P.A.L.A.C.E. Enterprises - eBay Trading Division

Cell Phones ~ Its Been a While!

2009-02-15T21:12:00.000-08:00

Hey all,

Its been quite sometime since my last post and realizing that, lets get on with another topic!

I have been doing quite a bit of arbitrage work with cell phones lately. The most popular in my late trades is: The Blackberry Curve!!!

I have made several arbitrage moves with this phone and have become quite familiar with it. The average price on eBay for the phone ranges around $200-250 when listed properly. However, many people confuse the accurate category of "Cellphones and Smart Phones" where you will get around $250 for it if you list it properly, with "PDAS and Pocket PCS"!

Here is where the arbitrage comes in!

You can get a Curve (I tend to just deal in T-Mobile) in this category for anywhere from $150 on a really good day to $200 max on a bad day. Avg Price around $180. Seeing this gap, one naturally thinks "arbitrage"!

Great thought, works well, especially when you get a great deal on a MINT Phone. However, there are drawbacks.

One, you have to find a great condition phone that people have not already jumped on. This is not easy and can take a few days at best.

Two, eBay eats your fees~! I arbed a curve, buying at $180-190 and selling at $242 - ebay ate nearly $30 of my $60 profit!

Thats 1/2~!!!!!

But other than that, I have had great success with online to offline trades, which is where my business seems to be heading. I tend to gravitate away from selling for others and more towards buying for others. This is much easier than going through the motions of picture taking etc. and I feel it takes advantage of the bidding experience I've gained on eBay through time, enabling me to secure items for less than average prices!!!!

So, cell phones can be a hot market, depending on how you approach!!!!

Lots of Light,

Teddy

How to Handle a Rocky Transaction~!

2008-05-06T10:01:00.000-07:00

Hey,

Its been a while, but for that while, I haven't really focused on giving knowledge, but rather gaining it. And one such experience that I feel every seller addresses at some point or another, is a rocky transaction.

Shit Happens.

Well, let me tell you what happened, and how I handled it..... with Pictures~!!!

So,

I sold a set of Harley Heads:

and as you can see, these heads were in mint condition when they left my door in This Factory Box, that my Client Gave them to me in.

Yet, when they arrived at my Buyer's Door, heres what had happened along the way.

Now, that you have the general idea of what happened. Here are the specifics.

So with heavy items, I prefer to determine a fair shipping price for my buyers, which is based on the location that the items are traveling to. Therefore, I don't post a shipping price, but rather, once I have a zip code, I issue an invoice with the amount for shipping.

This buyer, in particular, sends payment, before I issue an invoice, based on his 'expertise' in the specific field of Harley Heads, and expects me to just take it and make packing job work around his payment. This is not how I operate, and poses an issue off the bat. There are many people like this, that read my clause "Shipping to be determined at the close of the auction based on the buyers location and preferred shipping methods" and take it as an aggressive statement, as if I were trying to gouge them on shipping costs.

I do charge a small handling fee, but I assure you, that bamboozling is not the case.
I have no intention to swindle people out of money. The reason I charge handling fees is to cover any unexpected surprises in the way of shipping costs or supplies. The fee is nominal and maxes out at $5 for some way outlandish item that takes a lot of work to pack and a lot of work to ship.

So, now I have a buyer that has paid prematurely, and an amount that doesn't even cover parcel post at the post office. He also wrote a little paypal note with the payment stating that these were extremely fragile pieces of equipment and need to be handled and packed with extreme care, specifying that they needed to be packed in the factory box or in two separate boxes, one for each head.

First off..... paypal transaction notes are easily overlooked, its best if a buyer needs to tell you something, to 1. Send a message prior to the auctions close, and 2. A the very least use ebay's messaging system, or at best an e-mail, paypal notes shouldn't be an option, because we as sellers really don't read them, we look to see payment has been made. Paypal is a financial system to us, not a messaging system.

