The eBay UK Bulletin: Issue 241

The eBay UK Bulletin: Issue 241, 10th February 2012

Topics in this issue:

1. eBay 101 – SEO

2. eBay success story – case study

3. Reader’s rant – tracking numbers

4. Ask Molly – Do I have to use micro-payments?

Hello and welcome to this week's edition of ‘The eBay UK Bulletin’.

All those readers who adopted the notice board tip last week had their first opportunity to use it to advise about slow deliveries due to snow. Although delivery may have been delayed, sales have been buoyant, with deals including a pair of ‘hi-hat’ symbols, a slide projector and the centre of a Porsche hubcap!

This week sees the inclusion of an eBay case study which may just rekindle your enthusiasm during these dark days.

Also this week a short overview on SEO; it's boring but essential folks.

[For details of this newsletter, please scroll down to the end.]


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1. EBAY 101 – SEO

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Search engine optimisation. Anybody dropped off to sleep yet? It does sound a bit heavy but if you own an eBay shop it is something you should have a passing knowledge of.

The contents of your eBay shop can be seen by external search engines such as MSN, Google and Yahoo, and this can be a great source of new business.

The first thing to be aware of is exactly how much business you are doing with customers who visit from a non-eBay search engine.

Click on the ‘Manage my shop’ link from your ‘myeBay’ page. Towards the bottom of the page click on ‘Traffic reports’ - you will have to sign in and may have to subscribe although they are currently free. In the middle of the page select ‘Keyword information’ and then ‘Top keywords that drove traffic to your Store’.

Search engine optimisation (SEO) is the process of improving the visibility of a website or a web page in search engines. This is achieved by entering a number of ‘keywords' which best describe your web page contents or your shop items. eBay will use your keywords to create ‘titles' and 'meta tags'. There is no need to understand these technical terms but ensure the keywords associated with your shop are pertinent and relate to the items you sell.

Never use keywords that are not related to your page content or repeat the same keyword more than once. This is considered keyword spamming by search engines.

Examples of keyword spamming would be the inclusion of inappropriate brands such as Nintendo, Sony, X-Box when actually selling games in PC format.

Keyword spamming could affect your page ranking or even cause your eBay Shop page to be removed from search engines' indexes.

If you don’t enter your own keywords then the eBay systems will do this for you. Should you wish to enter your own it is very easy - just follow these easy steps:

a) click ‘Manage your shop’ from your ‘myeBay’ page

b) click ‘Search engine’ from the menu on the left of the screen

c) Edit the keywords that apply to each of your categories.


Wake up, all finished [Ed - and now on to the exciting content... I hope].



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2. EBAY SUCCESS STORY – CASE STUDY

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Can you still carve out a success on eBay in the current economic climate? It is a question I am asked quite often as many would-be sellers feel that they have missed the boat.

Well, the answer is of course you can just so long as you have the right product that you can offer at the right price and have the patience to stick with it.

If you are looking for a little inspiration during the bleak winter and are fed up with my cheerful witticisms, check out this case study of a serious eBay seller - there are even a few videos for coffee time.

These guys had an existing business and developed eBay as an additional route to market and have just clocked up 250,000 positive pieces of feedback, so probably around 400,000 eBay trades – no mean feat.


Bamford Trading - http://sellersphere.ebay.co.uk/post/139

As a postscript on this subject watch this space for my ‘top tips tome’ about making money from car-boot sales which may soon get the green light from Hh publishers.

I have been attending them for almost 24 years and can smell a bargain from 20 yards; in fact you can find most of them on sale in the new shop. I still think this is a great way to get started with little capital outlay. [Ed - one book at a time please!]


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3. READER’S RANT – TRACKING NUMBERS

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“Hi Mollybol,

I have been asking eBay to fix a problem I have encountered in eBay and their courier tracking system for many weeks now and they do not seem to have an answer!

I use "myHermes" for many of my parcels and add the tracking number for each order, however when I click on the link it does not go to the myHermes website but either "Australian Post" or "Deutsche Post" and obviously does not show any tracking details.

This is embarrassing for me when buyers try and check their parcel and quite often leads to buyers accusing me of not even sending their item. I also recently had an eBay case opened up against me for an item that had not arrived and eBay asked for the tracking details.

In this instance the tracking did not show and went to the Australian post!! It only works if you actually go to the myHermes website. This just adds to the confusion and is less than professional when trying to keep my customers advised of where their parcel is.

I wonder if you have experienced this problem. The eBay technical team did advise me last week they had fixed the problem but I can't see that they have.”


370smith - http://stores.ebay.co.uk/Bobs-Bargain-Bits


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4. ASK MOLLY – DO I HAVE TO USE MICRO_PAYMENTS?
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“Hi Mollybol,

Thanks to your tip about changing to ‘micropayments’, I've been saving a lot of money on PayPal fees on lower value items. However, on the few higher value items I sell I end up paying more than I need to as they would be better on Macropayments.

Is there any way of applying micropayments to the lower value items, but macropayments to the higher value ones? I just use micropayments on everything at the moment.


piggyplanet2011 - http://stores.ebay.co.uk/The-Piggy-Planet-Shop



Yes, dead easy. I use two accounts just as you wish to, the main one for most sales and then micro for little lipsticks and lower value items.

When listing your item you will see your micro PayPal account entered in the payments section, just replace this with your macro payments account (you can open a second account if you don't already have one). The money will flow into either account as you see fit.

One thing to bear in mind is when a buyer buys two low value items (which would each go to micro) you can alter the PayPal address when send the combined invoice and direct payment to the macro account. You just need to work out the break-even value at which a switch becomes viable.

One further point as we are talking about PayPal is the facility to send money for personal reasons via PayPal free of charge! This is still available and great for sending money to poor Elves who can’t afford to eat much during the slow season. Just select the personal tab from the send money option within PayPal.



If you have a question about eBay or home working in general, please send it to: mollybol@ebaybulletin.co.uk - I will reply personally to every e-mail I receive and remember, there are FREE copies of my book available for the best questions, tips, or stories.


-- END NOTE --

That's all for this week. Check out www.ebaybulletin.co.uk for the latest news from Molly HQ.

I am loving my new shop - it is great to get back to basics and the sale of a £10 fluffy toy causes more excitement than a dozen tubes of hand cream – it’s the kid in me! The only trouble is that the Elves are spending more time playing with the toys than selling them!

Best wishes and happy eBaying

Mollybol


Author of the bestselling title, 'The eBay Business Handbook' - available direct from the publishers: www.harriman-house.com/ebaybusiness

The eBay UK Bulletin: Issue 240

The eBay UK Bulletin: Issue 240, 3rd February 2012

Topics in this issue:

1. eBay 101 – Another top tip

2. Help needed with discounts

4. Selling limits

4. Ask Molly – When do I have to pay my fees?

Hello and welcome to this week's edition of ‘The eBay UK Bulletin’.

It has been another busy week at Molly Towers, not only are the Elves running flat out to load inventory on to the new toy shop, but I also decided it was time to rebrand the cosmetics shop. We should all be able to sleep again in March. There are almost 450 items in the toy shop and the first month’s sales were £2,500; so far so good.

It’s an ‘Ask Molly’ week with no less than three Q&As and, for once, no PayPal spoofs to report on.

There is also just enough room for another eBay tip. It's a bit tricky this one, but worth it in the long run.

[For details of this newsletter, please scroll down to the end.]


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1. EBAY 101 – ANOTHER TOP TIP

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You may recall in last week’s bulletin I included a quick tip about cutting your PayPal fees, well the response was so good...

“I had no idea about the fee reduction for sellers who have sales in excess of £1500 per month and as a result of your email and five minutes on PayPal my fees have now gone down from 3.4% to 2.4%. I reckon I will save about £70 plus each month. Well done and thank you.”

‘CS-Marketplace’ - http://stores.ebay.co.uk/cs-marketplace


“Thank you very much for your info on PayPal fees. I was not aware of this. I have just applied for the discount and PayPal have given me a new 1.9% rate, saving me about £170 a month. I have never subscribed to a newsletter that has saved me so much money for nothing.”

