1955 Raytheon Transistor Radio

2005-07-11T18:31:00.000-07:00

I recently sold this radio on eBay - which was purchased by an avid collecter / hobbyist who now has it featured at his website. View the radio at this link - http://users.arczip.com/rmcgarra2/ray8tp.html

New eBay store Icon

2005-06-16T15:55:00.000-07:00

hmmmm..... looks like

Chateauneuf du Flatman

2005-05-27T19:16:00.000-07:00

BRAIN STRAIN PAIN

2005-02-10T08:29:00.000-08:00

Earache My Eye

My momma talkin' to me tryin' to tell me how to live
But I don't listen to her 'cause my head is like a sieve
My daddy, he disowned me 'cause I wear my sister's clothes
He caught me in the bathroom with a pair of pantyhose
My basketball coach, he done kicked me off the team
For wearin' high-heel sneakers and actin' like a queen

------ insert lead guitar solo here ------

The world's comin' to an end, I don't even care
As long as I can have a limo and my orange hair
And it don't bother me if people think I'm "funny"
'Cause I'm a big rock star and I'm makin' lots of money
money, money, money, money, money, money

Ahhh! Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha...
I'm so bloody rich! Ha ha ha ha
I own apartment buildings and shopping centers! Ha ha ha ha
And I only know three chords! Ha ha ha ha

by Cheech & Chong

eBay fees INCREASE

2005-01-20T04:48:00.000-08:00

eBay 2005 - increase of fees for eBay Stores

Read and learn.

....eBay Stock Down....

www.naturalbotanika.com

     10% loss is considered a 'correction'. If it sticks for more than a few days, that is a bad omen. Buying a few days after a split is a good way to get into a company with minimal cost, but even still the dilution of the split will not change the overvalue on it yet. Press this quarter and the next quarterly earnings will be the most telling and point the direction for the next few year.

     As long as their was no competition at all, no one actively competing for eBay sellers and eBay buyers, eBay was very inelastic, meaning there was little to substitute for it.

     But, with o-stock actively saving PS names, giving listing money for free, reducing listing by equal amount that eBay is increasing fees, this means there is a somewhat viable substitute and the the price elasticity, or substitution does exist.

     I got a $25 listing credit on BOTH my PS IDs over there today. Their lister is about the level of TL, but workable.

     I had good sales when I experimented in NOV, and think I will again. My entire repeat customer base will trail behind me.

     Don't get me wrong, I will still use eBay to advertise with. Instead of steering my eBay customers to my eBay STORE, I will be using my eBay STORE to steer my customers to my eBay auctions.

Consider this:

1. Keep eBay basic store up. You get this for $15.95 mos.:

a. Category organization for your AUCTION LISTINGS

b. Custom pages to put anything you want, expounding with descriptive keywords about your products. These words, phrases are GOOGLE searchable.

c. Each category has Keywords for you to manually enter, making additional GOOGLE searches possible.

d. If you, Tom, Dick, and Harry are all selling the same stuff, but you have a store also, you will show up not only in auction search, but also in Stores Search. If they do not have a store, YOU are in the advantage as you will show up in TWO searches.

2. Use a template that is linked to your eBay categories, categories that are full of auction listings with words that are legitimate, but that fully optimize your listings for search. No key word spamming allowed though. Have your images on your template take your customers to the auctions organized in your store.

3. Put a few items in your store, as STORE LISTINGS, your most EXPENSIVE items, and make sure they are well described. Make them be items that you RARELY SELL, or at your most PREMIUM PRICE. Instead of offering VALUE for shopping your store, use these store listings (only .02 to .05 each per month) to drive traffic to your AUCTIONS! This was Not my idea... it was mflat's! And it is brilliant in my opinion. Make your store point traffic to your auctions.

So, for $15.95 month, you will get more Google searchable pages and listings than you would using eBay Keywords or any Adword campaign, and not even have to worry about your campaign being slowed due to low click thru on some of your keywords!

USE eBay to your advantage!

I disagree with closing your eBay store... The Google search aspect and the ability to generate the keywords for each category and each custom page are PRICELESS. Likewise the category organization.

Kelly

www.naturalbotanika.com

I came across a great article. It is an interesting read. It is from escribe, Jan 18 Auction Guild TAG notes (http://www.escribe.com/business/TAGnotes/m620.html - some great jokes there too!)

