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October 31, 2007
HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!!
Posted by SydneyJohnston at 3:29 PM | TrackBack
October 27, 2007
RV and Camping Preparation Items on eBay
For people who are into outdoor activities, such as RV's and camping, there are thousands of opportunities to find almost anything you want on eBay. For RV's in particular, there are some pretty spectacular looking deals.
With the expense of an RV, though, there is additional merchandise most people would want, unless the RV already comes fully equipped.
Regular ol' campers will find no dearth of goods for their needs as well - though some odd nuances such as tent air conditioners may be a little too specialized for eBay.
Nevertheless, RV'ers and campers alike will have a great time locating almost anything they need on eBay.
Posted by SydneyJohnston at 12:04 PM | TrackBack
October 24, 2007
Homes to Buy and Sell on eBay
Recently I was looking through eBay to see what kind of property people are selling, especially for those first time buying a home. I knew that there were houses being sold, as I had heard of this in the past but never bothered to look.
After a quick search on "house", eBay came up with about 150 residential homes for sale plus a few for commercial and other types of property.
It amazes me about the breadth & depth (and expense!) of items people sell out there. Even million dollar homes. The Internet in general provides tons of opportunities to evaluate and buy houses while hardly lifting a finger any more to do so.
From a VAhome mortgage loan rate to just about any other house information you want in any town, it's all there. Even on eBay!
Posted by SydneyJohnston at 11:40 AM | TrackBack
October 21, 2007
How To Sell On eBay By Being Thorough
If you want to know how to sell on eBay then be aware that the more thorough and complete your listing is, the better the chance that you will profitably sell your merchandise. Here's an example of how this pays off ...
Did you know that sellers can do side-by-side comparisons of merchandise? Here's an example of three pairs of men's shoes:
Notice that I've checked the boxes on the left so that I can see them better. I check the magic box ...
... and my three pairs of shoes are next to each other.
Let's notice some things on this comparison:
1) The middle seller is much more complete. If I were genuinely interested in these three pairs of shoes, I would definitely be more favorable towards those shoes than the other two pairs
2) eBay has made it easy for me to watch these items so that I can bid on them, or buy them, before they expire.
3) I can easily remove an individual item if I decide it doesn't suit my purposes.
4) I can see seller feedback totals at a glance. Most buyers are more inclined to buy from someone who has 29,000+ points than a seller with only 17.
5) Only one seller offers a refund for the shoes.
All relevant information is available for easy looking and I can rearrange the order, remove an item or go on to the next set of results. All in all, quite a useful function and it proves my point that being complete in your auctions is a very wise move. After all, if a seller goes to the trouble of sideways comparison (and isn't simply doing research the way I am) he must be pretty interested. You, the eBay seller, need to be able to withstand the scrutiny of such determined buyers.
Posted by SydneyJohnston at 11:38 AM | TrackBack
October 18, 2007
eBay Shipping Deals {Continued}
In my last entry I mentioned the new eBay Shipping Deals page which can be located here. Last time I simply checked on the deals pictured on the page but this time I decided to use the eBay search function:
The results were interesting. First, eBay presented 21 auctions that offered free shipping and matched my criteria:
Notice that the results indicate free shipping to the zip code of my office: 30047.
The results also returned 106 items found in eBay stores that offered free shipping as well:
This is a function I will be using many times in the future & I'm sure many other buyers & sellers will do likewise.
Posted by SydneyJohnston at 11:29 AM | TrackBack
October 15, 2007
"eBay Shipping Deals"= New eBay Page
eBay shipping has long been a hotly disputed topic. There are sellers who will offer an item for an absurd price - like a grandfather clock for $1 - but the shipping might be $67. This is done for two reasons:
1. The seller's eBay fees are lower. The charges for a sale at $1 are, of course, much lower than if the seller charged $48 for the clock, with $20 for shipping and handling, which is a legitimate price.
2. More importantly, novice buyers are fooled by the $1 price and excitedly think they're getting a fantabulous bargain because they haven't wised up to the game and first checked shipping. Upon receipt of their actual bill, many of them will pay up because they're worried about the state of their new eBay account.
eBay has made efforts to stop this abuse in the past, but now they claim to be going even further in their efforts and have introduced their "Shipping Deals-Free, Thrifty, or Fast" page.