‘Charcon Creations’ - http://stores.ebay.co.uk/Charcon-Creations


“Thanks ever so much for pointing out the merchant fees info on PayPal in your bulletin. I think I know everything there is to know about selling on eBay and then your email pops up and I learn something new and genuinely useful.”

‘twomagpiesshop’ - http://stores.ebay.co.uk/Two-Magpies-Shop



...that this week I have included another from my soon to be published ‘top tips’ guide.

This one relates to the creation of a hidden notice board within your item descriptions which can be used for special offers and general announcements. If you fancy having a crack at creating one using this quick guide please let me know how you got on and where I can improve the instructions. [Ed – so you are now asking readers to write your books for you?].


You will need a web hosting account (for some reason this process will not work with ‘Photobucket’) which you can get for free. I use ‘freewebspace’ (don’t pay for a domain name, no need). You also need some very basic knowledge of HTML and Microsoft Paint or a similar program.

1) Decide how big you want your notice board to be. It is measured in pixels and I use a size of 380 by 98 which is approximately 4.5 inches x 1 inch. Check one of my listings and see what you think of that size.

2) Open a new file within Paint and resize the page to the dimensions you want. Save it to your desktop. Essentially this is just a small white page.

3) Load your blank white picture into your web hosting account and call it something like ‘noticeboard.jpg’

4) Log into your eBay account and create a new listing.

5) In the item description switch to the ‘HTML’ view.

6) Copy this HTML code onto the page

7) Copy the address of your noticeboard (right click and copy link location) and paste it between the quotation marks of the text in Step 6.

8) Switch back to the standard view and you will not see anything – scary.

9) Return to your small blank white page in Paint and fill the box with a colour; yellow is pretty good. Now add in your message (trial & error is needed here to get the best font size and colour scheme). Save the finished image to your desktop.

10) Load this new image into your web hosting account and then use the copy function, renaming your new picture with ‘noticeboard.jpg’

11) Check back with your listing and the new message will be shown.

If you want to remove your message altogether just load in another blank white page. Each time you ‘sell similar’ the code will be copied on to the new listing.

Comments (clean ones please) – Mollybol@ebaybulletin.co.uk


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2. HELP NEEDED WITH DISCOUNTS

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It’s that time again when I ask you the learned reader for advice on an eBay conundrum, this time the provision of buyer discounts when free postage is employed.


“Hi Molly,

I have been selling stamps on eBay for five years now and wish to take my selling to a next level.

I will be selling identical mint British postage stamps on a multi buy it now listing, with free P&P, using different listings for different stamp values.

To gain an edge I would like to offer a band of discounts to buyers who buy more than one item. For example:

-- buy 1 item for the price listed
-- buy 2-10 items get 10% discount
-- buy 11-20 items get 15% discount

Can I set something up automatically within the eBay listing or if I state in my listing 'Wait for final bill before paying' then can I adjust the invoice?"


Molly says:

If you offer free postage as standard then providing a discount is a little trickier as it is not possible to reduce an eBay invoice below the value of the actual items.

You could ask your buyers to hold off from paying whilst you send a money request directly from PayPal.

If they do pay the full amount, you could send back some of your buyer’s payment. In its simplest form this could be a partial PayPal refund on a manual basis - a little labour intensive but it would work.

Remember that your eBay fees are based on the selling price; they do not take into account any partial refunds you may make.

If there is a possibility of buyers purchasing more than one of the same stamp then you could use a 'multi-variation listing' and offer one stamp for say £5 and then two for £9.50 and so on, I do this for larger volumes of hand cream.

If anybody out there knows of another way to provide discounts under these circumstances, please let me know at the usual address.


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3. SELLING LIMITS

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“Dear Molly,

My question/problem is: since eBay introduced selling limits or allowances are you aware of how long it may take for them to increase my selling allowance from 100 items a month?

I have 68 positive feedbacks and no neutral or negative, all my DSR ratings are above required and I am £150 and 16 days off being a power seller and top rated.

Do you happen to know what the likely increase in selling allowance will be as at the moment the 100 items is rather choking?”



I can understand why the selling limits were introduced, but they can get in the way of making some serious money.
It is certainly worth contacting eBay and asking for the limits to be raised; it is possible they will remove the limit altogether but you need to contact them.


The eBay word:

"When you list an item, you may see a message letting you know that you have met, or are close to, one of your monthly account allowances. If you can't wait until the next month to continue listing, you can click the link in the message to ‘request higher selling allowances’. Some sellers may also find this link in the 'All selling' section of My eBay in the 'Monthly allowances section'."


If you have another established seller account this can help - let eBay know about it.


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4. ASK MOLLY – WHEN DO I HAVE TO PAY MY FEES?
------------------------------------------------

“Hi Molly,

I'm considering importing goods into the UK for the first time. The value of the initial order will only be about £70 and so I understand from HMRC that I'll be liable for import VAT at 20% plus possibly import duty which will determined by the classification of the items.

My questions are really around the logistics of the importation process. The supplier will be sending the goods by China airmail. So when they arrive at an airport in the UK, how is the VAT and import duty paid?”


You are quite right about the VAT and possibly the import duty as well as the VAT-free limit is lower than your order value.

You will probably need to fill in a form, the C88. You can get a copy from this HMRC page - http://customs.hmrc.gov.uk/channelsPortalWebApp/channelsPortalWebApp.portal?_nfpb=true&_pageLabel=pageImport_Forms

I would be tempted to give the revenue guys a quick call just to confirm what is required - 0845 010 9000 begin_of_the_skype_highlighting              0845 010 9000      end_of_the_skype_highlighting.

This is the official checklist:

1) Check which import duty applies.

Import duty is based on the type of goods you are importing, the country they originate from and their value.

HMRC's Integrated Tariff sets out the classification of goods and the rates of duty in detail.

Your trade association or your import agent may be able to advise you.


2) Confirm what paperwork you require from the supplier for customs clearance.

This normally includes an invoice and a copy of the transport documents.

You may need proof of the origin of the goods to claim reduced import duty for goods from certain countries.

A valuation document is also normally required for imports above a set value.


3) Complete an import declaration.

You normally declare imports using the Single Administrative Document (SAD).


4) Pay VAT and duty to get the goods released.

You pay VAT at the normal UK rate for those goods when sold in the UK.

Regular importers can defer payment of VAT and duty by opening a deferment account with HMRC. You need to provide security and must agree to pay by direct debit.


5) Account for VAT.

HMRC will send you a C79 certificate showing the import VAT you have paid. You must keep this.

You can reclaim VAT on imports in the same way as you reclaim input tax on purchases of supplies within in the UK.

You cannot reclaim import duty.



If you can offer any practical advice or tips regarding importing into the UK, please let me know – Mollybol@ebaybulletin.co.uk


If you have a question about eBay or home working in general, please send it to: mollybol@ebaybulletin.co.uk - I will reply personally to every e-mail I receive and remember, there are FREE copies of my book available for the best questions, tips, or stories.


-- END NOTE --


That's all for this week. Check out www.ebaybulletin.co.uk for the latest news from Molly HQ.

The re-branding of the Mollybol shop is taking an age and it is so boring! Changing the background colour scheme to a more seductive pink was easy and even retaking all the gallery pictures is not too bad. The thing that caught me out was my hypertext links from listings into the shop.

Advertising your other items is a good idea and linking back into your shop is as good as any. Unfortunately I also decided to expand my shop categories. The existing links from my descriptions direct buyers to a particular shop category which has now gone - instead I need to link to a search within my shop. It is a subtle change but means amending 100+ listings. Another late night ahead for me.

Best wishes and happy eBaying

Mollybol



Author of the bestselling title, 'The eBay Business Handbook' - available direct from the publishers: www.harriman-house.com/ebaybusiness

The eBay UK Bulletin: Issue 239

The eBay UK Bulletin: Issue 239, 27th January 2012

Topics in this issue:

1. eBay news – Entertaining & Interesting

2. PayPal spoof

3. Heart warming

4. Ask Molly – When is a gift not a gift?

Hello and welcome to this week's edition of ‘The eBay UK Bulletin’.

