Take a look at the 10 simple steps to improve your chances of making money selling on eBay!

I have learned these techniques as a successful eBay Powerseller, selling on eBay since 1998,  and I now have over 4,000 positive feedbacks.

Now, I am trained by eBay as an  Education Specialist & I can help you be successful on eBay too!

The Top Ten Things You Can do to be Successful on eBay!

1. Research the item: Be sure you know everything you can about the item you are listing, so you can accurately describe it and determine an approximate value.  Research the item by doing a Google search.

2. Start with a low starting price. I always start with a $9.99 starting price and have a no reserve auction.  This means the item will sell to the highest bidder.  Low starting prices encourages participation and bidding.  You can protect yourself with a reserve auction for a valuable piece.

3. End auctions on Sunday evenings. I always start my auctions on a Sunday evening around 9 pm Eastern time. (That is 6 pm West Coast time.)  That way, the auction will end 7 days later at the same time.  That is prime time for people to be on their computers and bidding!  eBay traffic proves that’s a great time!

4. Include Important Keywords in the Title.  Did you know that your title is critically important to your eBay listing & is the main way people will find your item?  For that reason, research all the important words that people associate with this item.  Look at other eBay listings to see keywords others have included in their auction listings for similar items.

5. Write a catchy description and include all details.  Write as if you were writing an ad—because you are!  The description &  photos are the only way buyers can learn about the item & decide to buy.  Include all flaws or damage about the item.  People get very upset & leave negative feedback if you are not honest about the condition.

6. Take great photos.   Great photos in good lighting is crucial! Include as many photos as you need to show all the features of the item. Take close ups of significant features of the piece.  Make it easy for prospective buyers to get excited about your item!  Then they will bid more!

7. Keep Shipping Costs Low or Free. Set shipping prices low. Use the Paypal shipping feature that allows you to print US Post Office labels from home with free delivery confirmation included.  The mail carrier picks them up from you for FREE- so no more trips to the post office.

8. Be available during the auction to answer questions.  Check your e-mail often throughout the day and evening. People will have questions &  they expect timely responses, so answer them promptly.

9. Ship the items as soon as you are paid. I love accepting Paypal, since they handle the entire financial portion of the transaction.  Once a payment is in your Paypal account, you can ship, since it is considered cleared. Buyers LOVE it when you ship quickly.  That helps encourage positive feedback!

10. Be generous with positive feedback. I leave glowing positive feedback as soon as I ship the item to a buyer. This sets a pleasant tone & the buyer is in a positive frame of mind when they receive their item.  Then, they are much more likely to leave me positive feedback!

Go to InternetAuctionDiva.com for a schedule of eBay classes starting soon, so you can begin making money on the Internet!

Be sure to check out my blog posts on TheDealDivas on the Charlotte Observer’s online website for lots of frugal tips and easy ways to save & make lots of money!

I thought so!

Did you know that since 1997, up to $250,000 in profit ($500,000 for a married couple) on the sale of a home, is exempt from taxation if you have lived in the home as your principal residence for two out of the last five years?

A friend of mine told me several years ago she and her husband have done this exact thing many times and she showed me step by step exactly how they accomplished this.  These ideas have been incorporated  into my own homes and I will showcase the process I used over the next several weeks.

Basically, the right house must meet specific criteria. The property must have great potential as a primary residence, be in a terrific location and need a makeover.  Increase the market value of the real estate by adding character & value through improvements, landscaping and decorating.  In essence, make it look like a model home.

Live in it for 2 years, market the heck out of it,  sell it and repeat the process!  You can do this too!  Especially in the current real estate market where there are fabulous deals!

Today, we demonstrate great ways to add value to your home with inexpensive & easy to do custom window treatments and blinds.

We purchased these faux wood blinds that fit on the inside of each window segment and are very easy to install.  The length of the blind is adjustable by removing slats from the bottom that are not needed .  This creates the custom look, since they fit exactly.

