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What a great start to 2007–The Trojans won the Rose Bowl! I hope your year is off to a fantastic start also. It is always such a relief to start anew in January and this ezine is the first one in my third volume. This means that this is the third year that I have been writing these. Wow!
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- Special Announcement: Finally, a copy of the WSJ Article
- Feature Article: Buy in Bulk & Sell Singly
- The Queen’s Update: My Slow Moving Inventory Solution
- Lynn Recommends: IT!
This ezine is now published once a week.
January 4, 2007 Volume III, Issue 1
Dear friends,
This past week was very busy and interesting for me. I had a lot of unique experiences and my brother said to me, “Are you doing all of this so that you will have things to write about in your ezine and books?” No! Life is just more fun when you mix it up.
As many of you may know, President Ford lived here in the desert for the last 30 years of his life. His family decided to have a public viewing of his casket at their church in Palm Desert. It started on Friday night at 4 pm and would end at 8 am on Saturday morning.
My mom and I figured it would be a zoo and decided to wake up in the middle of the night and attempt to pay our respects. I mean how often does a former president pass away in your city? Palm Desert closed down the street in front of President Ford’s church and the only way in was to park at the Indian Wells Tennis Gardens and take shuttle buses.
I woke up at 2 am and called my mom and away we went. We arrived to find hardly anyone at the Tennis Gardens and we got on a bus immediately. You could not take any purses, cameras, or phones with you.
It was a very surreal experience to see his casket with the American flag draped over it and the honor guard standing so still they looked like statues watching over him. We were all given a memorial card from the family and I am sharing it with you here.
Paying our respect was worth getting up in the middle of the night and it made me realize how important all of my friends and family are to me. I couldn’t bear to lose any of them and my heart goes out to Betty Ford and her family.
Speaking of family, I had a wonderful New Years with my mom, brother and kids. My mom, Houston and I attended the Rose bowl and my brother took Indiana to the American Girl Doll Revue since she is allergic to football–just kidding.
By the way, today is my awesome brother’s birthday. Happy Birthday, Lee! Since he is just turning 36 that makes me only 39! We celebrated on Tuesday with a lunch at the Ritz Carlton in Pasadena.
While on my mini-vacation, I was able to work in the hotel and still list my 100+ items for this week. For more on the Dralle Method click here. A funny side note, every time we go out to a restaurant my son ends up laying down for a little nap afterwards.
Here we are in the hotel restaurant after breakfast–
I’m working and he is snoozing in his new USC hat and scarf.
Finally, a new thrift store has opened up right down the street from my house. There are soooo many thrift stores out here–it is crazy. My mom and I went in this week and she said, “Not much here.”
I turned around and on top of the clothes racks were an entire collection of beer mugs and steins for 50 cents to $1.00 each. Sold! My feature article is about buying in bulk and selling singly. Check it out!
Here’s to Successful eBaying!
Lynn Dralle,’The Queen of Auctions,’ Creator of the best-selling six-week ‘How to Sell on eBay‘ eCourse.
Thanks to one of my first and favorite e-course students, Janet King, we now have a copy of the WSJ article from Monday, December 18th to share with you all.
The article is called “How to Make Money on eBay” by Perri Cappell. The article is very interesting and the only two experts quoted are Jim “Griff” Griffin and I. What an honor! I encourage you to read it. Click here for the article. And click here to check out Janet’s eBay store. Janet sells on eBay as ffzool and her store name is Fasta Fa Zool.
Many of you may remember Janet from my teleseminar #2 audio where we discuss a needlepoint belt that she had up for auction. The belt ended up selling for a ton of money.
That teleseminar audio usually sells for $29.95, but because of Janet’s getting me the WSJ article–we are offering the download for only $9.99. We don’t tell you in the audio what it sells for–so we will tell you in a special email! Click here to order.
‘Buy in Bulk and Sell Singly!’
by Lynn A. Dralle, ‘The Queen of Auctions’
So, I cleaned out the new thrift store of all the beer mugs they had made from pottery and pewter that I wrote about above. Or so I thought–but more about that later.
The Saturday morning after we viewed President Ford, there was only one garage sale listed in the paper. I was going to pass on it but it was in Rancho Mirage so my mom said, “Let’s go.” Rancho Mirage is where President Ford lived and also a very good area.
I dragged myself out of bed (after being up half the night) and away we went. They didn’t have much but there was a Midwinter Stoneware dinner set scattered all over. I asked how much and the daughter said $20. Great. Sold! Then the lady (her mother) who was running the sale comes out of the house and says “I want $50 for that set because I could sell it on eBay for $150.”
Oh boy–here we go. I felt like rolling my eyes but didn’t. Garage and estate sales where family members are working together are sometimes tricky and I hate it when someone mentions eBay. The daughter went inside to discuss it with her mother and came out and said–“OK how about $30?” Fine. I wasn’t going to argue at that point.
The pieces were scattered all over the garage so I started gathering them up and the daughter says “those are part of a 2nd same set—if you want those–it will be another $5.” Oh my gosh–they were going to get that $50 out of me anyway they could. Once again, I bit my tongue and said, “Fine.”
The only reason I didn’t walk away was because I have had Midwinter dinnerware only once before and a $5 box sold for hundreds of dollars. Check out story #81 from The 100 Best Things I’ve Sold on eBay for details.
