Your Shipping Rates

Just a reminder: The new UPS and USPS rate changes are now in effect.

 UPS and USPS rates changed earlier this month. Rates in the Shipping Calculator, eBay Shipping Labels and PayPal Shipping Labels have been updated. Make sure to review your shipping costs so that they reflect these new rates.

Face Book Privacy Settings

Here's a heads-up on the recent Face Book changes:

The New Face book Privacy setting called "Instant Personalization" is now in effect.

The new setting shares your data with non-Facebook websites & it is automatically set to "Enabled". Go to Account>Privacy Settings>Apps & Websites>Instant Personalization>edit settings & uncheck "Enable".

By the way, If your friends don't do this, they will be sharing info about you as well. Feel free to copy and repost to your friends!

What would you do for $5?

I learned about a unique site yesterday--fiverr.com.  People post what they will do for you for just $5--and if it's a service you need, you can take advantage of their offer.  Payment is made thru Paypal.

It's a free service--the site owners make their money when you pay for the service. You pay through their Paypal account, and they forward just $4 to the other person when the deal is completed, keeping $1 for themselves! 

The site seems to be popular.  I looked through a few of the listings (there are 2491 pages of 20 listings each as I write this) and found someone who will write your child a letter from the Easter Bunny, people who will hold up a sign with any message in front of a variety of famous landmarks, someone who will teach you Chinese in 20 minutes, people who will draw your caricature from a photo, psychics will answer questions, people will proofread your college papers, and there's even a girl who will pretend to be your girlfriend on Facebook for a week. 

I might try one of the people who make a picture from my photo...or maybe I'll get a cover design for my book that I haven't written yet...or get Bill Clinton to wish someone Happy Birthday on the phone...or even better--a birthday card from the Queen, mailed from London!

Did you forget?

Call Judy!

You said you wanted to take my eBay class, didn't you?   The 4-week series starts Feb 1.  (That's just one week from Tuesday....)

Call Judy at (308) 398-7445!

See you Tuesday evening!

Do You Bog?

Do you blog? One of my favorite internet Gurus is Elena Verlee. She wrote on Facebook this morning:

Always respond to comments on your blog and when you detect a mention of your blog on another blog, thank that blogger in the comments of the post.

Three Tips in One Day!

Tip 1.  Uncle John’s Bathroom Reader has been published since 1988. The most recent one is number 23. I always try to pick these up when I’m thrift shopping--they usually sell quite well. I found number 6 this week and just listed it this morning.

Tip 2.  Do you twitter? It’s a great place for free advertising! Just comment about your most recent listing and put in a link--suddenly you have lots more people looking at your listing!

Tip 3.  Since twitter limits you to 140 spaces, brevity is of most importance! So use a URL shortener for your tweet--I use tinyurl.com. My tweet this morning about my Uncle John’s Bathroom Reader reads There are approx 50% more male southpaws than female. Uncle John’s Bathroom Reader #6. 
Twitter will make a link and people will click on it, see your listing and hopefully some of them will be interested enough to bid!

Speedy Bump

I just discovered a great site--SpeedyBump.com. It gives free advertising for your eBay auctions.

You fill in your eBay auction with just the item number, no image to upload, no text description to fill out, just paste in your eBay Item Number and they do the rest! SpeedyBump.com is so fast it takes just seconds to show up on their site. They ask that you only post 3 items at a time to give others a fair chance at the exposure--but as soon as your item/s reach the bottom of the page and disappear, you can add them back or others as you see fit--just remember, only 3 at a time.

Crop Circles

I became interested in Crop Circles a few years back and bought myself a couple of books (on eBay of course!).

After looking through the books, I put them on the shelf, never to open them again....so I might as well list them since they're not doing me any good just sitting here. 

What do you have that used to be important, but is just collecting dust on your shelf?  Why not list it so someone else might enjoy it like you used to?

The Unknown Hood Ornament

I finally listed the hood ornament!  I've been researching this thing for a full 2 days now. First I checked on eBay and found one similar (but not exact) on completed listings...it was a 1933 Olds.  Then I emailed my son-in-law,  who said it was a 1954 Buick.  I'd already been on various sites that show the different (there are soooo many!) but when I searched for a '54 Buick, it just wasn't the same--the '54 had upturned wings.

I put a picture on Facebook and got a few suggestions...one friend suggested it looked like an old Cadillac piece. I talked to the old guy around the corner who knows old cars...he said it looked a lot like an Oldsmobile.

So I listed it with a few question marks--and even revealed my ignorance in the description...would you believe it got a bid in the first 6 hours it was listed!!!

Now I'm second-guessing myself:  Did I start it too low?  I don't think so, but we'll see how it turns out in 6 days....check it out yourself:   Vintage Hood Ornament

ET has arrived!

My friends Norb & Marie sell odd items on eBay….I just couldn’t resist showing you this one….Doesn’t it remind you of ET?

　
It's item number 230570214389 if you want to check it out.  What fun!

On vacation, but still selling

Since I am in California for a few weeks, I put my store on vacation settings…but wouldn’t you know it…I received an offer for one of my books! Luckily my daughter at home was able to locate the book and will send it out as soon as payment is received.

I am selling items from my other eBay ID (the one I use when teaching), so if you are interested, check out ask.rae.