SELLING- Selling Stuff for Holes in your body!

Here is an interesting blogdate for you (short for blog update LOL), a seller in our seller group sells Organic, handmade body jewelry and has some of the best (and rarest) items around. He knows his stuff. He recently sent me some pictures of items he has listed that I will show you here. As you can tell he has chosen a really neat stone background to accentuate some of his stuff. So if you need to plug some holes, remember to check out his store at ...


http://stores.ebay.com/Holes-in-the-Body

SELLING - Unusual items

Hey everyone! This morning's post is another from the sell what is unusual file. A few days ago I posted about the Lobster Claw Doll. This doll sold for a small amount but still 12x what I paid for it! Today, I will show you a book here that I found while out flea market shopping. Apparently it had been locked up in a shed for a few years, but it just looked interesting. It is a book on hairstyles done in Milan , Italy. It is all black and white pictures, with some neon accents. As I researched hairstyle books, I saw that they actually sell pretty well. I didnt find this one when looking things up, so it could be rare, and might sell for a good amount, or maybe not, you just never know on eBay!

SELLING - Blogs to help you Sell on eBay...

Well it hasn't been all that long since I started this blog, and already I see the traffic is starting to pick up and I am getting links on search engines for the content here. So how can a blog help your eBay sales? (if you are a seller of course). Well it will take time, but content rich blogs attract people looking for information on certain subjects. They search the internet and come across posts from blogs that are on a topic they are interested in. In some cases it is product related, like First Edition books, or perhaps a certain period of collectible etc. Providing information is an important step in bringing in new buyers. Sometimes people just want to check out what you are selling, sometimes your blog posts show the reader you know your product, and sometimes they have a need for something unusual that you might have.

As your blog grows, the amount of search engine links to your blog grow. It is best to post often and on a wide range of subjects, AND to try to link to other blogs and have them link to you.

Plus its a lot of fun, you get to write about topics you like to.

Here's to all the future bloggers out there! My good friend Pat the bookseller just started hers yesterday!

BUYING- Woodcrafters with Amazing Kitchen and other stuff.

I just had to post about this seller! They make their own wood items by hand. Their blog tells you all about them. Check out these wood kitchen utensils! They also make wood hair sticks and other items. Don't tell them but Im buying many of my family members things this holiday season from this seller. Here are some pics, and the blog link to learn more about them is below...

http://climbingbear.blogspot.com/

BLOGGING - New Bookseller Blog!

My good friend Pat, just started her own blog about online bookselling! I am sure this is going to be the place to be to learn about books, about selling books, and of course to find some of the best books on the internet! Please check out her blog at www.hortonsbks.blogspot.com

SELLING- Things from when you were younger...

The picture here is of a really cute little crib toy bird called a Battat Musical bird that plays music when you pull the loop underneath him. He was made in Canada, and even though he was old, he was new in his box!

Well I listed him for sale on ebay. Someone wrote me, and asked some questions. Turns out, when he had a son, his son had this bird. Now his son's wife was pregnant, and they wanted one for the child to be born! People tend to get nostalgic for the things they remember from years ago. Anything cute, popular, and perhaps even commonplace years ago could be a good eBay item.

Some examples.... Years ago, I believe in the early 80s, Cabbage Patch kids were the rage. The maker was even flying them over on Jumbo jets! Then they died out and noone wanted them. They started selling them again over time, but now those original Cabbage Patches are starting to become hot sellers again.

BUYING - The Cool Stuff on eBay!

Hello blog readers! One amazing thing about using eBay to buy things you might want or need for gifts for others is the amazing selection of cool and unusual items to be found. Here you will see one of my friends has a McGruff the Crime Dog cookie or candy jar. You just never know what you will find!

Here is a pic and a link to this item if you want to take a look...


http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=7171937577&rd=1&sspagename=STRK%3AMESE%3AIT&rd=1

Blogger Finds ELVIS!!! Check this out...

