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Will You Add? - Getting The Most From Your eBay Store
Are you one of those people who say that they don’t judge a book by it’s cover? But are you really being honest with yourself?How do you act when you meet somebody for the first time? Do you pay attention to his/her general look? I do!Do you know that in life and more importantly in business you have only 30 seconds to make the right first impression when you meet somebody for the first time?Yes, in just 30 seconds people will subconsciously make a decision on whether they want to work with you or not. So make that first contact count.How you dress influences what people think about you?Working with small business owners for years in France and for the last four years in New York, and now specializing in networking, I have to say that I am always surprised to see how some people dress for networking events or business meetings.Those who do not dress in suitable business attire are usually the ones who are surprised that their business doesn’t take off.How do you act when you buy a product in a store?Let’s say that you are looking at a printer and you have the choice between two brands. The product inside the boxes has the same exact characteristics. So how do you make your choice? Do you choose the one with the less attractive package or with the most attractive package? Do you choose the one which highlights the characteristics and benefits of buying this product? Or the one which presents the product in a regular, white box without any information?And it is exactly the same thing where people are concerned. How a pros
Still certain buyers may have their email accounts set up to block spam, AOL and hotmail accounts are notorious for this. Avoid including any links, pictures, attachments and/or HTML code in any emails sent to these accounts.
If you need to contact a buyer with an AOL or hotmail email address, first send a basic text only email to let them know you are contacting them and then follow it up with an email that contains HTML.
Lapse a store policy if it could mean the difference between getting positive feedback and negative feedback.
If an item is out of stock, email the buyer as soon as possible. Include an estimated shipping date.
SHIPPING: Tips for Job Interviews
Many people are extremely anxious before a job interview. However, if you prepare your answers and technique in advance, they can be a lot less stressful. Here are some tips to make interviews a more pleasant experience.Any job interview is a 2 way process, with both parties assessing the other to see if there is a good match. However, although you will be given the opportunity to ask questions towards the end of the interview, the employer should do most of the questioning up to that point. You should only ask questions to clarify whatever has been asked.The interview is likely to begin with a question to put you at ease and will be followed by questions to cover precise tasks, problems and developments related to the job. You will also be asked about your work history and possibly your education. Be sure that you have a good explanation for any unusual moves or gaps.When answering questions it’s advisable to be brief and to the point – it’s easy to ramble on when you are nervous, but if you prepare short answers to common questions in advance, you should be fine. If the interviewer wants more information on a specific point, he’ll ask.You should always focus on the positive aspects of your work experience and student days. Employers may ask questions which seem to invite negativity, but don’t fall into the trap of complaining about a previous employer or putting yourself down by going into detail on your “greatest weakness”. If you are asked to describe a weakness, choose something which you don’t have a lot of experience in, but which is not crucial fo
How much profit you want to make is entirely up to you. Depending on what you sell, if your products are priced too low you’ll be working for peanuts, price it too high and you won’t be selling any.
You need to factor in all the individual line item costs before you set your retail price. eBay takes a percentage of the final sale price (final value fee). If you use Paypal to accept payments electronically they'll take a percentage as well, plus a small transaction fee. eBay does not include shipping costs when they calculate their final value fee while Paypal does.
Other eBay fees include auction, buy it now, store inventory and those for additional pictures as well as any optional listing features.
However, you can save on the eBay insertion fees by pricing items just at or under the break range. For instance, if you want to sell an item for $50.00 then price it at $49.99 (instead of $50.00) and you'll save 50% on the insertion fee. (eBay Basic Fees)
You must also consider the cost of your shipping material. At the Laundry Bag Store Online we know the exact weight of each item down to the printed invoice. By knowing the exact weight of each item including the shipping material, you can tell if a buyer is being truthful if they claim that an item was not included with their order since the shipping weight is printed on the postal receipt.
Some sellers set up their listing to use the shipping calculators while others use the flat rate option. It may boil down to a matter of choice, but on some items one be better to use than the other and sometimes the calculator is unavailable which can result in a lost sale. Stores with a large volume of products should use the calculator.
Keep in mind that savvy buyers know if they are being overcharged for shipping. Don’t risk losing a repeat customer by overcharging for shipping. A small handling charge is an acceptable industry standard.
GUARANTEE:
Just what is your guarantee? Your guarantee and any store policies should be clear and well defined. Wishy-washy policies are sure to confuse your buyers. Work with your buyers. Consider bending the rules for a valued customer or a large order if it will mean future business.
