Understanding the Stock Market

(note: I was cleaning out old files on my computer and found this--perhaps you'll get a chuckle from it!)

Once upon a time, in a place overrun with monkeys, a man appeared and announced to the villagers that he would buy monkeys for $10 each.

The villagers, seeing that there were many monkeys around, went out to the forest, and started catching them.
The man bought thousands at $10 and as supply started to diminish, they became harder to catch, so the villagers stopped their effort.

The man then announced that he would now pay $20 for each one. This renewed the efforts of the villagers and they started catching monkeys again. But soon the supply diminished even further and they were ever harder to catch, so people started going back to their farms and forgot about monkey catching.

The man increased his price to $25 each and the supply of monkeys became so sparse that it was an effort to even see a monkey, much less catch one.

The man now announced that he would buy monkeys for $50! However, since he had to go to the city on some business, his assistant would now buy on his behalf.

While the man was away the assistant told the villagers, "Look at all these monkeys in the big cage that the man has bought. I will sell them to you at $35 each and when the man returns from the city, you can sell them to him for $50 each."

The villagers rounded up all their savings and bought all the monkeys.

They never saw the man nor his assistant again, and once again there were monkeys everywhere.

Now you have a better understanding of how the stock market works.

New Postage Rates Next Week

New carrier rates will be in effect January 2, 2011 for USPS and January 3, 2011 for UPS. Once in effect, rates in the Shipping Calculator, eBay labels, and PayPal labels will be updated. Make sure your shipping costs reflect these new rates.

eBay's Christmas Present to Me

Merry Christmas to me! 

I got my green star on eBay! 

It means I have finally reached 5,000 positive feedbacks from my customers...it's taken almost 10 years. My next star will be a shooting star!  I hope that doesn't take another 10 years..... 

Here's what the different stars mean:
Yellow star () = 10 to 49 ratings
Blue star () = 50 to 99 ratings
Turquoise star () = 100 to 499 ratings
Purple star () = 500 to 999 ratings
Red star () = 1,000 to 4,999 ratings
Green star () = 5,000 to 9,999 ratings
Yellow shooting star () = 10,000 to 24,999 ratings
Turquoise shooting star () = 25,000 to 49,999 ratings
Purple shooting star () = 50,000 to 99,999 ratings
Red shooting star () = 100,000 to 499,999 ratings
Green shooting star () = 500,000 to 999,999 ratings
Silver shooting star  () = 1,000,000 ratings or more

Going on a road trip!

I’m going to be gone for a while next month, so I will be putting my eBay store “on Vacation.”  This is a handy little setting that eBay has available for store owners who might be away for a short time. 

eBay will put a note at the top of each page that says: 

This seller is currently away until mm/dd/yyyy (it lets you fill in whatever date you want here), and is not processing orders at this time. You can add this item to your watch list to purchase later.

There is also an option for a personal message on my store front—I may put up something like this:

I am away and not able to send items out until February.  If you do buy and pay for an item, please keep in mind that I cannot send it out right now.  Thank you for looking! 

I did the same think last June when we went to West Virginia….and I still sold a few items while gone.  I emailed the buyers and they were very understanding about the delay in receiving their purchases. 

But, that’s two weeks away—so for now, I’m still listing and listing some more! 

How Does Santa Do it All?

UPS is calling next week its "Peak Week," and on Wednesday, December 22nd, it says it will deliver 24 million packages from holiday gift-givers and online retailers, 60 percent more than usual delivery volumes. It says the 9 million extra packages it will deliver on December 22 represents more business than its largest competitor handles on an average day.

UPS added roughly 50,000 seasonal workers to handle the surge in package deliveries.

Sending money through Paypal

Here's a trick I used just this week when I needed to send money to private person thru Paypal (as opposed to paying for an item on eBay, etc.):

After you log into your account page, find the Send Money tab at the top.  That takes you to another page where you fill in the person’s email (Paypal ID) and the amount to send.  Under that you’ll see a box with 2 tabs: Purchase or Personal.  Choose the one marked Personal, which will give you more choices (gift, payment owed, etc.).  I usually choose Payment Owed.  Hit Send.  The person you are sending money to will not pay any fees to receive the money.

Packing Fragile Items

You want to make sure that your package arrives to your customer in the same condition you sent it.  That seems easy enough. But sometimes I have received a poorly packaged item.

Here's how I pack, and it's how I suggest you pack too:

This shows the item inside a box (the blue box), where it has its own layer of styrofoam or other cushioning. Then that box is surrounded by two to three inches of additional cushioning, and that's inside another box.

