2 Day Countdown to Begin 30 Day eBay Challenge

I listed some of the Disney mugs today. More going up over the weekend. Sales were slow again today. I did get a good price however, on a used Youth Aluminum Bat. Click here to see how much it sold for. Purchase price: $4.49 at the Goodwill in San Rafael.

I love looking for used Sporting Goods equipment, especially wooden or vintage tennis rackets. As a tennis pro, I always had extra rackets and lots of old tennis balls. I have sold DEAD tennis balls on eBay for years. Here’s the link to the box of 50 dead tennis balls I sold yesterday on eBay. July was a really big month for selling dead, used tennis balls. I figure I sold around 1000 total, all in boxes of 50. People love to buy them for their dogs to play fetch with at the park.

As I get ready for the 30 Day eBay Challenge that begins on November 1st, I am planning my listing strategy. Things new in boxes, higher priced items, Holiday themed items are 3 important considerations if I want to get to the $3000 sale mark.

Another area, where I have lots of STUFF is Barbra Streisand memorabilia. It was announced that Barbra is going to be on Oprah, November 16th, 2010. Barbra will be plugging her new architectural book as well as the upcoming Focker movie. She is supposed to sing a song as well. In the days when I had The i love barbra Catalog, mail order was the only game in town. I printed 200 copies a week, collated, folded, stapled and stamped each one. There was no eBay and Streisand memorabilia was hard to come by. I sold items to fans worldwide. Now with eBay, many of the same fans, are downsizing collections and the Streisand memorabilia is readily available. There are 11, 873 items when you search on “Streisand” today. I make a note to list as much as I can this November to take advantage of Barbra’s appearances and projects!

3 Day Countdown to Begin 30 Day eBay Challenge

Whew-I just finished packing up stuff I sold on eBay from last night and this morning!

It took me two hours! At least I can listen to the eBay Radio Archives while printing packing slips and labels. Even though it’s time consuming, I don’t miss the days of standing in line at the Post Office. I use eBay shipping, FedEx home/ground delivery and Endicia for Mac. (Sign up for a free 30 day trial at www.endicia.com and make sure to enter my account number (705181) as the Promotional Code. Print domestic and international postage straight from your home computer. Perfect companion for eBay sellers. )

I print anything from First Class Mail to Flat Rate Medium size and all my International shipping too. The customs forms print right on the labels Very cool! Many folks like the ease of Stamps.com, but it won’t work if you have a Mac. I cut and paste the tracking numbers from FedEx into eBay and Paypal so the buyer knows when to expect their items. FedEx billing connects to my American Express card, so I get an extra 5% discount at the end of the month.

I took a bunch of photos of some Disney mugs today and in the middle of shooting I got an offer on some Porcelain Bone China Thimbles listed in my eBay store. The gal wanted 20 of them and offered $5.50 a piece! SCORE! This past summer I bought a whole lot of these thimbles for less than $1 each. Now they are all packed up and I’m heading out to drop off my USPS packages. How great is it that the PO is on the way to my son’s school? Not to mention the new Whole Foods in Mill Valley in the same shopping area!

3 days until we start the 30 Day eBay challenge. I’m getting things lined up and ready to list. I have lots of Christmas plates, dinnerwear and glasses that hopefully will be popular this holiday season. Here is a Pine Cone mug I sold last week from The Cellar at Macy’s.

4 Day Countdown to Begin 30 Day eBay Challenge

Today’s big event didn’t have anything to do with eBay. My son stayed home from school with a sore throat. His mild illness didn’t stop him from calling my name as many times as one could count on both hands and feet! I told him that from 12 noon to 1pm I was going to be unavailable. I took part in a webinar about Sourcing Products That Sell, with Lisa Suttora and Lynn Dralle. Luke was pretty good and only came in twice during that phone call.