FEEDBACK:
Open any business and you automatically have a reputation. It is within your power to create a good reputation or a bad one. For eBay sellers and buyers your feedback page is your reputation and is one of the most widely viewed pages.
Trying to keep a 100% positive feedback is the ultimate goal. However, there are some things that may be beyond your control, for instance, a buyer may have had a bad day and decided to take their frustration out on you.
Still certain buyers may have their email accounts set up to block spam, AOL and hotmail accounts are notorious for this. Avoid including any links, pictures, attachments and/or HTML code in any emails sent to these accounts.
If you need to contact a buyer with an AOL or hotmail email address, first send a basic text only email to let them know you are contacting them and then follow it up with an email that contains HTML.
Lapse a store policy if it could mean the difference between getting positive feedback and negative feedback.
If an item is out of stock, email the buyer as soon as possible. Include an estimated shipping date.
SHIPPING: Do You Know What's Working And What Isn't?
I will guarantee you that every manager can improve thier skills in some area. Many managers focus only on what they are doing wrong while others only focus on what they are doing right. The problem with either strategy is clear...Three of the questions I often ask the participants in my seminars are:1. What are you doing in your life, career or business that is working?
2. What are you doing in these areas that is not working?
3. What did you used to do in these areas that worked – that you have stopped doing?These three critical questions can keep you traveling in the right direction in all areas of your life if you will ask them often enough and pay close attention to the answers you get. I ask myself these three questions at the end of every month and the end of every year.The purpose of this exercise is to ensure I am:1.Focusing on the right things in the right way.
2.Letting go of stuff that isn’t working.
3.Re-evaluating my career, business and life from past, as well as future, orientation.
4.Stretching myself into new areas of development.
5.Experimenting with new strategies, attitudes, philosophies, feelings and skills.Many people are stuck in old ways of thinking, doing and believing that just are not working for them anymore. Many managers, executives and business owners are bogged down in products, policies and approaches that just are not working anymore. Why? Fear? Comfort? Indecision? Arrogance? Ignorance? Ego? Politics?What are you holding on to?1.A product that has outlived its ptional pictures as well as any optional listing features.
However, you can save on the eBay insertion fees by pricing items just at or under the break range. For instance, if you want to sell an item for $50.00 then price it at $49.99 (instead of $50.00) and you'll save 50% on the insertion fee. (eBay Basic Fees)
You must also consider the cost of your shipping material. At the Laundry Bag Store Online we know the exact weight of each item down to the printed invoice. By knowing the exact weight of each item including the shipping material, you can tell if a buyer is being truthful if they claim that an item was not included with their order since the shipping weight is printed on the postal receipt.
Some sellers set up their listing to use the shipping calculators while others use the flat rate option. It may boil down to a matter of choice, but on some items one be better to use than the other and sometimes the calculator is unavailable which can result in a lost sale. Stores with a large volume of products should use the calculator.
Keep in mind that savvy buyers know if they are being overcharged for shipping. Don’t risk losing a repeat customer by overcharging for shipping. A small handling charge is an acceptable industry standard.
GUARANTEE:
Just what is your guarantee? Your guarantee and any store policies should be clear and well defined. Wishy-washy policies are sure to confuse your buyers. Work with your buyers. Consider bending the rules for a valued customer or a large order if it will mean future business.
FEEDBACK:
Open any business and you automatically have a reputation. It is within your power to create a good reputation or a bad one. For eBay sellers and buyers your feedback page is your reputation and is one of the most widely viewed pages.
Trying to keep a 100% positive feedback is the ultimate goal. However, there are some things that may be beyond your control, for instance, a buyer may have had a bad day and decided to take their frustration out on you.
Still certain buyers may have their email accounts set up to block spam, AOL and hotmail accounts are notorious for this. Avoid including any links, pictures, attachments and/or HTML code in any emails sent to these accounts.
If you need to contact a buyer with an AOL or hotmail email address, first send a basic text only email to let them know you are contacting them and then follow it up with an email that contains HTML.
Lapse a store policy if it could mean the difference between getting positive feedback and negative feedback.
If an item is out of stock, email the buyer as soon as possible. Include an estimated shipping date.