Well we all knew he was somewhere. I found the pic of Elvis just taken last year in a junkyard. If you scroll down the blog a few posts, you will see Mariyln Monroe, an indian or two and a fireman and others all hanging out at the same place! While out looking for stuff to sell on eBay, you never know what you might find! In addition to Elvis , there appears to be a dead woman (fake of course) in the same area. What a place huh?

SELLING - Selling for others, some pretty cool stuff

On eBay, you can not only sell your own things, but you can also set yourself up as a trading assistant to sell things for other people. Friends, family and even other people that find you through eBay's directory of assistants. This is a good way to earn some income without having to buy product. eBay has some rules regarding being a trading assistant and you should have some experience before you start, and special care needs to be given to how you handle both the items you receive and to how you run your auction as far as pricing is concerned. For more go to ebay.com , go to help and type in Trading Assistant.

Currently my wife Cheryl has some NY Yankees Derek Jeter signed merchandise for sale. A collector in our area needs to sell these since he lost his job. This stuff is pretty rare and the shirt is really rare. Take a look at the types of things that can come your way when you sell for others!

You can see these signed Jeter items in our eBay store at www.Onceuponabid.com

GUEST/SELLING - More about Books.. What to buy

My great friend Pat, has some more wisdom on books to pass along to you. From her notes she has compiled this list of publishers to look for when out trying to find books. Here is here info followed by a link to her store where she has about 1000 books listed!

WHICH PUBLISHERS TO SNAG WHEN LOOKING AT OLD BOOKS...(For those of you who may run across old books and just don't know, here's a list of what does well and what some collect.) There are more, but this is a start. This thread only looks at publishers.
Golden Cockeral
PressBallantyne (do not confuse with Ballantine)
Montague
Centaur
Kelmscott
Bodley Head or John Lane, The Bodley Head
Limited EditionsClub
Roycrofters - pre 1915. Elbert Hubbard, soap salesman and wanna be writer, began this group in Aurora, New York. They turned out magnificent reprints of books, many published in fine leather or suede. I say pre-1915, because that's when Hubbard went down on the Lusitania. However, others are becoming more collectible.
Erotica
Alfred Comstock the infamous founder of the Comstock Laws passed such prude laws that even famous classics could not be published without subscription. Even medical books could not mention the word contraception. Thus, sprung up a myriad of publishers for subscribers only to publish what is now known as erotica. Such famous illustrators as Mahlon Blaine and Arthur Zaidenburg and Alexander King, and even, Vincent Minelli were drawn to this.

Rarity Press
Hogarth
Three Sirens
BibliophistSociety
Deluxe Editions
Exotica
Navarre
Hermitage
Pierre Louys Society
Bennett Library
Panurge Press

Many simply say "Privately Printed."

Book Club Editions

When we think of book club editions, book of the month clubs, or BOMC, we think cheap and no resale value. In modern works, this is the case. But, it wasn't always so. The first book clubs in the US were truly book clubs by subscription only and oftentimes, only for invited memebers. Benjamin Franklin started the first known one in 1726.
1864-1875 This was the Golden Age of Book Clubs with Knickerbocker, Narragansett and others.
1876 - Historical Printing Club
1883 - Bookfellows Club
1883 - Grolier Club
1884 - Felson Club - first to admit women. Franklin Library - Sadly now out of business, they published many signed and magnificently reprinted classics which are quickly rising in price.
First Editions Library - Highly collectible facsimiles of the true firsts sold by subscription. These are hard to identify from the first, but somewhere there will be the F.E.L. initials.This is just a start of what I can recall off the top of my head.

See this book wizard's stuff at www.hortonsbks.com

SELLING -A Cool item that kids like...

Now here is a really cool item we found from the 80s that not too many people have around. Brand new in package Sesame Street Colorforms travel pak with gameboard. When selling try to think of things you enjoyed, things that are good for kids, that help them learn and you usually will not go wrong.

