MoreHi!
Where do I begin? Or where do I end? It all started with Skip McGrath’s boot camp in Anacortes and ends up with that eternal question….Should you take offers and end auctions early? Read on to learn more.
- Lynn Recommends: Boot Camp in a Box LITE
- Special Announcement: Shipping DVD getting rave reviews!
- Feature Article: What I taught at Skip’s Boot Camp
- The Queen’s Update: Our 31st 100 Best Story from YOU
This ezine is published once a week.
October 4, 2007 Volume III, Issue 38
Dear fellow eBayers,
Well, I am happy to report that I have survived September!!! I didn’t know if it would be possible but I am very happy to be easing into October.
Skip McGrath’s boot camp in Anacortes this past Friday and Saturday was a blast. I met so many nice people and we had a crazy morning of garage saling. My friend John Mortensen was there from Bellingham to film it and we learned many valuable lessons. My feature article highlights some of the things I taught at the seminar. Don’t miss reading it!
Being back in the Pacific Northwest is always great fun for me and I was able to see my dad for about 5 minutes (I’m not kidding, it was that brief). I actually got to spend more quality time with my sister Kiki and her baby Zach. Here I am with Zach on the day I had to leave. He is soooo cute but quite the busy boy! Skip McGrath and his wife Karen were so sweet that they invited Kristin (Kiki) and Zach to the opening evening party for the boot camp! We had a great time.
So while teaching in Anacortes, I received an email asking me to end two auctions early by adding Buy-It-Nows. This is always a dilemma for me, so I decided to write this week’s feature article about some of the things I taught and also learned at Skip’s event. Don’t miss reading this, because there are lessons in it for all of us.
Here is a photo of the item that they wanted me to end early.
Being an eBay Certified Service Provider continues to offer amazing perks. I was interviewed on eBay Radio with Griff, Lee and Rob Cross this past Tuesday. Click here to listen to the show if you missed it. We discuss my new shipping DVD and some other fun things. Check it out!
Don’t miss the Lynn Recommends section because we are thrilled to continue with our special introductory offer for Boot Camp in a Box LITE. Time is running out, so please don’t miss reading more about this new version that will bring my method to those of you who have not been able to afford the entire kit. We are really excited to share the Dralle Method with you!
I am quoted on pages 22 and 64 in the new eBay Entrepreneur Guide that is on newsstands now. Please pick up a copy today. It looks like this:
And this is what the article on page 64 looks like:
And don’t forget, my new Shipping DVD – Volume One in The Queen’s Academy – is now shipping. Click here to order now. Read more in the Special Announcements section.
This week we have another great story about the things you all have sold on eBay. This week’s story is about a cross-border bonanza. Read about it below.
Here’s to Successful eBaying!
Lynn Dralle, ‘The Queen of Auctions,’ Creator of the best-selling eBay Boot Camp in a Box.
I recently received this email from one of my Live eBay Boot Campers from the La Quinta event:
Hi, Lynn!
Thanks so much for the words of encouragement! I have been concentrating on my business with renewed vigor ever since our Boot Camp. I really feel now that I can do this, no doubt! You showed me how to have fun and keep things simple with eBay. For that, I am most grateful
 I tend to overthink and overanalyze everything, a plus in my current line of work, but not so much for eBay!
I just wanted to let you know how excited I am about my business ever since Boot Camp and that I’m extremely grateful to you, for all your help and encouragement to get me to a place where I can really see my eBay business taking off! You painted a wonderful picture, and I finally see it! Thank you so much!!!
Serena, San Francisco, CA
Emails like that give me goosebumps and help me to see just how powerful the experience is for those lucky enough to attend a live event! We have been racking our brains around here at The Queen of Auctions on how to get the Dralle Method to more of you.
My eBay Boot Camp in a Box has been a huge success and has helped many of you, but we wanted to find a way to make it more affordable. So here is what we have done. We have invented eBay Boot Camp in a Box LITE!
To be able to offer this at such a great price, we have removed the bonuses, the gift bag and the audio CDs. The handouts are now available on a disc for you to print out or read on your computer.
So what you will get will be the 11-disc DVD set of the Bellingham Boot Camp plus the disc of notes and handouts.
We are confident that this will get you started doing business with the Dralle Method and put you on the road to success–just like Serena!
Click here to order at our introductory price. This price will increase 25% at midnight on October 11th. Don’t miss out!
And remember, Queen’s Court members get 15% off on their purchase price!
P.S. If you decide you want to upgrade to the entire full eBay Boot Camp in a Box–your purchase price can be credited towards getting everything!
I was on eBay Radio this past Tuesday. Rob Cross of the eBay Developer Program joined Griff, Lee and me to discuss my new shipping DVD. Catch the show here if you missed it.
