Archive for December, 2008
December 31, 2008 at 3:17 am · Filed under Exchange Markets + Auctions
Transactions on eBay don’t always go perfectly. Sometimes winning bidders simply become ghost bidders and are never seen again. It all takes a lot of effort & time, having to relist items due to time wasters & reclaim back final sales fees.
You may get frustrated and want to leave negative feedback as soon as you realize your not going to be paid. However, it’s best not to let your emotions rule your business.
So, what can you do before you leave negative feedback.
1) E-mail them
Firstly email them. They may simply have been away, be offline for a few days, be involved in a family emergency or may just have their eBay account preferences set so they do not get an email when they win an item. So take the initative yourself & email the other party. Also if you can try to request a receipt so can see if they open the email.
2) Call them
If you are involved in a transaction on eBay, you can easily access the other parties contact details including any phone number they have registered with eBay. Log into eBay, select the “Advance search” option & choose “Find Member Details” from the list of options.
As soon as you confirm you are involved with this member, eBay will email all the details. Just give them a quick, friendly call. If no-one answers they may be away on holiday so give it a few weeks before trying.
3) Check email addresses
Almost all of my winning bidders pay via paypal. And when you look closely at any emails you will have received you’ll notice they have different email accounts registered with both paypal & ebay. Be certain to email one account & cc a copy to the other. Very often, it is simply a case of the winning bidder simply checking the wrong email account.
4) See if there bidding/selling on other items
eBays search options easily allow you to see if your winning bidder is selling goods themselves or even see if they’ve bid on other items in the last thirty days. This should give a good indication of if they are ignoring you or if it’s just a simple case of miscommunication.
5) Finally follow eBay procedure
Finally, if all your other methods have shown no successful results all you can do is follow eBays procedure. This will eventually have the final sales fee credited back to your account. Once this happens just relist the goods & try again.
Mark Kenny runs an independent eBay forum where you can discuss any eBay related problem.
December 31, 2008 at 2:04 am · Filed under Exchange Markets + Auctions
Wholesale fragrances offers resellers high profit margins along with high volume sales, when done right.
Resellers, whether flea market vendors, eBay sellers, or dollar stores, will be faced with competition from online and offline retailers who can buy wholesale fragrances at a lower price.
To outmaneuver this competition in the wholesale fragrances business, resellers need to have a strategic plan in place.
Part one of their plan deals with finding the best sources for wholesale fragrances at the lowest possible prices.
For this reason I would recommend resellers to stay away from drop shippers when looking for wholesale fragrances.
Since the drop shipper is set up to offer his products to thousands of other resellers, you will not be able to compete based on price. All the resellers are paying the same price to the wholesale fragrances drop shipper, so how can your prices be lower?
When looking to buy wholesale fragrances you want to get as close to the source as possible.
Since you will not be able to buy brand name wholesale fragrances for a lower price than major retailers can, you will want to look for lesser known wholesale fragrances sellers.
For instance, ABC Fragrances might not have the name recognition that Calvin Klein enjoys, but you can show customers that the quality is the same, and as long as your prices are lower some customers should buy the wholesale fragrances manufactured by ABC Fragrances.
When you contact these companies looking for wholesale fragrances ask them for their overstock, overrun, and closeout deals. You would be surprised at the wholesale fragrances deals you can find from small manufacturers that are looking to move merchandise out.
You can find great wholesale fragrances deals but it will take some solid leg work.
Donny Lowy is the CEO of http://www.closeoutexplosion.com, an online wholesale and closeout business, and http://www.wholesalecloseoutforum.com, an educational site for the wholesale and closeout business.
December 28, 2008 at 7:47 pm · Filed under Exchange Markets + Auctions
The creation of eBay has been the cause of the greatest entrepreneurial revolution in the history of the world a revolution that has proved greater than the creation of the Internet, the typewriter and even the quill pen. The greatest feature of eBay is it advertises the item description listing of the product you’re selling. A well-advertised listing can make the same product sell for twice as much as a poorly advertised listing. EBay advertising is just like any other type of advertising: In order to be successful, you must be testing all the time. Test your auction layout, pictures and the wording you use in your listing. I’ve found it beneficial to stuff your title with many keywords. The more likely your listing will come up in a search, the more likely your item will receive more and consequently higher bids.