The new shop is well on the way as inventory is slowly loaded into it. I've still had no time to finish off the layout, but that will happen in due course.

It is proving very hard to climb up the search results list - I must wait until I achieve PowerSeller level and secure TRS before things really take off. It is just like stepping back in time, but I’ll get there.

This week we have a great tip if you are looking to cut costs and a heart-warming tale about DSRs. Yes, I really mean it!

[For details of this newsletter, please scroll down to the end.]


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1. EBAY NEWS – ENTERTAINING & INTERESTING

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Here’s a quick and mildly entertaining snippet.

Sign into eBay.com and click on the ‘Account’ tab; almost at the bottom of the page click on the link ‘Go to your dashboard’.

Scroll down a little and you will see a box ‘Your lifetime transactions’.

Here you will find a total of all your sales on eBay and the date of your first eBay sale – scary!


This is the bit that might just save you a few pounds.

If your PayPal payment volume has averaged £1,500 per month for three months then you should consider applying for the ‘Merchant rate’. This can reduce your PayPal fees down to a potential 1.4%. It is a great saving, but you have to apply in order to receive the special rate.

Log onto your PayPal account (not via a link in an email)!

Types ‘fees’ into the search box at the top right of screen.

Click on ‘Transaction fees’.


You may see this message:

“Your account is set to the Standard Rate for receiving payments of 3.4%.

If you receive more than £1,500.00 GBP per month, you're eligible to apply for PayPal's Merchant Rate - which lowers your fees as your sales volume increases.”


Click on the link “Are you eligible for lower rates?”

If you qualify click the ‘apply now’ link.


One last thing - if you do have a merchant rate on your main account and a micro-account for low value items, watch which account you send money to as the break-even level may change.



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2. PAYPAL SPOOF

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“Hi Molly, this is a good one! I thought you would like to share this with your readers.

‘greatvalue111’ - http://www.ebay.co.uk/sch/greatvalue111/m.html?


------------------------------------------------------------

Subject: Account Review Team
Date: Sun, 22 Jan 2012 10:41:05 -0600

Please take a minute to carefully read this notification sent by our Account Review Team.

As of the 22nd of January 2012, our security system has blocked unusual charges to a credit card linked to your account.

An intrusion into your account has been detected which shows that someone tried to access your PayPal account without your permission. we have limited access to your account due to this problem. Moreover, we have sent you an attachment which contains all the necessary steps in order to restore your account access. Please download and open it in your browser.

Thanks for your high attention. Please do understand that this is a security measure taken with intention to protect you and your account. We apologize for any inconvenience.

Sincerely,

PayPal Account Review Team

------------------------------------------------------------------



There is an attachment which accompanies this email asking for everything from your social security number to credit card number.

Cheeky!


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3. HEART WARMING

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“Hi Molly. Just thought you and the readers may like to hear my experience with eBay concerning Detailed Seller Ratings.

As we all know Christmas and New Year can be a very stressful time, getting the parcels out on time and then hoping they get delivered to the satisfaction of the customer. Well I thought I had done quite well dispatching within 24 hours of payment received (excluding weekends & public holidays).

So to my dismay the other day I noticed I had picked up a low DSR for Dispatch time. So I did the usual, exploring my feedback to see if there were any clues of a disgruntled customer, but as expected nothing was obvious.

I left it a couple of days, thinking it would be a waste of time contacting eBay. But last Tuesday I rang and told the representative that I thought I had received a malicious rating and explained my reasons. I was put on hold as normal and left to ponder for a few minutes, thinking I was probably wasting my time.

Then the response came. They didn’t think it had been malicious, they just thought the person had been confused over the Public Holidays (clue there as to date of transaction). But as a courtesy because of the Christmas rush (their words) eBay would remove the offending rating! I was a bit gob-smacked, but remembered to say thank you.

I was then later able to do my bit of detective work and re-check my feedback and noticed that one had been removed in relation to a purchase on 31 December, the item not being dispatched until 3 January (you would think people would realise the Sunday and the Monday were Public Holidays).

So I have subsequently blocked him/her (the feedback was full of spelling mistakes, I did wonder If they were responsible for the many PayPal spoofs you receive!).



A happy ending for a change.


‘plmodels2’ - http://stores.ebay.co.uk/P-L-Models-DiecastSuperstore


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4. ASK MOLLY – WHEN IS A GIFT NOT A GIFT?
------------------------------------------------


“Hi Molly,

Just wondering if you could help please? Bought your book, receive your bulletin and love your Elves.

On the CN22 form, am I right in assuming I tick the 'Other' box when sending to non-EU countries (I sell childrens' clothes)?


‘Happyonions’ - http://stores.ebay.co.uk/happyonions


Please don’t feel sorry for the Elves, they do very well don’t you know.

The quick answer is yes, but this might be a little problematic at the other end - its all down to import taxes. There are two main options when sending overseas outside the EU, gifts and non-gifts. Import taxes in one form or another apply to most countries around the world and also for items brought into the UK.

Import VAT applies to items brought into the UK as described on the HMRC website.

"Import VAT is charged at the same rate that applies to similar goods sold in the UK and applies to commercial goods over £15 in value and to gifts that are over £40 in value. The value of the goods for import VAT is based on the:

* basic value of goods, plus
* postage, packing and insurance, plus
* any import (Customs or Excise) duties charged

Additionally, customs duty becomes payable if the goods are over £135 in value.

It can be a challenge to work out the VAT and customs levels for each country you ship to but they are likely to be around the same levels as for the UK. The levels also change depending upon the product sent.

This page might help - http://www.uscib.org/index.asp?documentID=1676


It is quite likely that some of your parcels will be over the £15 when you include postage costs so your buyer may have to fork out when they get the parcel. If they were sent as 'gifts' this limit would be higher, but of course you would be lying on the form.

The other thing to consider is the value of the item that you put down on the form, ensuring that this figure is correct and not inflated could well keep it under the tax limit.

You should inform any overseas buyers that import taxes may apply and that you cannot estimate how much this would be as it is bound to change periodically.

If you have a question about eBay or home working in general, please send it to: mollybol@ebaybulletin.co.uk - I will reply personally to every e-mail I receive and remember, there are FREE copies of my book available for the best questions, tips, or stories.



-- END NOTE --

That's all for this week. Check out www.ebaybulletin.co.uk for the latest news from Molly HQ.

The new book is well under way with the first draft propping up a table leg at Hh publishers. If you don’t have a copy of ‘The eBay Business Handbook’ yet, you can now pick up a Kindle copy from Amazon for just £2.69 – the price of a Big Mac - http://www.amazon.co.uk/eBay-Business-Handbook-eBay-co-uk-ebook/dp/B005AJQD7U

There should be a little cause for celebration this weekend as Molly’s feedback is hovering just under the 35,000 mark - could be coffees all round.

Best wishes and happy eBaying

Mollybol



Author of the bestselling title, 'The eBay Business Handbook' - available direct from the publishers: www.harriman-house.com/ebaybusiness

The eBay UK Bulletin: Issue 238

The eBay UK Bulletin: Issue 238, 20th January 2012

Topics in this issue:

1. eBay news – Please don’t tell us

2. Watch those item specifics

3. Quick PayPal spoof

4. Ask Molly – Cameras or cake craft?


Hello and welcome to this week's edition of ‘The eBay UK Bulletin’.

I had a bit of a shock this morning whilst checking my daily stats - I noticed that my Power-seller colour had changed on my dashboard; it should be gold, now its silver! On closer inspection it is actually Platinum, what a relief. The Elves were pleased, had a quick cup of tea and went back to playing with their toys.

In the bulletin this week is a warning about item specifics that might just catch you out. And some advice on cake craft!

[For details of this newsletter, please scroll down to the end.]


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1. EBAY NEWS – PLEASE DON’T TELL US

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I am a law-abiding eBay trader and try not to break any rules. OK so I might bend a few now and then, but nothing blatant. I was a bit upset a few weeks back when I inadvertently listed a duplicate item. I was even more upset when it was removed and a minor violation added to my account. My fault, I should have been more alert.