The webinar was awesome! I follow many people in the eBay and online selling world, trying to pick up tips whenever I can from successful folks. Anyone who knows me now-adays, knows I mention The Queen of Auctions almost daily. I met Lynn Dralle at our Bay Area eBay Seller’s Meet-Up Group right before eBay on Location in San Jose this past September. She is such a hoot! Very driven and inspiring and quite approachable. You have to check her eBay store out! She has 4,948 items in her store as I write this. I have only a meesily 873! I better get cracking to catch up!

I had an earlier opportunity to talk with Lynn by phone last Spring. Actually I WON a 20 minute phone consultation by submitting my short video on Tips I Learned from The Queen of Auctions, otherwise known as “The Wackiest Thing I Ever Sold on eBay”. If you haven’t seen this video yet, you just won’t believe what I once sold. That was way back in the early days of eBay and it helped make me the eBay fanatic I am today! Here is the YouTube link to that short video! Listen carefully to the soundtrack playing in the background to give you a hint!

It’s been a slow day for my sales today on eBay. I am hoping they pick up if I start listing more items. I did sell a fondue set, click here to see for how much! I sold this for my sister who moved and is downsizing. My commission as a trading assistant is 50/50%. She’s happy to see a little cash, unload some household items, and I am happy to help. More about my ebay Trading Assistant selling in future posts!

I also sold a Pokeman hand towel! I sold this for another friend, so it didn’t cost me anything up front to buy.

My brother Don and I have been getting our outline/script ready for the filming of the 30 Day eBay Challenge documentary. It should be fun. I’ll keep you posted.

Back to the sick boy. We had one errand to do today, so the Jamba Juice I bought for him should make him feel a little better.

5 Day Countdown to Begin 30 Day eBay Challenge

My name is Anne Z. I am an eBay PowerSeller as well as eBay Trading Assistant

and eBay Education Specialist. I love eBay. I have been on eBay since July 1, 1998.

People ask me all the time how much time I spend on eBay. My answer: 2-3 hours a day.

The next most common question is what do I sell on eBay? My answer: everything.

I've sold dead tennis balls (I'm a retired tennis pro), I've sold little girls' Ice Skating Dresses, and Starbucks Coffee Mugs, Antiques and collectibles, as well as books, playing cards,

Rubber Stamps, umbrellas, men's silk ties, Disney collectibles.......You get the picture, everything. I sell for myself and I sell for others as well.

Since reaching the PowerSeller status this past spring, I've wondered what it would take

to break through to a new high.

So my 30 day challenge which will officially begin November 1, 2010 is this:

Can an eBay Trading Assistant/PowerSeller spend no more than 3 hours a day on eBay for 30 days, list at least 300 items and sell more than $3000 worth of "stuff"? Oh, and get 30,000 hits or pages watches for those items!

This blog will follow this 30 day experiment. I will report what sells in a day, what fun things I've listed in a day, eBay scores and homeruns (things that make big profits), etc.

And did I forget to mention, this 30 day eBay challenge will be filmed for a short documentary on my progress during the next month.

Will it be easy? Not sure. I currently have an eBay store: Anne Z's Recycled Treasures with over 800 items in it. My goal for the past period of time is to try and list at least 10 items a day, so the goal of listing 300 items in a month will be right where I want to be. As a competitive person, I will try of course to break that number and shoot for more!

I also, have not up to now, broken through the $3000/month sales number. That will be an important goal as well. I am a one-person show. I take all my own photos, write all my own descriptions and do all the packing and shipping. I'm getting close to hiring some help. It's getting a bit tough to complete all the things I have to do for eBay by myself.

I am a stay at home MOM, also known as SAHM. I take Twinkles the Jack Russell Terrier for a walk everyday at noon. I have to help my 9 year old son Luke, with his homework. You get the picture, normal mom stuff and duties like laundry and cooking is a priority over eBay. But selling stuff and getting money deposited into PayPal is a sweet incentive!

Please follow my day to day trials and tribulations and ask others who enjoy 30 day challenges to follow along as well. Don't forget to make comments. I am looking forward to beginning My 30 Day eBay Challenge!