I call it my personal L.O.L!  It’s a handy little black book I keep with me at all times.  It contains lists and notes of hot products to sell on eBay.

First, it has to have a monthly calendar.  Why?  This comes is especially handy when retail locations hold their sales each season. Use it to mark down each sale, at each of your favorite shopping locations and start watching the trend patterns appear year after year so you know when to anticipate the right times to shop!

Second, it has to have plenty of spare paper.  Why?  To jot down any special sales to research, hot products to look out for, and any buying mistakes I want to avoid in the future.  It’s also important to write down what retail location you find each product, and what time of year you find it.

One of the many questions I receive is asking me what is on my Look Out List.  Well, it continually grows!  For the first time ever, I am making this public.    So, here it is – my top ten (in no particular order)!   

1. Bear Feet Shoes
2. Pedipped
3. Misha Lulu
4. Baby Lulu
5. Under Armour
6. Oilily
7. Gymboree
8. Janie & Jack
9. American Girl
10. Hanna Andersson

So, what do you think?  Of course, as I look at this list, I’m thinking of another 10 I can include – but these are the ten that I always can confidently purchase without second thought.  How about you?

eBay is introducing a new feature that will allow you to test out the latest and greatest ideas that are being rolled out.  It’s called ‘Garden by eBay’.  This is an awesome opportunity to partner with eBay to develop the eBay experience the way you’d like to see it. Try out their newest feature and send your feedback directly to them!

This year has started out busier than ever!  I’ve been in eBay listing over-drive!    With the 50% off auction style listings ending today – it’s the perfect time to make one last swoop and go through any remaining inventory that:

a) Hasn’t sold in the last 16 months if it was in my eBay store

b) Just never made it into my eBay store (oops!)

c) Paid tooooo much and chalked it up as lesson learned  

d) Never re-listed it after it didn’t sell the first time

It’s a new year – the taxes are prepared and being looked over by a professional, what ever is left, is in the past.  Stale inventory or those buying boo boo’s must go.  .99 auctions are the perfect way to bring in some extra money for the new year on idol capital. 

You may be surprised that some auctions will end pretty well!

Plus, it’s refreshing to start the year off with fresh inventory, organized paper work and a clear vision of how your year is going to flow.

Happy Selling!

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 ~