You can check out this item and other items we have in our Sesame Street Category in our store by clicking here

http://stores.ebay.com/Once-Upon-A-Bid_Sesame-Street

SELLING- Sell what you Create, Create for Others...

Hello again! I received some wonderful photos in my email from Melanie at MMArtStudios of some of the vases she created. She makes incredible items and can even work on a custom piece for you to match a color scheme or design idea that you might have. I mentioned her work and posted her information about her store sales below, but now you can see her work ! Below these pics is a link to her store, which in my opinion is one of the nicest looking and best designed stores on eBay!

Here is her store link http://stores.ebay.com/M-M-ART-Studios

SELLING - Be Creative, and dont lose your Marbles!

Good morning blog readers! I found a few more pics to show you. Older or as they say "vintage" marbles are highly sought after on eBay! So do not throw yours out, do not "lose your marbles". I picked up tons and tons for a few bucks from a guy that had them for years. These you see pictured are not all that old, but cool looking. I got tired of selling them as little bags as they came, so I had to think about things a bit. I also had this old , cool looking retro tin suitcase. I packed em all in the suitcase and let the auction whirl with a starting bid of 1 cent! It wound up doing really well :)

GUEST- Selling , Some tidbits on eBay stores by Melanie

Good evening! Last post for tonight! A good friend that I mentioned before Melanie, has given me some info to post here for you on eBay stores. She has been stocking her store with more stuff and noticed an increase in sales. Our eBay store sales have been doing well lately also. Below Mel's info is a link to her store. Please check out her great glass and pottery items and keep in mind she creates her own items as well and can custom make something for you!


Hi Marty,

This month as you know I have taken a break from actively placing new listings to get a handle on organizing my inventory and some redesign to my store front. Something very interesting has happened. My store sales have picked up. So far this month I have sold over 100.00 in store inventory at a total eBay cost of (listing and FVF) 9.38. I just thought that your readers might like to know a bit about eBay stores and how they work.
eBay Store Front.
eBay primarily has two ways for you to sell with them, auction listings and store listings. Auction listings have several different options to choose from, Buy it Now listings, reserve price listings, or straight auction listing to name a few.
But there is also eBay stores.
What is an eBay Store?
Basically an eBay store is your very own virtual store front or warehouse and eBay is your "landlord". Each month you rent your store space from eBay for a fee. There are different levels of stores all with different price ranges and different features. I would suggest that if you are just getting started with a store you start with just the basic store which is 15.99 a month. eBay has set it up so that you can customize your store front. You can choose from many different templates and layout designs to match the "feel" of what you are selling. You can add things like your own logos, custom categories, promotional boxes, custom colors, they even have newsletters that you can send out to your customers to let them know about special deals, discounts and listings. For me one of the biggest attractions to an eBay store is the ease in placing your listings here. Your listings will run for 30, 60, 90, 120 days or you can choose to run for 30 days and re-lists automatically at the end of the 30 days. With the 30 day re-list option, I only have to place the listing once and then forget about it until it sells and I am notified by eBay. Selling price does not dictate listing cost, listing duration dictates listing cost 30 days .02, 60 days .02, 90 days .04, 120 days .06, re-list every 30 days .02 every 30days. Add a gallery picture to any of your store listings for just .01.
Why have an eBay Store?
Fees for auction listings are ffront endloaded, meaning that you pay higher fees to list and lower Final Value Fees (FVF). Store listings are just the opposite, they are bback endloaded, lower fees to list, and higher FVF. I will give you an example of both:
Straight Auction Listing running for 7 days, item selling at 9.99 or lower with a gallery photo - Listing Fee .30, Gallery fee .35, FVF .05 for a total of .70.
Store Listing rrunningfor 30 day with re-list option, item selling at 9.99 with a gallery photo - Listing Fee .02 Gallery Fee .01, FVF .80 for a total of .83
I know at first glance anyone would think it is more expensive to list in a store, by .13, but take into consideration the listing in this example runs for 30 days in your store as opposed to 7 days at auction, that is a big savings, 1.97 to be exact.
Another reason to have a store is the time it saves in listing, for me, time is the rarest of all commodities, anything that I can find to save time is worth it. Using the store feature, I only list the example item once in a month, not 4 time as I would have to do with a straight listing.
There are also some reasons NOT TO LIST a certain item in your store. Store items are listed with a fixed price. If you have a certain item that you feel will generate a high price at auction with bidding then you don't want to use it as a store listing. The store is not a perfect venue, but then again neither is auction listings, they both have their good and bad points, using them TOGETHER can be very effective. For me personally, I wouldn't give up my eBay store for anything.
This posting just barely touches on what an eBay store is, for full details check out this eBay site. http://pages.ebay.com/help/specialtysites/stores-ov.html
Melanie