A seller’s customer service on eBay is unparalleled. Because eBay does not tolerate customer dissatisfaction, it weeds out the bad seeds very quickly. EBay customers are very educated and price conscious and therefore prove to be very difficult to deal with. EBay buyers will hassle you about mistakes in your listing, delays in shipping and virtually anything you can imagine. The key to customer service is patience: Never retaliate negatively to a customer complaint. Be prepared to take a loss and refund listings. More importantly, be prepared to learn something from each customer interaction.
In 2002, eBay ended its battle with PayPal and purchased the company for $1.5 billion. With PayPal, the leading online service for electronic payments, you can send money to some place across the world within a few seconds. Better yet, it’s the cheapest way to charge credit cards, and it is a powerful tool in fraud protection. PayPal is very intuitive and easy to learn. Running an eBay business without PayPal is like running a steakhouse that doesn’t accept credit cards. I do not recommend it.
The most valuable experience of being en “eBay-preneur” is learning how to deal with suppliers. You can find suppliers virtually anywhere for your business. It’s best to find large suppliers that can send you the same product time after time. Because eBay has an unlimited amount of suppliers in every individual market. It creates fierce competition which, in turn, cuts prices and profit margins to razor thin. This makes many eBay industries unprofitable. Though it is difficult to make a profit on eBay, it is very possible. However, it does take a lot of forethought and innovative strategy. EBay gives an unprecedented amount of information for both buyers and sellers.
To Know more, visit ebaypaypalblog.com
December 28, 2008 at 5:53 pm · Filed under Exchange Markets + Auctions
Listing your items on eBay can be very confusing if you don’t know where to start. Here are a few tips on getting your items listed so that they sell.
Accuracy
When you list your items on eBay, write an accurate description. You do not have to write long paragraphs of rambling information but provide exact measurements, colors, condition, etc. Be extremely precise when it comes to your description.
Auction Title
Just as using a strong title for a book, your eBay auction title needs to captivate buyers. You are allowed 45 characters for your title and you need to use common words that will draw attention. Use this space carefully and to your advantage. Think of words that will be easily found when people conduct a search. For example, if you are selling six yards of fabric you could say something like, “Stunning material - Don’t miss this great bargain.” If you are selling fishing poles, try something like, “Love to fish? GREAT buy on fishing poles!”
Since the search option on eBay looks for specific characters, you should try to list the item both singular and plural. As an example, for the fishing poles, you could list the auction as, “Fishing Poles - Get your fishing pole now!” Avoid wasted words such as WOW or Look Here. Buyers are looking so there is no need to tell them to look. Again, as buyers looking through the listings, the titles are what will capture their attention. Make your impression a strong one!
Abbreviations
Saving space in titles can be important if you have a longer description. Look at other auctions selling the same type of merchandise to get an idea of the types of abbreviations that will work. As an example, you could write, “Do U love to fish?” or “Gorgeous material 4 sale.”
Buyer’s Questions
When you write your description try to think of questions buyers may have so your description will answer as many possible questions as possible. This will save time in relaying messages back and forth. This would include the manufacturers’ name, condition of the items, special features, warranties, color, defects, etc.
Listing Category
When you choose which category to list your items, choose wisely. You will find some categories that are similar yet just enough different that it could make a big difference in how your items is sold. Look at other items listed and choose appropriately.
Sending Items
In your description, provide accurate details regarding shipment. Make sure the items are sent within the time you stated. In many cases, people purchase something for a specific purpose and if you do not ship it when stated, not only do you mess up their schedule for the item but you have probably lost a customer and opened the door for a negative feedback.