Click here to order.
Shipping is one of the most important cornerstones of your eBay business. This DVD shows you the steps you need to take to make your shipping more efficient and save you money!
You will receive the DVD with practical, hands-on instruction. And as an added bonus, you will receive access to:
- My International shipping rate cheat sheet
- Supplemental information to download from a special web site.
The shipping chart alone can save you hours every week. And we all know that time is money.
Among the things you will learn:
- Knowing when to ship an item USPS and when to use FedEx/UPS
- How shaving 2 inches off of an oversized box can save you over $50!
- How to eyeball your items and choose shipping prices without weighing and measuring everything
- How to cover your packing supply expenses with your handling charges
Don’t forget, if you are a member of the Queen’s Court, use the coupon you will find in the forums to receive your 15% discount.
Click here to order.
I am confident that this DVD will help you save money on costly shipping mistakes!
Click here for a sample clip.
‘Garage Saling in other cities–my top 5 tips‘
by Lynn A. Dralle, ‘The Queen of Auctions’
I learned a lot from all the instructors at Skip’s Boot Camp. There was Skip McGrath and his wife Karen who teach about many things, including selling items that you get directly from the manufacturer; Cindy Shebly who teaches about photography; Jen Cano from HammerTap (fun research tools); and me. I am not going to write about their areas of expertise–that would not be fair–but I am going to write about some neat lessons that came up when I was teaching
But first, a little bit about Skip and his wife Karen. They are true eBay experts. I am going to take what I learned from them and apply it to my eBay business–as soon as I have some extra time! If you don’t already get Skip’s newsletter, please sign up for it here. He and I are really on opposite ends of the eBay spectrum so it was fun to teach together. I sell “one offs” as all the instructors told me–and I had to ask–is that a bad word? “One offs” means that I sell unique one-of-a-kind items and they all sell new multiples directly from the manufacturers. So it was a whole new world for me!
Cindy Shebly, another of the instructors, did a wonderful photography class. Please sign up here to receive her newsletter. By the way, I want you to know that I would never recommend something or someone that I don’t personally believe in. I get offers every day to send my readers here or there for this newsletter or that newsletter. I very rarely do this. So, trust me on this. These experts are the real deal!
Finally, there was my friend Jen Cano from HammerTap. She has a great sense of humor so it is always fun to see her. Sign up for the HammerTap service–you can try it for 10 days free. Check it out. It is a great research tool.
OK, enough about the instructors….Let’s get down to what great lessons we all learned together at the event….
While teaching at the seminar this past weekend, I got to take the students to actual garage sales. Karen (Skip’s Wife), Cindy Shebly (photography expert), Judy, Leon, Mike & Robin, Carol & George, and Chris–along with our cameraman John–all piled into three vehicles and off we went.
It started out as quite the adventure, because I was leading and made a few wrong turns–including an illegal left turn that Carol followed along with but Karen decided against. I knew she was a law abiding citizen! Just kidding. We finally made it to the first sale after many wrong twists and turns. At that sale, I was able to buy some amazing Wizard of Oz items that most of the students thought were just junk.
It really drove home what I was trying to teach.
Lesson #1: The fact that you can find things to sell at almost any garage sale or thrift store. You just need to keep an open mind. Don’t think antiques…Instead ask yourself is there someone out there who might collect this?
Here are photos of the two Madame Alexander Wizard of Oz dolls that I bought that morning. Click here and here to see what they are up to. I only paid $2 each!
Since we were filming, I told all the students at breakfast that to mention eBay is a no no.
Lesson #2: Never mention eBay when shopping at any type of sale (garage, estate or thrift store). If someone asks why you are buying so much…be as vague as you can be without lying. Sometimes, I even say that I am shopping to open a booth in an antique mall.
So, one of my favorite students from the boot camp (and I won’t mention any names because I promised not to) said to the folks at the Wizard of Oz garage sale, “Lynn is an eBay seller.” Immediate silence. People just don’t want to think that they are being taken advantage of.
Even though we are buying things that may sell for big bucks on eBay–remember this…For all the items you made money on, how many are there that you either broke even on or lost money? It is a numbers game and it all evens out in the end. eBay is very labor intensive and people need to know that we work very hard for the money we earn. Besides this, I always tell my students…
Lesson #3: Even though you may make incredible returns on one item–don’t ever feel badly. Do you think that all those other sellers who’s items you lost money with are going to give you your money back if you return to their homes and knock on their doors? No, they are not. It was a fair deal for both of you. Don’t forget that. They got the price that they asked for and you paid what you thought was reasonable.