http://stores.ebay.com/M-M-ART-Studios

SELLING - Thinking Retro- and things that are hard to ship..

This is a picture of an item a friend gave me to sell for him. Its a piece of Pinball glass for a game called "Mars Trek" which I believe was out in the late 1970s. It is a great piece of "Pinglass" as they call it. However, even though I took some pics, I am still figuring out how to ship this baby! Retro stuff is in vogue now on eBay. As people like me get older we look back at things we remember from our youth. Its one of the many "themes" that are working for sellers now.

WWW.Onceuponabid.com

SELLING - The cool stuff you see while looking for items to sell..

Ok now these are some of my favorite pictures. There is essentially a junkyard , behind this really oddball antique shop , where you can find, indians, elvis, and Marilyn Monroe. I dont think I found anything while at this guys shop, but walking around sure was interesting. My favorite picture is the one of the indian's head in the junkyard. He seems sad like in those old TV commercials where we were polluting the earth. Check out these pictures.. Believe it or not they were shot with my phone! I use a TREO 600 by Handspring (now Palm)...

SELLING - "Time" Sells on eBay (Clocks)

I came across a few more interesting pictures to show you. These are of a few clocks I have sold on eBay. The first gold looking one, was a vintage clock I had a while, but picked up years ago because it was made at the New Haven Clock Factory in New Haven, CT where my grandmother had worked years ago. It sold for a good amount! The second clock was something I found at a thrift shop. It was so nice, I took this picture with my picture phone while standing in line to pay for other things, then I grabbed the clock. The little boy and girl swing back and forth and the colors are just wonderful. I think its like an autumn sunset color. Hope you like these!

To see other treasures of all kinds and new stuff for you or the kids check out our store at www.Onceuponabid.com

SELLING -Once in a while have a FUN auction!

I was skimming through some pictures of items I sold to see what I can do to liven up the blog a bit ;)

I came across this picture of GI JOE and some Barbies and other dolls. A good friend of ours who needed to sell some things, had a bunch of stuff headed for the dumpster. I stopped him and sold off much of this stuff for some pretty good money for them. This GI Joe was missing a foot, but we made up a good auction description for him and said he had an injury in the war in Iraq. His foot was found in the box and re-attached! Cute pic dont ya think?

GUEST- A friend , and how they got started selling on eBay..

Here is a note posted in the comments section from a seller friend of mine. Her name is Becky, but I call her the "Beckster". I like Becky, because her and her husband sell assorted things like I do. They sell games, vintage collectibles, anything cool they can find. Here is her note with a link to her store below for you.

Here's how we got started on eBay. About 1 1/2 yrs ago, my husband decided he wanted to sell his childhood GI Joe collection. We knew there was a market for old GI Joes but had been offered really low prices for the collection. So we decided to do it ourselves. We were terrible amateurs, and made some mistakes, but GI Joes sell themselves and we made a few thousand dollars selling them bit by bit. After that, we were hooked on eBay!You gave some great advice for starting out. The only thing I would add is to sell small, inexpensive items to start. If we had been more experienced (how to write better auctions, use titles and keywords better, better pics), we could probably have made substantially more on the GI Joes. Don't unload your most valuable stuff until you have at least a little experience. I'm not complaining -- we were thrilled with our GI Joe sales, but if we had been more experienced we probably could have done even better.


http://stores.ebay.com/Beckys-Attic

SELLING - How do I look for Good things to Sell?