Flaws
Advise potential buyers of any flaws in your products. If you are selling a plate that has a small chip, mention this in the description. If you are selling fabric and it has a small tear, disclose this information. The majority of eBay buyers are looking for bargains, which means minor defects can often be overlooked. The worse possible scenario would be to keep a flaw hidden and then have to deal with handling returns as well as losing a buyer.
Auction Price
Set your auctions low, which will help encourage more bidding. The more bidding you have, the higher the price will ultimately go. In addition, if you add a “Buy Now” option for your auction, keep this set at a reasonable rate as well.
Payment Options
The more options you can provide potential buyers, the better your chances of making the sale. Your options include PayPal, which is an online payment service, Billpoint, eBay’s payment system, personal checks, money orders, or cash. Remember that you will have buyers from around the world so an online payment service is extremely helpful.
Shipping / Handling
You should always charge actual shipping costs. Several options can be added to your account that provides the actual costs. Another option is to state that you will provide actual shipping at the end of the auction, based on the destination zip code. Overcharging customers for shipping and handling is frowned upon and will result is unhappy customers.
Sell by Lots
If you have two or more of one item, you can list it as a “lot.” For example, if you had five bottles of suntan lotion purchased from a salvage store for .50 each, and you decided to list them on eBay for $1.00 each, rather than list each one separately, another option is to sell them as a lot. Often times, people perform their search based on lots. However, if you had one bottle of suntan lotion, one bottle of regular lotion, and one bottle of aloe vera, you would want to list them as their own item.
Photographs
While auctions without photographs can and do sell, auctions with photographs sell much better. People like visualizations and want to see what their money is getting them. Make sure your photograph is clear, focused, and depending on the item (such as rings, shoes, etc.), offers more than just a straight view.
Size and Weight
If possible, stay with items that are smaller and lightweight. Remember that whatever you sell, you have to ship. Items such as furniture, lawnmowers, etc. are generally sold through a manufacturer or wholesaler. As an independent seller, you want to sell items that are easy to manage.
Shipping Options
Set up accounts with several overnight couriers such as Federal Express and UPS. Once again, the more options offered, the better your auction will be received.
Location
It is important to list the city and state where you are located. Not only does this help the buyer determine shipping to make sure you are not overcharging them but if you are selling larger items such as furniture, automobiles, or appliances where the buyer would have to pick the items up, it would let them know if they want to bid based on location. As an example, if you have a refrigerator for sale and you live in New York, someone from California is not going to drive clear across the country just to pick up the appliance whereas on the East Coast might.
Accessories
Some people fail to include information about accessories. This is very important since many times people are looking specifically for the accessories/attachments that go along with the items. What if you were buying a weed eater but had a bad back? You need one that has a good shoulder strap. If the buyer visits your auction and finds the weed eater, you are selling to be exactly what they are looking for and the price is right but there is no strap, you have lost a sale. Include all accessory/attachment information even if you think it has no value.
Collectibles
When selling antiques or collectibles, you should provide a history of the items. If you have artwork for sale in your auction, provide the buyer with its origin. People love to have history, especially when it comes to collectibles, which is part of what adds to its value. Without embellishing, make the story a good one.
Keeping Good Records
You need to establish a sound recording system. This system would consist of the item name, any associated reserve price (although not recommended for your auction), description, flaws, buyer’s name, price sold for, payment received date, etc. This helps to ensure the entire transaction for that item is complete from beginning to end and provides you with information should you need to list that same item or a similar item. Additionally, the record will help you know what your income was, based solely on your specific auctions.
Checkout
If you choose to use eBay’s checkout system, make sure every box is checked when you list your items. This option can be helpful when used correctly, but can also be confusing.
Lewis Leake helps people get started in a Work From Home business. His website at GrowNetProfits.com contains tools, resources, articles, newsletters, product reviews and traffic builders to help you make money from your home based business. Click here to read additional Online Auction articles.
