Lynn’s eBay ezine Volume IV, issue number 16

Lynn Recommends: Listening to Mo, Carmen & Me
Special Announcement: Queen’s Court Gift this month
Feature Article: Communities, Competition, & Creuset
The Queen’s Update: I am teaching three Classes at eBay Live!

First of all, I want to say a big thank you to everyone who was on the line with us on tax day for our teleseminar (about 50 of you took time out of your busy schedules)!!! There were so many great questions and it was really fun to re-connect with Judy (SalesbyTrudy) and Dawn (DivaDawnLV). Two of our former Live Boot Camp graduates. I am so proud of them both!

If you missed it, we have a downloadable version in the Lynn Recommends section. Please check it out.

This past week was as busy as ever. Indiana is on her school’s math team and so on Saturday morning we had to be at a local high school for the competition. While that was going on, Houston had to be in Temecula (near San Diego) on Friday night for a baseball tournament starting on Saturday morning. Oh the logistics of being a single mom! So I sent Houston with the team manager and my mom and I stayed behind to see Indy participate.

The kids looked really cute in their math team T-shirts.

Well, the shirts were so cute–I started thinking that I wanted to design T-shirts for the Queen’s Court members’ gift this month. Check out the Special Announcement section to see how neat they are!

Any function on a Saturday morning really cuts into my mom’s and my garage sale experiences. But luckily enough, when we dropped Indy off at the gym (along with 900 other students) we were told that it was a closed-door competition. We couldn’t watch anyway. They told us to come back in 3 1/2 hours for the final ceremony. Awesome!

Since we were in a different city with Indy that morning my mom and I decided to go even further east and check out some other communities that we normally don’t visit. I found an amazing item in a city that we typically stay away from. I decided then and there that my feature article would be called “Communities, Competition and Creuset”. It was a really interesting article to write and I think it will get you motivated–which is what we always want!

An update from some of those items from last week’s article…The designer art glass vase sold for $37.00. I paid $19.99-–almost doubled my money.

Click here to learn more

And three of the cat mugs sold for $9.99 each–I paid $1.00 each!

Here is a photo and link for the catmug.

By the way, starting next Tuesday (we hope), Houston’s baseball team is going to be running some auctions to raise money for the world series tournament in Colorado this summer. It costs a lot of money to send 11 boys and their families so please check out those auctions & bid when they start. We are shooting for April 22nd as a start date. In the meantime, they have started testing a few items–so please check it out and bookmark it for the HUGE Live event on 4/22. PalmDesertMustangs.com You will be very surprised to see what I have donated when it goes live!

I keep forgetting to tell you all, but I am super excited to announce that I have been selected to teach two computer labs and co-teach one seminar at eBay Live this year in Chicago. Please read the Queen’s Update section to learn more. I want to see you guys in those seats!!!!

Here’s to Successful eBaying!

Lynn Dralle, ‘The Queen of Auctions,’ Creator of the best-selling eBay Boot Camp in a Box and Boot Camp in a Box Lite.

On tax day at noon, Carmen, Mo and I gathered in my cluttered office to host the teleseminar. Carmen had never participated before so it was quite fun. She learned a lot and so did everyone else. Even if you missed the live call, you can still listen in here.

Here is an email I got right after the call:

Hi Lynn:

I just wanted to let you know that the teleseminar was great today. I’m so glad that you sent out the reminder since I had forgotten. I now have renewed energy and am ready to get going again. I’m going to list, list and list because I want to have enough money to be able to attend the Boot Camp.

Thanks again for all you do to help so many people.

I love your positive attitude!

Sharon Carrillo

C and C Country Cottage, Inc.

These teleseminars that we do are always educational and inspiring! I hope you take just 60 short minutes out of your day and listen in. You can even be working on eBay while you listen. You will learn a lot! You can listen in here.

We talk a lot about Live Boot Camp and the Dralle Method. Speaking of Live Boot Camp, we now have a four-part payment plan and for anyone that signs up before April 28th (or has already signed up)–you will receive an advance preview copy of “On the Road to eBay Live” the DVD that is going to be shot this June in Chicago.

In case you missed the Live Call, you can listen to the recording on your computer here.

Live Boot Camp in La Quinta, California is happening September 5th, 6th and 7th. Here is a link to learn more: TheQofA.com

If you own my ecourse, Boot Camp in a Box Lite, Full Boot Camp in a Box or have attended an eBay Live Boot Camp–you will receive a special rate. Email us at ebay@thequeenofauctions.com for the link.

