially well. Mo, my mom and I have said for years that the customers that make the most noise before a transaction, will be the ones that make the most noise (not always good) after a transaction. They can also turn out to be your most loyal customers if they are happy with the transaction.

I didn’t hear back from my coffee mug buyer until Thursday. Yikes! Boy was I glad that we had already made the decision to send the three mugs!

Here is the email:

Hi!

I just got an email saying you needed my email address (which I sent) so you could send me a picture of a substitute Laurie Gates mug as the red one was MIA. I never heard back and just got an email that 3 mugs had been shipped….did I miss something? Also, do you have more of these mugs? I could use more of them.

Here is what I sent back:

Hi!

I felt so bad that we couldn’t find the red one and then I found a different red one and a different blue one. The blue one had a small split on the edge so I just went ahead and had the girls ship all three to you (no extra charge). We just want you to be happy.

Thanks for your business.

Lynn

Here is her email back:

Thanks for the update. Sounds good to me. I really appreciate you sending 3 mugs! Thanks! I’ll LYK when they arrive.

Another problem hopefully averted and five stars on their way to me!

My hanging out more at HQ, answering emails early in the morning or late at night and really being on top of things are going to get us Top Rated Seller. We are going to provide stellar customer service and become TRS by July 6th. Then it really will be “Happy Birthday to me.” That is our goal!

And as Norman Vincent Peale says, “Formulate a goal; not a fuzzy, vague goal but one that is sharp, clearly defined, and specific. Hold the image until it sinks into the unconscious. Then give it all you’ve got of thought, effort, imagination, and innovation.”

Happy eBaying!

Lynn

Visit my eBay Store.

Visit my eBay auctions.

For more great eBay tips and stories, visit my web site at:
http://www.thequeenofauctions.com

WANT TO USE THIS ARTICLE IN YOUR EZINE OR ON YOUR WEBSITE? Yes, you may – just as long as you include all links as they are and append this complete blurb with it: The Queen of Auctions and eBay Power Seller, Lynn Dralle, publishes ‘eBay Tips & Tricks’ a weekly ezine with 10,000+ subscribers. If you’re ready to jump start your eBay business, make more money and have more time, get your FRE E tips now at www.thequeenofauctions.com

eBay Seller Advice – Call eBay Reps For All Questions Regarding New Policies

Lynn Dralle — Fri, 25 Mar 2011 16:00:48 +0000

Get on the phone with an eBay representative to have your questions answered about the new policies

Every year the spring eBay announcements take us by surprise. This year was no exception. Some will be good and some not so good. Things to consider are the new shopping cart that eBay is implementing and the fact that until the buyer pays, the items in their cart will not show as sold.There are also free insertion fees for 50 auction listings per month (at any starting price) to NON-store owners. The final value fees decreasing slightly for store owners, but now those final value fees will be calculated on your sales price plus domestic cheapest shipping.

eBay’s Spring Announcement and My New Plans

Lynn Dralle — Thu, 24 Mar 2011 23:12:20 +0000

eBay announced some shocking changes to fees in their latest announcement. The one that will affect us the most is that we will now be paying final value fees (fvf) on our shipping and handling. Luckily we are in the OOAK (One of a kind) business! That is the great news. We do have the larger margins to cover the eBay fee changes.

I ran my numbers for February and my eBay fees will definitely be increasing on July 6th (my birthday). Not what I was asking for . I would have paid approximately 19% more to eBay in overall eBay fees in February with the new fees. It works out to about 50 cents more per item sold on average. At a $49.99 price point with a shipping fee charged, my fees actually start to decrease. Remember this price point, but of course do your own research. And feel free to share your newfound tips for selling on eBay with everyone else! We have learn how to sell on eBay all over again and it helps to work together through these new changes and obstacles.

However, keep in mind that eBay is still the best place to sell our items, as eBay gets the most traffic and eBay believes that these changes will drive more buyers to their site and in turn to our items. Let’s hope they are right!

In the last 12 years of selling on eBay I have seen a lot of changes. Some of them hit you hard, but I always sit back, take a good long look at my business model and figure out how I can evolve and still continue to run a profitable business on eBay. We can do it!

One of my favorite quotes that I shared with those of you in attendance at Lynn on Location was, “I have lived through some terrible things in my life, some of which actually happened.” Samuel Clemens.