Nothing is perfectly safe, of course, but so far I have had no items damaged while being shipped to a customer when it's been packed this way. On the other hand, I have received sometimes damaged items and that happened because the packing wasn't good enough for the chance of rough handling.

Time to Get to Work!

Monday morning--a new week!  Time to get organized and get some things listed!

Look at all these great books I found at the Salvation Army Thrift store last week--I like the prices at SA over the ones at Goodwill.  Hardcover books (here) at SA are 50¢ and paperback are 3/$1.  But GW prices are $2 and $1!  Big difference!  And, I think the overall pricing system at SA is better than GW....

Any sportsmen out there?  Notice those two old Shooter's Bibles?  One is dated 1951 and the other is 1960 (I paid a bit more than regular price for those--even SA knew they were special  LOL).

The shoes?  Oh yes!  Anytime you find good quality (watch for expensive brands, too) leather shoes at a good price, grab them up!  Also, look for dance shoes, larger sizes, and narrow or wide sizes--all will eventually sell!

Don't laugh at me!

Now, don’t you laugh—I sold another Hippo Birdie Two Ewe mug!  Husband John thought the first one I sold was crazy and just shook his head in disbelief when I found a second one (after sending the first one to Australia). 

The second one has been listed just a couple of weeks, and it sold tonight!  Whoo Hoo! (Now I need to go find another—wouldn’t that be a trip!)

Free Shipping!

I tried something new for my birthday—I set everything in my eBay store to free shipping for 24 hours.  It was a learning experience to say the least!

I may be changing my opinion on the Free Shipping option—if you recall, I’ve always said it isn’t worth it because I’d have to raise prices on each item to offset the shipping.  And in doing so, my eBay fees will raise due to the higher final price.  That’s true, but it seems the free shipping icon attracts more sales, so if I’m moving more items out of my store, it balances out…

On the other hand, I sold a few items that cost me extra to ship, so I didn’t make much on them (men’s shoes that cost me $10.20 to send). 

So, I think I will start offering FREE shipping when I know the shipping will be fairly minimal: such as when selling a smaller item where the shipping may be around  $3.00 or less to send it via flat rate or media mail.  That will make customers happy, and happy customers might look around at my other listings, and buy more!

What do you think?  Do you use Free Shipping much?

Orange Goop and Books

Orange Goop is a cream-like substance that mechanics use to clean the grime off of their hands. It is sold in the dollar stores around my area. It is great for removing sticky residue off of book covers—you know those sticky price tags that thrift shops, etc. put on books!

Probably any similar product that mechanics use to clean their hands would work just as well. Just, don't buy expensive products for removing stickers from books-- check out your dollar(or less) discount stores.

Another thought: the dollar stores themselves are filled with valuable treasures: just last week I sold a wonderful children's book (brand new) that I bought there for a dollar and sold on eBay for $9.99.  I always check out books at our dollar Store.  They have many new books with dust jacket books (without remainder marks) that make great gifts for holiday giving and great books for selling on eBay.

Look What I Found Last Night!

I made an impromptu stop at Goodwill last night...nothing better to do, right?  I found a few "goodies" that I will try to get listed today.

Puzzles are hard to sell unless they have a unique theme (like aliens!), and look at that cookbook on things to do with a store-bought rotisserie chicken!  The Grinch's Chrismas is a favorite, so even if it doesn't sell this year, I'm sure it will by next year.  And look:  I found another Hippo Birdie 2 ewes mug!  I sold one just like it to someone in Australia just a few weeks ago.  What fun! 

Setting Prices

When you sell on eBay, do your prices attract attention? Consider the total price, with shipping. Think like the buyer: just because you think your item is outstanding doesn’t mean others will think it has the same value. Check what your item has previously sold for using the completed item search filter.

Sell in the right format:

 Auction – Use when selling rare items OR when demand outstrips

supply. Auctions with a “Buy It Now” option are taking off and are

being used more and more successfully by sellers.

 Fixed Price – For everything else, consider adding the “Best Offer”

option. It can really boost your sales. Sometimes I increase my fixed

price and set a base best-offer price that is where I wanted to sell

the item in the first place. Buyers still feel they are getting a bargain.

 Charitable Donations - Consider donating a portion of sales to a

charity. Research shows sellers connected to a charity get more

buyers. This also exposes your items on the Giving Works pages. There

are buyers who search there first. Call attention to this in your

description and let them know which charity you support.