One step in learning about items to sell is to pick up some collector guides. These are guides for different items that people collect from glass, pottery, antiques etc, to Comic books, action heroes and Star Wars items! They help you determine items that might have good value, often show pictures , and will help you weed out items that might be more common and therefore not worth as much.

My bookseller friend Pat has a ton of these guides in her collector guides section of her store which you can get to by clicking here http://stores.ebay.com/Hortonsbks_Collector-and-or-Value-Guides

New Funny Friends Are Now In!

I showed you a few Funny Friends that my wife sells in our eBay store on the blog already. She thought it might be a good idea to let you know the new ones are in, and she has them in stock! Here are some pics and a link for you to check them out in the store! These are baby room nursery decor items and are just adorable. I think she has over 60 different ones in the store now, and wall decals!

http://stores.ebay.com/Once-Upon-A-Bid_FUNNY-FRIENDS

SELLING -A Few Really Nice eBay sales this week..

Here are pictures of a few items I sold this week on eBay. Not everything does this well of course , but each of these items was started at an opening bid of 99 cents, and sold for more than $200. In many cases starting bids low, and without an auction reserve brings in more bidders and results in higher prices. The stereo on the left is a Weltron item from the early 1970s. The Annalee Santas are from around the same time (1970 or so).

SELLING - Books.. How to Determine if a book is a First Edition..

A good friend of mine, a very successful bookseller on eBay named Pat, offers this advice below on how to determine if a book is a first edition. Pat maintains her eBay store at www.hortonsbks.com and has over 1000 books available for purchase! I will be adding more of her insights to the blog as time goes on.

HOW TO TELL IF A BOOK IS A FIRST EDITION BOOK( hortonsbks) I thought this might be of some use to someone. Let's begin with modern books. Most modern firsts are marked on the copyright page in some manner. Some are easy and state "First Edition." If it has anything else there, like 2nd Printing, then it's not a first even if it says so. First edition should be first printing. If it says nothing but First Edition, then it is assumed to be first printing.Number line: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 or backwards from this or letters A B C D E F G. A or 1 must be in the number line for it to be a First Edition.Most university presses don't state the first edition at all, but do state later editions.Might it state First Edition, but be a bookclub?You bet it can. Bookclubs are getting sneakier and sneakier. The common signs of a bookclub used to be "No price on the jacket." Or, take jacket off and look at the back cover. If you see a tiny little imprint (red dot or small square), it's a bookclub. Those little imprints are known as blind stamps. But, let's take the "DaVinci Code" as an example of a sneaky bookclub edition. It states "First Edition." There's no blindstamp. There's a price on the jacket. BUT, it's about an inch shorter than the real First Edition. This is a fairly new sneaky thing. So, if you're not sure, you can look up the book and see the true first selling for a high price and ask the seller for the exact measurements. If yours is shorter, you have the bookclub. Another simple way is to go to Amazon, because they often list the dimensions.Do Bookclub Editions have any re-sale value?Sometimes, but not often. Some Science Fiction was first published only in bookclub form. And, some really hard or pricey firsts will have a residual value to the early bookclub. For example, the first edition of Orwell's "1984" is quite pricey. However, the bookclub edition sells in the $25-20 range. There are also private bookclubs that printed high-priced reprints such as Franklin Library, Limited Editions Club, and First Edition Library (exact facsimiles). There are many collectors of those books. What about these old books?Here's where it gets trickier. Most publishers had their own methodologies and, in some cases, none. Many stated First Edition, but many didn't. Some only listed subsequent printings. Scribners has an A in a circle. There is a great source book called "Guide to First Edition Identification" by Zempel. Most folks who sell old books have this sourcebook. So, if you're unsure on old books, it's best to ask.Hope someone finds this of some use.