Keep this in mind as we navigate our way through the newest eBay changes. It is often a lot worse in our minds than what actually comes to be. That is why I have thought long on hard on what can be the new tips for selling on eBay.

Especially if we all work together and brainstorm. That is what the Queen’s Court is all about. I can’t wait for our calls this month. I just know we can figure this all out and make positive changes. We all have to learn how to sell on eBay all over again with these new changes.

Now let’s look at some key issues and some tips for selling on eBay that I have come up with.

Heavy Items

Since we are selling heavier items, we can’t and won’t be able to offer free shipping on everything. In the past two weeks, I have been testing a few ways of listing and when I took a $9.99 coffee mug, added in the $9 shipping and would have to list it on eBay starting at $18.99 to offer free shipping, I just had to say NO.

Carmen had a really great point when we were all putting our heads together at Headquarters on Monday. She said, “Lynn, I shop on eBay all the time for items and I am not stupid. I will see an item that is cheaper but has a shipping price, and an item that is inflated with free shipping. I look at the total price charged.” I agree with Carmen, our eBay shoppers are not stupid.

See this listing here.

Just last week, I had a gravy boat on sale in my eBay store. It was marked down to $22.49. A buyer in Australia offered me $25.00 to include shipping. I thought to myself, “Are you serious?” It will cost me $24.52 to ship this 3-pound item to Australia and my eBay listing fees, selling fees and PayPal fees will run about $3.45. Not taking into consideration my time or the cost of the item, I will be paying you $2.97 to take this off of my hands. Wow, what a great deal…for you! I explained this to the buyer and their response was, “I didn’t realize that shipping was so expensive.” Well, it is.

The Marketplace

I have always said that Amazon was a more expensive marketplace to sell on than eBay. This price increase on shipping has put eBay right in their realm.

I do suggest selling on multiple sites. Amazon, Go Antiques and Addoway are some that I have tried or will be trying. Just remember that eBay is still our best site for traffic and sales. I have been on Addoway for about six weeks and have sold five items. I can’t make a living doing that.

Source Better

To make up that 50 cents per item I will be paying in extra final value fees, I am much more conservative with my sourcing. This is something that I should have been doing anyway. Thank you eBay for making me look at my entire business model.

I am asking my garage sale sources for better prices. I used to just purchase a lot of items without asking for a better deal. Last weekend I asked every single garage sale seller, “If I buy all these items will you give me a better price?” I saved $9 at one place, $5 at another and $1 at the last stop. In the past, I wouldn’t have tried to save $1 but now I will.

Here is one of those items that I saved $5 on by not only buying in bulk, but asking very nicely if I could get a better deal for buying so many items.

See this listing here.

I bought 10 miniature perfumes for $10.00 instead of the $15.00 she was asking originally. That question there saved me the extra 50 cent per item that I will need for the new eBay fees.

I am also waiting for thrift store sales. I was going to buy three sets of stainless today at my local thrift store. Instead, I asked the salesman if any of them would be marked down soon. He pointed out the one with the yellow tag and told me it would be going half price on Tuesday. I will wait to buy it until Tuesday. I have officially become frugal, cheap, whatever you want to call it. I actually phoned my mother after the event and said, “I am officially a cheapskate”.

Over the years, I would look at my grandmother and my mother with puzzlement. Why don’t you just pay the $50? Why are you asking for a discount? NOW I GET IT. You can learn eBay selling tips and tricks even from those that never used it! That is why they have been extremely successful. I was a spendthrift. And here is the definition from Wikipedia. “A spendthrift (also called profligate) is someone who spends money prodigiously and who is extravagant and recklessly wasteful. The origin of the word is someone who is able to spend money acquired by the thrift of predecessors or ancestors.”

And my grandma, dad and mom were those ancestors who came before me that were thrifty. I have learned my lesson! It is very exciting. I GET IT.

So here is the life-changing event. I was in one of my thrift stores and found two Vaseline glass vases that each had a price tag of $5.00 on them.

I took them up to the cashier and asked if I could have them for $5.00 for the pair. When I was ready to pay, she said, “Even though they have only been on the sales floor for a few hours, I will make it $5.00 for both.” Yay! I had my first epiphany that frugality works! It never hurts to ask for a discount.

Here is a listing for both of them.

I was going to list them separately like I normally do, when I checked PriceMiner/WorthPoint. (Will, thank you so much for joining us at LOL. (Will is the CEO of those companies)).

