Important Update – USPS Ban

Starting on Wednesday, May 16 2012, U.S. sellers will no longer be allowed to ship lithium batteries, or any items that contain the batteries, with the U.S. Postal Service to other locations outside the U.S. You can still mail lithium batteries and products that contain them outside the U.S. via FedEx, UPS, DHL and other mailing services.

Read an article about how this can affect you as an eBay seller here:

USPS Bans Lithium Shipments Outside US
Fire, explosion hazard sparked the unexpected policy change.

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Free Webinar on May 15th 2012 at 7PM Central European Time, 1 pm New York Time

  • Do you generally feel overwhelmed by all the Social Media options and have not yet gotten any real leads from it?
  • Do you have a nice website but don’t know how to use it to grow your e-mail list?
  • Do you have a LinkedIn profile but have never thought of it as a client acquisition tool?

If you nodded your head once or several times then you won’t want to miss this FREE webinar with Social Media specialist Sarah Santacroce in which she unveils

18 HOT ONLINE MARKETING TIPS

The world is moving at a rapid pace and as a solo-entrepreneur and coach you have to keep up to speed, offline AND online. In this 1 hour webinar Sarah will walk you through the main Online Marketing channels that are available to you and will give you 3 very practical tips for each! This is not just theory, but real tips that you can implement right away to get started with promoting your business online.

You’ll learn:
  • 3 Tips on how to build your tribe with Facebook
  • 3 Tips how to get more out of Twitter
  • 3 Tips to increase leads for your business with LinkedIn
  • 3 Tips to add leverage with a Blog
  • 3 Tips to get started with Online Video
  • and finally 3 Tips on how to use E-Mail Marketing effectively in your small business.

Join Sarah on May 15th for the “18 HOT Online Marketing Tips for Coaches & Solo-preneurs” Webinar!

By the end of the free webinar, you will walk away with 18 tips that will help get started and boost your online presence and get you more clients for your business:

This webinar is a PREVIEW to the upcoming “Get More Coaching Clients With Online Marketing” Course for which you will get a USD 200.00 discount if you attend this webinar.

Reserve your spot right now for the FREE Webinar (limited seats): 18 HOT ONLINE MARKETING TIPS

All the Best,
- Staci

NOTE: If you can’t make it on that day, sign up anyway – Sarah will have the replay available for you for when you can listen to it! Sign Up Now!

 

Guest Blog Post by Staci Jansma of CreativeVirtualSpark.com. Staci is an internet entrepreneur focusing on helping others by providing assistance virtually. She delivers excellent service in proofreading articles, search engine optimization, shopping carts, affiliate programs, autoresponders, and creative projects. Staci is always eager to tackle a project. Staci is Your Online 24/7 Virtual Assistant ready to help when you need her.
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Pictures on eBay Listings Will Soon Be Free

One of the best ways to get buyers to pick your listing over the rest, is by including lots of great pictures of your item. By providing lots of quality pictures you are reinforcing to buyers that eBay is a great place to shop.   To help you provide those pictures, starting July 2, pictures will be FREE for all sellers on eBay.  eBay is doing this to help you sell and to encourage you to provide more pictures with your listings.  The best part is that more pictures means that you will get more sales, and save money doing so.  Think about it this way, if you’re paying for pictures now, this change can mean significant savings. For example, on Auction-style listings with 8 pictures, free pictures can mean a savings of 16% on an item that sells for $60.

So start getting ready to upload more pictures to showcase your item and show it from all angles. Buyers make faster purchase decisions when listings have more photos. Later this year, all eBay listings will be required to have at least one picture.  Just remember the more quality pictures of an item the better chance it has to sell well.

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eBay Category and Other Seller Updates

Here is a heads up about some of eBay’s 2012 updates to categories and other important seller updates.
  • Standard Auction-style listing have a new maximum fee. Taking effect May 1, the maximum final value fee for Standard Auction-style listings will be $250. Note – this will only impact transactions of more than $1,111 for sellers who don’t have an eBay Stores subscription.
  • Electronics & Technology: This update is to help make sure your listings get found by interested buyers, by listing with the eBay catalog.  This will be required in more of the consumer electronics categories including DVD & Blu-ray Players, Home Theater Systems, Home Theater Receivers, Home Theater Projectors,  and Home Speakers & Subwoofers.
  • Category and Item Specific updatesconsolidated with the rest of the seller updates to save you time and effort:
    • Clothing, Shoes & Accessories
    • Coins
    • Computers & Networking
    • Consumer Electronics
    • eBay Motors
    • Jewelry & Watches
    • Home & Garden
    • Tickets
    • Toys

Check out the links in this post to get more information on eBay’s updates.  Keep yourself up to date on eBay’s features and know the best and most effective ways to sell on eBay.

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Learn More About eBay’s My World

My World is another tool that allows you to represent your personality, interact with others, and display your listings, interests and more! You automatically get an eBay My World page when you become an eBay member. A My World page gives you different ways to create customizable, personal pages that feature content you create yourself. It is similar to your About Me page in that it is about you. However, the My World Page has different modules that will link you to other buyers/sellers who have similar interests.

 

 

Learn more, dive in and go over the details so you know the different ways to customize this page just for you (and your eBay business). I can walk you through the best ways to utilize your My World space on eBay. Check out the eBay My World Course.

Click on the link to buy the course directly, or join Boutique Bargains today and get instant access to this course and many other great resources.