ASCII Code ♥ ♪ ♫ ♪ ♥

A friend asked how I make the little music notes in my writing.  So here's the trick:

To make music notes: you need to have a full sized keyboard with the 10-key on the right side. First hold down the ALT key (just to the left or right of your space bar). While holding that down, hit 1 & then 3 on the 10-key pad. That makes ♪. To make the 1/16th  notes do ALT & 1 4  ♫.

To make a heart do ALT & 3.   ♥

Try other combinations! This is called the ASCII (pronounced asky) code.

Use All 55 Spaces

The first thing potential buyers see is your listing’s title. That title is soooo important to get them to click into the listing itself.  If your title is bad, you’ll get fewer viewers, which translates into fewer bidders. But a great title will pull more shoppers into your listing and increase the number of bids. Most buyers find items by searching, so you want to include all the important words in your title. 

The key is to think like the buyers—use the words they are likely to use.  Include the name of the item and any common terms your buyer might be using to look.  Use the model number, use the year it was made, list the color & size, and include whatever terms you might use to describe your item. The more search words you can include the better.

eBay gives you 55 spaces to use to make a title for your listing—use as much of this space as you can! 

Quick Reminder: Overseas shipping

When shipping overseas check on the USPS rules that tell what you cannot send into that particular country.  For instance, do you know you cannot send Saccharine to France?  You cannot send lottery tickets to Sweden, and you cannot send powdered milk to Denmark.  Check out the individual country rules on the Post Office web site.

Today's Grammar Lesson: i.e & e.g.

The Latin abbreviations e.g. and i.e. are often used, but not everyone is aware of the difference in their usage. Some people use them interchangeably. Others even invert their meaning. If you are not completely sure when to use each of those abbreviations, keep reading!

e.g.

e.g. stands for the Latin phrase “exempli gratia,” which means “for the sake of example.” You use it when presenting examples or more possibilities for the term in question. An easy way to remember this is to associate e.g. with “example given.”

I like root vegetables (e.g., carrots and beets)

i.e.

i.e. Stands for the Latin phrase “id est,” which means “that is.” You should use it when explaining or rephrasing a sentence. Usually it has the same meaning as “in other words.”

I like all vegetables (i.e., I eat pretty much anything)

Some considerations

·                       You can use the e.g. and i.e. abbreviations both inside and outside the parenthesis. If you are writing in a formal style, however, they must go inside the parenthesis

·                       They appear in lower case letters even if at the beginning of the sentence

·                       Always separate the letters with a period, and follow the abbreviation with a comma

What does this have to do with eBay?  Not much, other than when I look at other seller's listings I tend to notice bad grammar (i.e. it bugs me!).

Selling Old Board Games

Whoo Hoo!  The old Pac Man Board Game sold last night!  Bought an paid for in the blink of an eye (translated: I made a quick trip to Sam’s Club last night to buy padded envelopes and when I got back, there it was--$60 more in my Paypal account!)

Older games often sell well—sometimes people are looking for parts, or sometimes they just collect them.  And, I have found some really “odd” games sell—ones that weren’t well publicized, but have a unique theme.  Most people have a “stash” of old board games they don’t play anymore….check yours out to see if you have anything you could list on eBay!

Here’s a shot of a few of the games I have….Perhaps a good project for today would be to get them listed!

Is it Brass or Bronze?

I sometimes have a bit of trouble telling the difference between brass and bronze--and I'll bet you do too. 

My bronze goose just sold last night and will go out in today's mail.  I listed it as bronze, but in the back of my mind I'm always second-guessing myself.  I decided I'd better learn the difference if I'm going to sell many pieces like this! 

I didn't have to look far!  My friend Jody, who has an antique shop here, recently wrote a piece in her blog about that very thing!  Check it out here. 

Twitter

Do you twitter?  I have a few twitter accounts:  the one I use for eBay is OldBooks (follow me!) and I try to tweet about my listings once a day. 

I make a comment about one of my listings and give the link.  There are many people out there that click on every link they see (LOL) so it gets my listings looked at.  I realize many of the people who get to look at my link each day will not buy, but you just never know who might be interested!  And the twittering does not cost anything…there’s no down side! 

How do you use twitter?

Rumors of a Postal Rate Hike in January

The U.S. Postal Service said prices for Priority Mail and other Shipping Services might be increased effective January 2, 2011, pending Postal Regulatory Commission review. Pricing for the Express Mail Flat Rate Envelope will remain unchanged at $18.30. A new Express Mail Legal Flat Rate Envelope (15" x 9.5") will be priced the same as the Express Mail Flat Rate Envelope.