I spot checked some of the deals that had free shipping and they were exactly as claimed by eBay. I also looked at the "thrifty" deals and those were less clear cut. For instance, a $162.50 iPod was offered with free shipping so why was it in the 'thrifty' section rather than the 'free' one? Ditto a large selection of expensive designer handbags (up to a $2,595 "LOUIS VUITTON AUTHENTIC SUITCASE "COTTEVILLE 50" MPRS") were all listed with free shipping.
In the "Fast" shipping I checked a selection of GPS units, all of which offered free shipping? So, why "Fast" rather than "Free". Strange labelling.
Still, this kind of extra publicity just might encourage more sellers to keep those shipping costs down to promote their business. A good thing for buyers for sure.
Posted by SydneyJohnston at 10:43 AM | TrackBack
October 12, 2007
David Lockley & Internet Unlimited Offer Crummy eMail Trick
David Lockley of Internet Unlimited claims to have an email list of 600,000 people. True or not? I have no idea but what I do know is that his email does NOT play fair!
First, I received an email from him that had my name in it. I don't remember him or ever subscribing to his email but since it had my name, perhaps I did? What he wrote was of no interest to me, so rather than report him for spam, I tried to do the responsible thing and unsubscribe.
His "unsubscribe" page is quite long with a string of offers on it. {http://internetunlimitedllc.com/unsubscribe.htm}
But I went down the page to the appropriate spot and dutifully filled in my email address:
Oops. Won't let me unsubscribe after all:
I tried several more times and each time got the same response. Apparently David isn't letting me unsubscribe after all. Really cheap trick and not appreciated by me or anyone else.
Posted by SydneyJohnston at 10:17 AM | TrackBack
October 9, 2007
Help With Alcoholism on eBay.
I came across several items on eBAY that will assist individuals in their battle against Alcoholism. If you or your loved one has been drinking more than usual, there may come a time when you will want to search for an alcoholism cure. So many individuals have been suffering from alcoholism for years and are ready to be free from alcohol.
eBay offers several books, eBooks, CD's, DVD's, charms, stamps, videos, hypnosis and other items to get in control of alcoholism. These items date from 1927 to present. Don't give up. You are very important to your loved ones and to society. There is so much information that can help you understand and defeat alcoholism. eBay is a good place to start.
Posted by SydneyJohnston at 11:05 AM | TrackBack
October 5, 2007
Bad Credit Student Loan Consolidation & eBay Solutions
Students are notorious for being broke. It's not enough that with their bad credit, student loan consolidation is a frequent necessity for new graduates. This is such a common problem for students, but it's just a microcosm of our culture in general.
On eBay, there are a number of BINs offering student loan assistance materials. The products out there range from a student loan handbook to a student loan web site for sale. There is even one on student loan laws.
Students who graduate from college burdened by tens of thousands of dollars (or more!) of debt resulting from 4 or more years of tuition, room, and board begin their new lives at a great disadvantage. Some of these materials on eBay - very modestly priced - would be of real assistance in providing direction for those taking their first steps as adults on their own after graduation day.
Posted by SydneyJohnston at 12:08 PM | TrackBack
October 4, 2007
Inexpensive Digital Cameras On eBay
I took a recent look at eBay to see the number and varieties of inexpensive digital cameras that are being auctioned out there. Wow! What a maze of options. It's almost frightening. Simply looking for "digital cameras," I found over 25,000! Then those are broken out by type, brand, resolution, optical zoom, and condition. A person with photography career aspirations could easily spend a month in eBay simply evaluating available options.
The competion in eBay for digital cameras is fierce, but it's a real boon for people who search for a great deal. In fact, I purchased one in eBay over a year ago and am very happy with it... even though it was probably obsolete as soon as I won the auction. :-)
If you're looking for a great deal on pretty much any digital camera in existence, definitely start your search in eBay.
Posted by SydneyJohnston at 11:52 AM | TrackBack
October 1, 2007
Serious eBay FeedbacK? Nah! Try Funny eBay Feedback Instead!
eBay feedback is a very, very serious subject. Isn't it? Well, maybe not according to some and here is a great example of feedback humor. Some of it is a bit crude, but still worth a chuckle
Here are some samples:
NICE tombstone—will kill myself after work so I can start using it immediatey.A+
LOVE the bar of soap—being from France, I may need to buy another in a year or 2
THANK YOU!after 27years—this ashtray will inspire me to finally take up smoking
