Dantotsu
Best of the Best in Blades
Blog
My Blog has moved
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YouTube Rocks
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International Shipping Hassles
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This week has been one of those weeks when nothing seems to be going right. I am sick with a major infection. I am behind in school from being sick and I have had three eBay sales go the way of the creek. Two are international orders that are two big to ship USPS and UPS wants over $300 dollars to ship them!!! There needs to be some compromise between the two services. I might be able to find another shipper myself but I am working with a drop shipper so my options are only what they offer.
The other order gone bad was an order that was made and when I went to make the order from the drop shipper they had conveniently discontinued the item. The big problem was that the customer sent me a money order before I found out that the item was no longer available. Soooo I had to wait and get the money order, cash it and send a refund through my bank. Like I said, it has been one of those weeks. Advice...
- Join Ebates if you still have not. I have earned over $140 in rebates from just going to their site before I shop at the online stores I was already planning on going to. I use it a lot for Gap, Ink Cartridges, and drugstore.com. The link to use is http://www.ebates.com/rf.do?id=32696671. If you sign up you get $5 just for joining.
- In the past 10 months I have learned quite a bit. The biggest realization I have come to is do not limit your possibilities. My business has not formed the way I would have imagined it. I am not selling the items I initially wanted to sell. You have to be open to opportunities that come knocking and realize when other ideas need to be put away. The item you want to sell won't always be a money maker or the wholesalers you find that sell the item may not be people you want to have a business relationship with. I always invest in small amounts of new items I am buying wholesale to make sure it is going to sell. I also give my drop shipment items about six months and if they are not selling I end the listings and move on to something new. In short, be flexible!
Sorry Long Time No Blog! Business Is Going
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Summer has been a fun and relaxing time. We have adventured and enjoyed the sun. My business is doing well. I am still not making huge amounts of profit but I have started getting more regular sales and have added some different products to my inventory. I have stopped selling most of the crystal and nic nac type items. The swords and children's items seem to be selling the best. I have added a variety of Pedal Cars which are very cool. Perfect for Christmas.
My advice for this week is be careful, careful when shipping international. This month I have had a package seized by customs at the Canada border. I actually didn't ship this item myself because it was through a drop-shipper. The issue was with what it was declared as. I guess the customs official didn't like that it was labeled as a movie prop when it was a false edged fantasy sword. Just make sure you write the correct item description on the customs form or your package could be seized as well!
Click here for more information on shipping internationally from eBay.
Until Next Time!
Yay Finals are done!!!
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Well I am officially out of school for the summer! Now I can focus on my business and hopefully get my sales up. I have really not been doing to well for the past month. It seems that sales have slowed all around but I think with some work I can get my business going strong.
My new find this week that can have a positive effect on traffic for your business is StumbleUpon. StumbleUpon is a web discovery service which integrates peer-to-peer and social networking principles with one-click blogging. The Toolbar system automates the collection, distribution and review of web content within an intuitive social framework, providing users with a browsing experience which resembles "channel-surfing" the web.
You should check it out for its entertainment value alone. I will be writing much more in July. Be sure to check back in the coming weeks!
My new find this week that can have a positive effect on traffic for your business is StumbleUpon. StumbleUpon is a web discovery service which integrates peer-to-peer and social networking principles with one-click blogging. The Toolbar system automates the collection, distribution and review of web content within an intuitive social framework, providing users with a browsing experience which resembles "channel-surfing" the web.
You should check it out for its entertainment value alone. I will be writing much more in July. Be sure to check back in the coming weeks!
Ebates
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I have to write another blog about Ebates. My total earned by using this free service is up to $47 in two months. Anyone who shops online should be using this service. Especially if you buy clearance items to resell from stores like Gap or Old Navy.
Ebates is a shopping site that gives you up to 25% Cash Back every time you shop online. You can shop at over 800 stores including Barnes & Noble.com, Gap, Target, Buy.com and Expedia. Plus you get additional savings with exclusive coupons, free shipping offers, and limited-time sales!
Click Here to Sign Up
Happy shopping!
Cynthia
Ebates is a shopping site that gives you up to 25% Cash Back every time you shop online. You can shop at over 800 stores including Barnes & Noble.com, Gap, Target, Buy.com and Expedia. Plus you get additional savings with exclusive coupons, free shipping offers, and limited-time sales!
Click Here to Sign Up
Happy shopping!
Cynthia
How to get repeat customers
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It has been a crazy month. Selling has been going OK. I have been really busy with school and haven't been able to invest heavily in store promotion so sales haven't been spectacular but good enough for now. This summer I will be devoting myself to my business completely, except for the mom and spouse duties of course.
The issue I want to discuss this time is getting repeat customers. I have been using a program called My Store Rewards for a couple of months. It gives a rebate to buyers who buy from you using PayPal and then sends out bi-monthly emails to your prior customers who have opted in offering them a rebate for repeat purchases. You as the seller are in charge of the amount of the rebate offered in either percent or dollar value. I don't receive anything for referring them. I just think they have a neat program that is worth a look.
I hope you gain so value from this short but sweet blog. I am getting ready for Finals so I will now return to joy of college before my boys get home from school!
Until Next Time...
The issue I want to discuss this time is getting repeat customers. I have been using a program called My Store Rewards for a couple of months. It gives a rebate to buyers who buy from you using PayPal and then sends out bi-monthly emails to your prior customers who have opted in offering them a rebate for repeat purchases. You as the seller are in charge of the amount of the rebate offered in either percent or dollar value. I don't receive anything for referring them. I just think they have a neat program that is worth a look.
