It was great being in Bellingham and helping my sister get ready for her garage sale. We laughed, we cried and we made money! Her two little boys (Zach 5 and Kai 3) are so darn adorable. Seriously! Her littlest is 3 and his name is Kai. I looked at him the first day, pointed to Indy and said "Who is that?" He looks back at me with his big blue eyes (he looks so much like my sister) and says, "Auntie Lynn."

I was cracking up inside but looked at him with a deadpan glance and said, "Well then, Who am I?" He looked at me and said, "I don’t know." My mom, Kiki (my sister), Indy, Houston and I laughed soooooo hard. It was a hoot. That is how our week started. We worked non-stop going through her things, sorting items she had inherited from my grandmother, pricing for the garage sale and picking the best of the best for eBay. I have never been so tired in my life (both physically, mentally and emotionally).

You all know that I don’t advocate garage sales. Unless of course you are having one and I can get some great deals ! But, for my sister, the best way to raise money and get through things quickly was to hold a yard sale of massive proportions! Houston, Indy, my dad and I flew in on Wednesday and arrived at 1:30 pm. My mom picked us up; we headed to my sister's house and immediately started sorting. This box is eBay, this box is garage sale and this box...well it is seriously garbage!

My goal was to have enough stuff to fill the entire yard for the yard sale and also list 100 really great items on eBay for her. You will have to read my feature article to see who won the battle. eBay or the garage sale? Once again, I am right, so of course you can guess the outcome.

My sister’s friends, my friends, family friends and our family turned out in force to make it a weekend of celebration. I even had a Queen's Court member, Bev Helton show up to help! Thank you Bev!

We will be hosting two more garage/yard sales for my sister on King St. in Bellingham on August 6th and 20th. Please mark the dates if you will be in the area and come check it out.

eBay’s fall announcements came out on Tuesday. I think the most important thing for us is that we get 25 extra characters in our title. Not sure if we need 80 characters total but I will be testing that out once it happens and I will let you know what I find. Also, by next year the option for 3 or 7 day return policies will disappear. You will either have to have a "no return policy" or a longer window for returns. Here is a link to the announcements if you missed them.

Speaking of Announcements, as we (the girls and I) have analyzed the space at headquarters to figure out seating capacity for Live Boot Camp, we have realized that 12 is our MAX number. It is going to have to be a very small group of select students. Congrats to the seven of you that have already reserved your spot! Can’t wait to see you .

And FYI, this year's Live Boot Camp at HQ is going to be more important than ever before. The many eBay changes and how to deal with them will be our focus. You can reserve your seat now (remember, only FIVE FOUR spots left). Read more about it in the Special Announcement section. The detailed informational page can be found here.

A very important topic that we will be covering at Live Boot Camp and on this months QC call, is the multiple auction listing regulations that are being enforced. I had several auctions shut down this week because my sell-through was not 30% on multiple auction listings. This has changed our strategy for listing. Mo and I have been having fun with it and believe that it will be saving us eBay fees in the long run.

Here is a listing that we did a little differently than normal as we work to raise our multiple auction sell-through rate. It has had great results!

See this listing here.

On Tuesday, I did a fantastic call with Lisa Suttora about selling on Amazon as an additional channel. I will tell you, Lisa and Amazon together are a dynamic duo. Please check out the Lynn Recommends section to learn how you can tap in to Lisa's extensive experience to grow your business.

This past weekend, Houston turned 15. Oh my gosh! He is really growing up. I took both kids to the pool and this is what a 15-year-old looks like on his birthday. Oh the life!

Then Indy and I took Houston out for a very nice birthday dinner. It was a blast.

My mom flew in on Wednesday to Palm Desert to help me organize HQ, get moved out of our old house, and unpack in the new house. Thank goodness for my mom (or Mor Mor as she is called.) Thank goodness for my dad (or Papa as he is called), who was just here helping with the move. What would I do without them?

But back to Bellingham, here is my mom manning the cash table at the yard sale with my grandmother’s old metal till that we used to take to antique shows on the table for good luck!

Here is my Dad also helping out at the yard sale. His job was to break into my Grandmother's old van with a wire coat hanger to see what treasures awaited us. (We had lost the key. My dad got into the van in 30 seconds flat.) More collectors' plates! That Cheryl Leaf loved 1970s collectors' plates. If one was good, 300 were better. She was one of a kind!

Because of moving, I have been listing some larger furniture items on eBay. It has been really cleansing and a positive move for us. I have had A LOT of interest in this mission cabinet that my grandmother bought for me. I still remember the seller carrying it up the front steps of her antique store (all by himself) and her buying it for me.

See this listing here.

It was made in Canada and still had the maker’s name on the back. Pretty cool! Let’s hope it sells for a lot! I hope your summer sales are as great as ours have been.

Happy eBaying!

Always Wanted to Sell on Amazon
but were Afraid to Start?

Lose the fear as you listen to my 90-minute call with Lisa Suttora from last Tuesday.

Lisa and Amazon are a Dynamic Duo!

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With a 46% year over year growth, there's no doubt that Amazon is one of THE hottest online marketplaces. With its stellar growth outpacing eBay AND Ecommerce, there is tremendous opportunity there. Amazon offers automated shipping, customer service and some of the world's best customers... Just a few reasons that integrating Amazon into your online business model is something EVERY online seller should consider.

This amazingly positive phone call was all about adding Amazon sales to your current eBay business model. It makes a lot of sense and I can't wait to tailor it to my OOAK (one of a kind) business, add a few commodity items and generate some extra income. It is a really exciting time for ecommerce and no one knows more about the ins and outs of this expansive market than my friend Lisa Suttora.

Lisa and me at LOL 2011

Lisa explained how anyone can use Amazon to increase their online sales! Lisa is just back from speaking at the 2011 Amazon Sellers Conference, and brought with her the latest exciting news about online selling opportunities on Amazon! We were so lucky to have Lisa as our special guest.

If you missed the live call you may still purchase the instant download here and learn her insider secrets for adding Amazon to your business model! 

Oh yeah, I almost forgot. Stamps.com is now integrated with Amazon. It used to be a ROYAL PAIN to ship using Amazon but with Stamps.com as an option shipping is a breeze.

You can easily import data on Amazon with one click and Stamps.com will also post-back the tracking number to Amazon just like they do with eBay.

You must have the paid Stamps.com account to do this. The paid account is $15.99 per month and if you are selling on eBay and Amazon, I highly encourage you to sign up for this option. Learn more here.

If you are a Queen's Court member, the Lisa Suttora Amazon call is your gift for July.