The US Post Office sent us a packet of coupons when we moved into our new home that included a 10% coupon good at Home Depot, which Lowe’s will also honor.  We purchased all of the blinds with this coupon!

Our front door has a fan shaped window above the door and 2 very thin side windows.  Custom blinds would have been required for this configuration and there was NO WAY I was going to pay $1,200, which is the quote I received from a blind company.

Instead, I bought 2 queen sized white bed sheets for $ 9 total, perfect because they are large with no seams, and I made simple pockets in each end.

I cut a  wooden dowel rod to make tiny custom curtain rods and held them in place with 10¢ cup hooks from the hardware store.

The curved fan window treatment was very simple to make, using the same design with a bedsheet and sewing a rod pocket at each end.  I measured the distance between the top edge of the window to the bottom edge and simply pieced together one long rectangle that I made pockets at each end and threaded through a $ 3 plastic drainage tube.

I used tubing because it’s pliable and it will curve.  Pretty clever huh?  I found this tubing in the garden department of the hardware store.

Voila a custom window treatment!

That would cost $500 to have a designer create that for you!

A door that leads to the patio has a long slender window.  This time I used an aluminum blind purchased on sale at Wal-Mart,  removed the extra slats at the bottom and it looks totally custom!

Home buyers love to be able to walk right into a property that looks like a Model Home and not do a thing!

They don’t know that you used inexpensive techniques to enhance and stage the property, so  the value of your improvements goes right into your selling price!

You are making it easy for buyers to LOVE your property and thanks to a little effort, you are on your way to making great tax free money!

]]> http://frugaltorich.com/2009/06/09/make-500000-tax-free-from-real-estate-makeovers/feed/ 4 http://frugaltorich.com/2009/06/05/get-a-williams-sonoma-bread-machine-for-5/ http://frugaltorich.com/2009/06/05/get-a-williams-sonoma-bread-machine-for-5/#comments Fri, 05 Jun 2009 11:27:02 +0000 M.S. http://frugaltorich.com/?p=882 Do you want to build wealth and have financial independence?  Well, do you?

Then every day, with every financial decision you make, remind yourself that there are 2 main methods to achieving that goal.

It is a simple concept: Make more (revenue) and spend less (costs). The more money you accumulate, the more you have to invest, which increases your wealth and helps you get rich.

We learned a long time ago, that with some effort, we could save 50% of our meager incomes in order to save money for a down payment on an investment property or to add to our investment accounts.

You may ask, what does that have to do with this great bread machine?

As regular readers of this blog know, I LOVE bargains and believe you can get pretty much everything at reduced prices if you search for them.

The less you spend- the more you have to save and invest!

Long ago, I discovered the gold mine of estate sales and garage sales!  I have been amazed at what people have sold and the fantastic stuff I have been able to buy for a song.

Recently, I spotted this brand new, never used Williams-Sonoma bread machine at a garage sale.

The woman running the sale said her husband had given it to her as a Christmas gift several years ago and she had never used it! She no longer had the box or the instruction book, and that’s why she had it priced at $10!

I asked her if she would take $5 and she happily said Yes!  This terrific Williams-Sonoma item probably sells for $100 or more!

After I paid her, I asked her “If you didn’t want it, why didn’t you take it back, get the money and buy something else?” She said, “Oh I didn’t want to hurt his feelings.”

I said “The money he spent belonged to both of you–doesn’t that seem nuts to basically throw away $100?” She said “Yeah, I guess so.”

So, thanks to her and her husband I now have a brand new bread machine!  There are bargains like this everywhere!

At another yard sale, all books were priced at 50¢ and I found this terrific Bread Machine book!

So now for the cost of one loaf of gourmet bread--I have a terrific machine that will make me countless loaves of fresh bread!

The money I save will be invested in appreciating assets that will build wealth!

The savings all add up!

A loaf is baking right now! Yummm!