USPS Priority Mail Product	Current Rate	Proposed Rate	Percent Change
Flat Rate Envelopes	$4.90	$4.95	1.02%
Legal Flat Rate Envelope (new)	N/A	$4.95	N/A
Padded Flat Rate Envelope (new)	N/A	$4.95	N/A
Small Flat Rate Box	$4.95	$5.20	5.05%
Medium Flat Rate Boxes	$10.70	$10.95	2.34%
Large Flat Rate Box - domestic	$14.50	$14.95	3.1%
Large Flat Rate Box - APO/FPO	$12.50	$12.95	3.6%

They say there will be two new Priority envelopes. The Priority Mail Legal Flat Rate Envelope (15" x 9.5") and Priority Mail Padded Flat Rate Envelope (12.5" x 9.5") are both priced at $4.95. All six types of Priority Mail Flat Rate envelopes will be priced the same as the regular Priority Mail Envelope (12.5" x 9.5") at $4.95, including the Gift Card Flat Rate Envelope, Window Flat Rate Envelope, and Small Flat Rate Envelope.

My eBay Room

Someone the other day asked how I store my inventory…Oh my!  I don’t usually show people my “eBay” room….it’s just jam packed with boxes of items.  I do know where things are (most of the time LOL), but I really could use a better system. 

This is a shot of one wall in my room…it is organized by type of books: the cookbooks are on the top shelves, the craft books on the second shelf, etc.  I also have boxes of books on the floor that really need to be on the shelves (but I’m not showing you pictures of those!) and I have most of my mugs stacked on a table.   But, did you see the mugs on the bookshelves, too?  I have over 30 mugs listed--they’re all over the place, even in the living room!  And, then of course, there’s the stuff in the basement….

May-be I ought to set aside an hour a day to get the room organized….That might be a workable goal.  Then I would be able to show you the entire room! 

The History of eBay

Last night's eBay class was a huge success.  I'm really looking forward to the next 3 weeks.  It's great to have awsome students!

Part of my "intro" to the basic eBay class is to tell about the history of eBay--so I thought I'd put it here, too.

eBay was founded 15 years ago by Pierre Omidyar, who worked in Silicone Valley (near San Francisco, CA), home to many of the world's largest technology companies.  He was 28 when he sat down over a long holiday weekend to write the original computer code for what eventually became eBay. The site was launched on Labor Day, Monday, September 4, 1995, as "Auction Web"; it was hosted on a site Omidyar had created for information on the ebola virus.

The word 'eBay' was made up on the fly by Omidyar when he was told that his first choice for his web site, 'echobay,' had already been registered. Not wanting to make a second trip to Sacramento to register the name, he came up with 'eBay.'  The service was free at first, but started charging in order to cover internet service provider costs.

In March 1998, Meg Whitman (who just yesterday lost her bid for governor of California) was brought in as President and CEO and continued to run the company until January 2008 when she announced her retirement.

The frequently repeated story that eBay was founded to help Omidyar's fiancée trade Pez candy dispensers was fabricated by a public relations manager in 1997 to interest the media.

Millions of eBay members now sell on the site with their own eBay business. eBay has made it easy for people to start a small eBay business in their homes, and has lead to the creation of many large businesses as well. Thousands of people in the U.S. work in their own small eBay business, selling items on eBay full time. Over 700,000 people in the U.S. now rely on their eBay sales as part of their income.

The Statue of Liberty Goes to Australia!

I am sending the Statue of Liberty to Australia today—by Priority mail!

It’s so much fun to get up in the morning and have a new sale (and payment!) waiting in your email.  But, I was a little surprised to see the sale was the Build Your Own Statue of Liberty Kit with an address in Australia! 

There was another payment in my email this morning, too (but it was an item that sold yesterday).  And ironically, it is going to Australia, too!  This birthday mug is so cute, I just have to show you….

Hippo Birdie Two Ewe, Hippo Birdie Two Ewe

Ok, time to stop talking and get to packing these two things up for their trip south!

Help!

Ok friends—it’s your turn to help ME!

I love books (that’s no secret!)…and yesterday I had an extra hour (how’d that happen??) so I found myself at my favorite used book store.  I found some interesting (read: I hope they sell well on eBay!) ones:  a cookbook with recipes for meatloaf, history of the Shriners, a Mary Engelbreit (she always sells well) Christmas book, and a book about the history of shady ladies in the early 1900s. 

But, there’s one that really has me stumped—published in 1931, it is titled simply Nebraska. The title page tells me nothing either—it says it’s a Special Limited Supplement and it was printed by The Lewis Publishing Company (based in Chicago and New York). 