SHIPPING: Using Google Alerts as a Sales Propecting Tool
As some of you know, I'm the highly introverted (INFP) who is also a Sales and Marketing director for a company that sells both nationally and internationally.So, this tells us that I really, really, really dislike sales prospecting -- at least in the stereotypical 'pick up the phone and cold call' 'sales hunter' way. I'm always looking for ways to find prospects in unorthodox ways.One of these is spelled out in my article Cold Calling for Introverts (http://halwarfield.com/articles/cold-calling-for-introverts/) where I detail a means of using the phone that won't cause an introvert to want to lie down and die.I found another one yesterday -- it's called Google Alerts (http://www.google.com/alerts) and, as with most Google tools, it's simple to understand and use.In a nutshell ("look, I'm in a nutshell!"), you add some relevant search terms, tell it how often you'd want to be alerted and enter your email address. Poof! A Google-formatted email appears in your inbox full of relevant goodness!Now, you may be saying, "Thank God Almighty! I see the light!" and others may be saying "So?".Let's give some examples. Let's say you work in state and local government sales in water purification. You depend on RFPs (Requests for Proposals) so in the Google Alert box enter government, RFP, water, purification_ -- from that moment you will receive everything Google finds that references those terms.Or if you sell large equipment to transportation companies, create an alert with the words heavy, equipment, fortune 500 or whatever makes sense torinted on the postal receipt.
Some sellers set up their listing to use the shipping calculators while others use the flat rate option. It may boil down to a matter of choice, but on some items one be better to use than the other and sometimes the calculator is unavailable which can result in a lost sale. Stores with a large volume of products should use the calculator.
Keep in mind that savvy buyers know if they are being overcharged for shipping. Don’t risk losing a repeat customer by overcharging for shipping. A small handling charge is an acceptable industry standard.
GUARANTEE:
Just what is your guarantee? Your guarantee and any store policies should be clear and well defined. Wishy-washy policies are sure to confuse your buyers. Work with your buyers. Consider bending the rules for a valued customer or a large order if it will mean future business.
FEEDBACK:
Open any business and you automatically have a reputation. It is within your power to create a good reputation or a bad one. For eBay sellers and buyers your feedback page is your reputation and is one of the most widely viewed pages.
Trying to keep a 100% positive feedback is the ultimate goal. However, there are some things that may be beyond your control, for instance, a buyer may have had a bad day and decided to take their frustration out on you.
Still certain buyers may have their email accounts set up to block spam, AOL and hotmail accounts are notorious for this. Avoid including any links, pictures, attachments and/or HTML code in any emails sent to these accounts.
If you need to contact a buyer with an AOL or hotmail email address, first send a basic text only email to let them know you are contacting them and then follow it up with an email that contains HTML.
Lapse a store policy if it could mean the difference between getting positive feedback and negative feedback.
If an item is out of stock, email the buyer as soon as possible. Include an estimated shipping date.
SHIPPING: Training / Presentations: How to Begin a Lesson Plan
DEVELOPING LESSON PLANS: In developing lesson plan formats, two things are paramount: extraordinarily careful documentation and room left for possible changes. Sloppy accounting of the direction your class will be going is worse than none. And documentation that doesn’t have leeway for change is almost instantly obsolete. The types of plan formats generally used are the: outline, sentence outline, narrative outline, narrative. The primary difference is in the amount of information and narrative in the body of the presentation. Your plan for a presentation should be at least a sentence outline or preferably a narrative outline.READING LESSON PLANS: All maps have common information, called the legend, which tells you how to read them. The lesson plan should also have a legend (the cover sheet) which tells the trainer what the learning environment will be. The cover sheet includes the course title, the lesson title, the length of time for the lesson, the target audience, the performance objectives, the evaluation procedures, and the equipment and supplies needed for you and your students. Although your department may have a specific format for this information the purpose is more important than the format.MAKING INFORMATIVE LESSON PLANS: --The course title or lesson title should accurately reflect the content of the lesson or course and be stated simply. --The length of time for the lesson should include time required for lesson presentation and suggested time, date, and hour at which lesson delivery would be most effective. --The target population entry shgould answer seld be clear and well defined. Wishy-washy policies are sure to confuse your buyers. Work with your buyers. Consider bending the rules for a valued customer or a large order if it will mean future business.
FEEDBACK:
Open any business and you automatically have a reputation. It is within your power to create a good reputation or a bad one. For eBay sellers and buyers your feedback page is your reputation and is one of the most widely viewed pages.
Trying to keep a 100% positive feedback is the ultimate goal. However, there are some things that may be beyond your control, for instance, a buyer may have had a bad day and decided to take their frustration out on you.