Oddball item of the day..

Well here is an item I currently have for sale, a Lobster Doll, if this thing aint ugly what is hey? From time to time I pick up odd looking items and just throw them up on eBay. Its gathers some attention, and sometimes they sell ok!
If you would like you can check out our store at http://stores.ebay.com/Once-Upon-A-Bid

Sales are picking up on eBay

It seems as though sales are picking up lately on eBay. This month (July 2005) could be our best month this year. This is odd for the summer of course. We are selling lots of books, collectibles and Room Decor in our store here at www.Onceuponabid.com . If you are looking for help in getting started on eBay and live in the Connecticut area, you might want to consider one of my wife's classes coming up . You can contact her ( Cheryl) at cadamoct@aol.com

Introducing a MALL of eBay sellers!

Hello again. While I am waiting for some seller friends to get some posts together for my posts from guests section, I thought I would mention this great online mall of eBay sellers where you can visit eBay seller stores and see special items ! A good friend and work-a-holic named Melanie (Mel for short), put together this site and did a wonderful job. She also designed my ME page on eBay. A "ME" page is a page about you as a seller with general information about you as a seller.

Hope you can pay a visit to the mall! Here is the link:

http://www.eclectic-avenue-mall.com/

Here are the Cool Looking "Funny Friends" My Wife sells..

To see items we are selling now in the Funny Friends category you can click on this link below:

http://stores.ebay.com/Once-Upon-A-Bid_FUNNY-FRIENDS_W0QQcolZ2QQdirZQ2d1QQftidZ2QQtZkm

Some of the First items we sold on eBay

Here are a few of the first items we sold on eBay....

SELLING - How We Got Started, How you can!

Hello again, this is my first in a long series of posts to talk to you about how we got started selling on eBay. In the fall of 2003, my wife's employer started laying off some employees, we felt that we should look at other ways to make some money. I had read a few books on selling on eBay, and we were ready to give it a shot. Of course , once we got busy, her job lasted a lot longer than we planned and we were really busy!

So, you probably see all these ebooks and other things out there were people say you can make millions selling on eBay! Well , as you know if they were making millions, then they wouldnt have to sell you something for $5.00 to show you how to right? . The fact is, you can make some money, and in some cases very good money, but like anything else in life, it takes hard work and a lot of research.

The first question that comes to mind is "what the heck do I sell?" . Lets tackle that one in this first selling post. The bottom line , is pretty much anything you can get that people will buy for more than you paid for it! Sounds simple huh? Well.... we started selling things from around the house, DVDs, VHS tapes, and the biggest winners , my hockey collection for our now defunct AHL hockey team that we lost here in the Greater New Haven , CT area. We were able to see how the sales process worked, take in some money, learn about how to do shipping and most importantly , build up feedback on eBay.

I strongly advice that people looking at starting to sell on eBay , start by selling a few small things like we did. It gives you a good feel for things, and helps you become a better seller.

We then turned to finding items at flea markets, tag sales, and even some items from where my wife worked (they make a specialty room decor for kids). We found this worked out well, but looking back on everything, it took us a good year, to really learn the different types of things that sell well, and to seek those out.

In our first three months we became Powersellers and have been so ever since. A powerseller is having sales for three months that average over 1,000 a month. Not great, but not bad for a start. Of course if that is your sales number, you have expenses and cost of product, so you really dont make a killing until you ramp up a little higher.

So lesson one in the learning to sell book, is to sell what you know, what will sell for ok money and that selling on eBay requires some time, a small investment in supplies and equipment, and dont expect to make millions right away!

I will check back in with a list of recommended books for you soon!

Helping you Read this blog for what you want...