Anyway with the bit between my teeth I now report any duplicate listings I find. I am not a vindictive person, I only report those sellers who are competing with me and breaking the rules. This reply from eBay winged its way into HQ.


“Hello Molly,

I've looked into your report. Be assured, all sellers are required to follow the duplicate listings policy. However, because we have just started to enforce this update to the policy it will take us some time to remove all the duplicate listings on eBay. We ask that you be patient as we work to find all listings that breach our policy and make sure members understand our new guidelines.

Also, please note that currently, we do not take action on reports of listings for breach of this policy. However, you can report listings that you feel are in breach of other policies to us and we will take the appropriate action on them.”



What a waste of time, I don’t think I’ll bother anymore.


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2. WATCH THOSE ITEM SPECIFICS

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“Hi Molly,

Have you or any of your readers fallen foul of the changes to the way item specifics are implemented? If not, it may help to be aware of them.

First, eBay have removed the option of a blank entry for some categories, e.g. date. This item in particular defaults to pre-1840, so unless whoever is listing spots this the date could be wrong.

Now, the solution to this is if you want a blank date is to remove this option altogether. Sounds simple and is, until you want to either revise, re-list or sell similar.

When you do any these things, it then re-enters all the specifics you have removed!!

Not an issue if you only have a few listings, but a real time consumer if you have lots to do.

Whoever is listing has to check the item specifics and remove any items that had previously been added by eBay.

I have spoken to eBay and the agent I spoke to was escalating it to whoever deals with these things. I think she called it 'business needs'.

I’d be interested to hear anyone else's experience and if it is a problem I would urge them to contact eBay.”


Trevorntl - http://stores.ebay.co.uk/Wrington-Online-Shop



I have indeed noticed this. My listings for electric fuses, which now nestle nicely with toys in the new shop, includes an item specific stating that each fuse is ‘one Amp’. Every time I add a new variant, a real pain. Hopefully this is just a short-lived blip.



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3. QUICK PAYPAL SPOOF

------------------------------------------------


This spoof is doing the rounds so watch out for it. There are no graphics in the email which is titled ‘Alert: Suspicious Payment’.

Note the incorrect spelling of process, the lack of the word ‘Dear’ and does anyone know what ‘Ł18.00 GBP’ means [Ed - even the HH editorial department would be disappointed to let this many mistakes slip through]?

-----------------------------------------------------------------



PayPal Customer,
You Made A Payment to www.thetattooshop.co.uk .
Your Ł18.00 GBP payment is in pending proccess.
If you didn't make this payment please login as soon as you receive this message and request a refund.

http://www.paypal.co.uk


Thank you,
PayPal
Purchase Protection Department.

-------------------------------------------------------------------



The link underneath the PayPal address is actually ‘http://200.x14x.37.67/vextra/index.html’ – looks like it could be somebody other than PayPal to me.


If you have seen a decent spoof lately, please let me know – Mollybol@ebaybulletin.co.uk



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4. ASK MOLLY – CAMERAS OR CAKE CRAFT?
------------------------------------------------


“Hi Molly,

I've been tinkering with eBay for around 12 years now and have been selling odds and ends for the last year or so, gradually getting reduced stock from different supermarkets, etc.

After joining eSources and being supplied with a copy of your book, I really want to take my eBay adventure to the next level.

The point of my mail is really to ask how did you find your wholesaler and how did you strike up a relationship with them?

FYI - my chosen stock is either digital cameras or cake craft items.”



This is a question that pops up quite often and it can be difficult to find the correct wholesaler especially when so many people are turning to eBay as a source of income.

eSources were great for me, I found and still have two good suppliers and although I do not spend a great deal of money with them at the moment, I do still get the phone when new stock arrives.

Having more than one source of stock has to be a good idea and it can be found in the most unlikely places. I have written much on this subject in past bulletins, all of which are now [Ed – finally] loaded onto the website www.ebaybulletin.co.uk - it might be worth making a large pot of coffee and wading through them.

One quick pointer for acquiring stock is to approach your local market traders who often get lines which they want to shift in one go. Here a full breakfast and several cups of tea usually breaks the ice.

I would be tempted to opt for cake craft items. It is a subject I know nothing about but I like the sound of it as opposed to digital cameras. I still believe that selling something you know all about is the way to go. The camera market is very competitive with currently 70,000 listings and could be ‘high risk’ to you as they are quite expensive and could be the target for scammers.


I would again check through all the competition in both areas and also consider that eBay does apply restrictions to new sellers in certain categories. Cameras may be one, I can't believe that cake craft would be.


If you have a question about eBay or home working in general, please send it to: mollybol@ebaybulletin.co.uk - I will reply personally to every e-mail I receive and remember, there are FREE copies of my book available for the best questions, tips, or stories.



-- END NOTE --


That's all for this week. Check out www.ebaybulletin.co.uk for the latest news from Molly HQ.


Good news for all readers who have been patiently waiting for the next literary work to emerge from HQ. I have finally been persuaded [Ed – bribed] to pen my 100 top eBay tips and the draft is at this moment being decimated by Craig (who also edits this newsletter and very well too).

It is likely to be available on Kindle in the near future; I’ll keep you informed. And in the meantime remember that the Kindle version of The eBay Business Handbook is available now for JUST £3.00! It has been flying off the virtual shelves - do you have your copy yet?

Best wishes and happy eBaying

Mollybol



Author of the bestselling title, 'The eBay Business Handbook' - available direct from the publishers: www.harriman-house.com/ebaybusiness

The eBay UK Bulletin: Issue 237

The eBay UK Bulletin: Issue 237, 13th January 2012

Topics in this issue:

1. eBay news – No thanks

2. Through the square window

3. Account hack - beware

4. Ask Molly – Will the Olympics make me money?


Hello and welcome to this week's edition of The eBay UK Bulletin.

It is a brand new year with the same old problem: ‘where is my item?’. There must have been a massive delay for parcels to Australia during December as I still have 20 or so missing. Memo for November 2012: block all overseas shipping, it is just not worth the hassle.

January should be a quiet month especially as the cosmetic shop is shut for a few days, however I decided to open a new toy shop and am now spending all day adding inventory and moving items away from the main shop. More on this below.

Also this week; an introduction to the items prohibited by some countries - essential reading for all eBay sellers.

[For details of this newsletter, please scroll down to the end.]


-------------------------------------
1. EBAY NEWS – NO THANKS

-------------------------------------


Several emails arrive at HQ each week asking which items would sell well on eBay and my standard reply is that almost anything will sell however there are a few exceptions if you are thinking of world domination.

Most countries frown on weapons, explosives and human remains, as you would expect. Here are just a few of the prohibited items from a selection of countries around the world; it can be a minefield, but thankfully toys seem to be OK in most places.


Bulgaria - “Musical” cards (cards that play a sound recording when opened).

Switzerland - Radar detectors.

Albania – used articles

Bahamas - Skimmed milk in tins.

Cyprus - Leeches and silkworms

Germany - Pulverized coca beans

Guatemala - Police whistles.

Ireland - Hay and straw, including articles made of straw.

Russia - Live animals except bees, leeches and silkworms.

Swaziland - Honey and preparations of honey

Tanzania - Japanese shaving brushes


At least you now know the best place to ship your leeches and silkworms.

For the full breakdown check this site - http://pe.usps.gov/text/Imm/ab_toc.htm

If you know of an unusual restriction, please let me know – Mollybol@ebaybulletin.co.uk


------------------------------------------------
2. THROUGH THE SQUARE WINDOW

-------------------------------------------------


The new toy shop is up and running (sort of). There's still a long way to go but the basic structure is in place. My main concern was to start selling; tinkering with the design and layout is important but not urgent. Sales in the first few days were around £500.

You can follow progress if you wish - http://stores.ebay.co.uk/Through-the-Square-Window

Starting from scratch is not easy; hopefully it should achieve Powerseller status within three months. In the meantime free postage should help promotion in the search results.

Breaking the toys away from the main shop will give me a lot more flexibility as I can keep one shop open and shut the other, or shut them both. This should be very handy during the coming months as a couple of new eBooks are on the radar [Ed - the Harriman House editorial team are sharpening their digital red pens as we speak].


