Hi!

Sorry for the delay in getting an ezine out to you! The store has really taken off and we have been slammed and super busy. Business is great! And I can't wait to share more of what has been going on since our Grand Opening on March 1st !

Also, later in this ezine I have some great news about improvements to eBay's Guaranteed Delivery Program. In more great eBay news, my brick & mortar store has been chosen as a pilot test store for the new #eBayAlwaysOpen!! Yipppeeee! We will be getting signage to co-brand us as an eBay Always Open Store and I will be setting up a computer in the back of the store for my real life customers to also shop my eBay store. FUN & super exciting !

But let me share a score before I get started on Lynn's Consignments Fun Home Furnishings evolution…seriously the store has taken on a life of its own! Here is a beautiful frame that I received from my grandmother. I wasn't using it and decided to sell it on eBay. I took a best offer of $500 and it went to South Korea. Wow! For those of you who are not shipping internationally, you are MISSING OUT! GarageSaleLori…can you hear me?

Click here to see this auction.

But back to the grand opening…I must admit that my mom and I were a little nervous about making the March 1st Deadline. But I knew that come what may, I was DETERMINED to open on what would have been my dad's 84th birthday to honor him.

In case you missed the ezine I wrote in February, here is a link to it and here is an excerpt from that ezine...

But back to this ezine, a few days after I took that photo of my mom, we had to have a photo of the store to use in our first ad for the Ventura County Star. I thought about borrowing a photo from my good friend and Queen's Court member , Vicki Pene Pasta (who has an awesome consignment store in Eagle, Idaho www.reclaimedinteriorsboise.com), but knew I needed to be authentic. We barely had anything to make that first vignette with, but I had a vision. It was going to be in the front window and it was going to be "Ventura Beachy."

We worked until 9 pm on Wednesday, February 21st and somehow, from the few pieces we had in stock, we made a vignette! It was darling! The next morning my mom bought flowers & tangerines and at 8:30 am I took photos. Here is what that first vignette looked like that was featured in our Ventura County Star Advertisement!

It was such a relief to know that WE COULD DO THIS. I know I was relieved and I think both my mom and Val were as well. It was coming together.

And now for an eBay score from that crazy time. Somehow we kept eBay going and thank goodness for Bridget (the high school student who I hired to do my shipping). Such a great kid and a hard worker! She reminds me of me when I was in high school…quite the entrepreneur.

I had purchased these earrings at a friend's garage sale for $2.00. Took a best offer of $80. Wowza!

Click here to see this auction.

The next week leading up to March 1st was a whirlwind…planning for a caterer to serve lunch, arranging for coffee for the ribbon cutting, hiring a string quartet to play in the afternoon and much more (including getting all of the computer systems working etc…).

The store sign was finally ready to go up on Tuesday, February 27th. Yikes! In the nick of time. Here they are installing it.

Here is my mom with Mike from Signarama. They did an AWESOME JOB! Shout out to Queen LaVonne as well!

On Wednesday February 28th, a new person came in through the front door with a big smile on her face. I was like….do I know you? And she said, "No, but some really great friends of yours have a wonderful surprise for you." Huh? The new face was a gal named Breezy and she had a stack of the "Ventura Breeze" newspapers with her.

She explained that she had been working behind the scenes with Diva Dawn and my Queen's Court members to place an announcement in the paper. She said "Boy do they love you." What perfect timing Diva Dawn and the QCers! You are ALL AMAZING. I LOVE YOU ALL .

I seriously started to cry. What a special, special thing to do for me. It meant and still does mean, the world to me.

Here is that display ad that had been placed for the store.

Of course, Diva Dawn would find the perfect media source to place that congratulatory notice. She did used to work with Richee Bree on the layouts for the "Daily Trojan" back in the day (when I was at USC) and she was working with a printing company.

OK, score time! Seriously, these scores are what kept that cash flow rolling in before the store opened. Thank you eBay! Sold a ton of Christofle Aria to several different buyers. Over $2,000 worth in March. One buyer bought so much at full price that when Bridget would come in to ship, she would say "What else did Rodrigo buy in that silver pattern?" LOL.

Click here to see this auction.

It was supposed to rain during our Grand Opening on Thursday, March 1st, but Thank you God and Dad…it did not. It was the PERFECT day! Seriously!

The ribbon cutting was scheduled for 9:30am. We had our Starbucks Coffee and pastries all set up and guess who walked through the front door at 9am? Pam Clayton and her husband Terry! Yipppeeee Skippeeeee! They were representing the Queen's Court and it was such a treat to see them both. They looked fabulous!