So as crazy as this ordeal had been up to this point, I told the guy he needed to send me an extra $4 to meet parcel post at cost. He did so and I packed the buggers into the factory box, and figured, since this guy was attempting to undercut shipping by nipping it in the bud, there was no way, I could pack these things into a bigger box, with more materials, let alone 2 boxes and still make the price that he paid for the item to be shipped.

I am not going to lie, I had a feeling about this box, that these things were way to heavy for the box and of all the huge boxes that left with me for the Post Office that day, I was the most skeptical about that. However, the only thing that kept me from repackaging, although I contemplated the idea every time I looked at the box, was the shipping cost/price issue.

So I Insured them, of course, and then they were on their way. Again, to make this one even better, I went to this one guy at the post office, that always sends everything priority, and they ended up going priority for $50.... so after that I was already in the hole $16.... Upon telling the guy, he refused to pay the additional $16 that I had incurred out of pocket... then went on an angry tangent, when I was like wtf.

Then they arrived damaged, and well heres were the fun began~! Haha, this is really funny to write right now~!

So this guy was like, I will buy these broken heads off you for $25 a head plus the shipping. And he wanted a refund for the rest, something like $60. But the catch was, his shipping was still $34 despite the $50 I paid, so he was offering me something like $84, rather than the $100 it should have been, which I gladly would have taken.

Then I was like, whatever, let me just refund this guy his money and call it a day. Yet, for some reason, rather than doing that, I contacted eBay and they told me I had not misrepresented the item and I was in the clear. So I decided to dispute it.

Big Mistake. Fighting, was not necessary. If I had just refunded payment, I would have saved myself a lot of stress and the process of paypal claims. Once the claim was through, I had to refund the money anyway.

I sell all my items as is. However, this does not apply to shipping issues. The thing I really learned from this experience is:

Always pack your stuff properly. If you have a feeling about a specific package, REPACK IT~! It is well worth it.

Also, I learned that fighting someone over shipping damage, isn't worth it. Refund it. Move on.

You might as why an Insurance Claim wasn't filed..... well thats a good question, the buyer stated that postal insurance wasn't claimable based on the way it was packed. So well, I have the option to claim it, but other than standing behind the fact that it was packed in the factory box, I really have no ground.

So, again.... Rocky Transactions Happen..... the best we can do, is learn from the transaction how to be a better eBay Seller. How to better pack our merchandise, and best of all.... when its actually worth it, to file a paypal or eBay Claim.....

Until the NExt Post..... WAHOO~!

Suggestions Please~!

2008-01-07T11:37:00.000-08:00

Hey,

I realize that I am falling behind a bit in my blog posting and there is a wealth of information and knowledge I encounter in selling on eBay. So please feel free to drop me a suggestion on which I should make a blog post.

I am more than happy to answer any question I have experience with, that way I feel like its a bit more balanced, and I can really address what you all really want to learn~!

Light~!!

Teddy

Disciplined Investing~!

2007-12-11T17:27:00.000-08:00

Aloha~!

Today I just wanted to touch briefly upon something that not many people seem to talk about when discussing businesses and how to manage your profits in a most effective way~!

The reason I feel that most people don't talk about it, is because there is no set way that anyone follows. I recently was introduced to this concept after realizing that I had not been keeping up with my spending and had spent much more than I had anticipated. It can all add up quick~!!

So what I realized, is that I needed a schedule that I could follow that would allow me to have a salary, savings and money to reinvest in the company. What I came up with was just that. Heres the way I allocated those 3 things:

Salary - 25%
Savings - 25%
Cash For Potential Investments - 50%

My reasoning behind this schedule is that, I need cash to live, at least currently I do. I also want to have funds readily available to do things like buy in bulk or buy things from people on the spot in cash, to make larger margins. After reading "Beyond IBM" I realized that Ready Cash is what can make or break a business. So I decided to make sure I have ready, cash for investment, like a surfboard for the waves of opportunity that life is continually sending my way~!

This way I feel I have the majority of my income devoted to that purpose. With Salary for necessary spending, and Savings for things like vacation and such.