-------------------------------------------------
3. ACCOUNT HIJACK - BEWARE

------------------------------------------------


A timely warning to kick off the new year; watch out for those spoof emails. Never log on to to any of your accounts using a link in an email.


“Hi Molly,

I would like to share with your readers my experience of having my eBay account hacked just before Christmas.

On 19 December I received an email from a "customer" saying that they were trying to pay for an item but it was showing up as no longer available. Oddly enough, this had actually happened several times during December with people having genuine and unexplained issues with the "Pay it now" button not working, so I clicked on the link in the email to see which item was causing the issue but it took me to eBay saying that this item number was wrong or had been removed. I then became suspicious and wished I hadn't clicked through so I deleted the email and hoped I'd be OK.

Then on 20 December I received an email from eBay saying that someone had hacked into my eBay account and I needed to change my password. I was suspicious of this email too but I checked for all the usual things as recommended to ensure an email is genuine then got on and changed my password as instructed.

Later the same day eBay rang me (all the way from Salt Lake City!) to let me know that the same person as before had hacked back into my eBay account by hacking into my email account and reading the email about me changing my eBay password. So now I had to change my eBay password again, my email password and (as a precaution) my PayPal password too.


The guy who hacked me had listed iphones in my shop and I presume had no intention of ever sending out iphones and presumably was working towards some way of getting the payment for them for himself. I have to say that I was hugely impressed with eBay’s actions in this matter as they dealt with it even before I knew of the issues and patiently talked me through everything I had to do to restore my account.

They removed the fraudulent listing too, which was great. As a side effect, they also removed 3000 of my feedbacks and 35 of my genuine listings and it took me about a week of contacting eBay before all of this had been restored and in the process about 8 listing never did return and I had to reconstruct them from scratch.

So, lessons learnt - all common sense and things we should all be doing anyway. Make sure you have different passwords for eBay, email and PayPal. Make sure you have an up-to-date knowledge of how many listings you have on eBay and your approximate feedback score so you will notice if any go missing! If possible, have the text, etc. for your permanent listings stored somewhere so if you have to redo a listing you don't have to try to remember what it said.”

‘Hazels-Homegrown2’ - http://stores.ebay.co.uk/Hazels-Homegrown


-------------------------------------------------
4. ASK MOLLY – WILL THE OLYMPICS MAKE ME MONEY?
------------------------------------------------


“Hi Molly,

I'm just starting out selling on eBay, like you I worked full time for a considerable number of years, and I no longer have the appetite to make money for somebody else!

Unfortunately, even though I'm an avid reader of your books, I'm still at the stage where I'm unsure of what to buy to sell - I just need to build a bit of confidence.

I would appreciate your thoughts on buying UK Olympic memorabilia - perhaps restricting myself to limited edition items?”


Major national events can certainly provide opportunity; in fact I think the UK government is pinning quite a lot on the success of the Games!

The Olympic idea could well fly if you can get the right items. I would be concerned about the post games potential and what could be done with any excess stock. I did notice that there are currently 4,500 items for the 2012 Olympics listed at the moment, things such as coats and clothing may have some value after the games, other items might become worthless. If you can get the right items at the right price and sell them quickly then you could do well, selling outside the UK could well increase sales.

General nationalistic items such as flags, towels, car stickers, etc., can be used for the next big event, but they need to be stored and the market does seem to be very competitive.

On a more general note I would suggest starting in a small way and then expanding as you gain more experience of eBay and selling in general.

As you know from the books I started by selling the kids’ toys from around the house and then buying used toys from boot-sales etc. The main business is now cosmetics which I would never have thought of in the early days and a small line in DIY products is developing nicely. What you start out selling may not be where you end up; the first step is the hardest. I have always said that if you understand the items you sell then it is easier.

General wholesalers will probably have Olympic stock, but again I would stress the importance of checking the competition and only buying what you can reasonably expect to sell.


If you have a question about eBay or home working in general, please send it to: mollybol@ebaybulletin.co.uk - I will reply personally to every e-mail I receive and remember, there are FREE copies of my book available for the best questions, tips, or stories.


-- END NOTE --

That's all for this week. Check out www.ebaybulletin.co.uk for the latest news from Molly HQ.

Christmas seems such a long way off now, but the nightmares of prolonged packing still linger. I did keep the shop open with a few sales on the big day and a very busy Boxing Day. The best sale I heard about was a Powerseller who took an order for an ironing board at 11.30 on Christmas Day - a last-minute gift for a loved one I guess.


The other main event of recent weeks is the end of Q3 so it’s time to get those accounts out and update the figures. If you had a good Christmas season keep an eye on your turnover, remember that VAT in the UK is calculated using a rolling 12-month period so it might be time for a short holiday!


Best wishes and happy eBaying

Mollybol


Author of the bestselling title, 'The eBay Business Handbook' - available direct from the publishers: www.harriman-house.com/ebaybusiness

The eBay UK Bulletin: Issue 236

The eBay UK Bulletin: Issue 236, 21st December 2011

Topics in this issue:

1. eBay news – Ireland VAT increase

2. Ouch!

3. End of year thoughts

4. Lovely spoof

5. Ask Molly – Can I make a buyer leave feedback?

Hello and welcome to this week's edition of ‘The eBay UK Bulletin’

That’s it for another year, just a case of ‘mopping up the gravy’ and then a welcome break. I will keep the shop open over the festive period as to live without a ‘ding, ding’ from the Blackberry every so often would be too weird!


Here are a couple of quick buyer questions to set the scene:

Item: Lancome - Black Glitter Cosmetic Make Up Vanity Case (30cm x 23cm x 12cm)

Question 1: Can you give me the length, width & depth please.

Question 2: Can you please tell me how deep this item is?


“Hi Molly,

I have just been asked ‘how may plates per set’ in my ‘SET OF FOUR RAINBOW PLATES’ listing.”

Giverny Gifts - http://stores.ebay.co.uk/GivernyGifts?



It’s a bumper edition of the bulletin to end the year and my apologies go to all readers that I missed out.

Loads of rants and thoughts this week and to end the year on a high note I have included a copy of the latest health and safety directive issued from Molly HQ – enjoy!

[For details of this newsletter, please scroll down to the end.]


-------------------------------------
1. EBAY NEWS – IRELAND VAT INCREASE

-------------------------------------


VAT rates in Ireland are increasing on 1 January 2012 to 23% - Happy New Year everybody!

Business sellers on eBay are reminded to amend their listings to include the new rates.

Full details - http://pages.ebay.ie/help/vat-increase.html



------------------------------------------------
2. OUCH!

-------------------------------------------------


“Hi Molly,

I would like to thank you for trying to help with my SMALL problem I have with suspension from eBay. I am still no clearer even though I have phoned Ireland and everything I could think of.

I do know now though that there was a seller (unbeknownst to me) who sells the same items as myself, buying items from me leaving bad negative feedback (FAKE FAKE AVOID AVOID) and then I read on the community boards that his goes on all the time.

I didn't believe it as in my naivety I thought we were all sellers together! I reported it and, well, it just goes to show that following p&p is not always the right thing to do.

I have closed my shop down as I see no point in giving eBay money for an empty shop, but am unsure what to do about my account as I still owe fees. It's been frozen anyway and the money in it is just dwindling away as eBay seems to be dishing out money right left and centre every day I check it. I have been informed of nothing and now cannot even see what items were posted but I was unable to mark off as dispatched. I will now open my own web page and try my hand at selling directly.”


carol_duncan


-------------------------------------------------
3. END OF YEAR THOUGHTS

------------------------------------------------


“Hi Molly,

I also think it's high time eBay stopped this dispatch/delivery fiasco - I have been banging on about it for years. I simply could not send stuff out any quicker yet it has the lowest of all my DSRs at 4.88.

Perhaps eBay could turn their attention to those sellers who charge excessive postage or don't put enough postage on the envelope as well. Often, in my experience, the two go hand in hand.