The book is full of biographies of prominent men in Nebraska, along with their official photograph and a copy of their signature. The men were from the middle 1800s through the early 1900s.  Most of the men were lawyers, judges, and legislators. Most of the men came to Nebraska from another part of the United States in the early days of the state. Most of the men had affiliations with social groups of the time.  Some were affiliated with the University of Nebraska in some way. The men represented different political views and a variety of religious groups. 

Each photo is protected with a ricepaper insert (which I folded back for this shot)

You probably noticed that I said “most” in my description—I was looking through the biographies for a common thread—but found none.  There is even a couple of women listed, and one church listed.  (Why a church is included is beyond me!)

The biographies are not in alphabetical order, nor are they in chronological order. The index lists the 77 entries in alphabetical order.  Another interesting note: there is one item in the index that is a reference to the Dempster Mill Manufacturing Company (they made & sold windmills in the southeast area of Nebraska). The Dempster Milling Company does not have its own page, it is merely mentioned in D. B. Dampster’s biography.

I was showing the book to a couple of history-buff friends last night and one jokingly commented that the only common thread she could see was that none were members of the KKK (which was big in the 20s and ‘30s).

So, help me out here!  What do you think this book might be?  Do you think it might be one of a series of books on prominent men in the individual states?   

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas?  Oh, really?  I can just hear you saying, “but, Halloween isn’t even here!” 

That’s right—but Christmas items on eBay have been appearing since September.  Just today I listed a couple of men’s ties with Santa on them.  I picked them up at one of my favorite thrift shops yesterday and listed them right away this morning.  Somewhere out there a businessman will be needing a cute holiday tie and I want mine to be already out there when he (or his wife) starts looking! 

Men’s ties are easy to send (if you recall, I don’t like to spend a lot of time on elaborate packing) because they are lightweight and will fit into a small manila envelope that can be sent by 1^st Class mail. 

I also like ties because they are easy to photograph.  Actually, I put most of my ties in the scanner!  This Santa Golfing tie had to be photographed because the main design was longer than my scanner’s screen.  So, I just put a cloth over the back of my sofa, and took a quick shot of the tie that way. 

Whenever you find a unique tie (at a reasonable price—approximately $1 or less is my personal rule) grab it up and list it.  One of the more outstanding ones I ever sold was a Beatle tie.  There was a whole series of ties produced that pictured some of the songs by the Beatles.  The one I had was “Fool on the Hill” and in my opinion kind of ugly, but being a Beatle tie, it sold well! 

So, go ahead and check out how I sell ties. (Here’s the page in my store) Look through the various listings and get an idea of how to do it yourself!  Now I’m off to list more Christmas items….I have a Christmas tree platter, a baby’s “First Christmas” pajamas, and a glass Nativity.  I’m sure there’s more things tucked away, too…gotta get busy!

Another Question from Gwen

Gwen liked my answer yesterday so much that she wrote back again today! 

She asks: I was wondering what the best way is to ship books and movies, DVDs, etc? I know the post office has the flat rate envelopes and boxes for priority mail, but I've seen so many send theirs media mail and I didn't see any boxes for that on the USPS site.

Well, Gwen, it just so happens that I sell more books than anything else—and yes, Media Mail is the best way to ship those.  The post office does not supply packaging for Media Mail, so you have to be creative here (go green!).

 My usual choice for wrapping books is the good old brown grocery bag (turned inside out and cut to size, of course).  I also re-use the plastic grocery bags by wrapping the book in that first to protect it from the elements (you never know what kind of weather your package might go through) and then wrap it in the brown paper.  Media mail is ideal because it is less expensive to send your books.  I can mail a 2 pound book across the country for $2.77—standard parcel post would cost over $7, and Priority would cost between $5 and $8 depending on the size of the package.

But, keep 1^st Class in mind anytime your book weighs under 13 ounces (craft booklet or small soft cover publications that might fit in a manila envelope) because it might be more cost effective to use that rate.  And, with 1^st Class your item will get to your customer faster—Media Mail is estimated to take 5-10 days for delivery.  But, I’ve found that to be true only in the busy Christmas season—still it’s something to keep in mind. 

But, keep in mind that the book rate (that’s an old term, but lots of us still use it) has some restrictions:  magazines (because of the advertising inside), combining a 1^st Class item (letter) with your book, etc.  The Post Office also reserves the right to open any Media Mail item for inspection.  I think I was once told our local office randomly opens two packages a day for inspection. 

Thanks for your questions, Gwen!  I really appreciate my readers interaction!