I also realize that it helps so much to stay on top of and keep records of your spending and where you currently stand within your budget~! I use excel and it calculated everything for me, it just took a bit of setup. However, now that I have the templates developed, I can use them month to month, just plugging in values as I spend or generate income. Paypal and Chase both have my records of income and expenses available online so its all can be done in about 5-15 per day, and that time just makes my world that much easier, because I am aware of where I am, and that way I am more inclined to spend responsibly~!

I Pray my experience may serve anyone looking for a similar Setup~!

Personal Discipline goes a long way~!

Light and Peace,

Teddy

PS. The Idea for me at least is not to deprive myself of anything I would like to enjoy / experience, its just to be aware of where I stand and through that awareness, I am more likely to take responsible, balanced action in each and every moment~!

The Beauty of Automation~!

2007-11-24T10:46:00.000-08:00

One of the greatest things about this industry is the ability to automate income. The challenge is to work it to the point where it can be automated. Sure one can just start up a business by sinking tons of funds into an idea and work out of that debt and break the barrier into generating profits.

However, since this business requires such little overhead (Basically a camera & computer, Bank Account and Internet Service), you really don't need to purchase an expensive franchise and spend a large chunk of revenue on a costly storefront. Many do, and I am sure they will shower you with success stories, but the bottom line is ~ This is a business anyone can do, and if the volume gets to be such that you need alternative spaces in which to work, than the business is usually more than capable of handling that expense.

Personally, I believe in growing a business organically, or via organic growth, I also hold the same standard to my produce, but well, that’s another story~ Haha~!

What organic growth is the ability of a business to grow without external funding. For example, the kid that starts selling lemonade on the side of the road generates enough capital to buy a stand, and expand, etc. Before you know it there could be lemonade stands on every major street on hot days in the summer, that are all run by that one kid who started that first stand with something he already found in his kitchen cabinet.

All business ultimately shoots for organic growth, yet, most of them believe, and for many it is indeed true, that they need money to make money. That’s one obstacle that these people are not able to transcend. However, the key to transcending that barrier is innovation and creativity.

The nature of this business is such that, well, you don't need much more than you already have to start generating serious revenues~!

So where does automation come in, Automation steps in when your business grows large enough organically, that you alone cannot handle the volume coming in, and also when you outgrow the shell that is the space in which you began. So basically at that point the time comes for the business to shift from a personal side job, to an official business, and that is probably the best time to file for incorporation, LLC, what have you. Because once your legit, you can pay your employees legitimately and ultimately set up to become an official business.

So where does the automation begin ~ well, once you are able to hire one person to help you, you put a bit more of your time into making sure this person learns the ropes, making sure all the listings being produced under your name are legit, effective and created in a timely fashion. So its great to have clients that are nice enough to give you time leeway, so as to say hey, just pay me when you finish. What’s even more amazing, is when you can produce lightning turn around results, aka, paying those people once you know all your buyers have received their items. Here is where synergy kicks in and 2 + 2 can really = somewhere between 5 and 8, depending on how well you mesh with your employee. And when your turn around is lightning fast, that’s when the word gets out that you are the go to person, and the clients start lining up for your services, but be prepared for that, because when it happens business increases exponentially and you need to expand at a proportional rate in order to keep up.

Now you can really now begin to start thinking about the automation factor, because automation is quite easy and really effective. Once you automate your first Trading Site the revenue and the amount of clientele will most likely give you the incentive to create another~! From here on out, it just gets fun~!

Because you get to drop the operator from your title - if you choose to - and basically make your primary concern opening other divisions and investing the profits you are generating. Quite easy to say, but making that transition can be challenging, but if your on top of your game you can flow right into it~!

Then to close it out, you can appoint someone to develop new locations and stay on them like you did with your first few employees and begin to just do your thing, whatever that may be, whether its traveling, helping the world, helping other people develop their businesses, whatever is your fancy, but in order to do this without going nuts over your business you will need to automate and build a team that is second to none. The key to a great team, is finding people that just naturally meld and create a work force to rival even the most successful businesses, and the key is to work with them to help them achieve their goals through what they are doing and not just milk them for their labor. Because if you genuinely want to help someone out, and take steps in that direction, such gestures are generally happily reciprocated~!