I frequently purchase items that have P&P at £2.50 or more and end up having to go to the sorting office to collect the package as the seller has put a 36p second class stamp on it and it's a large letter, not a letter.

Ends up costing me nearly £5!


‘thanks 4 the memory andrew’ - http://stores.ebay.co.uk/Thanks-4-the-Memory-Andrew?

-------------------------------------------------


“Oh my goodness Mollybol! Why does selling on eBay need to be so stressful with regards to Delivery/Despatch

It is ludicrous that our businesses' are in the hands of a handful of buyers (usually three) who rate our exemplary service on that of the carrier.

We close our shops to avoid damage to our account, we stop selling abroad to avoid damage to our account, we cross our fingers that each day we log onto eBay that carrier problems are few/none.

How can this benefit eBay if plenty of us close at Christmas for damage limitation and why on earth does eBay direct the buyer into a dispute rather than FORCE the buyer to contact us with their problem? No contact/No feedback/stars.


The buyer rating our service and impending restrictions/closure (and our livelihood/discounts/visibility) based on a third party is wrong ESPECIALLY when the buyer doesn’t contact us first (are we mind readers) eBay have set this monster in place.

I currently have a one and only neutral because Royal Mail has not delivered (I posted within 10 mins of order) and refunded in full as soon as I knew of this non-arrival. I also had a neutral feedback ages ago because I sent the item three times to a buyer who was using her landlady's name and the post was getting redirected to the landlady! I also had a low star rating for communication as the buyer said I didn't reply to her query (no message in my eBay and none in my email).

Three people is all it takes to wipe out my £50 monthly discount and, worse, my visibility - eBay has set the bar WAY too high.

I am actually fearful that my exemplary service will be in jeopardy this Christmas as I have one low for despatch, one neutral and I fear Royal Mail getting my items to the buyer in time for Christmas.

On top of everything else eBay have taken away the ability to bulk email our customers should problems arise (ash cloud, snow, anything,...).

I read on a daily basis on the Powerseller Board how stressful eBay selling is and it is evident that we all feel let down- super duper sellers who go WAY above what is required for customer service than any one of the outlets. Phew, I needed to get that off my chest.

My business should NOT be in the hands of three buyers (out of thousands of VERY happy customers)”

-----------------------------------------------


“Hi Molly

I am awaiting eBay’s ruling with interest on a customer who ordered an item that I no longer had in stock; they were promptly refunded.

The item was of course never shipped.

Three weeks later he is claiming it arrived in a damaged state!

I've requested he return it.

Can't wait to see what arrives.”


‘rhodiekiwi’ - http://stores.ebay.co.uk/rhodiekiwi


-------------------------------------------------
4. LOVELY SPOOF

------------------------------------------------


This great spoof arrived at HQ and if you know somebody called Sharon who is holidaying with her family in Spain right now; it might just catch you out.


---------------------------------------------------------

SAD NEWS..............HELP!!!!



I'm sorry for this odd request because it might get to you too urgent but it's because of the situation of things right now,I'm stuck in Madrid,Spain with family right now, we came down here on vacation unfortunately we were mugged at the park of the hotel where we stayed,all cash,credit card and cell were stolen off us but luckily for us we still have our passports with us.

We've been to the embassy and the Police here but they're not helping issues at all. Now, our passport is in the custody of the hotel management pending when we make payment. I am sorry if i am inconveniencing you, but i have only very few people to run to now. i will be indeed very grateful if i can get a loan of €2,250 EUR from you. this will enable me to sort our hotel bills and get a flight back home. I will really appreciate whatever you can afford in assisting me with. I promise to refund it in full as soon as I return. let me know if you can be of any assistance. Please, let me know soonest.

Thanks so much.

Sharon.

----------------------------------------------------

It makes a nice change from the usual PayPal spoofs; we all enjoyed this one at HQ.


-------------------------------------------------
5. ASK MOLLY – CAN I MAKE A BUYER LEAVE FEEDBACK?
------------------------------------------------


“Hello Molly,

I would like to ask you what to do if I don't receive a feedback from buyer after two months.

I know that after one month eBay will send buyer a reminder, but what to do if it doesn't help?

Also, what should I do if I receive negative feedback and the buyer doesn't want to revise it? How can I complain so it can be removed?”



Unfortunately there is no obligation on a buyer to leave feedback at all. I have now sold almost 60,000 things and the feedback is 34,000 so around 40% of buyers don't leave it.

If you do receive a negative you can ask the buyer to revise their feedback, there is a form to fill in which can be found from a link on this page - http://pages.ebay.co.uk/help/feedback/revision-request.html

I don't always use the system to revise feedback, I will contact the buyer and ask what went wrong as it might just be a simple refund, if they can be placated then I ask them to revise if they don't come back with more details about the problem then I just forget it. Saying that, I revised a neutral this week as it was for something I thought could not be faulty and it was in fact just a mistake.

If the buyer does not want to revise and the feedback does not breach eBay guidelines - http://pages.ebay.co.uk/help/policies/inappropriate-feedback-comments.html there is not very much you can do.

If you do receive a bad feedback you can of course respond. It is best to be professional and factual in this response, I used to be very restrained but have slipped into bad practice lately, I just can't help myself. I mean why would anybody keep something they are not happy with and not ask for a refund?



If you have a question about eBay or home working in general, please send it to: mollybol@ebaybulletin.co.uk - I will reply personally to every e-mail I receive and remember, there are FREE copies of my book available for the best questions, tips, or stories.



-- END NOTE --



That's all for this week. Check out www.ebaybulletin.co.uk for the latest news from Molly HQ.

And that’s it for another year too. Time to put the elves on short time and lock up the shed for a day or so. There is just time for this (slightly modified) important health & safety message sent in by Simon - http://www.sbarker.co.uk/. Wise words indeed.


Elf Directives for the Festive Season

Sleigh riding:

Any Elf travelling by sleigh this year is reminded to ‘buckle up’ before commencing the journey as a repeat of last year’s chimney incident could well invalidate personal injury insurance cover.


Leaving a sleigh unattended with its keys inside on cold mornings whilst trying to defrost windscreens can result in the insurance being invalidated – if stolen this will leave YOU with the financial burden of replacing the sleigh.


Elves planning to dash through the snow in a one horse open sleigh, going over the fields and laughing all the way, are advised that a Risk Assessment will be required addressing the safety of an open sleigh for members of the public. This assessment must also consider whether it is appropriate to use only one horse for such a venture, particularly where there are multiple passengers.


Please note that permission must also be obtained in writing from landowners before their fields may be entered.


To avoid offending those not participating in celebrations, we would request that laughter is moderate only and not loud enough to be considered a noise nuisance.



Carol singing:

Ear plugs are compulsory for all carolers and audiences as Noise Regulations require the management of risk to Elves and to the general public.


Christmas lanterns will of course require electrical (portable appliance testing) PAT tests before caroling can commence.


Snowball fights:

Elves are banned from snowball fights this year unless they can obtain full written liability disclaimers from all participants.


Additionally hardhats, goggles, respirators and chest protectors must be worn at all times. No more than three snowballs should be carried at once and all Elves must complete relevant Kinetic Lifting Technique training conforming to ‘The Manual Handling Operations Regulations 1992’ before commencing.


Snow Ball fight procedural checklist:

1) Stand close to the snowball and centre yourself over it with your feet shoulder width apart.

2) Tighten your abdominal muscles.

3) Keeping your back straight, bend your knees and squat down to the floor.

4) Get a good grasp on the snowball with both hands.

5) Keeping the ball close to your body use your leg muscles to stand up lifting the snowball/s off the floor.

6) Your back should remain straight throughout lifting, using only the muscles in the legs to lift the ball.

7) Do not twist your body when moving. Instead take small steps with your feet turning until you are in the correct position to throw.



Flock watching:

Benches, stools and orthopaedic chairs are now available for collection by any Elves or shepherds planning, or required, to watch their flocks by night. Whilst provision has also been made for remote monitoring of flocks by CCTV cameras from a centrally heated shepherd observation corner of HQ, all users of this facility must familiarise themselves with escape routes and are reminded that an emergency response plan must be submitted to account for any known risks to flocks or watchers.


