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-- Heidi & Jenn

Q: I am new to the alerts and see that you refer to BigCrumbs and Ebates, can you explain a little about them?

A: Absolutely! I love, love, love both of these sites! I use it for personal purchases as well as resale. Both are FREE to join.

Select the Store you are going to shop through - shop as you normally would and Ebates/BigCrumbs automatically credits you the designated % back from your purchase amount into your PayPal account!

If you are in a site and you suddenly remember about either site, you can still log on, select the store and simply hit refresh - this will update your cart information while your other window is opened and you should be good to go. Keep in mind that some online sites will offer separate sales and not honor eBates or BigCrumbs at the same time of their ’special’ sale. It’s usually either one or the other. This doesn’t happen that often, so just something to keep an eye on.

Ever get sucked in by a $ale?!

Do you ever wonder what you were thinking when you look at some of your eBay inventory?

Of Course!!  It’s only natural to get drawn in by super huge discounts!

Admit it, we all have those buying boo-boo’s  - beginners mistakes, newbie no-no’s… etc.  Whatever you want to call it!

The fact is NOT everything will sell on eBay just because it’s a good sale item.  Don’t buy something for resale because you don’t see what you really want and feel like you have to buy something.  Unfortunately a lot of people go through this and end up spending money on unwanted items.  This only leads to returning to the store, wasting gas and/or postage and your precious time!  Plus - if it’s a final sale item, it may not be returnable - so you’re stuck with it… possibly loosing money because you stick it up on eBay and take a loss, plus pay fees.  Or you bring it to a consignment shop and get half of what you originally paid.

These days, with technology as advanced as it is, a majority of us have camera’s on our cell phones, or blackberry - whatever you use.  Eliminate unwanted trips back and forth to stores by taking pictures with your cell phone, email yourself, look it up online, or call an eBay buddy!

Taking Pictures - Our sister site Toy Auction Profits, requires some trips to toy stores.  A lot of times I’ll forget what an item looks like when I’m researching something to see if it’s worth it for resale.  Mainly because there will be a couple versions or new style out - take a picture with your cell phone!  You’ll have it with you to reference, and there’s no need to run back to the store to see if you have the correct version.

Email yourself - Most cell phones give you the capability to email.  It makes it easier to remember while you’re working from home, you can easily add it to your ‘to do’ list.

Look it up online - If you’re really in a pinch and don’t have the Internet connected on your cell phone, you may have the option to get it on a day-by-day basis.  Some cell phone carriers will offer a $2 a day Internet access.  It comes in so handy when you aren’t in town, or really need to look up an item to see if it’s a hot one to pick up.

Call an eBay buddy - We all know somebody who sells on eBay, don’t we??  Give ‘em a call to see if they’ll look something up for you.  Better yet, alternate trips to the stores to save on gas and pick ‘eBay days’ that you can research for eachother.

Hope this helps!

So what’s your opinion on this?  Stop by Boutique Bargains and let us know!  Personally, it’s never been an issue with my buyers.  About 99% of them pay right away with paypal.  I’ve been very fortunate.  It’s so much easier to go paperless, don’t you think?

Beginning late October 2008, all items listed on eBay.com must be paid for using one of the following approved payment options:

• Direct credit or debit card payment via a merchant credit card account
• PayPal
• ProPay
• Payment on pick-up

Paper payment methods such as checks and money orders will no longer be accepted on eBay.com.

Read the Full story >>> HERE <<<

They even have some FAQs

What do I have to do to comply and when will I need to make these changes to my listings?

What will happen to my listings after October if I don’t remove prohibited payment methods?

What will happen if I ask a buyer to use prohibited payment method?

Other FAQs for buyers and sellers

EBay put their latest enforcement into effect just a few days ago…

Sellers now need to specify a domestic shipping price on all their listings so that buyers know what the item’s total cost will be.  I personally love this one, and have been big on using calculated shipping since it first came out. It’s so much easier to use calculated shipping in your listings and it eliminates a lot of back and forth from potential buyers.  OR, it prevents buyers from clicking away.  How many times have you walked away from something because there was no specified shipping?  More times than I care to admit.

“Buyer satisfaction and DSR scores are higher when sellers specify their shipping costs/services. For this reason, items without specified shipping receive less exposure in Best Match. We encourage the minority of sellers who don’t already specify shipping in the shipping details section of their listing to do so as soon as possible.”

EBay has also added:
Free Shipping for Calculated Listings
Added flexibility when shipping with Freight

They have also put tools in place so you can easily manage and update all your listings in bulk.

