Treasures Old and New...just minding my little business: February 2008

Auction Cash Machine

Just released - EZ-D's Auction Cash Machine.

EZ-D has a system for finding high profit potential products and quickly flipping these products for a fast profit. And he's willing to show you how to use his system to find these high profit potential products in your area AND exactly how to sell these products to maximize your profits.

If your looking to sell on eBay, or expand your product line, this is a must have product. Currently priced at only $49.99 - but the price is due to go up any time now so don't wait to jump on this. Click HERE for more information.

Until next time...
Dawn

eBay Boycott - or not!

I have to be honest with you - I didn't hear about this boycott until this weekend. (Of course having a house full of sick children could have had something to do with that.) I guess sellers are up in arms - yet again about the fee increases/decreases. What would these people do if they had actual brick and mortar stores?

My take on all of this? First I will not participate in this boycott. Am I upset about the fee changes? Maybe a little, but I just have to revamp my selling strategy. I sell what I do because I love it. I enjoy hearing from my customers - when they have found a book they had as a child and want to share it with their children, when they are able to add a beloved book to a classroom shelf. It warms my heart.

Now if eBay is your only source of online income - maybe it's time to diversify. Over a year ago I took my selling to another level by adding other venues like Amazon and Biblio. What happened when I did that? My sales went up. Not overnight, but gradually. eBay has always been my top selling venue but Amazon is catching up and so far this month is ahead of eBay - we'll see where we're at at the end of the month.

Most buyers don't even know about the boycott on eBay - nor do they care. They are looking for something - and they will go find it where they can get the best deal. They will buy from sellers they have purchased from in the past that gave them good service. They are the important part of eBay, and I intend to do my best to keep my customers happy. After all, shouldn't we treat them the way we would want to be treated?

I see both sides of the story, but I for one, would not be where I am today if it weren't for eBay. This venue of selling has given me a low cost way to make some much needed extra money for our family without my having to leave home. I am making more at home working part time then I would be if I were working part time at a business based on what the going wage is for my training (Accounting). Not to mention the flexibility I wouldn't have working for someone else.

You can do what you feel best for your business, and I will take no offense to that, but I for one will continue to sell this week on eBay - and I might do better since many sellers will be taking the week off. More power to you!

Until next time...
Dawn
eBay seller - and proud of it!
Treasures Old and New

Tax Time

Do you dread this time of year? Even with a background in bookkeeping I dread having to get everything together to do my taxes - as I'm not very good at keeping on top of stuff during the year (my bad).

Well, I think I have found a great program to help me this year and I'm excited to give it a try. Thought I would share it with my readers as well.

The Internet Tax Helper

An easy to understand and use program that makes entering your income and expenses so simple that your 12 year old daughter can keep your "books" (and reduce your tax expense at the same time!!)

Is already set up for a home business and painlessly guides you through the steps to claim every one of the lucrative home business tax deductions that you are legally entitled to and can add $1000's in tax savings to your business. Not claiming just one of these deductions could mean overpaying Uncle Sam $100's if not $1000 or more in taxes. Just imagine, you could be overpaying Uncle Sam $4637 in taxes this year and not even know it.

Instantly shows you exactly how much you have earned in net income for every month, every quarter and for the entire year. No more guessing on how your business is truly performing.

Automatically creates an income statement for your business for every month, every quarter and the end of the year so all you have to do is hit the Print button and send it to your accountant. This one feature alone will reduce your aspirin consumption in half this year!!

Provides you a total of every kind of income and expense you have for the year. Now you can quickly look and see where you are earning your money and more importantly where you are spending (or overspending) it. (Careful, this can be a shocker!!)

There's a free demo you can try before you buy. I'll let you know in a couple months what I think of it. If you try it, leave me some comments and let me know what you think.

Until next time...
Dawn

Additional Selling Venues

Over the past couple years, I've learned it's important to not be selling on only one venue. You never know when they will raise prices or go belly up. Since branching out onto other selling sites, I have seen my sales increase - which makes sense.

I recently came across eBid Auctions and it looks like a promising site. Free to join with no listing fees, you really can't go wrong giving it a shot. They have 3 membership levels:

Buyer. For buyers. No fees.

Seller. For casual sellers.
Upgrade Fee : $0.00
Auction Listing Fee : $0.00
Auction Final Value Fee : 3%

Seller+.
Upgrade Fee : 7 Day $1.99 | 30 Day $6.99 | 90 Day $16.99 | 365 Day $59.99 | Lifetime $49.99
Auction Listing Fee : $0.00
Auction Final Value Fee : $0.00

They are offering a special Lifetime membership of $49.99 - normally $99.99. At that price how can you not sign up.

I haven't tried it out yet, I have submitted a support ticket to see if I can use eBid with my listing service, so I'm waiting to hear back from that. If I can't at this time, I may try a few auctions and see what happens.

So, give them a try and let me know how you do, I'll do the same once I get moving here!

Until next time, God bless!
Dawn

Sourcing Items to Sell

I've got my idea - now where do I go?

