SELLING -Think about what gets HOT - Star Wars

Another post for you to review! A while back it seemed all the talk was about the Star Wars movie coming out. You know the one that wrapped up all the previous movies and explained things. Well if people are talking about, chances are people are buying items related to it on eBay. For a long time Star Wars items have been collectible, but mainly the original stuff from the first movie. When talk of the movie hit, run of the mill stuff starting shooting up in price. For example, 6 months before the movie an R2D2 Wilton Cake pan sold for about 10.00 on eBay. During the craze , I picked one up at a tag sale and sold it for over $40! So keep your eye on what people are thinking about, what they are talking about. Here , in addition to the cake pan pic, you will see some pictures from the parking lot of the movie on opening night when a Jedi knight sabre battle took place between some diehard fans. Believe it or not I took these pictures on my cell phone! If I am not mistaken there was a seller of light sabres on eBay that sold 20k in a month or two in these high end light sticks! Keep your eyes out for Miami Vice items as there is a movie coming out next year.

SELLING- Enlist the Family to find things to sell!

This morning's post is about staying tuned in to what people are looking for. A while back my daughter was at a store where she saw these items that you see pictured here made by the designer Jeffrey Fulvimari. For those of you unfamiliar with him, he was the illustrator of the Madonna book called "The English Garden" (I believe that is the name). Well these were little purses , I guess most would call them wallets. There is also another item we found which was a makeup bag which is also pictured.Originally priced at $12.00 or more , they appeared to be on sale for $1.50. When I went back to the store with my daughter, they rang up as .75 cents on the register! So we filled a few shopping carts with them LOL . Im not sure of the exact number we bought over a few months on clearance but there had to be 100 or more. We sold every last one of them at prices from $5.99 to about $12.00 with some buyers from overseas buying a dozen at a time. Now I had never heard of Jeffrey Fulvimari, but my daughter has good taste, and if she likes things usually other people do. So keep your eyes and ears open as those around you point you in the direction of neat things to sell!

SELLING - Other eBay Seller Blogs to check out!

I wanted to give you some links to some other nice blogs my friends on eBay have. They have some great information, and a diverse selection of items they sell.

Here are the links

http://artisticcatneedlepoint.blogspot.com/ Like Cats ? Cat needlepoint, oh so cute!

http://caravansarai.blogspot.com/- Hookas! Really cool and from Egypt! Don't know what they are? Check out this link to find out!

http://climbingbear.blogspot.com/ - Totally awesome quality hand crafted wood items! (many our on our Christmas list already! A must see!

http://hortonsbks.blogspot.com/ -My friend the book expert! Her blog was just started but stay tuned for some excellent info on bookselling!

http://wwwabbeyscarolinas.blogspot.com/ Incredible educational toys and books!

Please check out these great sites for some cool information and items!

Navigating This Blog! Tips and Suggestions..

There are lots of posts on this blog now, and a bunch of nice comments! As we move along I thought it might be a good idea to review some tips on finding different areas of the blog. When you come to the blogs front page you see the current month's postings. If you want to go back to other months take a look at the archives on the bottom left hand side. For example you will see July 2005 there now. As time goes on, I want to make sure people can find the start of this blog and of course the picture of Meg Whitman (CEO of eBay) passing me meatballs at dinner :)

Also, early on I explained how I will be using capitilization in post titles to tell you if the post is about SELLING on eBay, or BUYING on eBay, or if a GUEST is speaking etc. Keep this in mind as you scroll through.

Also note that this blog welcomes information from others, and as you can tell we talk about other sellers and their items as well as their tools for success on eBay. If you want to be on the blog (free of course) just send us an email at clhct1@aol.com

Thanks for reading! More great stuff to come!

SELLING - Great Resource for Springbok Puzzle Sellers!

I am writing to tell you that I found some excellent information (on eBay) of course for Springbok puzzle sellers. I purchased the information from the seller I will link below. He has compiled a spreadsheet of Springbok puzzle prices which could be very useful to those selling them and those out hunting for them! The information was at a really great price and I highly recommend it as a tool in the hunt for good items to sell. As a general rule I read tons of information. The more info the more informed a seller I am and I encourage all sellers to read and research. You never know if something you find will be a big winner unless seeing it triggers your memory when out looking for items! Here is a link to the sellers listings so you can review his items (he sells puzzles also) and this info source

http://search.ebay.com/_W0QQfgtpZ1QQfrppZ25QQsassZjhawks12

Remember my post below on the Atari system? When researching it , I found that there is one game out there that sells for (Get this) $500 !!!! Of course I didnt find that one yet ;)

SELLING - eBayers LOVE Atari Stuff! ATARI JAGUAR

Well, if you remember Atari, you will know that soon after they held the lead in the game industry they lost it to the likes of Nintendo, Sega, and internet gaming. This doesn't mean of course that Atari games and systems are not in demand. As with any other retro item that people remember, they make a comeback, kind of like an 80's rock band! I have sold some Atari things in the past, and recently just purchased and Atari jacket! Here pictured you will see a listing I just launched this evening called the Atari Jaguar System. It comes complete with tons of games, all kinds of goodies and is starting at 99 cents (starting bid). I only use starting bids this low, if I feel the item is in demand enough to be bid up. In our seller group we determined the item would have to be worth over 20-30 dollars or better to be a good 99 cent item. I will report back to the blog on how this baby does! You can find it by going to our store at http://www.stores.ebay.com/Onceuponabid and typing
ATARI in the store search box.