At the next sale we found nothing. But at the third sale, what started out looking like junk turned into some awesome finds! Judy from Canada pointed out a Tupperware canister and I said to her, “I have heard that vintage Tupperware does sell, but this piece is brown and doesn’t look that great to me.” I told her to buy it because it was cheap. She didn’t want to deal with customs going back into Canada, so I said, “I’ll buy it just for fun and test it for the sake of our boot camp.”
Well, I bought so much stuff that day that I couldn’t possibly carry it all back to California with me–so I gave two full boxes to my sister to list. Well, if you can believe it–out of that pile of stuff that I gave my sister to list–the item that immediately got the most questions–was that Tupperware container..
Click here to see the price. I only paid 50 cents.
Check out my sister’s store here!
Lesson #4: Buy anything if you have a gut feeling about it. Especially if it is less than $1. What do you have to lose? Not much. Besides, it should be your goal to buy 100 items each Saturday to list the next week.
At this same sale I found a silverplated bride’s basket frame for $2. It is currently listed on eBay. Click here to see if we have any bidders!
Lesson #5: Sometimes the parts sell for more than the entire piece. I have found this time and time again. Here is an example, let us suppose that there is someone in Kansas that has the glass bride’s basket insert and it had originally belonged to their grandmother. They need the frame to make it complete. This person has an emotional attachment and will pay big bucks for that extra part. Never throw away pieces.
So, let’s get to the final part of this story–where it all ends. After all the garage sales, we went back and I taught my part of the boot camp. During the boot camp, I got an email asking if I would end two auctions early with a Buy It Now. Here is a copy of that question:
Hi – I have a couple of plates with the same designs – a variety of men & women golfers and caddies – assuming they’re hand-painted transfers. These would make nice ‘companion’ pieces. Guessing they might be worth about $50 each, given the condition. Would you take $100 for them both, plus shipping, and end them? I can pay this weekend with PayPal….Thanks.
OK. My policy is this and I am very firm about this:
Lesson #6: I never end auctions early. I don’t care how much they offer, I have never done this and I posed the question to Skip’s eBay Boot Camp students. What do you all think they said?
Well, my friend John (and our cameraman) yells from the back of the room. “Are you crazy, just do it. You only paid $2.” He was right. But I always think that I am leaving money on the table if I end an auction early. However, these pieces were quite damaged and I had sold something similar about six months earlier that didn’t go very high.
So Carol (another of the boot camp students) suggests we check to see what this person who made the offer has been buying on eBay. Brilliant! We found that this eBay buyer was buying quite a lot of transferware golfing pieces and that some were selling in the $500 range. I decided to stick with my policy and kindly emailed the person back with this.
“Thank you so much for your kind offer. I have other bidders that are also interested so it wouldn’t be fair to end these early with a Buy it Now. Please go ahead and bid early so that you don’t lose them to a sniper. You may even get them for a lot less than you offered. Good luck! Lynn”
You just never know. I hope you learned something valuable from this week’s article. I had fun writing it, but not as much fun as I did at the airport on Monday. Just kidding…you should have seen me at the airport in Bellingham trying to get both pieces of my luggage to weigh in at under 50 pounds. What a pain. I was moving the bride’s basket, Wizard of Oz pieces, and handfuls of silverware from suitcase to suitcase. People must think I am nuts! Well, I am a little crazy but that is why eBay is perfect for me.
WANT TO USE THIS ARTICLE IN YOUR EZINE OR ON YOUR WEBSITE? Yes, you may – just as long as you include all links as they are and append this complete blurb with it: The Queen of Auctions and eBay Power Seller, Lynn Dralle, publishes ‘eBay Tips & Tricks’ a weekly ezine with 10,000+ subscribers. If you’re ready to jump start your eBay business, make more money and have more time, get your FRE E tips now at www.thequeenofauctions.com
I am happy to present our 31st story for The 100 Best Things You’ve Bought or Sold on eBay! Look below for the great story of an American eagle needlepoint that makes a trip to Canada, then back to the USA. Click below to read…
Click here to read the story…
Please patronize Margaret’s auctions (mugzyglen) and make her business this year even better. Thanks!
A big thanks to everyone who has already submitted a story! We are looking for more great stories of your eBay adventures. We know there are many great tales out there, so please submit your story along the lines of the stories from the 100 Best Books and a great side story with photos will help. If we use your story, you will receive a $35 merchandise credit on my web site and you will have your story featured–along with your user ID–in my ezine! It may also eventually end up in a published book!
By the way, when I mention my ezine readers’ user IDs with links to their auctions–it actually helps their sales! Amazing how that works. Click here for the guidelines for submitting your stories.
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 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
Palm Desert, CA 92255
760-340-6622
Lynn@TheQueenofAuctions.com
Happy eBaying!!
Lynn
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