They also came bearing gifts. Seriously you QCers? The display ad in the Breeze was enough….but no! They came with gift certificates for a manicure, pedicure, facial and a massage. YIPPPPPEEEEEE!

And then the flowers started to roll in. The most lovely bouquet ever came from my step mom Sue and my step sisters Rita and Renae. Thank you all so much!

Here are my mom, Terry, Pam, me and Indy with those gorgeous flowers.

Ribbon cutting went off without a hitch! Thank you to the Ventura Chamber of Commerce. You all ROCK! Indiana was in town for the grand opening as it was her spring break...Houston was in Portland for spring break and I told him he should go and be with his friends as there would be plenty of other days at the shop!

After the ribbon cutting and our first sale , those flowers, cookies, candies and treats kept on coming. Here is Indiana and my mom at the front counter opening a box of flowers from Mo, Kel and Candy. I was bummed that my girl crew from Palm Desert couldn't be there, but it was high season and the flowers were very much appreciated .

Flowers also came from Jane & Josh, Ellen Beach, Sandra (my neighbor in Rancho Mirage), Gina Cole and more including Cheryl Cookies from the Queen's Court. Thank you all!

Here is what that grand opening day schedule looked like.

Please join us for our grand opening on Thursday, March 1st Ribbon-cutting is at 9:30 AM and we will have Starbucks and some pastries. Everyone that attends the grand opening will receive a free copy of my first book "The 100 best things I've sold on eBay". We will have light appetizers served around noon and a string Quartet made up of local very talented high schoolers (The Cherry Quartet) at 3 PM. See you there! 1975 E Main Street Ventura.

OK time for a score before the biggest shocker of that amazing grand opening day! And trust me…it was a COMPLETE SURPRISE…just like this sale.

This tiny doll house item (well the shadow box was about 5" by 10") sold for a best offer of $100. Yaya!

Click here to see this auction.

About 11 am on Grand opening day, I saw a familiar face walk through the front door…. I had a hunch she would make it for that special day as she and her husband shared a special bond with my dad. It was Kimberly Wallace from Huntington Beach! So happy to see her! She and her family lived in Bellingham for years and she was my realtor and one of my first vendors when I took over my grandma's store back in 1993. Thank you, Kimberly, for being there!

But the shock of my life came about 12:30 pm when out of the corner of my eye I could have sworn I saw Kathy Rutan and Jo Dallas. Huh? Seriously? Kathy lives in Oregon and I haven't seen her in 10 years and Jo lives in Bellingham. They are two of my best high school friends and what in the world would they both be doing in Ventura?

Well, sure enough it was them and they knocked me down giving me a hug. I started crying and just couldn't believe it! We all started jumping up and down and I asked them…."What? How? Why? Where are you staying?" And Jo being the prankster she is said "With you!"

Well, that wasn't a joke and it was one of the best surprises of my life….so far. They really pulled it off. Back in December when Jo got my Christmas letter she called Kathy and said "Let's surprise Lynn in Ventura for her grand opening". They bought the plane tickets three months in advance. True friends!

Here I am in the store with Kimberly, Jo and Kathy. I love these girls!

Here is an excerpt from that Christmas letter that propelled Jo to plan such an amazing act of friendship.

Jo and Kathy took a leap of faith when they bought those plane tickets. Who knew if I would really be opening on March 1st? I knew I would because when I set my mind to do something, I WILL DO IT! But they were nervous. They didn't want to tell anyone in my family because it would ruin the surprise. So Jo started stalking me on social media. LOL. What a way to get followers! She was so relieved when I posted about the upcoming scheduled ribbon cutting because at that point she knew it was going to happen. So much fun and so many things happened that made for a crazy first day of being in business in Ventura!

Here is the Cherry Quartet playing during opening day.

Here is what the store front window looked like during that first wild week! I had purchased those two custom couches from a sale and priced them at $695 each. Aren't they just beautiful?

The couches sold during the second week and we were able to quickly replace them with some amazing wicker pieces that had come in. It is crazy to watch, but as stuff flies out the front door, more trucks pull up to the back door with more merchandise. It really is like Christmas everyday as you never know what is going to come in.

Here is the front window week 3. Most of the wicker is now sold and we will be doing a new window this week with a tiki bar that Jason Smith brought me. FUN!

During those first few weeks of the store being open, my eBay business continued to be strong. Thank God! We sold this Jams World Jacket for a best offer of $100. I had paid $8 and it was new with tags nwt!

Click here to see this auction.

