Posted by M.S. on August 13, 2009
In this economic slowdown, would you like to make extra money or build a business selling on the Internet?
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!
Posted by M.S. on June 12, 2009
Do you work from home or want to jazz up your commercial office space? Would you like to have a fashionable office space but don’t want to spend a lot of money?
If you are like most people, you have computer equipment, printers and storage that you would like to disguise in your office. You do not need to spend alot to accomplish that! Take a look at what I did to create a fabulous yet frugal office, for very little money!
I built this neat table from wood I obtained FREE, then I sewed a very easy & inexpensive tablecloth to hide all the stuff underneath it.
The wood was FREE from a construction site near my house. It is amazing how much perfectly good wood is throw into the junk pile when a new home or office is constructed.
I stopped at the site and asked the workers if I could take some of the scrap wood and they said “Take all you want–It’s going to the landfill otherwise!“ Man–I hate to think of all this terrific lumber going to waste.
Remember when you do things like this, you are not only saving lots of money, you are actually helping the environment, because you reuse and recycle items! How cool is that?
The long skinny pieces were the perfect size, so I grabbed those and made myself a table.
Ok, my husband actually did the hammering, but I gave him the dimensions.
Inexpensive neutral colored fabric, similar to the color of the walls, was purchased and used to make a quick slipcover type tablecloth. Easy breezy!
The 2 drawer cabinet underneath the table was acquired at a garage sale for $1. It’s perfect for holding printer paper and other goodies for the office.
The next area that needed to be addressed was the carpeting. We had beautiful wood floors in that room, so I wanted a room rug that accented the colors in there.
I found this indoor/outdoor type rug at a local home center for only $40! It looks very similar to one I saw at Pottery Barn for much less money!
There needed to be a chair in the office and we had one that didn’t match the colors in the room, so I found an inexpensive slipcover online & covered it in a classic white canvas.
Nice and neutral and it works in the room beautifully.
Now we can get busy in the beautifully decorated office working and making money!
Posted by M.S. on June 2, 2009
Have you been looking for a way to raise some extra cash? You have come to the right place!
Let me give you a heads up on several categories where eBay is offering discounted listing fees right now! You can make some money while you work from home!
Starting today and going through June 15, Fixed Price Insertion Fees on eBay will be just 5¢ for golf clubs, cameras, cell phones and other similar type items.
All listings must be created with the Product Details feature (Pre-filled Item Information). Product Details automatically fills in your listing with the item information and a stock photo. How much easier can you get?
Don’t have any of those items laying around? Go to some yard sales! I see this kind of stuff there all the time!
Another fabulous deal on right now is for collectible books. From May 27 – June 9th, you can list books for in the categories of Books—Antiquarian & Collectible and Antiques—Books & Manuscripts. This promotion is good for both Auction-style and Fixed Price listings.
eBay Motors is having a listing sale from June 1 through June 8, Insertion Fees in select Parts & Accessories categories. These listing fees will be just 35¢
Included are Fixed Price and Auction style listings in Apparel and Merchandise, ATV Parts, Aviation Parts, Boat Parts, Motorcycle Parts, Personal Watercraft Parts, and Other Vehicle Parts.
The sooner you list some items to sell on eBay, the sooner you will be making some money!
Get Going!
Posted by M.S. on May 22, 2009
Would it surprise you to know that there is a way you can make your life simpler and easier and you will save money at the same time?
Many people are surprised to learn that they can print postage labels and ship all their packages from their own homes or offices through the US Post Office using FREE supplies provided by them! There are boxes of every shape and size and you can choose as many as you need.
You can order boxes directly from the post office at www.USPS.com and they will deliver them to your home or office FREE of charge!
This is a perfect solution for all your holiday shipping needs or for shipping all the goodies you can sell on eBay or Amazon!
Save time, money and hassles on all your shipping needs–not to mention the gasoline savings thanks to the US Post Office!
You can pay for the postage easily with your PayPal Account and even get discounts on the cost of the shipping. As an added bonus–you will receive FREE Delivery Confirmation when you purchase postage through Paypal! That service costs 65 cents if you get it at the post office!
Sign up for PayPal here!
See how easy it is with this step by step tutorial Print labels and Pay with Paypal.