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eBay is Protecting Your Rating

ebay has some safeguards in place to help protect your record of great service.
  • Get an automatic 5-star communication rating on all transactions where you offer same-day or 1-day handling time, in other words if you promise to ship your item within 24 hours.  Just upload tracking information by the end of the next business day, and there is no communication between you and the buyer.  Since there is no communication needed, there is no communication rating to be left, and that keeps your rating at 5-stars.

  • Feedback for unpaid items: Feedback that is left by a buyer with an unpaid item recorded for the transaction will be automatically removed from your record.  So, if the buyer doesn’t pay for the item and you report it as being unpaid, then they can no longer leave you feedback about that transaction.
  • Global protection: Earlier this year, eBay started displaying an automatic message on the View Item page to buyers outside the US regarding customs-related delays and customs duties. Because of this, any Feedback from international buyers that only references customs issues will qualify for Feedback removal.  If you were worried about selling globally, now you have a little added protection.  No more worries about customs causing you a bad feedback rating.

Isn’t it nice to know that eBay is trying to help safeguard the sellers as well as the buyers?  One of the reasons I love selling on eBay!

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The 2012 Easy Auctions Tracker Spreadsheet is Ready!

YAY :-) –  my BEST tool is the Easy Auctions Tracker spreadsheet.

Worried about needing an updated spreadsheet when eBay has fee changes….DON’T BE!! A BIG part of why I love this spreadsheet so much is because it pulls the data right from eBay! Everything is integrated, nothing needs to be changed when eBay fees change! It’s a fully automated spreadsheet and has been tested and certified by eBay as a compatible application.

As an incentive to check it out, use code BB10 (case sensitive) for a 10% discount. This code needs to be entered on the Easy Auctions Tracker site before going to Paypal (this isn’t a Paypal coupon code).

Easy Auctions Tracker
The Ultimate eBay Spreadsheet for Sellers & Trading Assistants!

NEW FEATURES ADDED FOR 2012!
All of the features that you love plus a few new features to help streamline the management of your eBay transaction data even more:
  • A Profit & Loss tab has been added. Monthly & Yearly Profit & Loss sheets are side by side so this data is at your fingertips whenever you need it.
  • The Inventory tab now links to your Selling tab, so that when items are sold the inventory quantity is automatically updated for you (custom label must be used for the quantity to be automatically updated, otherwise it can be manually updated).
  • The Clients tab now allows for a sliding scale commission based on sale price (flat rate commission is still there as before).
  • A Video Tutorials tab has been added allowing you to watch an online video demonstration

Get organized now, you’ll be glad you did come the end of the year, trust me! ;-)

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Half.com Ramps Up For Back to School – Coupons!

The Back to School Shopping Season has started and Half.com would like to announce two BIG coupons!

COUPONS:

12% off Anything on Half.com. Min Order $50. Max Discount $40. Limited time coupon. Enter BTSAF12 at checkout
15% off Anything on Half.com New Users only. Min Order $50. Max Discount $40. Limited time coupon. Enter BTSAF15 at checkout

Hope you can use them!

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It’s Not Too Early for Christmas at eBay: Christmas in July Special at BoutiqueBargains.com

 
Have you noticed the summer gear is showing up on the clearance racks and winter boots are making an appearance in your local department store? As much as we hate to admit it, fall will be here before we know it, and after that, the holiday season.

And as with every other retail store, Christmas is “make it or break it” season for eBay sellers, too. That means you need to start making plans now if you want to end the year with a bang! Here’s a few things you can do to get prepared:

  • Get organized: The last thing you want to do is head into the busy season without the supplies you need, so now is the time to start thinking about packing materials and other necessities, and to make sure you can find your stock easily once you’ve made a sale.
  • Optimize your store: One of the best ways to get noticed on eBay isn’t on eBay at all – it’s on the search engines. If you need help, grab a copy of my report, SEO for eBay Users.
  • Stock up: You know certain things just fly off the virtual shelves at Christmas, so grab those items while you can. Kid’s games and toys, holiday clothing, and decorations are all hot sellers from September to New Year’s, so get a head start by stocking up now. Check your local thrift and consignment stores, and don’t forget to clean out your own closets. There are lots of treasures to be found there.
  • Set up some consignment work: If you’ve got friends and family who could use some extra cash this holiday season, consider offering to sell their unwanted or unneeded items. You’ll earn some extra cash and help them out at the same time. It’s a win-win!
  • Get educated: eBay selling can seem intimidating if you’re just starting out. To help you get past the learning curve and ready for Christmas, I’m offering a Christmas in July special on my private membership. From now until July 31, get two weeks of training for just $2! After that, membership is still a bargain at just $12.97 per month – and you can easily earn that back with the tools I share inside. Grab this deal today, and you’ll have your best eBay year yet!

P.S. Have you “liked” our Facebook page yet? I’m giving away a FREE eBay store or auction review for the 100th fan, so visit us there and be sure to click the “like” button!

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Canada’s Postal Worker Strike May Delay Shippments for eBay Sellers

Just an FYI if you ship to Canada – Rotating strikes started last week, in Winnipeg and Hamilton, Ont.

Be advised that a postal worker strike under way across Canada may delay mail being sent to a Canadian address. If your area has critical mail directed to Canada you may want to use FedEx or UPS instead of normal U.S. postal service to ensure prompt delivery of your eBay packages.

The strike is being conducted via a rotating 48-hour process, meaning geographic areas of Canada’s postal service are taking turns going out on strike for 48 hours at a time. The strike began June 3 and currently there is no information regarding a timeline for resolution.

Read more about it here: http://tinyurl.com/3evxg2s

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