I just had a brainstorm! There are so many things to talk to you about concerning eBay that I decided to develop a system to key you into different sections so you can easily find what you are looking for ! Other than general posts, I will start using some keywords in all capitals to clue you in on what the posting is about. For example :

SELLING - Will be about selling on eBay
BUYING - Well you get the picture by now LOL

GUESTS - Will be posts from my selling friends that are loaded with info

COOL STUFF- Posts about items that I or my friends or others are offering for sale on eBay that you should check out.

NEWS - Posts about eBay making the news

INTERNATIONAL or COMMUNITY - Will be posts about the the international market of eBAy and relatedly Community will be about its members .

This should give you a good framework for spinning through these sections and finding what you would like to read. Anything in all caps will be a subject for you!

Another Picture for ya..

Well, some people said they like the bald spot, but heck they couldn't identify me in the meatbal pic. So I decided to add another one for you. Also I think it would be nice to point out that the CEO of eBay is Meg Whitman. She is a warm , intelligent woman that is easy to talk to, and very charming. She is not very highly rated in those opinion polls and surveys about CEOs but that should tell you how much faith to put in those things. As I write this , I just caught that eBay's earnings came in above expectations for the quarter and the stock is up 4 points today!

Now back to the Meatballs...

As I started this blog, I mentioned that in a little over a year , I went from starting our little sales venture on eBay to having the CEO of eBay pass over some meatballs. Well, on the net, many people make many claims. While I cannot promise you will make millions of dollars selling on eBay or in a get rich quick real estate scheme, I can tell you that this is a true story. Here is a pic of the meatball situation. Now, you can only see the back of my head (look for the bald spot on the left LOL), but that is me!

My Wife in the News...

My wife Cheryl is an Educational Specialist trained by eBay who teaches here in Connecticut. The newspaper caught up with her and wrote a few articles about her classes. Here is a picture of her in one such article. I am very lucky to have such an intelligent and beautiful wife who is responsible for much of the success of our little eBay venture.

Third Post, lets try a picture!

A Picture of me (on the bottom left) at the eBay HQ in San Jose Ca. as part of the voices program where they invite users out to the main offices to chat. I was there in March of 2005.

A Review of What is to come ...

Hey Im back already! I went in and told my friends to post in the comments section under the first blog post! I figured while I waited for them to check in, I would tell you what you can expect to find in this blog as it moves ahead. Do not forget to check out that comments section!

First , I will give you a history of how we got started selling on eBay. What items we sold, what we learned along the way. I will tell about the various ways you can get started selling on eBay as well , and about other ways you can make money with your eBay knowledge.

For those of you interested in the cool things you can buy on eBay, we will show some featured cool auctions here on the blog so you can check them out!

I plan to have as many people contribute to this blog as possible, so please send comments whenever you like and let us know what you would like to see mentioned in the blog!

Welcome to our eBay Blog, our journey......

Thank you for stopping in to what I hope will be the best blog on the topic of eBay in cyberspace. This eBay journey has been amazing for my wife and I. We started selling on eBay in January of 2004, and within a little over a year I was sitting down next to the CEO having her pass some oversized meatballs to me in a great little restaurant in San Jose (true story).

We not only sell on eBay, but buy as well. We have made many friends, some of whom will be adding to this blog. We have also conversed with people across many lands , sold items to about 16 countries and learned more about "things" through this little venture than we ever knew was possible. I have learned about books, collectibles, many of the wonderful things we made in this country.

So grab a drink and get ready to hear about our adventure, how you can sell on eBay, or buy with confidence, and learn about this amazing world of online trading that eBay has created.

Here is a link to our online store on eBay www.Onceuponabid.com . Take a peek at all the cool stuff we have to sell, and to get an idea of who we are click on our me page. We will be adding photos and other things to this blog as we go along.

Much of our success has been due to some friends I have made in a seller group in the community section of eBay. I am going to invite them to post here now to say hello and then get back to you :)