December 27, 2008 at 9:05 pm · Filed under Bikers Delight
A long time ago, but not longer than memory some friends and I rode from Oregon to Mexico to raise some money for Special Olympics and some local service clubs in our community. The kids needed a 10-passenger van to afford to drive to the next town for bowling because the bowling alley had closed. This was one of their favorite activities.
We chose to get sponsors at between $.01 and $.10 per mile and make the trek. If you do this I recommend flying to Portland and taking the bus to Astoria, OR and then crossing the bridge to Washington State and then turning around and never looking back.
The coastline along the way is the most scenic ride in the United States and you will have a quarter tailwind nearly the entire way. The Bike Centennial Route has maps the entire way; 3-maps in all. Pretty easy to follow and once you get going you must concentrate on your cadence.
Once your body adjusts to the cadence or "Pace" it is amazing how many miles you can go and the speeds you can produce. I think I was averaging 35 mph or something like that and at the time the newest electronic odometer meters had come out and we started the 1,000 plus mile journey giving us 10-days. 10 started out only 3 finished.
We raised some money and a great time with great memories and it sure made it worth doing. Perhaps this is something you might consider especially if you live on the West Coast of the United States. Consider all this in 2006.
December 27, 2008 at 2:11 pm · Filed under Home Improvement Stuff
Many hours are spent in the kitchen, so the kitchen should be organized in a way to make everything easy to access. So many times it is just easier to go ahead and put things where you first think that they should go, rather than taking the time to truly think out what it will be like on a day to day basis. With every kitchen the dishwasher should be next to the sink, so that the two can work side by side, this is a must. No one wants to carry wet dishes half way across the kitchen. The refrigerator should be next to the stove so that food can be prepared easily. Now let’s talk about where to put the utensils. The utensils should be stored real close to the dishwasher and the sink, this makes it easy to load and unload the dishwasher. Pots and pans should be stored close to the stove and refrigerator. All food should be stored close to each other. There should be some type of order to it, like putting crackers and canned soups together, and a place to put apples and bananas together. There is also a place to put spices and seasonings together, this should be real close to the stove. An area for supplements, like Acceletrim, can be kept in the kitchen so that you can take them after your meals. This can be done when you place your dishes into the dishwasher, get a glass of water out and take your supplements, then put your glass into the dishwasher. To sum this up, make sure that your kitchen is in good order so you can save time and energy. You don’t want to spend your days finding things, it would be more fun to spend the time cooking and creating.
December 26, 2008 at 11:29 pm · Filed under The Helping Hand
My name is Stephen Hill, I have overcome a stammer which had affected my life for eighteen years. I now help as many other people who stammer to achieve fluency as I can.
When I had a stammer, I would attend speech therapy, at which I would be told to slow down or to take a deep breath before talking. Other tips were to use costal breathing or to prolong my words.
This did not seem to help me very much and after attending these speech therapy lessons for eighteen years decided it probably never would.
I firmly believed that my own stammer was very much a physcological as well as a physical problem as at times I could talk very well, like for example when I was talking to my girlfriend or when I was talking when I was drunk.
I decided to read a lot of books about positive thinking for example and at the same time started to study how good fluent talkers were speaking compared to me. I was basically trying to re-learn how to speak.
It was hard for me to truly believe I would ever be able to achieve fluency as everyone had always told me that you can not overcome a stammer.
After about a year though I managed to overcome the stammer and then started to help other people to achieve fluency.
I have been helping people now for around eight years and have people who stammer from many different countries and backgrounds.
December 25, 2008 at 4:04 pm · Filed under Exchange Markets + Auctions
Saving money can be quite hard to do if you are on a tight budget, but all of us can do it very simply by selling the things that are cluttering up our homes and which we no longer need. I am fairly sure that most of us, if asked, would like some extra cash to help pay off a loan or other debt, or to put towards something nice like a holiday or something else that you would like to save up for.
What Can I Sell to Save?
