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Q.  I have opened an eBay store, but how many items should I keep in it?

A.  I get this question a lot!  It’s no mystery that the more you keep listing to eBay, the more you will sell.  Your challenge is going to be continually listing products to eBay.  A variation of Auctions and Store listings will ensure traffic to your products.  List all seasons, all year through to ensure you will attract buyers from other countries on opposite seasons.  Once you can maintain a few hundred items in your store, you’ll easily get a good rhythm with consistent listings each week to keep up the pace.

Hope that helps! 

It was a no brainer to start up Charity Auctions when the Haiti Earthquake became an overwhelming call for help on every news channel.  I’ve reached out to my exclusive members for help as well.  We’re featuring Charity Auctions this week, right here on the Boutique Bargains Blog.

Every Bid counts!

If you have Charity Auctions running, and would like to showcase on this blog please let me know.  I’d be happy to get the word out for you and share your items.  It all goes towards a worthy cause.

Send an email to jenn@boutiquebargains.com with your name and store link, or a link to auctions you have running.  Please put ‘CHARITY AUCTIONS’ in the subject line.

Some of my personal auctions include:

House of Hatten Smocked Easter Dress

Le Top Boutique Lemon Cirtus Dress

Gymboree Garden Bloom Linen Easter Set Green

Ralph Lauren 3 Pc Lot shirt pants Set

I hope to see many, many more participants! 

Maybe you have more than one goal this year, and becoming a PowerSeller is on the list!  I want to help you get moving a little. 

I remember when I first started on eBay I had the drive to become a PowerSeller!  Oh, I would sell everything! Then, when I reached my goal, I would work very hard to hang on to my accomplishment.  This is going back 10 years…..times are different now.  There are so many MORE options to increase your sales, making it easier to gain the PowerSeller icon next to your name!

Here are some Pro’s to becoming an eBay PowerSeller:

Buyers love eBay PowerSellers – why?

• You’ve met the highest standards on eBay
• You sell a consistent amount of items
• Your feedback rating is 98% or better
• Your detailed seller ratings (DSRs) are 4.5 or better in all four areas.
• Your account is in good standing
• You comply with all of the policies on eBay

You’ve become a seller that buyers feel that they can trust – and that’s pretty awesome!  Those six points are also your checklist to success, if you haven’t met those standards.

Rewards of becoming a PowerSeller:

eBay is proud to recognize every PowerSeller with benefits.

Here are just a few:

• PowerSellers get prioritized support by email or telephone, depending on sales level.
• Save up to 20% on FVFs each month. The higher your DSRs, the higher your discounts.
• Unpaid Item protection
• UPS rate discounts

For a full list of details about becoming a PowerSeller – check out their portal
http://pages.ebay.com/sellerinformation/powerseller/welcome.html

I am here to help you along the way!  Don’t worry if you feel discouraged at first – it takes patience and dedication (in that order) to build your business!

Happy Selling!

Is eBay Fun for you?

I’ve been buying and selling on eBay for nearly 10 years.  I would be remiss if I didn’t say that occasionally, I get a little bored.  It’s totally normal to get into a routine with anything you do day after day and fall into a rut.  

So why not mix things up?!  Spark a little fun back into your eBay routine!

Every so often I like to spice things up, change is good!  Sometimes it’s as easy as cleaning your office – or rearranging inventory.  Maybe, adding a new product to your store is something to gain momentum.

This year, I’ve added an eBay Jar to my desk.  It will add a fun mix to my eBay “routine”.  I’ll even add a couple of bonus tickets to force me to take a break every now and then.

What you will need:

Small jar, basket, container or box.

Small index cards or pieces of paper cut in to small squares.

How it works:

Write down a different task on each card.

Fold up the card tight – NO peaking!

Put each card in your eBay jar.

Each day, pick a card and finish the first task, then repeat!  This will enable you to start each day doing something different from the same old routine you’re used to.  You can vary how many cards you pick each day – or you can just do this once a week.  It’s personal preference.

Examples of some tasks could be:

-Check email for one hour

-Take pictures of 20 items/edit/upload to photo host.

-List 10 items to eBay

-Write 2 blog posts

-Organize inventory

-BONUS CARD! Take a half hour break!

-List two Charity Auctions today.

Hope this helps you to move through the day a little easier!

Happy Selling

Would you like a F-r-e-e week of knowing what is selling on eBay right now?  Get an peak of what the exclusive members of Boutique Bargains and Beyond see every day.  Join here.

I’ve been using Easy Auctions Tracker for over a year now, and I’m very pleased. If you know me, you know I will not recommend something that I just absolutely don’t use myself.