Still certain buyers may have their email accounts set up to block spam, AOL and hotmail accounts are notorious for this. Avoid including any links, pictures, attachments and/or HTML code in any emails sent to these accounts.
If you need to contact a buyer with an AOL or hotmail email address, first send a basic text only email to let them know you are contacting them and then follow it up with an email that contains HTML.
Lapse a store policy if it could mean the difference between getting positive feedback and negative feedback.
If an item is out of stock, email the buyer as soon as possible. Include an estimated shipping date.
SHIPPING: Do You Have a Destination in Mind for Your Business?
A fundamental requirement of a leader is that he or she have a destination in mind for the organization. Armed with a clear vision for what the company will look like at some point in the future, the leader is in a position to encourage and enable other key managers in the organization to do the likewise.An old business friend recently called for my help. Although I have worked closely with several members of his family spanning three generations, our paths have not crossed over the last few years. It was a pleasant experience getting caught up on both his company and his family.Their business community is still supported by a relatively small population base, so sales have not increased substantially over the past several years. Their product mix has not changed much either.The family is divided over the direction the business should take. The father, the oldest and most conservative family member, is content to continue doing the same things he has been doing most of his working life. He is the first one to arrive at the business at around 6:30 a.m. His duties include waiting on customers and doing most of the buying. He enjoys getting home by 5 p.m. to do some fishing on a five-acre lake located no more than 50 yards behind his house.His two sons see things quite differently. The older son is relatively ambitious. He wants to expand the business by opening a new store in a community thirty-five miles away that is larger and growing much faster. He questions the wisdom of sticking so close to home. While life is simple and stress is low in their home coyou.
Still certain buyers may have their email accounts set up to block spam, AOL and hotmail accounts are notorious for this. Avoid including any links, pictures, attachments and/or HTML code in any emails sent to these accounts.
If you need to contact a buyer with an AOL or hotmail email address, first send a basic text only email to let them know you are contacting them and then follow it up with an email that contains HTML.
Lapse a store policy if it could mean the difference between getting positive feedback and negative feedback.
If an item is out of stock, email the buyer as soon as possible. Include an estimated shipping date.
SHIPPING:
Some sellers use UPS while others use the USPS. The Laundry Bag Store Online uses the USPS so these tips are based on shipping with the USPS. Some of the information you may already be aware of.
The USPS offers several types of free shipping boxes, mailers and envelopes. However, some of these can add extra weight and thus add extra cost to your shipping. Aside from using postal rate calculators you can print or ask your local post office for Notice 123, rate fold. The notice includes all the current postal rates. You will also need a postal zone chart.
13.1 oz. is where First Class postal rates ends and Priority Mail or Parcel Post rates begin up to 70 lbs. The cost of shipping most items Priority Mail vs. Parcel Post is small and can be the difference between getting positive feedback or negative feedback, a satisfied customer or a dissatisfied customer.
Depending on the weight and size, some items may be best shipped via Parcel Post instead of Priority Mail. The saving amount between Priority Mail and Parcel Post increases significantly as the weight increases and you can pass this saving on to your buyer.
Shipping Parcel Post takes a few days longer so make sure your buyer is willing to accept the delay. However, keep in mind that there are specific guidelines when shipping packages via Parcel Post. Notice 123 and the USPS web site lists all the required criteria.
Another shipping option offered by the USPS is Priority Mail Flat Rate. You can ship to any US destination regardless of weight for a specific cost. The post office offers free flat rate boxes in two sizes as well as a flat rate envelope.
If you buy your own shipping boxes the size of the box may exceed the USPS shipping limits and you may have to pay additional shipping. The combined length and girth of a piece (the length of its longest side plus the distance around its thickest part) may not exceed 108 inches.
However, to be safe in most cases the combined length and girth should not exceed 84 inches. The formula is simple. It is 2x the height + 2x the width + the length. For example, a box measuring 24” L x 12” H x 16” W is 80 inches. (24H+32W+24L)
Self adhesive poly bags come in various sizes and are extremely durable. These may provide an inexpensive way of shipping certain items and may even save your some money on shipping if you are including it in the sale price.
If you print your own shipping labels on an ink jet printer, tape over the entire label covering the ship to and return address. The ink will run if it comes in contact with any water making the label illegible.
INSURANCE AND CONFIRMATION:
Depending on the retail cost of your products, insuring shipments is a
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