Following last year's well publicised case, all Elves are advised that Equal Opportunities legislation prohibits any comment with regard to the redness of any part of Mr. R. Reindeer. Further to this, exclusion of Mr R Reindeer from any reindeer games will be considered discriminatory and disciplinary action will be taken against those found guilty of this offence.


Decking the halls with boughs of holly will not be allowed this year due to the increased risk of personal injury from Wood dust and sap. A ‘Control of Substances Hazardous to Health’ (COSHH) assessment has been scheduled for later in the year.



Finally, whilst it is acknowledged that gift bearing is a common practice in various parts of the world, particularly the Orient, everyone is reminded that the bearing of gifts is subject to Hospitality Guidelines and the Bribery Act and therefore all gifts must be registered.

This applies regardless of the individual, even royal personages. It is particularly noted that direct gifts of currency or gold are specifically precluded, while caution is advised regarding other common gifts such as aromatic resins that may evoke allergic reactions.

Best wishes and Happy Christmas



Mollybol



Author of the bestselling title, 'The eBay Business Handbook' - available direct from the publishers: www.harriman-house.com/ebaybusiness

The eBay UK Bulletin: Issue 235

The eBay UK Bulletin: Issue 235, 9th December 2011

Topics in this issue:

1. eBay news – Check those invoices

2. Dispatch vs. delivery ongoing

3. Back to the future

4. Quick spoof

5. Ask Molly – Should I ship or not?

Hello and welcome to this week's edition of ‘The eBay UK Bulletin’.

Christmas sales are still strong, but slowing, which is fine as I have become somewhat bored packing and wrapping. There is some good news as Molly’s feedback rating for postage has finally returned to 5.0 stars after a long uphill struggle.

Yesterday was a sad day at HQ as you will discover when you read on.

However, on a happier note read how a subscriber saved a few pounds following advice in this bulletin – it’s all part of the service.


[For details of this newsletter, please scroll down to the end.]


-------------------------------------
1. EBAY NEWS – CHECK THOSE INVOICES

-------------------------------------


“Dear Molly,

Your last eBay bulletin referred specifically to the featured listing error.

I checked my fees and guess what... same error.

It is so easy to make and once it’s in your listing template it repeats.

The lady I spoke to needed a little more persuasion than yours but agreed with me in the end.

I'm going to pay fees weekly going forward and check carefully (something I am embarrassed to say I don't often do).

Thank you so much for this extremely useful info.”



‘rhodiekiwi’ - http://stores.ebay.co.uk/rhodiekiwi



M – it’s my pleasure, as I learn so will I share.


I do think I have found out why this particular problem occurs. During the revision process you will need to click the continue button in order to move onto page 2 of the ‘sell your item’ form.

Some browsers take some time to load, Google Chrome seems to be the worst so there is a temptation to double click (or more) the continue button. Immediately under this button on page 2 is a tick box for the ‘featured listing’ option; if the page loads halfway through the frantic clicking this box will be checked.


A warning to Elves everywhere – calm down [Ed - it's only eBay]!


------------------------------------------------
2. DISPATCH VS. DELIVERY ONGOING

-------------------------------------------------


You may recall that last week I included a reader’s comments regarding the ongoing debate over the speed of delivery impacting on feedback for dispatch.

Yesterday was a dark day at Molly HQ when the whole of the USA was blocked from all Molly’s eBay items across all IDs. This has nothing to do with guys in the US, we love America in fact one of the Elves is dating a delightful chap from Long Island – nice big house! No, this is the final straw regarding dispatch vs. delivery and the eBay feedback system.


An e-mail arrived at HQ:

“Important: Improve your seller performance to avoid limits on your account.”

“Dear Mollybol,

Your seller performance is below standard under the eBay.com seller performance standards programme.

We'd like to help you improve your seller performance, so that you can continue to list at the same volume and avoid limits on your account.

Based on your ratings, we recommend that you focus on communicating promptly and professionally, and dispatching your items promptly and informing your buyers.”



I mentioned a while back that my TRS status had been removed in the US, now it has fallen below standard due to a handful of buyers marking me down for dispatch time. At HQ items are shipped the same day and often within the hour, so dispatch times are pretty good, and as eBay now send all the dispatch e-mails the buyers should be aware of the dispatch date. It is the bit in the middle that slows things down – the delivery.



Things are going to get worse in the run up to Christmas as this article in the Daily Mail suggests:

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2070845/Christmas-gift-delivery-chaos-expected-Couriers-ALREADY-struggling-cope.html


So I have now blocked any sales into the US to limit further damage to my stats. This will impact on my profits and reduce revenue to eBay but enough is enough.

Please make the distinction somewhere between feedback for dispatch and buyer comments on delivery times.

The other line in the e-mail was the suggestion that I should be ‘communicating promptly and professionally’ with my buyers which did annoy the Elves a little as Molly has 100% satisfaction in the communication category.

If this fiasco continues I can see Molly becoming a domestic only seller, not ideal for a UK in need of export revenue.



-------------------------------------------------
3. BACK TO THE FUTURE

------------------------------------------------


“Hi Molly,

I read with a little chuckle your story from a customer who left negative feedback because a one size only item was the wrong size. I think I have one that may give you a little chuckle too. I had an email through eBay about a week ago from a potential customer in America who asked if I would post to there as they really wanted the little soaps I was selling, I checked the Royal mail site and sent them a message saying it would cost £2.93 air mail from the UK to USA.

They then bought the item on a Sunday evening, I dispatched them on Monday at 11am and when I came back to the house to confirm they had been dispatched the seller had left me three words on the feedback "Very Slow Shipping", thankfully they added them to a positive rating. Now given that I had just left the post office some five minutes prior to post the item I thought I’d better check if my DeLorean was still outside with Michael J Fox in it and the flux capacitor in full flow!


‘morebrands4less’ - http://stores.ebay.co.uk/Morebrands4less



-------------------------------------------------
4. QUICK SPOOF

------------------------------------------------


Just space to slip in a quick PayPal spoof courtesy of ‘Greatvalue111’ - http://www.ebay.co.uk/sch/Greatvalue111/m.html?



-----------------------------------------------------------

From: aw-confirm@accounts.co.uk
Subject: New PayPal personal message
Date: Sun, 27 Nov 2011 16:16:09 -0600

Dear Customer,

We recently have determined that different computers have logged into your account, and multiple passwords failures were present before the login. therefore your online account has been blocked.

To restore your Online account please download and fill the form attached to this e-mail.
Once opened, you will be provided with steps to restore your acces.
We appreciate your understanding as we work to ensure account safety.

Note: Only submit your information via this secure link.
Do not submit your information via email since this is not a secure way of sending sensitive data.
----------------------------------------------------------------

This spoof also contains an online form which when filled in should keep somebody in Nigeria smiling for quite a while.



-------------------------------------------------
5. ASK MOLLY – SHOULD I SHIP OR NOT?
------------------------------------------------


“Hi Molly,

I have a vintage cutlery set for sale on eBay and I have stated that I will only ship outside the UK ‘IN EXCEPTIONAL CIRCUMSTANCES’.

Someone from Sydney in Oz has asked if I would send it to them if they pay the shipping, my gut feeling is ‘no’ as they only joined yesterday with zero feedbacks.

I do not judge that as we all have to start somewhere but it is a long way if it turns out to be dodgy and it is a very valuable. I know in your book you say be very wary of these types of things.
Any advice is greatly appreciated.”




I would be tempted to leave well alone, things just don't stack up, the buyer is outside of the UK, has zero feedbacks and joined yesterday. It may be that this is just the thing they have been waiting for all these years and they joined eBay just to buy your cutlery set however I would wait for a more established buyer in the UK.

It should be fine to post within the UK using an insured carrier, but quite heavy I should think.

Imagine how you would feel if it got lost in the post or the payment was reversed, it makes me shudder just thinking about it.



If you have a question about eBay or home working in general, please send it to: mollybol@ebaybulletin.co.uk - I will reply personally to every e-mail I receive and remember, there are FREE copies of my book available for the best questions, tips, or stories.