I’m absolutely loving the spreadsheet from Easy Auctions Tracker. It’s amazing!   Easy Auctions Tracker is the Ultimate Excel spreadsheet solution for eBay sellers and Trading Assistants!  This spreadsheet doesn’t calculate your fees, it actually COLLECTS your transaction information from your eBay account for you!!

This will make your busy life so much easier!

Very user friendly – if you need help, the support email is very responsive.

If you pull your January transaction data in by March 30th – this will let you go back as far as Jan. 1st (since eBay stores the info on their servers for 3 months).  This will enable you to have complete 2010 info. in your spreadsheet.  So if you forget to pull in your data each month, your safe!

 If you’ve been looking for an easy FAST tool for eBay bookkeeping - this does the trick.

Have Fun! 

If you chose to sell toys the past few weeks, you were surely busy in the toy department! I had some wonderful money makers – and some, eh, not so profitable auctions. That’s just the way some eBay sales go. You take the good with the bad, right?! Hopefully there have been more GOOD, than bad!

While my clothing sales were at a stand-still the past couple weeks, this week I’ve noticed a nice spike in profitable store sales. What have I been selling? Valentines, and a couple of short sets! That’s a good sign that buyers are looking ahead to next season. Get ready and stock up your Spring/Easter/Summer items!

Happy Selling!

From Boutique Bargains, here is wishing you a Very Merry Christmas and a Happy New year!

I hope you are enjoying this holiday season with family and friends. It’s the perfect time to take a break… Relax, regroup & refocus for the new selling year. You’ve worked hard, so you deserve a little time off!

Be safe & take care. Looking forward to 2010!

~ Jenn ~

I love shipping my items all over the world!

Yeas ago, I extended selling my items to offer shipping world wide.  It’s really been an exciting experience.  Even years later, I’m amazed at what a huge draw the international market is to purchasing merchandise from the United States.

A little background information:

 One of my auctions was running, and it did not meet the desired Reserve Price.  I received a message shortly after the auction ended.  It started as a regular question and answer regarding what the reserve price was and if I intended on re-listing the item.  In particular, she was very interested in buying my lot of Toys and absolutely needed them for Christmas.  Of course, I thought – I can make this happen, there is still 2 weeks before Christmas.  This sparked an interesting conversation.  It turns out this customer was from Hungary.  Now – with a new set of deadline concerns, I reached back out to the customer to make sure they were completely aware of the shipping deadline and of course, the cost.

It turns out, the toys she wanted to buy, were extremely hard to find in her Country.  When she does find them, they are so expensive, it’s just not worth it.  She was willing to pay $100 JUST in shipping in order to have these for Christmas.

Long story, short….we made it happen.  The toys are on their way to Hungary in time for Christmas.  Sometimes you just never know how eBay will bring joy to other countries in time for the holiday season.  Offering world wide shipping has made a big difference in my selling success.

Enjoy Your Holidays!

Q. How Much Time Do You Spend on eBay?

A.  I get this question A LOT!  I spend as much or as little time as I want – that’s the beauty of being able to work from home!  YOU control how much time is spent on eBay. 

Q.  Do you love what you do? 

A. YES, I do.  I’ve been doing this for over 9 years.  I’m at the point where I can control my income.  eBay comes easy to me, there are things I like to sell continually and I also have been adding new products to build my inventory.

Q.  What if you don’t have all the time you want to spend with your business – or just don’t have the storage space to accommodate your growing business?

A.  Well, the time you want to spend with your business is going to vary person to person.  Just know that you are the only one who can control that.  Whether it’s 10 minutes taking pictures, or an hour of listing items – you always can find time to manage accomplishing something in your day. 

The storage – well – being in a small house myself, I can relate.  It’s not always easy.  I recently came across this blog post by a fellow eBay colleague of mine.  John Baxter has teamed up with ShipWire - a fulfillment centre – to handle all of his shipping needs.  This allows John to spend more time on things that are more important – like making money!  Check out his offer for a free trial – http://www.thebestproductstosellonebay.com/?p=206

Happy Selling! 

As you’re busily packing and shipping your items from eBay, keep in mind the USPS Holiday Schedule!  If you like to sell toys for the holidays – a good time to wrap up any shipping is typically by December 15th – just to be safe your package will be delivered on time for Christmas.

If you sell toys all year make sure you point out the delivery schedule up front to keep your buyers informed of a possible late package.

Check out the holiday schedule on USPS.com http://tinyurl.com/5sazex

Happy Selling!  

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Let me show you what’s selling on eBay right now!  Get your week F-r-e-e!  Sign up >HERE<