If you work well, you can automate it to the point where either you take an hour or two on Monday mornings to have a look at the numbers~!

So with that, I bid you all adieu~!

Have a Wonderful Weekend~!

Light and Peace,

Teddy

Financial Management~!

2007-11-06T07:55:00.001-08:00

This Post is all about how to manage the finances of your eBay Business~!

For it needs to managed some way or another, unless you want some issues. So first off, key here is to separate your personal from your business finances. Although it may be self explanatory, many people in the beginning don't do this, which leads to issues with clients and your own spending, really fast.

The Easiest way to go about this if you are registered as a business owner, is to open a business checking account, many banks offer them free for a year~! Then link your paypal accounts to that business account. It is also key to have separate paypal accounts..... although some of you may be thinking why..... the answer is simple.... you also buy stuff, you aren't just selling and when you have something that is directly linked to your clients money, and you are buying stuff with that account, one needs to be extremely conscious of every transaction they conduct as to keep everything in check. So in short, the two separate paypal accounts just makes it that much easier~! Feel free even to open up multiple paypal accounts~!

Third.... Excel, Excel, Excel~!

Personally, I keep a master spreadsheet of everything I sell for other people, what it sold for, my commission, the paypal and ebay fees, the shipping charges and the net gains or losses based on shipping charged and actual shipping paid. (I always do my best to keep the net on shipping in the green, because that will tend to cover small things that may come up like packing materials and such....

While we are on shipping, handling charges are key~! Getting greedy is easy but its also a fast way to put your name and feedback down, and make a quick $2 rather than increasing sales and commissions in the long run. So around $2-5 handling fees are ok, depending on what the item is and how big it is, and also sometimes you just way overestimate shipping and end up with something like $10, and hey it happens, its just doing that stuff on purpose that will torpedo your business.... also eBay has this new thing where they tell you that your shipping charges are way over what everyone's elses are.... so thats another reason.

The best way I find to do it with things are are questionable in terms of what its going to cost to ship them, is just say in the auction that the charges will be determined at the close of the auction based on the buyers location and preferred shipping methods..... and in doing that your covered and you can actually get a quote before you charge them, tack on a fair handling fee and everyone is happy. I know as a buyer myself if I see like a $2 handling fee, I am like ok w/e, but if I see like a $5-15 fee, I am kinda like wtf.

So back to excel~! Haha. In keeping that master list, I always can easily just pull out a specific clients data, I tend to keep each client in a partition, and then I have the ability to make their receipt, calculate my commission, how much I they are contributing to my eBay Bill.... etc.

The key is not to over spread sheet, but make the ones you do use, smart and useful.... also excel will do a lot of the calculations for you if you simply do the first two highlight them and drag the mouse down as far as you want to be calculated based on that rate~!

Thats just a quick excerpt from my book... feel free to comment and leave any suggestions~!

Have a Wonderful Day~!

Peace,

Teddy

Scheduling Posts~!

2007-10-30T19:26:00.000-07:00

Hey,

So I just want to mention a really cool feature of auctiva which is making scheduling your posts~!

Not only does auctiva let you create your auctions via their templates and host your pictures for you.... they also allow you to schedule your posts to post when you want them to~!

I think this is really cool.... there are certain times when the eBay Buyer Market is at its peak.... i.e. when work gets out.... so you don't have to be online posting in order to have your listings end at these times~! Theoretically you can be up at 2 am writing all the posts for prime time eBayers~!

I just wanted to put that out there because I think its amazing~! I also am about to test drive this software for mac called GarageSale, which is designed specifically to make eBay auctions~!

I have heard great things and I will definately keep you in the Loop~!

Light and Joy~!

Teddicus

~!

2007-10-29T10:58:00.000-07:00

Hello all you Wonderful People~!

Its been a while since my last post and I feel its always positive to be aware of why that is~! So I just fell off for a bit, into something of a loop of procrastination~!

Apologies~! Haha~!

I'm Back ~! Cheers~!