Will Seippel and I at LOL

I saw on PriceMiner that the antique Vaseline pieces that sold for the most were a matched pair of vases sold TOGETHER for $330.00. I immediately listed mine at a high sales price with FREE shipping. I’m learning so many tips and tricks for selling on eBay from others in the industry! Thank you to everyone that joined as at LOL!

I really don’t like change . But I do have to say that even though change is hard, It does help us to take a hard look and become better people, both personally and professionally.

List large items now

I am opening the boxes in the Alps (a huge stack of boxes at Headquarters) and looking for big items. I am listing all lamps, large vases and anything that will cost a lot in shipping before the final value fees include shipping charges on July 6th. I suggest you do the same. We still have more than three months, so list, list and list.

I am also not looking to source huge, oversized items when out buying. I don’t want furniture, large lamps, rugs or vases anymore. There is a beauty to this, as I won’t need as large of a storage area at Headquarters.

here is a large item we listed recently.

Pretty cool! It is a secret hidden bar/bookcase. Even though I said Local Pick up only, I would let the new buyer arrange for shipping themselves.

Test your shipping strategy with Lightweight items

Think about what you can add the free shipping option to before the changes take affect. We all have some lightweight items in our mix, and now is a great time to test how the free shipping option will work.

eBay really believes in “free shipping” and they have statistics to show that it has increased sales in commodity type categories. CSA (Clothing, Shoes and Accessories) is one of eBay’s largest categories and where they highly recommend free shipping. Mel and Steve did a brilliant job of explaining this strategy to those of us at LOL, and now Mel and Steve are perfectly positioned to actually be charged lower fees with the new changes in July.

Here is a clothing item that I listed based on Mel and Steve’s wonderful advice. Yes, It does have “free shipping.”

See this listing here.

Raise your Average Sales Price

You all know that I have been trying to do this. It is on the top of my to-do list this year on eBay. These new Spring changes will force me to make those adjustments faster. Again, I thank eBay for forcing me to take action. Sometimes, it does take these shocking spring changes to help us make our businesses more profitable.

At a $49.99 price point with an additional shipping fee charged, my fees actually start to decrease. Remember this price point, but of course do your own research.

Here is one of those more expensive antiques items that I am sourcing. Notice that during this testing period, I have added free shipping to this listing. I am trying it out on some of the more expensive items as well as on the lightweight items.

See this listing here.

The Top Rated Seller Back Office Discount is Super Important

I spoke with a rep at eBay in Salt Lake City this week about my personal account and ways to bring down my fees. He had great advice for me! Thank you Doug! He felt that the 20% increase in my final value fees due to shipping being charged, could be offset with the 20% TRS seller final value discount.

I haven’t qualified for this in quite some time and he went over the individual 1 and 2 ratings with me. We are really falling behind in turnaround time. Well let’s be real! Not only did we just plan and pull off a huge event in Las Vegas, but we moved our entire business down the road. So it is easy to see how our shipping and handling time has suffered .

We are committed to getting our turnaround time back on track and by offering free shipping on certain categories, I know that we will be Top Rated Sellers sooner rather than later. This will help immensely with the new fee change structure. And in fact, it may even lower our overall fees if we can raise our average selling price at the same time.

I encourage you to call the 1-800-eBay number and ask the account rep to take a look at your personal account and see if they can offer any suggestions going forward so that you can make these same types of positive changes now. Being proactive is much better than being reactive.

Hang in there, it will all work out. And remember that in this tough economy, we are all very fortunate to be running successful eBay businesses that still bring in a lot of cash. My eBay sales this year for Jan and Feb are up 63% over the same months in 2010. Listing more has definitely been working in our favor. So learn how to sell on eBay from everyone you can. I know I am going to try my best to provide you with the tips and tricks for selling on eBay that are vital to being successful during this transition.

You know we want to hit the $1 million sales mark. We realistically now know that it is going to take a few more years to ramp up to that goal but we are not backing down. Think Big, Dream Big and remember, “The Harder I work the Luckier I get.” Samuel Goldwyn.

tips for selling on eBay 1, 2, 3

learn how to sell on ebay 1, 2, 3

learn eBay selling 1

tips and tricks for selling on ebay 1, 2

	Max Percentage		Max Count
Item as Described	.50%		2
Communication	.50%		2
Shipping Time	.50%		2
Shipping and Handling Charges		.50%	2