To make life even easier and to save gas-you can even schedule a pickup with your mail carrier through the USPS.com website. I just leave a note in the mailbox for my mailman and ask him to come to the door.
This is perfect for Work at Home Moms and Dads!
No more standing in line with the kids at the post office!
Posted by M.S. on April 30, 2009
Would it surprise you to know that 1.3 million people, just like you, are making a living selling on eBay? Over $100,000 worth of sales are made on eBay every minute. That’s over $ 50 billion in sales on eBay every year!
One of the things I love the most about selling on eBay for Moms (and Dads) is that it allows you to work at home and earn extra income while caring for your children with NO childcare costs.
Not to mention the time you save on commuting and NO expensive work clothes! Think of the money you will save on gas costs, too. The reduced stress of all that juggling is priceless!
An eBay business is a perfect way to increase your income with essentially no investment! There is no factory to build, no staff to be hired! You can earn money and build wealth without any risk.
Are you ready to tap into the over 90 million people registered on eBay in 38 countries? You have access to ALL of them from the comfort of your own home! Try getting that many people to buy your products locally!
When I started selling on eBay in 1998, my husband was skeptical that other people would want this “junk” I had accumulated. As the money started rolling in- he became a believer!
Today, you can sell virtually anything on eBay and tap into the wealth of the world’s largest auction marketplace!
Take a look at the Hottest Selling items on eBay right now. Maybe you have some of them in your closet, just waiting to be turned into cash!
Click Here to See What’s Hot on eBay Right Now
Posted by admin on April 14, 2009
Our money story started in 1977 when my husband and I were married after we both graduated from college. Today we are still married—over 32 years—Thank You very much– and we have 2 fabulous grown children that have both graduated from college absolutely debt free.
We have lived all over North America and now live in beautiful North Carolina!
When we were married in 1977, we were broke. Between us, we had $500 TOTAL, which we promptly spent on a used car. Then we had NO money. We knew one thing for sure—we didn’t want to be broke forever.
Because of our financial journey, now I am PASSIONATE about frugal living and how it can help you attain both financial wealth and personal freedom!
We noticed that there were many people in the world that were far richer than where we had come from—and we wanted to be like THAT! We both have degrees in Business, so we decided to meticulously study what those financially independent people had done and we followed in their footsteps.
We now know it is rare for people to get rich quickly, but anyone willing to work hard and save can build wealth and get rich slowly!
Our plan was to save and invest EVERY penny we could to make us more money- so we didn’t have to work so hard! Our first goal was to buy a duplex after one year of marriage so we didn’t have to rent more than one year. We planned to live in half of the duplex and rent out the other half so the tenants could help pay the mortgage.
Would it shock you to know we beat our ambitious goal that year by saving over 50% of our income and buying that first property–all by being frugal while still having fun?
After accomplishing that first ambitious goal–we were hooked on how frugal living could help us build wealth & we have practiced it ever since!
The best part of being frugal was it allowed me to be a stay at home mom while our 2 kids were growing up and we lived on one salary very comfortably, while continuing to save and invest.
On Frugal to Rich, I share stories about eliminating debt, being frugal, saving money and investing in appreciating assets.
You will also learn how to maximize the value of real estate as I share the same frugal ideas that led me to be featured on a national TV Show and eventually led to a career as a Powerseller selling on eBay and the Internet.
You will learn all the tips and tricks we perfected over the years that have allowed us to live Rich while being Frugal!
I continue to sell on eBay and other Internet sites, as well as now being one of the highest ranked eBay trained Education Specialists in the United States. I teach others how to sell on eBay and make money online like I did! You will learn WHAT to sell and HOW to sell to be successful on eBay and other Internet websites so you can start making money online!
My boss at the University where I teach classes, was so intrigued by my Frugal to Rich story, she asked me to teach a course she named “Frugal University”. You will get that same great information here on this blog!
Money is POWER because having money gives you OPTIONS. Just ask anyone that has NO money how many choices THEY have!
The added benefit of learning about personal finance and frugality is that it takes LESS money to live on—so you can live really well on less. You don’t have to work so hard!
That’s what we did THEN and we continue to do NOW.
Throughout this blog, I will teach YOU how to go from Frugal to Rich!
Opinions expressed here are not to be construed as financial advice.
Please consult a professional for specific guidance.