So here it is for all of you that haven't already discovered the link between my post and my temporary period of minimal blogging activity..... Life is about Responsibility~!

So, I have clients, many of which are in no hurry for me to produce results and because of the nature of my business and way its designed, more importantly, the fact that I'm in charge.... its easy to slip up and put stuff off for a later date~!

Especially things like listing and taking pictures, more especially when its things your not thrilled about, excited about, or just plain expensive stuff that you are apprehensive towards, wanting to insure that you are getting the best price you possibly can..... because not only does that keep your clients happy and coming back, its a direct incentive because it lines your pockets!!!

So what can we do, to motivate?

Great question... for me, it was just to bring full presence to everything I was doing, no matter how menial, just to fully immerse myself in it and take care of what needs to be done~!

In other words, the more responsible you choose to be the more you set yourself up for success~! If you approach situations with an outlook of positivity and accountability, life seems to always take care of the rest~!

The Extra Mile~!

2007-09-28T17:15:00.001-07:00

So one thing that comes to my awareness as I sit here reading my blog is the notion of making the customer happy.

For me, this is a big thing, although many times, its not the easiest thing. A handful customers on eBay are at times challenging to deal with and I feel like if we can leave even these customers with a good feeling about our transaction, well we are doing our best~!

The extra mile should not be confused with not supporting yourself and eating costs. The key to the extra mile is communication. Communication is key. If you are straight forward with someone, letting them know whats up and how you feel about it, the situation always turns out for the best. Most importantly, we can't do this with emotion, but rather with the intention to make the transaction as smooth and easeful as possible~!

So if we can really just communicate with our clients and our buyers, it doesn't really matter what needs to be done, its simply expressing that in a clear and comprehensible manner, while being able to look at it from both sides.

I also never leave negative feedback, because well, hey, if someone doesnt pay, I just relist, and if truly necessary, I issue a non-paying bidder, but I don't even really like to do that. Obviously if they dont want to buy it, I won't force them into it, just if possible issue a second chance offer, and sell it to the next person in line~!

If we can really do our best to make it as smooth and easeful for the person at the other end, whether it be client or buyer, everyone ends up happy, and positve, regardless of their dispositon. We can't please everyone, but we can do our best and at the same time honor our truth. Yet, I never compromise myself in the name of someone elses preference, I just won't, because I am most important, for if there is no me, there is no transaction~!

I pray this serves all who choose to read it~!

Light and Peace,

Teddy

Shipping~!

2007-09-28T08:22:00.000-07:00

Hey,

I know its been a week, so its time go get into it again~!

This post is on the most amazing innovation from the US Post Office, since the stamp.....The Flat Rate Box.

So USPS, has actually stayed on top of the ball as a leading competitor for eBay Shipping. They are my personal fav because they are faster than UPS and Cheaper than Fedex~!

For a Flat Rate of around $9.60 (confirmation included), you can send one of these boxes of any weight to anywhere in the US via the Priortiy Mail Service, which is actually pretty fast.

Doesn't matter what you send or how much it weights, so long as it can fit in one of these boxes.... you are golden~!

They also have flat rate envelopes which are like $5.25 (confirmation included). The reason I include the confirmation cost, is because if you are selling on eBay, its a must. There are several reasons why, but namely 2, to keep the buyer happy, and to prove the transaction was legitmately fulfilled. Paypal will not cover anything that was not verified with confirmation.

So I really want to keep this post short and sweet, because I love you all, and well, I am not feelin a long post today~!

Bottom line, Unless your item is Huge, or the buyer prefers to have it shipped another way, and they are paying for it. USPS is the best bet, and these flat rate products that they offer, are probably the most economical for the eBay seller~!

They will also, and this is key, send as many of their flat rate products to your door, for FREE~!

I have like 4 boxes of 50 I just received, just chillen, and I love the sight, because they were FREE~! Haha~!

This post was kinda all over the place, but I know you all got the message~!

Have a Beautiful Day~!

Peace,

Teddy

Fair Commission~!