How will sellers be able to revise their listings to meet the new requirements?

Sellers will be able to revise listings in three ways using eBay’s tools:

1. Revise them individually (listing by listing) using Sell Your Item (SYI) or your favorite listing tool.
2. Revise them in bulk using our Bulk Edit tool, which is available in My eBay and Selling Manager. You can revise 10 listings at a time in My eBay or up to 200 at a time for Selling Manager.
3. Revise them in bulk using Turbo Lister.

You can check everything out right here http://www2.ebay.com/aw/core/200808291513272.html

Join us inside Boutique Bargains and share how you’re keeping up!

Hey there!  How is your week going so far?

It’s Wednesday and there are more fabulous changes happening at eBay!  There have been a ton the past couple weeks, and they are all pretty overwhelming.  There’s more to come - or should I say more GOOD changes to come!

The latest change is to one of the most used tools on our sister site, Toy Auction Profits.  It’s eBay’s Marketplace Research Tool.  It is being replaced by Terapeak, another well known research tool.

Terapeak has been helping eBay sellers and buyers with research for over 5 years and is a great tool to have.

You can easily transfer your eBay Marketplace Research Tool membership over to Terapeak and gain a 60% discount on their yearly subscription - it comes out to 9.99 per month - a huge discount over eBay’s Marketplace Research Pro tool that is currently $24.99 a month.  We all love a discount!

Check it out and let us know what you think!

Yep, you read it right. This IS the season to start getting ready for the holidays.

I know, I know… August isn’t even over yet and it’s only the beginning of September next week.  But did you know that 75% of all shoppers purchase their holiday gifts online??  Sweet number!  And about 30% of those shoppers start in September.

You know as well as I do that the early bird catches the worm, and you don’t want to be the one leaving profits behind.

Definitely stock up on Halloween NOW if you haven’t started yet.  Costumes already began selling in August, so the rush is half over!  Also get out those Holiday dresses and matching sibling outfits.  Mommy’s are looking for that perfect outfit for Holiday portraits and will pay the price if they find it!

Let’s get busy!

These are actually not bad at all…

EBay is taking steps to give sellers the most dynamic marketplace on the Internet.  Reduced upfront costs, more sales through great exposure for your listings, and a more consistent buyer experience.

1. Reduced upfront fees for Fixed Price: List multi-quantity items up to 30 days for one low fee

2. A more consistent buyer experience to drive more sales

3. More relevant search results to drive more sales

Read the full overview >>HERE<< and tell me what you think!

It’s about time!

I never understood why eBay took that route in the first place.  Neutrals are just that… neutrals! I see that another eBay blog agrees as well - nice to see another point of view!

The update effective August 19h is that Neutrals will no longer be counted as part of the Feedback Percentage.

“The recalculation is scheduled to take effect next week on August 19th, before the next PowerSeller eligibility deadline. So, neutrals will not impact PowerSeller eligibility for August.”

I’m so glad to see this policy in effect this week.  We’ll see if there are any other developments as the week progresses.

In the mean time, leave a comment to share your thoughts on eBay’s newest policy change…

How is your summer going?  Are you ready for the kids to go back to school and have some mental health days?

I wanted to let you know that Heidi has worked her magic and made our Boutique Bargains Affiliate Program available to anyone who wants to join.  You can earn 50% recurring commissions on every person you refer to our membership site.

To get the most out of this program, make sure to sign in right away and get your affiliate links and tools. Then place the referral information in your:

- Website

- Newsletter

- Blog

- Email Signatures

- Signature Files on Forums and Networking Sites (where allowed)

- Your About Me Page

We make payment through PayPal so you get paid quickly.

Don’t have a PayPal account? Just sign up here, it’s free!: PayPal

Can you imagine?

Seems like not long ago we began the pitter patter of a baby blog post out in the cyber world and now - it’s a whole year later! SWEET!!

We’ve come a long, long way and have made great strides in our style, and our design.  Our blog has truly grown over the past year.  We’ve also recognized what our target market needs and what they like.

That is why over these past few months we’ve really done some sole searching ourselves and have listened to what YOU need.

With the current economic conditions, we know everyone is facing the decision to cut back here & there.  So we have made our own decision to cut Boutique Bargains monthly subscription rate IN HALF!

We want our membership to be as affordable as possible in order to support your efforts in these uncertain times.  We’re moms too, and we are certainly feeling the pinch these days, realizing we’re all in this together.

Besides the new low monthly rate, we have even greater discounts on our quarterly, 6 month, and NEW Lifetime memberships….

Here’s to your continued success!