SELLING - More pictures from Silver Lotus !

Here are some more pictures to go with the post below!

SELLING - Specialized Handcrafted Silver BLOG GUEST

A good friend of mine sent a long a very well done blog submission with some photos for you to enjoy! Check it out!

Silver Lotus
Handcrafted Sterling Silver Jewelry and Other Brilliant Buys
http://stores.ebay.com/silver-lotus

While living and working in Kathmandu, Nepal, I fell in love with locally handcrafted silver jewelry. I thought the jewelry was so wonderful that, in the mid-1990s I began a small part-time business exporting it.

Nepali silversmiths are masters of centuries-old techniques who create an incredible range of styles using silver, gold, gems, and other materials. Unlike the workers in factories in most other countries, artisans in Nepal still work with simple hand tools and use the traditional techniques handed down in their families. Much of the jewelry they create is unique, and all of it is distinctive. The raw materials come from all over the world – Kathmandu has been an active trading center since ancient times, when Nepali, Tibetan, and Indian traders traveled throughout the Himalayas and across Asia.

Because of a deteriorating and increasingly dangerous political situation in the once-peaceful Himalayan kingdom, our family decided to return to the USA, and of course I brought back jewelry to sell (and continue to import it from the same people). In Nepal, one of the world’s poorest and least developed countries, eBay was something I was vaguely aware of, but we were lucky to have internet access, let alone the ability to do business on eBay – the infrastructure was not really suitable for running an eBay business. So when I first arrived in the USA, eBay wasn’t even on my radar as a business possibility.

That changed soon enough, and my first auction began on May 13, 2004. I had no feedback and was amazed that anyone would actually buy from me. It turned out that the gemstone in the pin I was selling is not commonly available in the USA, and the buyer happened to be in love with it. I will always remember that first sale, not only because it was the first, but because the buyer went out of her way to send me an email to let me know how much she appreciated the customer service she received. It reinforced everything I’d ever learned about good customer service, and I decided there and then that customer service would be my highest priority as an eBay seller.

Once I saw that I could sell the jewelry on eBay, I decided to add other merchandise. First came Wild Earth products. One job I had while living in Kathmandu was as manager of Wild Earth, a small business that contributes to women's and rural economic development in Nepal. Wild Earth produces handcrafted Himalayan herbal products based on ancient local traditions. I had a role in developing a number of their products and know how good they are; I thought others would enjoy their products too. I sell some of my favorites, including what I believe is the world’s only yak milk soap!
By mid-fall of 2004 I realized it would make a lot of sense to open an eBay store, so I did. I decided that handcrafted jewelry from Nepal would be the core of Silver Lotus, but it would be fun and profitable to add other great finds – what I call brilliant buys – to the mix. I’ve been able to offer good deals on new merchandise such as Swiss watches and designer/brand name handbags, and I always have my eyes open for deals at garage sales, thrift stores, liquidations, and, well, any place that might yield a “brilliant buy” for a customer. Repeat buyers have made it clear to me that they come back not only because of the merchandise and the prices, but because they value a seller who values them. Some lessons take a while to learn on eBay, but the role of great customer service is not one of them!

eBay User ID: the-silver-lotus
Visit my eBay store - Silver Lotus
http://stores.ebay.com/silver-lotus

SELLING ON EBAY- RETRO WEAR THAT 70'S SHOW?

Hello Blog readers. I have a cool new pic to show you here! It is of retro 70s shirt my good friend Rob is selling. Rob, sells a whole bunch of stuff. He sells books, collectibles and anything cool he can get his hands on. You can checkall the cool things in his storeby clicking on his store link --->>http://stores.ebay.com/Robnzak . Now what does this post have to do with "That 70's Show" . Well watch the show sometime, watch what they are wearing. Look around the house they are in. Pretty much anything in the house is collectible these days and can sell well on eBay! They even featured the same radio that I bought for $7.99 then sold for $255! (The Weltron Stereo mentioned elsewhere on the blog with pics). Neat shirt here huh?

SELLING - Enlist the Family! Have your own Puzzle Master !

Here you see Tina, my wife's sister giving the thumbs up to a puzzle she assembled. It is complete and no pieces are missing! Letting buyers know this is very important when selling jigsaw puzzles on eBay. Tina has Mosaic down syndrome, and while some people call that a disability, I think she is "differently abled" . She can do puzzles that noone else has the time or patience to do. This one was really hard! She puts on her glasses and digs in. She has her own system where she stacks like pieces in piles then gets the job done. This puzzle sold for us, because we included this picture and her seal of approval. She has a wonderful smile and is a great part of our eBay business. Your family can be a part of yours as well!

