Archive for May 2008

Show Off or Showdown?

May 25, 2008 | milodes

Guess it all depends...


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100% on eBay for the first time in 9 years!

May 19, 2008 | milodes

Today, the new feedback system on eBay begins to take effect. The first thing many sellers have noticed is their percent has changed. For most (those posting on various eBay forums), the number has slipped because one or more negative or neutral feedbacks they've received in the last year is a greater percentage of all feedback received in the last twelve months than is the total percent of negs & neuts vs positives since they've been on eBay.

Not me! Those 2 ancient negs are not figured in, so my percent is now 100%! (One of those was the third feedback I ever received!)

Does this new feedback thing make me happy? Sure, I like seeing 100%, but I am very concerned that I will no longer be allowed to leave a neg for a buyer who doesn't pay or is trying to scam me in some way. I'm not anticipating a bunch of negs from buyers just because they won't have to fear one from me in retaliation. I believe my 2 little niches - Mafia memorabilia & eBay design - are not as prone to negs by buyers of, for example, electronics or CDs.

Only time will tell...


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When's too early to start planning for a vacation?

May 18, 2008 | milodes

If I hadn't started my eBay Live '08 folder months ago to keep all the stuff I'll need & if I hadn't already created my list of stuff I need to take to Chicago with me, I'd be frantic at the last moment - and who wants that stress? Sure, one can buy toothpaste or undies if they forget those things, but since I'll be teaching a class this year and have coupons to pay for my hotel room, there are somethings I just won't be able to replace if I neglect to pack 'em.

Here's hoping when you go on your next trip - to Live or wherever you may travel to - that you'll be prepared so your trip can start & continue stress-free!


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Happy Mother's Day!

May 11, 2008 | milodes

As Tippy above wrote, I, too, will spend a bit of my time today putting listings together - Sundays are my listing days. And I will be thinking much about how I love being a Mom to my daughter Nicole & how glad I am that she gets to celebrate today also, being a Mom to Gracie & Bella. (The roses on Tippy's shirt are in honor of Nicole who loved roses even as a young child - though I recall her liking them in deep red.)

Of course, I will call my Mom to wish her a beautiful day & thank her for me being the first of her six kids to make her a Mom...and for all she taught & gave me in my life! The orangey flowers behind Tippy are in honor of my Mom who's always loved orange flowers. (Wish she could see our orange roses next to our front door!)

To all you Moms who love being Moms - have a wonderful day!


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Remembering a great eBay transaction...

May 10, 2008 | milodes

About a year after I began selling on eBay (managing a friend's eBay business), I was involved in a transaction which still gives me chills when recalling that event.
On a Monday evening, my friend & I were going thru items I'd be listing on auction. He pulled out this chalice-like trophy. It was sterling silver with the year 1898 engraved near the top & a bunch of German text below. He read off each letter while I transcribed.
I don't recall now what category I listed it in, nor how much it sold for - that is irrelevant to this story. After the auction ended & I shipped the piece to the German buyer, I asked "why buy this?" He told me that in the mid-1800s a fraternity in Germany had been formed. In 1898, 4 trophies had been awarded at some function. During WW2, the fraternity was disbanded by the Nazi government. Several years later, the fraternity was re-formed and a search began for the 4 trophies. The one we had listed and was bought by the German buyer was the third of the four they were able to recover.
I wish I still had the buyer's email address so I could discover whether the fraternity ever found the fourth and to get more info on the fraternity & the occasion in 1898 - but it still warms me (while sending those chills down my arms) that I was able to be a part of getting such a piece to its home!


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Disguising the eBay seller's home...

May 04, 2008 | milodes

Actually, that shipping table next to my front door? It is what it is & I don't care who's coming over, it stays as it is:



Yep, an ugly thing, but so practical! The closet between this & my front door is full of priority mailing boxes - easy to grab when I'm packing up stuff. And, when I have gifts to wrap, I have tape, scissors & a nice big surface to use. I suspect that even if for some weird reason way in the future, I cease selling stuff on eBay that I need to package up, my shipping table & shelves (albeit in a prettier form) will always be in my living room!


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I love the eBay Community spirit!

May 03, 2008 | milodes

For many years, I've been visiting the eBay discussion forums. I first found the SAPro (Sellers Assistant Pro) board when I began using that program. My first question resulted in a response which was not quite what I was looking for - it was an admonition to learn how to search the boards for answers before asking something that many have asked for previously. That curmudgeonly response didn't scare me off & I ended up receiving much assistance & made several friends among those fellow users of the software.

Today, I have over a dozen boards I visit daily. On all but one, I answer questions which have not been answered or contribute my two cents when I MUST voice my opinion. That one other board is the Photos/HTML board on which I ask at least twice as many questions as I answer. Mostly I ask for technical info on web & eBay design for whatever project I'm currently working on. The responses I get are magnificent! I would not know as much now had I not been learning so much on that board over the last year or so.

I so appreciate the help I've received on the boards & I do my best to pay it forward! I love that I've made many friends on the boards. I've met several at past eBay Live events & some whom I've not met yet in person, but are friends nonetheless.

I've realized lately that this spirit, this culture, of the eBay community has been my mode of dealing with fellow eBayers for years; I give some help here, I get some help there, and so on. eBay member X may have emailed me about being a Trading Assistant or wants some info on Blackthorne or how to do such & such in his eBay store. I get many emails a week & usually a couple calls asking how to do something or other.

Now, I do charge for my Blackthorne training, yet I have a free Quick Start Guide which may be all the training someone needs. I create custom stores on eBay, but I have a tutorial for the do-it-yourselfer. I do little TAing these days, but continue to respond with help on the TA board because I do have the knowledge & experience of selling consigned items for clients.

I am not an altruistic person, but I sure like the pay it forward concept. It makes for a benevolent world. Others have helped me in my eBay venture & I help some others in theirs.

There was an eBayer a while back whom I met & from whom I received much assistance & information. I asked for this. She asked little of me - perhaps she figured I didn't have many eBay-related things she could learn from me. She finally blew up at me after several months because she was doing most of the giving & I was "taking advantage". Now, I'm not one to quickly analyze such a situation, thus it didn't occur to me at the time that I had been treating her in my eBay community mode. It didn't occur to me that her eBay community was not the same one I'd been involved in - she's a well-known in the eBay world, thus I just assumed her eBay community was the same as mine. NOPE! That makes me wrong for assuming - and she has no obligation to be in my "pay it forward" mindset. (And I will email her a link to his article in case she gives the smallest amount of consideration to what I once thought was well on its way to being a mutually-beneficial relationship.)

My lesson? Just because I share a common interest with someone doesn't mean he or she has the same ideas about what that interest means. I have to delve deeper at the outset of meeting someone to learn from where they're coming as I indicate to him or here my point of view. Sure will make my life easier...


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