Not sure where to turn to find your stock? The best idea is to find a couple of supply sources for your items so that if one dries up during a busy period, you won't be left high and dry.

1. Garage Sales

Garage sales can be a great opportunity to pick up potentially valuable items selling for pennies. However, they do require a regular time commitment and a lot of patience! You'll quite likely travel around 5-8 sales before you find anything suitable. Going around garage sales requires planning and rising early. The best idea is to look through the morning papers as soon as they arrive. Plan your route to make most efficient use of your time so that you are not doubling back. Make a list of items you would like to find and the maximum amount you would pay to make a profit. And finally, don't forget to take cash! Take small bills and some change as most garage sale owners only have a small amount on hand. It's a waste of everyone's time if you have to race down to the ATM machine. Garage sales can be useful sources, but they rely on luck and have a high time cost per item. Thus, serious sellers don't rely on garage sales as their sole provider.

2. Liquidation sales

Liquidation sales are a fantastic way of finding brand-name items at enormous discounts. Check your newspapers and look for sales in your area. Before buying from a liquidator check to see why the goods are being sold. Most of the time liquidation sales take place for legitimate reasons such as company bankruptcy, store relocation and so on. However, it always pays to check as you don't want to end up with a pile of stock you can't shift. Another thing - don't bother with liquidation stock that is outside the scope of your business. There is no point buying liquidation bicycle equipment just because it's cheap when you only sell jewelry.

Alternatively, you can find liquidation sites on the Internet - one such site is http://www.liquidation.com. These sites make it extremely easy to buy liquidation, particularly if you live in an outlying area. One thing - just make sure that the possibility of damaged stock and used or returned items included in the lots is small or non-existent.

Liquidation sales are a great way to supplement your stock, but they can't be relied upon to restock the shelves.

3. Estate sales

Estate sales can be a goldmine for anyone selling jewelry, vintage clothing, books, furniture and so on. Once again, you need to have an idea of how much you can afford to spend before you go. Don't forget to buy items your customers would like, rather simply getting caught up in your own enthusiasm for what is for sale. Note that estate sales run by an agent are unlikely to garner the same bargains as one run by the family.

4. Clearance stores

At certain times of the year, most major stores will have a stock clear-out sale. Some of these sales give you the opportunity to buy goods 50% or more below the regular retail value. This can be a fantastic opportunity to find items to sell - or replenish your stocks. Good clearance sales can be equal to or even below a good wholesale price. Don't forget to overlook small hobby shops in your area with clearance sales either. If you know the store is going to have clearance sales regularly, then this can be one method of getting stock.

5. Wholesalers

Wholesalers are the most reliable method of sourcing goods. While the initial process can be time consuming at first, it is effort that pays off. When you have found a wholesale, you now have certainty of when you are going to receive stock and how much you will have to pay for it. The best way to find wholesalers is to use a directory. Directories remove the risk of dealing with illegitimate wholesalers and give you some peace of mind when dealing with wholesalers and manufacturers from China. Wholesalers should be the mainstay behind your product sourcing.

About the Author: SaleHoo is one of the fastest growing product sourcing portals on the internet. It contains a database of drop ship, wholesale, closeout and manufacturing suppliers offering thousands of product suppliers to consumers! Located at http://www.salehoo.com, visitors are allowed to sign up for unlimited and lifetime access to the completely searchable database of products and suppliers. The database is regularly updated, ensuring that the latest retail products are always available for purchase and SaleHoo carries the BBB Reliability Seal!

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The Automatic Millionaire

I'm in the the midst of reading a book that I thought might be of interest to some of you. The Automatic Millionaire - A Powerful One-Step Plan to Live and Finish Rich by David Bach.

My first thought was this book was another "get rich scheme", but the write up was interesting, so I figured I might read the first several pages first before listing it.

After the first few pages, I realized that this book is common sense - something many of us fail to put into practice, myself included.

David very simply tells us we need to Pay Yourself First! Once upon a time I used to do that - BC (before children). At every paycheck, we need to be putting a percentage of our money away - for us - before the bills are paid, before the food is purchased, before anything (well except your tithe - in my opinion).

Up until our children came along I was pretty good at putting money in the savings account - but after they started coming and I quit my job - I didn't see anyway we could put money aside, and sad to say we didn't. I wish this book had been written 20 years ago.

David shows you ways you can Pay Yourself First, automatically so you don't even have to think about it. He will show you that you do have the money to do this - even if you don't think you have any extra at all. He explains everything very simply and in under 2 or so hours, you will know exactly what you need to do to start saving. No budgets, no thinking, it's all automatic.

Since I can't go back in time, I've put my plan into motion now. It's not automated yet because I really never know what my sales will be from one week to the next, but my savings account is all set up and each week I plan to get my decided upon percentage into my savings account - before paying any bills or buying any new books.

I will also be making this book required reading for my children - because if I can get them to start doing this now while they are young - they will be way ahead of my husband and I and hopefully not make the same mistakes we did.

So, until next time... have yourself a wonderful day!
God Bless,
Dawn