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I bought my home on ISoldMyHouse.com, I met my husband on eHarmony.com, I found my last teaching position on Monster.com and now I am a Power Seller on eBay. So why do I sometimes still feel like a newbie in the face of online trends and new applications?
I notice that the items on my to do lists that seem to get pushed forward from one day to the next are the ones that involve using new technologies and new applications. Definitely, one of the reasons I gravitated toward eBay instead of another e-commerce site, was the fact that so much is done for you as a seller. It might be my age – I remember the look of pride on the face of the salesman who sold me my first computer, when he said, “You will never need more than a 1 gigabyte hard drive and this one has a two gigabyte hard drive!” - but things do seem to be moving very quickly these days. Still, I wish I had time to do some of the things on my to-do list that are time-consuming but both intriguing and useful as well:
- Adding video and audio to my eBay auctions;
- Beefing up my Amazon Sales and listings and using Pay Phrase;
- Checking out eBay’s ad commerce program;
- Previewing and using all of the new Applications in eBay’s Selling Manager;
- Using Facebook for more than updating my friends on my dinner plans;
And I could go on and on…
But I do have my list of favorite things – my go-to tools for everyday online sales needs. From my favorite vendors from whom I purchase the shipping and packing tools I need, to resources that help me add depth to my auctions, to those that help me grow as an entrepreneur, or that help me give my customers accurate quotes, here are a few of my faves:
Online vendors:
- Where do you go to buy the things you need to sell on eBay? You go to eBay of course! We buy our poly mailing bags of every size from Jeffreys Fashion Poly Mailers. They also sell kraft envelopes and bubble envelopes. Their shipping prices are fair and they combine shipping for multiple items ordered.
- We go to Staples online for the recycled paper we use for packing ships and shipping labels and take advantage of their free delivery on orders of $50 or more.
- We get a great deal and super fast shipping on recycled tissue paper and packaging products from Nashville Wraps.
Online tools:
- We use Google Apps to store, share and access our documents remotely;
- Want to check Feedback? When I want to know if a bidder, buyer or seller has received Negative or Neutral Feedbacks lately, I check here.
- When wrestling with state sales tax issues, I use Wray Rives’ Sales Tax Summary. As sales tax laws continue to change, this table becomes more and more handy.
- I use the USPS Shipping Calculator daily for quoting shipping prices to the US and international. I order my free USPS Priority shipping supplies and have them delivered for free here.
- If the ocean were made up of HTML code, all that I know about writing it would fit in a thimble, but there are a couple of sites that help me work with my limited knowledge to enrich my eBay listings: Adding Color & Text Formatting
Online Support and Education:
- When I don’t have time to drive to a meeting, the Small Business Development Center online audio programs help keep me up to date on what is happening in small business.
- I spend some time every day keeping myself abreast of what is going on in the eBay community by checking out some of my favorite blogs: eBay Strategies, eBay Ink, Auction Sellers Resources, The Brews News
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- New Year’s Resolutions for Online Sellers
- Interview with Artist and eBay enthusiast David Pickett
- Tricky Shipping for International eBay Orders
- More Changes Coming to eBay March 30
Who and what is on your go-to short list for online help?
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