The answer to this question is almost anything. You would be surprised what people are willing to buy if they like one particular thing you own or if they are interested in collecting certain things. Below is a list of things that you might find in your home and could sell, but this is by no means a complete list. Use your imagination and have a good look around the cupboard under the stairs and the garage! You can also have a look on the Internet at sites specialising in collectables and memorabilia - these will give you an idea of what people are interested in buying and most importantly for you, how much you can charge.
Advertising and packaging - This can be much sought after by collectors if they are in good condition. Certain types are more popular than other for example cigarettes, food and cosmetics products. They do not always necessarily have to be old - I recently sold a tin that contained candies, which I bought about a month ago. I sold it to a woman who paid 10 dollars for it because she was collecting tins from this particular brand of candy and my one had a famous cartoon character on the side of it.
Autographs - Do have an old autograph hanging around from someone you admired when you were a child? These could bring in anything from around 10 dollars to 7000 dollars if it is from someone really famous and there are few others around.
Baby care accessories - these can be incredibly expensive to buy new these days and many first-time parents look for second-hand items that they can pick up at a reduced price.
Books - Rare books and first editions can bring in significant sums of money. We’ve all checked our kid’s Harry Potter books to see if they are a first edition haven’t we!
Bottles - Yes bottles! Old and rare bottles are extremely collectable and can earn you anything from 5 dollars to 5000 dollars. These could include stoneware beer bottles or 19th Century poison bottles.
Records - Old and rare records in good condition can earn you a few dollars, if you are old enough to remember what records are!
Toys and games - Old and rare toys and games are a particular collector’s favorite, as are newer ones that are connected with popular films and TV series. The latter need to be in really good condition. 20 years ago, as a kid in his mid-teens, my cousin was buying Star Wars figures and keeping them sealed in their packets. They are now worth up to 250 dollars each! You can still get around 20 dollars for figures that are no longer boxed but are in good condition.
As you can see, the phrase “in good condition” keeps coming up and this is the key to making money from your unwanted belongings. A damaged item will sell for far less than one that is in good condition and may not even make you any money at all.
How and where can I sell?
Once you have something that you want to sell, there are many ways of doing it. The following are just a few ideas. To start with you could ask your friends, neighbours and work colleagues if they are interested in what you have. Many companies have an internal newsletter or Intranet where “items for sale” can be advertised for free. You could use classified ads in local newspapers and on the Internet - many of these are also free. Garage sales and car boot sales are other options if you have quite a few things to sell. You may also wish to consider using Internet auction web sites such as Ebay. These are now hugely popular with millions of items being bought and sold at any one time, all over the world. You are certain to find that items similar to that which you intend to sell are already being sold by someone else on the Internet, so you can see what sort of purchase values they attract. This will help you decide on a suitable starting price for your own items. Sites like Ebay make their money by charging you a small listing fee and by taking a small percentage of the final selling price.
Emmanuel Mendonca is the webmaster and publisher of Debt Genius at http://www.debtgenius.com - a free source of information and advice on debt consolidation, getting out of debt and on saving money. Submit articles free.
December 25, 2008 at 1:59 pm · Filed under The Helping Hand
When Ann came to see me, she was in the process of counting how many times in the past year her husband had turned on the television when she wanted to talk to him–not that she had ever told him she wanted to talk. She left him oblivious to her upset, while her resentment built at his failure to magically “know” what was on her mind.
When we are young it seems as if our caretakers magically know when we need to eat and what they must do to take care of us. Children have a family romance in which their parents are always wise and good. This is extended to the whole world via the culture of children’s stories, in which wonderful things happen to the good guys and the bad guys get their due.
The Prince comes. The slipper fits. They live happily ever after.
In adulthood this can become the expectation: that our partners should always know what we need without our having to tell them. When our partner fails to read our minds and to “magically” know our needs, resentment builds. We can take our partner’s “blindness” as a criticism of what we want or as a failure to do their part in the relationship. I have seen many couples who both believe that the other one knows, “just knows,” what it is they need and is withholding it for reasons of perversity or vindictiveness. This leads to a kind of passivity and watching in the relationship. We wait and wait for our partner to recognize us by doing for us the thing we feel they should know to do. We describe this, as it has often been called as, “saving brown stamps.” Meanwhile, resentment builds and we cease to be a proper participant in the relationship.