My mom went back home to Bellingham on March 11th. She was such a big help that there is no way I could have pulled it off without her! On my way back from dropping her off at LAX, I took the coast back to Ventura and got to stop by Pepperdine and see my kids. One of the HUGE perks of living so close to them. They didn't have time to grab lunch so I gave them each a hug and went down the hill to do some grocery shopping for them. $150 later I handed them each two big bags of healthy snacks and headed back to Ventura.

For those of you in the LA, Santa Barbara or San Diego areas or anywhere within driving distance, we are accepting consignments daily. Please spread the word for me and please stop in and say hello!

I have already had about 10 ezine readers that I had never met in person make it a point to come into the store and say hello. It is always such a treat to get to meet those of you who have been following me and my kids for the past 16 years! I LOVE IT!

Address: 1975 E. Main St. Ventura, CA 93001
Phone: 805-628-3289
Email: Lynn@thequeenofauctions.com

We are accepting consignments!

You're welcome to bring in small items anytime between 10 am to 5 pm Tues-Sat.

For larger items please email or text photos.

We are looking for furniture…

bar stools, sofas, couches, chairs, tables, dressers, coffee tables, dining room tables, artwork, rugs, lamps, lighting, throw pillows, decor, dishes, flatware, dinnerware, throws...etc. etc. etc...

…in very good condition from a smoke free environment.

Think Pottery Barn or Williams Sonoma. Also, Mid Century Modern, Boho (1970's), Distressed, Chalk Painted, Shabby Chic, etc…

Week 4 in the store was crazy as Ventura was supposed to get slammed with rain. Apparently it never rains in Ventura. That is news to me because I have seen a lot of rain since moving here on February 12th. Bridget (the high school student who does my shipping) suggested that we should probably sandbag the back roll up doors to the store. Huh? I am from Washington state and have never owned an umbrella or had to sandbag.

Well, she was right and off we went to the community sand bagging station where you could get free burlap bags and shovel the sand into those bags. Yikes! What an experience. Here is Bridget after she finished protecting door number 1!

The store was pretty quiet during those rainy days so it gave me a chance to focus on eBay and get some trade beads that my dad had given me listed. I had Addie (who works for me) write them up while standing at the front counter. Then I would photograph them right there while helping customers at the same time! Multi-tasking! This strand sold at auction for opening bid.

Click here to see this auction.

Having a retail store again after 16 years has been such a blessing! Now there is a place where people know that they can find me and some "blasts from the past" have definitely been showing up to surprise me! During those rainy days I saw a very tall family walk in through the back door. It was the Weisner family from Paso Robles! Brad was an executive trainee with me back at the May Company Department Stores in the 1980's. Brad, his wife Beth and I have been friends for a long time! What a treat!

March was certainly a fun and exciting month and it ended with Easter Sunday on April 1st. I asked the kids if they would be coming home and no, Indiana had play rehearsal (Medea was coming up) and Houston was going to his best friend Reilly's house in Westlake Village for an Easter party. Houston checked with Reilly and his family and they also invited me to the party! Nice!

Easter morning I woke up and checked emails on my phone. One of the first emails was from Kimberly Barkis, who is the parent coordinator at Pepperdine, and her subject line was "Happy Easter. He is Risen" and then right after that I got two spam emails from my dad. My dad passed away on May 5th of last year and I had NEVER gotten any spam emails from any of his email accounts. Both of the spam emails started with "Hi Lynn" and that is exactly how my dad always addressed me when calling or emailing. I really feel like he was checking in.

I immediately sent out a group text to my mom, Houston, Indiana, my stepmom Sue and my brother Lee asking if anyone else had received a spam email from Papa. Nope, I was the only one. My stepmom text back and said "OMG Lynn! I think Papa is trying to say hi AND it is April Fool’s Day--just something Papa would do! No, sadly I didn't get any text . Happy Easter!"

I didn't realize it was also April Fool's day until she said that. Seriously, it is something my dad would do.

In my dad's things that Sue had given to us was a Bing & Grondahl figurine of a woman milking a cow. My grandmother (Cheryl Leaf) had given it to my dad because it reminded him of growing up on the farm in South Dakota and having to get up early to milk the cows. I didn't want to keep it so listed it on eBay. I took a best offer of $300 and it went to Russia and to the Moomuseum.com. Thanks dad!

Click here to see this auction.

The party at Houston's best friend's house on Easter was super nice and it was fun to be invited. Here is a picture of the Pepperdine kids (Houston, Matt, Alex, Reilly, Carmen and Cassie). Indy was at play practice .