I hope you gain so value from this short but sweet blog. I am getting ready for Finals so I will now return to joy of college before my boys get home from school!
Until Next Time...
I made Power Seller Status
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I made it to Power Seller Status! I am excited to announce that I have made enough consistent sales in the past 3 months to be invited as a Power Seller by eBay. I have only been in business for 3 months so I think that is pretty good. It was nice to receive the email from eBay because business has not been great lately. I have been busy with school and family and not listing as many auctions as I would like to have running.
I have learned that the best way to get traffic to your eBay store is through auctions. I have been trying to get traffic through external sources like GoogleBase and listing my site on search engines but the highest amount of traffic comes from auctions. I have been told it takes about three months for any of the search engine advertising to start working. I may have to rely less on auctions in the future. Only time will tell.
I use one pay-per-click advertiser and that seems to bring a good amount of traffic. I use Bidvertiser. There are many different pay-per-click advertisers out there but I am happy with Bidvertiser for now. Well I have to hit the books, midterms next week!
Until Next Time...
Promote your eBay auctions with BidVertiser. Get $20 in FREE clicks.
I have learned that the best way to get traffic to your eBay store is through auctions. I have been trying to get traffic through external sources like GoogleBase and listing my site on search engines but the highest amount of traffic comes from auctions. I have been told it takes about three months for any of the search engine advertising to start working. I may have to rely less on auctions in the future. Only time will tell.
I use one pay-per-click advertiser and that seems to bring a good amount of traffic. I use Bidvertiser. There are many different pay-per-click advertisers out there but I am happy with Bidvertiser for now. Well I have to hit the books, midterms next week!
Until Next Time...
Promote your eBay auctions with BidVertiser. Get $20 in FREE clicks.
Slow Week
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At least business wise it has been a slow week, personally I had to supervise Easter festivities for my 3 little ones and I started a new term of classes at Southern Oregon University.
I think going on vacation for a week did slow business a lot, mostly because my business is so new and relies on eBay auctions for most of my traffic. Hopefully, it will pick up in the next couple of weeks. Of course many people have also been on Spring Break and probably not shopping too much!
My advice this week does not have so much to do with my business but is a really neat website I found to help save you money. It works for my business because I use it when I buy clothes from Gap or Old Navy to resell.
The site I am talking about is Ebates.
Ebates, a shopping site that gives you up to 25% Cash Back every time you shop online. You can shop at over 800 stores including Barnes & Noble.com, Gap, Target, Buy.com and Expedia. Plus you get additional savings with exclusive coupons, free shipping offers, and limited-time sales!
I think going on vacation for a week did slow business a lot, mostly because my business is so new and relies on eBay auctions for most of my traffic. Hopefully, it will pick up in the next couple of weeks. Of course many people have also been on Spring Break and probably not shopping too much!
My advice this week does not have so much to do with my business but is a really neat website I found to help save you money. It works for my business because I use it when I buy clothes from Gap or Old Navy to resell.
The site I am talking about is Ebates.
Ebates, a shopping site that gives you up to 25% Cash Back every time you shop online. You can shop at over 800 stores including Barnes & Noble.com, Gap, Target, Buy.com and Expedia. Plus you get additional savings with exclusive coupons, free shipping offers, and limited-time sales!
It doesn't cost anything to sign up and they pay you a $5 bonus when you make your first purchase!
This isn't one of those sites that you have to fill out surveys or do anything lame. You just go to their site first before you shop at your favorite online retailers.
I am only sharing this information because I have been using it and loving it. I earned almost $20 when I bought replacement ink for my printers!!!
Until Next Time...
On Spring Vacation
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The kids and I are on Spring Break Vacation but lucky for me, all the family has computers! Sales have been going well. I have sold almost $4000 in product in my first two months. My profits haven't been that high because of some initial costs I have had to pay but I am not in the red. I have weeded out two drop shippers who were not very good. I have acquired two new drop shippers and also bought some wholesale goods from two others. I don't have a very large home so I will keep my wholesale orders down but it is nice to handle what you are selling before you sell it.
I really wanted to talk to you about International Shipping today. I have been having some issues with the swords and weapon related items and international shipping. I have to ship most of them UPS because of their size and it is expensive. I just had an order that was $160 for shipping! Well the biggest problem is convincing buyers you are not trying to rob them. My point of this is, sometimes with large or heavy items, International Shipping is more of a hassle than it is worth.
Now for items weighing less that 13ozs, like clothes, you can ship Internationally for a dollar or two more that you can ship it in the U.S.. This makes selling clothing great on eBay. The best shipping costs for International Orders I have found are through the USPS. Don't forget to tell your customers they are responsible for any customs or tariff fees related to their order or you could end up losing money.
Well that is it for today!
I really wanted to talk to you about International Shipping today. I have been having some issues with the swords and weapon related items and international shipping. I have to ship most of them UPS because of their size and it is expensive. I just had an order that was $160 for shipping! Well the biggest problem is convincing buyers you are not trying to rob them. My point of this is, sometimes with large or heavy items, International Shipping is more of a hassle than it is worth.
Now for items weighing less that 13ozs, like clothes, you can ship Internationally for a dollar or two more that you can ship it in the U.S.. This makes selling clothing great on eBay. The best shipping costs for International Orders I have found are through the USPS. Don't forget to tell your customers they are responsible for any customs or tariff fees related to their order or you could end up losing money.
Well that is it for today!