     "....As usual, the eBay boards and chat boards across the online auction and trading industry (OAI/OTI) are filled with outraged sellers screaming about the price increases. Once again we will repeat what we at TAG have been saying for the past 6 years. What sellers can't be made to realize, is that the power to change the industry rests with themselves, as eBay will charge the sellers whatever the sellers ALLOW eBay to charge them. All it takes is for sellers to move a sufficient number of listings to other OAI/OTI sites, and break the eBay monopoly. The buyers will follow the sellers. If sites other than eBay have what the buyers want, that is where the buyers will go. If enough sites develop viable markets, someone (Google?) will come along with an improved meta search engine (the technology has been around for over 4 years to do this but was never perfected) that searches all these sites, and updates in real time, so buyers can search the net for items they want, and sellers will be free to list wherever they want.

     Petitions, one day "strikes", boycotts etc. are all useless and foolish. They have no impact on eBay and do nothing to expand the industry. So far they have all failed, and done nothing but reinforce eBay's arrogance. eBay will sit back and let the sellers moan and groan about the increase, maybe even make some small concessions, and then go about their business, confident that the sellers will NOT act to change the industry. eBay will continue to raise fees as long as the sellers knuckle under and pay the fees. What will change the industry, is sellers selling on what we at TAG call VOTE sites (venues other than eBay).

     Here is what sellers can do to change the face of the OAI/OTI permanently, which will mean more competition, hence lower charges to sellers, and better customer service for those who use OAI/OTI sites.

     As individuals – Build your own website and use it as the hub to link to places you sell online. There are many very inexpensive web site hosts, and most ISPs provide free server space for web sites. Search Google for page templates, learn basic HTML (many sites are available online to teach the basics for free), use a site that has templates, or hire someone to build you a simple site. Get your site indexed on Froogle. This is free, and you can sign up here - http://snipurl.com/c27j

     Email every past customer, thanking them for their business and telling them where you are currently listing and offer them incentives to buy from you from your website or from the VOTE site(s) you are using.

     As organized groups – there are lots of OAI/OTI chat boards, on eBay and off, and frequent communication between sellers of same or similar items. Start a chat group OFF eBay, such as on Topica.com, Google Groups or Yahoo Groups, or on one of the OAI/OTI bulletin board systems, and email sellers in your category, inviting them to join your effort to move your entire category to a VOTE site. Agree on a site, and have everyone participating email all their past customers and tell those customers where the category is now located. Put up a group webpage, and provide links to the group member websites and VOTE site listings. As a group, you can even pool some resources and advertise in a trade paper or magazine for your category, or buy some banner ad space online. Work together as a community and you will all benefit together as a community.

     You do not have to stop selling on eBay. USE eBay (as opposed to letting eBay use you) as a way to build your customer base. There are ways to do this that are still eBay legal, such as including offers and incentives for purchases made on the VOTE sites you are selling on, in every email you send out. Include your email address prominently in every listing on eBay, so potential buyers can contact you directly, without having eBay looking over your (and their) shoulder. Encourage potential buyers to contact you via email. Build opt in mailing lists of customers, via your emails, and include incentives in your list mailings. Send a coupon in every package you send out, offering incentives to customers who buy from you either from your website or from a VOTE site.

     When you use eBay, do not use the extras. List 7 day auctions, don't use gallery, don't use BIN, and close your eBay store. If enough sellers do this, eBay will have to back off these fee increases. TAG still holds that gallery is now and has always been a waste of money, and anecdotal evidence from sellers is that when they stop using gallery, their sell through does not change. eBay has been very successful at brainwashing sellers into believing whatever eBay tells them is true, including that the world of online auctions and trading only exists on eBay. It is time the sellers took control of the industry back from eBay.

     For those of you who are just going to moan and complain and once again knuckle under anyway, who want to do something that makes you feel as if you did not take this increase lying down, even if it really means nothing, here are some links to petitions, and boycott/ strike sites...."

Be sure to read the whole Jan 18 Tag note - it is really interesting!

Kelly

Happy New Year - a GOOD YEAR ?

2005-01-06T01:39:00.000-08:00

HAPPY HOLIDAYS!

2004-12-10T21:43:00.000-08:00

Plan B l o g