2007-09-21T11:02:00.001-07:00

Hey,

So a topic that has come up quite a bit is the issue of fair commission rates.

The Average commission for a drop-and-sell eBay store is around 35%. However, because of the service we provide and the workload that some of the clients or items may provide this commission rate is definately negoitable. The only thing I would say in the name of fair play is that its not really negotiable to work consignment with anything less. I have made an exception to my own business outline once and only once and in compromising it, I found that it just wasn't worth it~!

People believe that what we do, is rather easy and that such rates as a little over a third of the revenue is just outlandish. However, from the perspective of someone who has been doing it for a while, working for anything less is just nuts.

Personally to be competitive and fair within my community, I have been charging 30%. However, seeing as how my business and what I do for people is just simply worth more than that, I have raised my rates. I now take a 35% commission of every item I sell on eBay. That rate breaks down as the price increases, to be detailed:

I take 35% of everything I sell on eBay, up to $500 and 25% of the amount over $500. Just to give an example, say I sell someone's MacBook Pro for them, if it sells for $2,500, I take 35% of the first $500, which is about $175 and I take 25% of the $2,000 over that, which comes out to $500. So in total, if I sell their item for $2,500, I will receive $675 and they will receive $1,825.

To me even writing it out and looking at the numbers it seems to be a lot. However, in all honesty, I can now sit and turn around and look at it from the complete opposite perspective:

For that MacBook, first of all, I am completely responsible for it, and being a delicate piece of equipment, it takes alot more care in handling than say a stroller or a vacuum cleaner.

Thats even before I have to take the pictures. Pictures, I kid you not, are probably the most labor intensive project there is.... because as stated in previous posts, THATS THE KEY~! Proper pictures are what can take your item from a $10 item to a $100 item. The reason for this is quite simple, the pictures are all the buyer has to go on, so if you make it look as fantastic as it really is, people will want to pay for it. If you make a fantastic item look like it was half assed, people will pay a half assed price~! Its that simple~!

So as if two reasons in themselves aren't enough, here are a few more:

Now that the pictures have been taken and I have made your laptop the next competitior for the cover of GQ, I have to list it. To create a listing that looks good is also quite a task, sure there are templates and they make it easy with software like Auctiva which can help you expidite the process, but auctiva is like a camera, it will help you automate it, but you have to choose the content..... No matter how good your listing looks, ultimately what you write or choose not to write can and often will determine the value of your item. Not only do you have to make it look its part, you need to make it sound its part too~!

So to lighten this up a bid, as I feel its getting as intense as I sometimes feel when I am doing this. While we look at the last aspect of it, I am going to write with a smile.

So often people look at the idea or concept of what we are doing here and dont' see the value in it, and I trust if you have read up to this point you can now get an idea.

The last thing on the list of things to take care of in an auction, is actually two things which I will unite. Its payment and shipping. Payment can range from the easiest to most challenging depending on the buyer and their preferences, and shipping is usually a pretty big task, especially with a MacBook~!

So with an item that is that fragile, as I am selling one now, I have been informed by the apple store that I cannot get a box from them as they contain specific numbers that are unique to each apple, and therefore they recommended that I get soft packing foam.

Soft packing foam is not the easiest stuff to come by, once located and procured, we need to carefully pack and ship something that is quite delicate, in a way that it will be prepared to potentially fall of a truck~! Haha~!

Once packed, we need to ship it out wil confirmation, insurance and let the customer know the tracking information, not to mention keep up with the customer as to when it arrives and their level of satisfaction~!

So, as you can see...... there is much more that goes into this business than one views from the outside perspective.

The rates are definately worth the service. If you are a trader and charging less that 35%, you are definately selling yourself short, especially for the amount of work that goes into it. However, the few exceptions to this are when dealing with items of extremely high value, which are anything over $10,000, and in such cases, any trader such accomodate their clients with a rate that is fair, which means both parties feel respect in the transaction that is taking place~!

To bottom line......In paying for the service, clients are paying for the experience and chances are, that experience, is going to pay for itself~!

Have a Wonderful Evening~!