Midwinter patterns are not the most attractive (think very 1970s), but boy do they sell. I ended up breaking the HUGE dinner set out into 44 auctions at $9.99 each.
Here is the page with the 44 auctions:
I am going to make a lot more money than the lady holding the garage sale would have. She was hoping for $150. She was most likely going to sell as a set. The moral of this week’s feature article–Buy in Bulk and Sell Singly.
If you want to know exactly how to use my proven system for dividing up bulk items that will yield the greatest ROI (Return on Investment–the MBA in me is coming out)…it is all found in my eBay Boot Camp in a Box.
Back to the beer mugs. Because there was only one garage sale last Saturday, my mom and I hit every single thrift store in town. It wore me out. We have about twelve thrift stores now.
When we got back to the new one where I had bought the beer mugs, I noticed about twelve more in clear glass on a high shelf. I had missed them the last time!
More mugs!
That is why it is sooo important to check out your thrift stores constantly. Remember to look up high and down low–not only at thrift stores but also at garage and estates sales.
So, I bought all of the clear glass ones and now all 30 that I bought this past week are listed on eBay. I paid $18.50 for all of them. I will let you know how it turns out in a future ezine.
Moral of this story. NEVER pass up a collection at a bargain price. You will multiply your profits by dividing up the set!
WANT TO SEE MORE ARTICLES LIKE THIS ONE?
See Lynn’s past ezines here.
WANT TO USE THIS ARTICLE IN YOUR EZINE OR ON YOUR WEBSITE? Yes, you may – just as long as you include this complete blurb with it: The Queen of Auctions and eBay Power Seller, Lynn Dralle, publishes ‘eBay Tips & Tricks’ a weekly ezine with 8000+ subscribers. If you’re ready to jump start your eBay business, make more money and have more free time, get your FRE E tips now at www.thequeenofauctions.com
Right after I published last week’s ezine regarding slow-moving inventory, I received this very helpful email from Jim Harshberger:
“I just browsed thru your new ezine and saw you are looking for ways to clear some slow-moving inventory. I have just this week tried doing the same by adding the “Best Offer” thing to a bunch of slow movers in my store. Within two days I have already sold four slow-movers.”
Plus, you only pay the selling fee on the best offer price NOT on your original selling price.
Jim sells as JimbosDomain and his store name is Jimbo’s Vintage Attic and Memories. Check out his eBay Store here. Thanks, Jim!
What great advice! I took it to heart and sorted my store items by highest price first. I went in and added the “Best Offer” option to the first two pages of high priced slow-movers I wanted to sell. Within 48 hours one of the items sold and at full price! How strange is that?
Some advice: I don’t typically like the Best Offer feature because it makes your item look less valuable and can add extra work in added emails to answer. But, for slow moving merchandise it is a great option.
Just remember to check the box that says, “Only show me offers above….” This way you can put in the lowest amount that you would consider and only have to answer emails and offers for amounts greater than that. Hint: Make the amount end in a 4 or an 8 since a buyer will probably offer $49, $45 or $50. Example, if my lowest amount is $45, I am going to input $44.
eBay Power Seller and third generation antiques dealer, Lynn Dralle, is the creator of Boot Camp in a Box, the home-study course where you can learn to implement the Dralle Method to maximize your eBay profits.
If you liked today’s issue, you’ll love this step-by-step course that is guaranteed to be the most complete and enjoyable guide to selling on eBay that MAKES YOU MONEY.
Read all about it here.
The Queen of Auctions also offers free articles, teleseminars, how-to books, tracking guides, DVDs, eBay Boot Camp training and other resources to help entrepreneurs make their eBay business a six-figure sales machine. Click here to learn more.
The Queen of Auctions/All Aboard Inc.
PO Box 14103
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760-340-6622
Lynn@TheQueenofAuctions.com
As one of my recent eBay Boot Camp Graduates told me:
‘This weekend I have a friend coming in to visit from New York and I’m so angry because she wants me to spend time with her and I WANT TO LIST MY STUFF!!! (YES, I am obsessed already!) Have I thanked you recently for changing my life? THANK YOU!!!! ‘
–Cathi Adams, Florida
Now you have the opportunity to change your life with my Boot Camp in a Box. Click here to learn more.
We are offering Boot Camp in a Box at a special introductory price so act now. Not only will you receive my Boot Camp in a Box at its lowest price ever, but you will receive an awesome gift bag as part of over $2000 in bonuses.
As another of my eBay Boot Camp graduates says:
“Thank you for the yummy gift bag, too. I love all your little doo dads. They come in handy all the time. Squirt Goo Gone, mess be gone! Who knew?
–Sharla Jackson, Denver, Colorado
If you have ever wanted to change your life and take your eBay business to the six-figure sales level–this is for you. Click here to learn more.
Happy eBaying and Thanks for subscribing to my newsletter!
Lynn
P.S. There are over $2,000 in bonuses that come with Boot Camp in a Box. Don’t Miss Out! Click here to learn more.
P.S.S. If you are not making all the money that you deserve to be making on eBay–you must click here. What do you have to lose?
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Lynn is an experienced eBay Power Seller, author and teacher. If you want to know the eBay tips, tricks and tools that Lynn uses for buying and selling at online auction click here.
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