Check out this email that I just got from a Queen’s Court member:

HI!

First I want to Thank You for your help. Your ezine and Queen’s Court have really been a big help. Since October when I started putting your tips in use and with the Queen’s Court teleseminar CDs and reading your books, my sales have gone from $1,000 -$1,200 a month to $3,000 – $3,500 a month. In just five months I have grown greatly with your help and continue to grow. I have been a bronze (low level) PowerSeller for several years but couldn’t seem to get any farther. Now I should be moving up to the next level. I am very excited!

Thank you.

Yvonna

Yvonna’s Treasures

I am so proud of Yvonna!  What an accomplishment. She emailed me with a question about how to keep eBay from taking over her small house and whether she should rent a warehouse. It was such a great question and something that impacts so many of us that I asked her to be in the hot seat for this month’s Queen’s Court teleseminar on April 23rd. We are going to brainstorm with her live on the phone. If you are already a Queen’s Court member, don’t miss this call! And get your questions posted early on our private discussion board.

Anyway, seeing those darling Math Team T-shirts got me thinking that the Queen’s Court Inner Circle Members need T-shirts. Check out this logo that Lee is working on.

We have not finalized it yet, but Queen’s Court members please watch for an email asking you to pick your style and size. I hope to see you all wearing these at eBay Live!! If you are not a Queen’s Court member check it out here and sign up quickly so that you also get a T-shirt.

‘Communities, Competition and Creuset‘

by Lynn A. Dralle, ‘The Queen of Auctions’

Communities

TIP #1: Check out other local and not so local Communities. You just never know! Make it into a day trip or overnight stay. Trips like this make eBay even more fun! Is that possible?

Just like Judy said on the Teleseminar call on Tuesday, she is venturing farther and farther from her local area and finding great things by widening her circle. Dawn in Las Vegas also said that she is doing the same thing but a little differently. She and her husband Bill are taking some weekend trips to towns 1-3 hours away. He gets to golf and she gets to eBay shop. The trip is a tax deduction!! Got to love it.

This got me thinking as my mom and I headed east from our normal garage sale route and ended up in a city where we don’t normally shop. People had been telling us to check it out–Indy’s best friend’s Dad Lou had been especially vocal about checking out Indio. Well, what can I say about Lou? He is always vocal!

The first sale we went to was in a gated community and there were literally dozens of sales. These are so much fun. Check out this truckload that someone had already packed up. I don’t know if you see trucks like this in your community, but they are a very common sight here in the Coachella Valley. We are always amazed at how well these are packed. Quite an art!

There were some great finds at that sale and the one that still has me cracking up is this wall plaque that I bought for $5. I am NOT going to be selling this. I picked it up off of the ground and started translating it. My mom could not believe it and neither could I–It says, “Welcome, The Queen doesn’t Cook” in Spanish. I was meant to be there on that day! What a score. Now to find a place to hang it in my kitchen…..

Competition

Tip #2: There is always merchandise to be found and money to spend. Don’t worry about competing with your friends and family members. You can’t all be at the same places at the same times.

The competition issue was also raised on Tuesday’s teleseminar. Maureen (Mo) walks into my house that morning and says, “I see you found my dishes.” I was like, “What are you talking about?” Well, a dish set that I had bought at a Thrift Store close to her house was sitting in the living room and she had seen it and wanted to research it before purchasing it.

The set was Studio Nova Barrier Reef and was only $19.99. I didn’t even bother looking it up–for 30 pieces–that was a bargain. Maureen had waited a few days, went home, researched it, and when she went back to get it–I had bought it. Small town!

Here is one of the dinner plates, Click here to see what it is up to.

I told her, “You know I always go to those thrift stores on Monday after Pilates,” and she said, “Well, I am going to start going on Sundays.” And we laughed. Mo is too funny and we are friends NOT competitors! There are so many thrift stores in our valley. I am guessing that there are at least 30 of them. If I hadn’t have bought that dinnerware someone else may have. The point is that there is plenty of merchandise to go around.

Another competition issue was raised a few weeks ago at a community sale in Palm Desert. Our antique dealer friend Jess was one step ahead of us and my mom said we should go the other way around the community so we aren’t competing with him. I said, “Jess sells completely different items than I do.” We run into each other a lot and it has never been a problem.

So, at the next stop, I go up to a table and start turning over some heavy enamel cookware. Well, the lady says “Those are already sold to this gentleman.” And it was Jess!  I said, “I would never try and take any of Jess’s items,” and we laughed. My mom couldn’t believe that right after my comment, there were Jess and I looking at the same items.