Peace and Light~!

Teddy

Reasoning Behind Hiring a Trading Consultant over doing it yourself~!

2007-09-15T13:45:00.000-07:00

Ok,

So here is a question I am faced with a lot by most people who are somewhat tech savvy and actually have some personal time. Their general question to me in one form or another is, why the hell would I hire you, when I can do it myself?

Its a Great question, and to be honest, for a while I was actually intimidated by that question, when I would get it, usually from someone who is generally tech savvy and has no problem figuring out how to do-it-yourself in relation to anything that has to do with online or computers, etc.

So to dive right in ~

Our business is a result of the way relate to the situations and events that present themselves in our life experience.

I run a business, I offer opportunities to people, enabling them to liquidate some things that they may see as junk or wastes of money and space in the form of creating value as assets to other people. Said in another way, I help people to turn what they might not even see as an asset, into a monetary reality.

Some people may not see the value in my work or experience, and that's fine, the value assessment is completely case-by-case. For some people it is worth it for them to hire someone, to take their stuff that is worth money, that they no longer, need or use, and smelt it back into the gold with which they can again barter. Haha, most times it may not smelt back into what was put into the initial purchase, but well, for them its much better than something that might potentially get thrown out or take up valuable space in their home.

I cater mostly to affluent people, who may not have one of the two main things that goes in to making my business the prosperous reality that it is ~ the first is the Experience in this field and the Knowledge gained from that experience, and the second is what most people consider to be the most important asset of all: Time.

So in short, those people that ask those questions, many of the time, what I have gained over the time I have been running this business is: Experience. I have learned over time, how to create listings that make the buyers feel confident in what they are purchasing, with amazing pictures, detailed descriptions and simply learning what buyers need to make decisions with confidence and delivering that in each auction that I create. However, the most important advice I can give is simply, to stay centered, enjoy the day, the ride, enjoy yourself and each lesson that comes your way. When you do this, everyone who conducts business with you will feel and appreciate that quality of service and commitment.

And just to close with a note of light:

For me its all about ~ surfing the waves of life as they come to me, knowing that in every event, in every situation, there is an opportunity, for me to learn something about myself.

Have a Beautiful Day~!

Joy and Peace,

Teddy

Auctiva~!

2007-09-14T20:03:00.000-07:00

Hey all,

So there are some great tools out there that I want to mention, so that you might be able to get an idea of what we can use to help build our business so that what we do is not incredibly time consuming and tedious. Because, trust me, listing items, especially if you have many listings to create, can be a pain in the ass.

So what I currently use, because I have a mac, and I can't download turbo lister, is something called Auctiva. Auctiva is software that will make listing a bit easier and its free~!

I also want to let you guys know that I am totally open to any and all suggestions as to how to take the tedious activity of listing and make it simple and easy, taking up trivial amounts of time, because currently, I still believe listing items to bit of a pain in the arse.

So what I use is auctiva, and it allows you to upload and list using as many pictures as you could need for a listing, and they host them and never delete them from their server, so if like 2 or 3 months later, you decide to sell the same commodity, you don't have to take new pictures or upload old ones.

It also has templates you can use to make your listings look cool, professional, serious, fun, playful, whatever you might be going for. As well as nifty options such as saving templates or listings features, which allows you to save entire listings or possibly just certain preferences that you like using, like maybe your payment preferences or your shipping preferences, etcs.

So I highly recommend any seller to play with Auctiva and just get a feel for it, see how it works and see if thats a tool you might like to use~!

There are also a ton others, they are known as "Auction Management Software" so a simple google on that will most definitely produce something that suits your business needs~!

May you all Have a Wonderful Evening~!

Peace and Light,

Teddy

eBay Picture Porn~!

2007-09-11T17:53:00.002-07:00

Ok,

So check it out, over the course of my eBay selling expereince, at some point I had a revelation. This revelation is so key, that it deserves its own post~!

I realized, that if I want to sell items, I need to make the items I am selling, so good that people are drooling over the opportunity, the things I am selling and the quality of their photos need to be comprable to porn~!