SELLING - Here a Duck, there a Duck, everywhere a Duck Duck

Hey everyone! I have some new pics and info for you. This post concerns selling like items at the same time. I picked up a bunch of collectible ducks the other day while out thrift shopping. I decided to list them all at the same time. I do this to attract buyers that like those items to all the items at once. They might find one duck, then see the others. This is usually a good strategy when listing on eBay. As of the time of this post, the brown larger duck with the cool colors has the bidding lead and also has a lot of watchers. The black and white loon has a lot of watchers on the auction, but no bids as of yet!

LEARN TO SELL ON EBAY! MAKE EXTRA INCOME! CLASSES COMING !!!

Hey everyone! I have some big news for those blog readers who might live in the Connecticut area. My wife Cheryl, has just been asked to teach 3 levels of classes for Gateway Community College (I help of course!) . The classes will be The Basics of eBay Selling, a more advanced class called "Beyond the Basics" and then an eBay class for Small businesses. We are really excited about this opportunity which will be advertised in the fall by the college. If you are interested in selling on eBay and live in the Connecticut area, stay tuned to the blog for more info or email my wife Cheryl at cadamoct@aol.com . I will add information here as it becomes available. In this economy many people are looking to exand their sources of income and selling in eBay is a good way to try to do that!

BLOG REMINDER!! ==>>>Check out the Archives!

Just a quick reminder for visitors of this blog. Please check out the archive section. Look over to the bottom left and take a look at past posts in July! There are some excellent pictures and great information there! Ill be posting more info later so stay tuned!

SELLING - On the hunt trying to find things to sell on eBay..

Good evening readers! Tonight I wanted to fill you in a little on how we hunt for items to sell on eBay. My wife and I hit various places over the weekend to look for items. First on Friday, we usually visit our local flea market. As a general rule , Fridays are better because we are there before the weekend rush (and other collectors) and there is less people so you do not feel rushed. We generally try to spend 5.00 or less on an item and many times we spend a buck and under. The last few weeks our average cost for items we picked up was about $1.60.

The flea market had some good finds this weekend. They were more up towards the $5.00 range though. We picked up a Black Americana Bobblehead Doll bank , a really nice vintage mens hat from the 50s with box, and a multi-band radio. There wasnt all that much there this week.

Saturday morning is tag sale time! We went to the first sale, and it turned out to be the whole block selling, about 10 homes on one street ! We found numerous things, all for low prices. Stuff like Hooked on Phonics sets, dancing Elmo dolls (Sesame Street) a Singer sewing machine with box, some retro style kitchenware items from the 60s and 70s and a whole bunch of other things.

On the way to an estate sale at an address that for some reason didnt seem to exist on the map, we ran into an estate sale right off the main road in a nearby town. The place was overflowing with good stuff. Some of these things hadnt even been unpacked or reviewed by the sellers so I spent a lot of time on the ground going through boxes! We wound up with 28 items for $12.00!!
Less than 50 cents an item for Care Bears Music boxes from the 80s, vintage glass and pottery items, old British barware, old beer can openers, collectible figurines, cabbage patch dolls and more. It was one of those rare days where you hit something really good!

Well , then it was time to get home, take stock of everything and pack it in bins to be organized and ready to post on eBay!

I will be giving your regular updates on the hunt! So stay tuned!

SELLING - Cool Artwork Retro Themed

Good evening blog readers. Tonight I wanted to tell you about an item I found while tag sailing! Now you do not find stuff like this every day, but it is a nice when it happens. This is a 1973 signed Greg Copeland Wall Art piece that is made with mirrors, paper, wood, and is made up of 4 pieces that form a pyramid. It is a really cool looking item measuring 48 inches on each side.
I just love learning about the various things I list. Apparently this designer/artist had a gallery in the NY/NJ area in the 70s and created some nice items , which are now considered "Retro". This particular piece has both Origami influences and the Egyptian theme common at that time.

Our eBay store has this and other cool items located at http://www.onceuponabid.com

Exciting New Blog Features Coming your way!

Well I finally had the chance to catch up on some of the new features that have been added to Google's blogger which is what I am using to do this blog for you. They now offer mobile blogging where I will be able to take pictures and send messages from my phone that will post to the blog!!! I am thinking I will take you on the hunt for stuff to sell at our local flea market soon, posting as I work my way through. Also Google, has a blog this button where I can post articles about eBay that might be interesting to you by just going to the article and hitting "Blogthis" !

I am looking forward to using these features to make this one of the best blogs out there on buying and selling on eBay.

Our ebay store is located at http://www.OnceuponaBid.com

This week we are posting more cool retro themed stuff, and have a lot of cool low priced items listed.

Blog Note- How to find things here on the eBay Blog!

Good morning blog readers! Since our first blog month has ended (July 2005) you will see things changed a little. When you first come to the blog you will see some posts, but many are now in the July Archive on the left hand side of the screen towards the bottom. So if you missed the picture of Meg (CEO of eBay) passing me some meatballs at dinner, then that is where you will find it! If you are visting this blog and want to learn more about selling on eBay and live in the CT area you should contact my wife (Cheryl) at cadamoct@aol.com .She teaches classes and an Educational Specialist trained by eBay and offers private help as well. Also if you are looking for help but live further away and would like to develop a remote assistance relationship then that is a possibility as well.