I learned something important from my grandmother many years ago. The antiques business is not competitive if you don’t make it that way. She was always very gracious to other dealers. They were her friends NOT her competitors. They never got into any arguments over merchandise. She always told me that if you have money to spend there is a place to spend it and you don’t have to fight other people to get it. If it meant to be yours, it will be. Still great advice, Grandma!

Creuset, (Le)

Tip #3: This is a company to take note of. Always buy Le Creuset when you see it if it is in good condition.

This really ties in with tip #2. The pans that Jess and I were both looking at were “Descoware.” They usually don’t sell for as much as Le Creuset. And because I didn’t get to buy those two pans several weeks ago, someone was looking out for me and I bought an even better pan this past Saturday in Indio. The Descoware pans weren’t meant to be mine, but the one you see here was!

Click here to see what it is up to.

This pan was on a table at a sale and I asked, “How much?” The lady hemmed and hawed and would not name a price. I hate that. But I bit my tongue until she said “How about $5?” I said, “I’ll pay that.” Her sister who was there says to me “Some people’s trash is really other people’s treasure”. Boy, she didn’t know who she was talking to!

Anyway, at the time of this ezine writing, 185 people had viewed the auction and it had 7 bids with 2 days and 22 hours to go. So, let’s learn a little bit about Le Creuset and why it sells for so much money!

Le Creuset is cast iron cookware with an enamel finish. This is the cookware you will see on many of the cooking shows on television. The iron is cast in sand molds. After sanding, the pieces are coated with two coats of enamel and fired after each coat. This gives the cookware the heating properties of iron with the stain resistant finish of enamel.

Other manufacturers of enameled cast iron are Cousances, Copco and Descoware. Cousances was purchased by Le Creuset in the 1960s. Some people prefer the Cousances pieces that were made pre-Le Creuset and will seek it out second-hand. These older pieces are a good find to sell on eBay.

Here is a vintage piece of Cousances/Le Creuset

I hope the 3 C’s: Community, Competition and Creuset give you some great ideas to keep your eBay business constantly improving and succeeding.

Happy eBaying!

Lynn

I am excited to announce that I will be teaching one class (Twice now!) and co-teaching another class at eBay Live! I have been asking eBay if I could do this for years and finally my dream is coming true!!! The classes are 90 minutes long each.

I can’t believe that eBay Live! in Chicago is just 70 days away. Yikes! I have so much to do. In addition to the classes, we will be in a 10′ by 20′ booth–Booth #538. Carmen, her husband Jason, Mo and I will be manning the booth. Mo’s sister Mary Beth will also be helping out. Can’t wait!

The first class that I am teaching–on my own–is called “How To Research Quickly & Effectively When Selling Higher Profit Margin Items.” It is a computer lab course. I have the dates and times now for all the classes. This one will be taught on Thursday June 19th from 10:00 to 11:30 am and then again on Friday June 20th from 1:00 to 2:30 pm. I just found out that this class will be held in a room that has 25, 50 or 75 computers.

To get the larger room here is what needs to happen. Because there are no advanced sign ups for any sessions interested students CAN go to the Agenda Builder after they register for the conference and build their agenda, showing they will attend your session.

The more people that indicate interest through the Agenda Builder, the larger the room they put the session in. They are not held to their choices, however, so if they change their minds no one will hunt them down! Here is more about the class:

I will bring in ten unique items–typically higher profit margins from the antiques and collectibles category. As an example, a flatware set (just one piece), dinnerware set (just one piece), antique vase, etc., and show them on the computer where to go and find values and identify patterns fast! I will use Google, PriceMiner, eBay and Replacements.

If you are looking for ongoing sources of merchandise that are not imported, or want to see how you can make significant profit off of low-cost items, this is a must-attend seminar! Join Herb Oberman and Lynn Dralle aka The Queen of Auctions, to learn more about locally sourcing high margin items that have not flooded the eBay Marketplace. Herb will talk about finding companies in your area that sell products at rock bottom prices which you may then resell on eBay. Lynn will show you how to quickly and effectively shop garage sales and thrift stores to find those unique items that can sell for big bucks on eBay.

It is a Seminar. These are lecture-style classes for large groups of attendees. Seminars look like your classic presentation – with a mixture of bullet point content and screen shots/images. Can’t wait to see you at either one!

eBay PowerSeller 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

Visit my eBay auctions.