As whatever as it may sound, its totally TRUE~!

Here are a few examples of the type of pictures I am talking about:

I sold these Ping i3 Blades For a Friend of Mine~!

And These Diesel Jeans I just sold for a client~!

So what I really find to be the key in taking these naughty pictures, is SUNLIGHT~!

I find that regardless of the item, there is a time in the day that the sun will make any item shine~!
The job of the person selling the item, is to find that time of day and take the best pictures possible, from the necessary camera angles. However, I would like everyone to benefit from my experience, so what I learned the hard way was, make sure you don't take a million pictures, because if you do, you are going to be sorting through serial numbers and its going to take you forever to put together a listing~!

So in short, take pictures that will make the buyer drool, but do your best to take just a few from each angle and label them as soon as possible, because if you don't, you will be shooting yourself in the foot when it comes time to create the listing~!

And speaking of creating listings, that should create a nice segway into a my next blog, which will be about, listing services and tools out there to help you list your item in an attractive and appealing way~!

Have a Beautiful Evening,

Peace and Light,

Teddy

And We're off~!

2007-09-11T17:53:00.001-07:00

Greetings~!

I am starting this blog so that I can share my insights and ideas in the particular venue of Online eBay Trading, so that anyone who wishes to benefit from my experience/suggestions/insights or share their own, may do so~!

A little Background:

I started P.A.L.A.C.E. Enterprises in January of 2007 and am currently in the process of filing as a corporation. The corporation will be a holding company, in which eBay Trading will be one of the many businesses that are to come~!

I have been eBaying since 1999, and having fun with it~! Once I learned to sell, I began expanding my horizions, and simply gaining what I refer to simply as the eye of an eBayer~!

The funny thing with eBay is, not everything sells, but at the same time, everything sells. What I mean by this, is that the true key to eBay, that has taken me some time to realize, is that eBay is all about timing~! Much of the time, although you can plan accordingly, you can't predict eBay, as much as you can predict who will randomly surf on and look for something. Which makes it an easy way to make or waste money. Yet, there are certain things a well trained eBaying Eye can look for which will determine various factors that may give one a good idea as to whether or not now is a good time to list an item.

To give an example of this, I had two "Dancing with the Stars Posters", I listed them at $9.99 opening bid and $30 buy-it-now, the first one sold like lightning, within hours of my listing it, someone had bought it now and I had it in the mail asap, with a shit-eating-grin on my face, ready to list the next one. However, the next one, ended up selling for way less than I anticipated, I think I might have even needed to list it twice. I just remember being quite disappointed in the way I had made $30 in one second off a commodity that ended up making me next to nothing on round two~!

One key way to work around this, is to have a store, storefronts on eBay allow a seller to list an item, and if it sells as a buy it now in their store, they are allowed to keep it as an item in inventory, which means they don't have to pay listing fees after the first one sells~! Thats a pretty sweet deal to snag those buy-it-nowers~!

Another key when Trading on eBay is common sense to most eBay sellers, but to recap or if you might be new to the experience, its discovering eBay Trends~!

There are two types of eBay Trends:

1. The Annual Trends - timeframes within the year that provide optimal opportunites to list certain items (ie. Christmas is good for just about any type of good that can be given as a gift, but Kayaks might be out)

2. The Recently Completed Items Trend - an eBay Trader's most valuable tool is the "Completed Items" option of the eBay search function~! Using this tool enables eBay Traders to discover any and all items that may have recently sold that match or are similar to the item they may be selling or have the potential to sell!~ It is by far my Most Fav tool~!

In using the completed items search tool, I can instantaneously do research and determine whether or not a certain item that a client might like me to sell is worth me taking on, and if there is wi-fi in his or her home or office, I can make that assesment on the spot~!

So basically, I just wanted to get this blog up and rolling, so that anyone who may have interest in selling on eBay or having their stuff sold on eBay, might get a better Idea of how its done, and the key factors and tools that are here to make our lives easier~!

Well, with that, have a Beautiful Evening~!

Peace,

Teddy