My mom flew in on Tuesday evening April 3rd, just in time for Indy's play Medea at Pepperdine. Medea opened on Wednesday night April 4th and it was Indiana's first appearance in a Pepperdine performance. Exciting!

Here is a teaser Indy posted on Social Media. Indiana is the 2nd to the last one on the right-hand side.

While we were at the opening night performance, I took a best offer on Squirrely for $200 and finally a buyer actually paid for one of my taxidermy friends.

Click here to see this auction.

Here is a shot during the play. Indiana is a member of the nine woman choir and is on the far right hand side. Indy had a short solo and also sang a duet. Way to go kiddo!

The play was set in the 1950's (mid-century modern LOL). Sold 5 of these very mid century tumblers (that I could just see in Medea's living room) around the time of the play. Took a best offer of $42.00 for the five.

Click here to see this auction.

Here is the cast getting ready to take their bows. Indiana is in the center next to Medea in red.

After that first performance they did an open mic q&a with the cast. Here is Indy with the mic answering a question that the Goose (Houston asked).

Finally, we were able to congratulate Indiana and give her flowers. It was an awesome show!

We went back to Pepperdine again on Saturday to see it performed the final time. Indiana wouldn't let me go to it more than twice since it is about a mother killing her children. When it was over I asked Indy if she was sad or relieved…she said "relieved" because it had been draining practicing this tragedy every day for two full months.

Sunday night found my mom and I again on the road to Pepperdine, to see Indiana in an up close small improv show. It was super fun! The host, Brian Jones, introduced Indiana for one of the bits by saying, "I love your characters and your voice and now I am going to ask you to do a song bit that we have never done before. You are going to play two characters (antagonists) and sing an original song from both of their points of view."

Here is a photo before the improv show.

Here is a link to her performance.

My mom flew back home on Thursday morning after a whirlwind visit and 3 trips to Pepperdine to see the kids. I made a 4th trip to Pepperdine on Thursday night to see Indiana's choir concert. Yikes! 4 trips in 8 days! A new world record. I am so grateful and blessed to live so close to campus and my kiddos .

The concert was amazing and afterwards I said I would have attended even if Indiana wasn't in the choir! Here is a photo during the concert.

WOW! Indiana is circled and the head of the opera department, Henry Price, a former leading tenor of the New York City Opera Company, is in the foreground singing "Make Our Garden Grow" from Candide. It was awesome, especially considering Dr. Price will be retiring at the end of the school year.

eBay recently shared some great news for guaranteed delivery. Super excited to pass this along to you because eBay's Guaranteed Delivery is definitely helping sellers to sell more .

To check your listings for eligibility please go to www.ebay.com/gdbulkedit.

I will be sharing more information in the next week or so regarding these changes. Please watch your email in box for a special email from me with EGD in the title.

I didn't get a chance to give you my views on the Spring Seller Update (unless you are a Queen's Court member ) so will do so now. There was one thing that was glaring to me in the fact that eBay expects all Top Rated Sellers (TRS) to offer 30 days of free returns. I will NOT be offering free returns, so I have accepted that I will be losing my top-rated status...even though I have had it for years.

Ever since eBay reduced the final value fee credit for TRS from 20% to 10%, added so many more hoops to jump through and now expects free returns…it makes absolutely no business sense for me to make the extra effort required to maintain TRS.

I have tried to explain to eBay management that there are NO free returns… for who eBay considers their main competition…in particular, Amazon. Amazon does not take free returns when it is buyer remorse. And now eBay expects us to pay for a buyer's remorse return? And on heavy items like I sell…dinnerware, lamps, décor, collectibles etc.? I am NOT having it and will NOT offer it. Please let me know your thoughts.

BTW eBay, we are mainly small sellers and our business models can NOT accommodate these extra costs. Please don't forget who (the small OOAK and unique sellers) helped you become the company you are today. OK, done with that diatribe. Sorry, but I feel very strongly about this after selling on eBay for 20 years . Still love you eBay!

One last score to share before I end this ezine! This is an item that walked in through the front door and I sold it on eBay for asking bid price of almost $300. Love having eBay merch walk in through the front door .

Click here to see this auction.

OK, one more score before I end this. And this is a unique one. This is an item that I had listed on eBay for $299.99, but I decided to put it on the floor of the store for $125. It did not sell in the store, but I took a best offer of $250 for it on eBay. Score!

Click here to see this auction.

So you just never know! That is the beauty of eBay and retail in general.

Thanks for reading my ezines! I appreciate it!
Happy eBaying!
Lynn

Lynn Dralle : "The Queen of Auctions"