Are You Ready For a Profitable New Year? January eBay To-Do’s

Hey there! 

Well, the nice little break is over and it’s time to get busy again!  Spring sales are already here!  YES – I’m serious….are you prepared?  I hope so, because if not, you’re already leaving valuable cashola to be made on the table.  I’m sure we all need some extra cash after the holiday ;) .
                                                 

What to sell on eBay in January….

If you’re not already, you should be be well-prepared for selling bathing suits. Yes, bathing suits! Pairing up boys swim trunks with coordinating tops works really well. Pair up girls bathing suits with cover ups. Also, if you have matching beach accessories, combine them and put together a small lot. Try taking a bathing suit and adding a towel, cover up and a beach bag and a beach hat!

Begin selling Spring merchandise & Valentine’s Day themed clothing. Any Easter items should be well on their way to being stocked in your store as well.  Easter is April 12th this year.

Any remaining clearance sales for Fall & Winter clothing are already well under way and you should be pinpointing what you would like to stock up on for the next selling season.

It’s going to be a GREAT year!  Good luck and don’t hesitate to stop in Boutique Baragins to ask any questions you may have.

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A Gift For You…

Happy Holidays to All!

We’ve been relaxing and enjoying this time with our families, so the blog has been a little quiet…

From all of us at Boutique Bargains, we’d like to wish you a Very Merry Christmas and a Happy New year!  We hope you are enjoying this holiday season with family and friends.  It’s the perfect time to take a break…

That’s not to say we don’t have a couple Christmas Goodies for you to bring in the Holiday Season…

Our friends over at Dine Without Whine have graciously given us a Fondue Fun Party Idea AND some tasty recipe cards that include a couple yummy Christmas treats!

Feel free to pass them along!

(Click on links below)

Fondue Fun

Christmas Sweets 2008

Be safe & take care…

Looking forward to 2009!

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Today is Election Day!!

Hey there!! I hope you had a nice Halloween!  It’s amazing how much our kids grow and their personalities change each year, as they pick out a different character to dress up as.  :)

I also can’t believe that today is Election Day already…

The other day, my five year old asked me if I was voting for John McCain or Obama… clear as day, like she’s been following the election this entire time!  I later found out that they’ve been discussing the election in Kindergarten and going over a brief history of each candidate.  Amazing what they are learning at 5 years old these days.

So with this very important election upon us today, make sure you don’t forget to vote!

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Short and Sweet, Trick or Treat!

Happy Halloween!!

To all of YOU, from Boutique Bargains…

Here’s to a Happy and Safe Halloween!

Have fun!

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What to sell next on eBay…

As we near the end of October, it’s time to take inventory of what you have stocked in your store. Use this time to let your stock run low and get a good look at what you need to do over the next couple months.  It’s a good opportunity to evaluate what sold well and not so well for you over the year.

Also, don’t forget it’s Tax time again!

You’ll need some time to gather all of your information – the eBay slow down may be a welcome change so you can catch up on paperwork.

First, you’ll want to push any remaining Fall, Winter and Holiday clothing out this month – no later than the middle of November, in fact. Mom’s are thinking family portraits and Christmas gifts! Clothing will slow down dramatically and T-O-Y-S will pick up for sure until the New Year.

You’ll want to have your inventory in order by the New Year, having your spring and summer items stocked in your store, along with any other season. It’s what we’ve worked so hard for all year, picking end of season clearance items to profit on, at the right time. If you sell worldwide – you’ll already know that there are different seasons in different parts of the world and having a variety of what sells best for you is key. My best selling month for bathing suits is January – so I know that I need to stock up by the end of December to capitalize on any profits before I leave money on the table.

Don’t worry if your sales decline a little bit over the next month or two – it’s totally normal and the perfect time to regroup and start fresh for the New Year.

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New Look for Product Pages, Plus Other Important eBay Updates!

Check out all the action going on to help sellers be successful this season!

You can read the full version here – http://www2.ebay.com/aw/core/200810151604152.html

Changes include:

- New Look for eBay’s Product Pages

- Special Offer Starts: FREE Subtitle for Media Listings

- Introducing Featured First, a New Listing Upgrade

- Relist Credits Ending for Fixed Price Listings October 22

- Best Match for Store Inventory Format Listings in Search Expansion Box

We’d love to know what you think about these changes… good or bad!

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Don’t forget! Paperless Payments start this week!

EBay’s new Paperless Payments policy will roll-out this week!

YIKES, are you even ready?

That came quick, didn’t it?  Sellers will no longer be able to list an item without one of the approved electronic payment methods: PayPal, credit or debit card payment to a seller’s merchant account, or ProPay.  Last month, we did a brief Blog post that contained some FAQ’s, you can reference that post HERE.

The main thing to do is to remove references to checks and money orders from your item descriptions. EBay knows that this is a busy time of year for sellers so they are going to wait until January 15, 2009, before they begin insisting on the removal of prohibited payment methods from item descriptions.

You can read the full story HERE

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eBay Feedback Revision Launches Soon

Feedback Left Feedback Left
Feedback Received Feedback Received

EBay will introduce the latest Feedback Revision the week of October 20th.  This one sounds interesting!  It will enable buyers to change a Feedback rating, comment and Detailed Seller Ratings (DSRs).

Sellers should only send a Feedback Revision request to the buyer once they have addressed, to the buyer’s satisfaction, the cause for the negative or neutral Feedback. They may also send a request if the buyer accidentally left incorrect Feedback in the first place.

Here’s some info I need to wrap my brain around still – Sellers will have a limit of 5 requests per 1000 Feedback earned within a 12 month period. On average, sellers receive 8 negative Feedbacks per 1000 Feedback earned, so the 5 per 1000 limit will enable sellers to address the occasional mistake, while at the same time not enable sellers with greater than average negative Feedback to “cleanse their record.”
I guess we’ll have to wait and see how all of this unfolds!

Read the full story here -

http://www2.ebay.com/aw/core/200810091617232.html

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Pillows of Lavender

Robin is a colleague of mine who owns Pillows of Lavender.  We’re helping Robin spread the word about her contribution to Breast Cancer Awareness month.

With the Lavender Comfort Pillows this is your opportunity to experience true relaxation while you heal and soothe your body, mind, and spirit. You and everyone in your family will love the benefits that these pillows offer.

Don’t these just sound heavenly!?

For the month of October, Robin is donating 10% of all sales to Breast Cancer Research.

Also, join Robin’s subscriber list and one lucky Lavender List subscriber is going to win A Pink Goody Bag Package this month!  SWEET!

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October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month

We LOVE to support a worthy cause! 

At the end of October, Jaybird Designs will be donating 50% of the sale price of these items to The American Cancer Society in honor of her maternal grandmother who passed away from cancer in 1987.  Please take a moment to check out the featured items she has…

Breast Cancer Awareness Ribbon Slippers
Crochet Breast Cancer Skinny Scarf Custom
Jaybird Designs Signature Sweater Custom

She specializes in crochet baby blanket sets (which include a crochet baby blanket, matching crochet hat and booties), boutique style children’s clothing and accessories (such as halters, sweaters, and hats), women’s accessories (beautiful purses, scarves, and more!), and original crochet patterns. All of her crochet patterns are available as custom orders, so make sure to contact her for more details.

Also, if you have something specific in mind and don’t see it on her site, contact Jaybird Designs and she’ll see what she can do for you!

Thank You!

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