Our belief that there is a force outside of our lives magically steering it toward love and happiness is deeply ingrained; usually it is only given up as a consequence of repeated disappointments. Even when it is, we can still become involved in trying to be the perfect person ourselves, believing that our slimness or muscularity will exercise a magical attraction on others around us. Thus women become anorexic and men spend hours at the gym. These behaviors often represent an attempt to keep our belief in magic alive.
Copyright 2005 Linda Miles Ph.D
December 24, 2008 at 8:51 pm · Filed under The Helping Hand
Asian girls Dating is becoming very popular !
We’ve all done it at one time or another, or will do it sometime in the future. Regardless of when you do it, just remember you will get caught eventually and when you do, you cannot bury your head in the sand.
Too bad there are not strict policies, punishable by law in association with the internet wherein something could be written and implemented along the lines of “Truth in Online Dating”. Who am I kidding, people have lied from the beginning of time and will continue to do so until Hell freezes over and even when caught some will continue to do so at our expense. Bastards!
Remember the old video rental mantra “Be Kind, Rewind”? Some of you may be too young to remember that but the sentiment still applies. For this subject, lets use, oh I don’t know, how about “You Lie, You Die”, hmmmmm, maybe not, too blatant. Oh wait, I know, “Honesty Accepted, Deception Denied”.
Anyway, the point here is to be honest in all you say and do. Have you ever stretched the truth or told an out and out blatant lie? Tell me how many more lies did you have to tell to cover your ass from the original lie? Life is too short to waste all your time and energy covering your ass. Do it right and do it honestly the first time.
So, you are asking yourself, what is this crazy woman’s point? OK, OK, the point is, when you are creating a profile, be it just for your screen name or for an “Online Dating Site” be honest. Describe yourself as you see yourself, if you are 5′5″ don’t list that you are 5′10″, if you weigh 210 don’t list your weight as 135.
Be real, have you ever spent endless hours talking to someone and envisioned what they looked like based on the picture and physical description posted on their profile only to find the picture is 10 yrs old, they have gained 50 pounds and are 6 inches shorter than what they indicated.
It has happend to me, and I was pissed, aggravated and disappointed. And, yes, I have done it myself and when it came time to meet the person I felt really bad about the lies I had told and fessed up. We met anyway and in this instance we became very good friends, but, it doesn’t always work out that way.
If you are going to share personal information, be very cautious, be generic, but honest. If you plan on meeting this person and who knows, maybe start a relationship, don’t sabotage it with lies. A good relationship, romantic or friendship is based on trust and honesty.
Start off on the right foot, and maintain a certain mystery about yourself to pique their interest, remember any embellishments will be exposed, relationships destroyed and in most cases the trust is gone forever.
Simple advice……tell the truth no matter how bad it sounds, your honesty will be welcomed and very much appreciated not to mention the open doors that result from that same honesty. Honesty is sexy and appealing and lies, well, they are boring, unattractive and get you nowhere, but caught!
Those of you that are lying to someone right now, come clean, spill the beans, maybe you can be forgiven, maybe not, but you can start fresh from here…..the point of honesty and truth in Online Dating and every aspect of your life. It is much less complicated to tell the truth than it is to cover a lie.
I’m Dao Jones from Thailand, founder of Asian-Girls-Dating.com. A unique dating site with writing, dating and culture tips, as well as lots of information about the special characteristics of Asian women.
If you want to know more about Asian girls go to my favourite pages :
Click here to find lovely girls from
Thail and - Phil ippines - Japa n - South Korea - Vi etnam - China - Hon g Kong - Sin gapore - Mal aysia - Taiwan - Russi a - India< /a> - In donesia
OR GO TO OUR ADULT DATING PAGES :
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Dao Jones
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