-- END NOTE --


That's all for this week. Check out www.ebaybulletin.co.uk for the latest news from Molly HQ.

The subject of insurance for eBay traders crops up from time to time in this bulletin as it can be quite hard to find. In response to this Molly has asked a clever reader in the world of business insurance to put together a proposal tailored towards eBay traders.

Although still very much on the drawing board I would like to canvas opinion from you the bulletin readers to see if such a policy combining home and business insurance in one policy would have any legs.

If this is something you might consider given all the usual caveats (especially price) please let me know – mollybol@ebaybulletin.co.uk if enough readers think it might work we will develop the idea further.


Best wishes and happy eBaying

Mollybol



Author of the bestselling title, 'The eBay Business Handbook' - available direct from the publishers: www.harriman-house.com/ebaybusiness

The eBay UK Bulletin: Issue 234

The eBay UK Bulletin: Issue 234, 1st December 2011

Topics in this issue:

1. eBay news – Contact

2. Dispatch vs. delivery

3. PayPal spoof

4. Reader’s rant – Shill bidding

5. Ask Molly – How can I spend my Dollars?

Hello and welcome to this week's edition of ‘The eBay UK Bulletin’.

Sales are still full steam ahead and last week included my best ever day's turnover. I have stopped adding more inventory and will probably run with my current active listings which are around 550, down from 650. A short sale in time for Christmas delivery should see all my targets hit and then time to put the old feet up for another year.

In the bulletin this week is a stark warning about your monthly eBay invoice.

Also a reader’s rant of epic proportions – kettle on first!

[For details of this newsletter, please scroll down to the end.]


-------------------------------------
1. EBAY NEWS – CONTACT

-------------------------------------

Over the past five or so years the subject of contacting eBay has cropped up in this bulletin more than a few times and not always in a favourable light. Well, I must mention it again and this time from my personal experience.

It all started with a monthly invoice for one of my minor accounts of £360. I only have 400 listings active and sales for the month amounted to less than £1,000 so 400 x 10p plus 10% of £1,000 should be in the region of £140. Alarm bells started to ring.

Upon investigation of the current invoice (my eBay – account tab – right hand side/select invoice) I found four charges for ‘Featured First Fee - Special Duration’ each one costing £44.95. Regular readers will know that I am far too mean to buy any add-on features, especially for items selling at £4.99.

This listing upgrade can be selected on the final page when revising an item by ticking a box. Never do this, it just isn’t worth the money. I may from time to time forget the date, lose my way commuting to the shed and send the wrong hand cream, but I never ever get my numbers wrong.

Time to contact eBay and it worked like a dream, following the ‘contact us’ tab I was given an 0800 number with a PIN. The phone was answered within minutes even though this was a Sunday and the customer services lady looked into the problem, agreed that it was totally out of character [Ed- even the US knows how mean you are!] and initiated a credit to the account.

I was impressed so praise where praise is due (tick, V.G.)

Lessons to be learnt from this adventure:

1) Anticipate how much your monthly bill should be

2) Check your online invoice each month looking for obvious problems.

3) Contact Molly for a lend of the eBay 0800 number.


------------------------------------------------
2. DISPATCH VS. DELIVERY

-------------------------------------------------


“Hi Molly,

I wanted to comment on something that was raised in the last bulletin.

I would entirely agree that eBay should do something about the dispatch/delivery issue. I always dispatch items either on the day they are purchased or at the very latest the next working day.

Although it is lovely to receive positive feedback, it often relates to my fast delivery of items. However, I don't actually deliver them - I dispatch them! If items are delayed (or even worse, lost) by the Royal Mail it is entirely outside my control.

I have raised this with eBay but it does not appear to be a priority for them. I would really welcome a change in the feedback for dispatch. Buyers might want to give a positive for dispatch time but a negative for delivery but have only the one place to give this. Maybe if eBay also included an extra section for delivery then buyers would realise there is actually a difference between the two.


‘londoner1525’ - http://stores.ebay.co.uk/Crafting-Angels


-------------------------------------------------
3. PAYPAL SPOOF

------------------------------------------------


Here’s a quick PayPal spoof currently doing the rounds. If you spot something like this, just forward it on to me and then delete.

------------------------------------------------------

12 Nov 2011 01:31:21 AEDT
Transaction ID: 3E687391972R3624O



You sent a payment of $137 AUD to eBay International AG (AU-ebay-eom-fees@ebay.com )

It may take a few moments for this transaction to appear in the Recent Activity list in your Account Overview.



Merchant Instructions to merchant
eBay International AG You haven't entered any instructions
AU-ebay-eom-fees@ebay.com
+61 61282880000



Description Unit price Qty Amount

$137 AUD 1 $137 AUD



Subtotal $137 AUD

Total $137 AUD



Payment sent to AU-ebay-xxxeom-fees@ebay.com

Invoice ID: 641552839



Issues with this transaction?
If you belive this is an error please follow the link below and complete the instructions.
On the confirmation page, press the 'Cancel Payment' button to confirm. Your payment will be cancelled and the funds returned to your PayPal account.

https://www.paypal.com/xxxxxxxxxxx/helpweb?cmd=_help.

Please do not reply to this email. This mailbox is not monitored and you will not receive a response. For assistance, log in to your PayPal account and click Help in the top right corner of any PayPal page.

To receive email notifications in plain text instead of HTML, log in to your PayPal account, go to your Profile, and click Notifications.

-------------------------------------------------------------

There are a couple of things to note with this spoof, firstly there is not a description of the item and secondly the word believe is spelt wrong – as usual.

If you spot a spoof, please send it in – Mollybol@ebaybulletin.co.uk


-------------------------------------------------
4. READERS RANT – SHILL BIDDING

------------------------------------------------


“Dear Molly,

The reason for my missive this time is twofold. On the one hand I was NOT amused to wake up Friday morning and find that eBay had decided I was guilty of shill bidding, had restricted my account, marked my seller dashboard with Very Low policy compliance and insisted I take a tutorial before logging into my account again.

On the other hand, however, after much gnashing of teeth and rending of clothing I did manage to get the eBay representative on the end of the chat-line to agree in writing that eBay had been wrong – YES, eBay HAD BEEN WRONG!!!!!!!!!!!!! – unheard of.

I have included the full conversation transcript below and if you have the time to read through it, you will notice how initially it was incredibly difficult to keep calm.

Why is it that their replies never answer your question? The moral is I feel that if you can hold off from banging your head on your desk for long enough and keep shortening your comments until they have no option other than to address them, you might actually, eventually get an answer. If you must persist, you might even get justice!

‘Tortchyboy’ - http://stores.ebay.co.uk/Green-Light-International



eBay

Welcome to eBay Live Help. How may I help you today?

Tortchyboy

Hello, I have been accused of shill bidding which I deny. I have completed the tutorial but my policy compliance on eBay is now very low. I thought to commit shill bidding you had to bid on items, I have not done this, the only items I have bought were Buy It Now.


eBay

Hello there. I understand that you'd like to know more about your policy compliance status. I'll be happy to look into this for you. While I'm reviewing your account, are there any additional concerns you would like me to address for you today?


Tortchyboy

Yes. I have NOT committed shill bidding.


eBay

Please bear with me for a few moments while I look into this.


Tortchyboy

No problem, thank you.


eBay

Thank you for waiting. I have checked and can confirm that your policy compliance rating is Very Low due to shill bidding. This will be removed on your account on 22 Feb 2012.


Tortchyboy

I know that but you are not hearing what I am saying, I did NOT commit shill bidding.


Tortchyboy

It is unfair for eBay to just decide that I did this for no reason and punish me; it is like conviction without a trial


Tortchyboy

I completed the tutorial so I now know what eBay's shill bidding rules are and I do not believe I broke any of them

Tortchyboy

To commit shill bidding you must bid on an item, I have not


Tortchyboy

The only items I have purchased from a relative were Buy It Now; that is not shill bidding



eBay

I see that your account was restricted to listing using Buy It Now format only because of a breach of eBay's Shill Bidding policy. This restriction will last for a minimum of 14 days.


Tortchyboy

I know all this; you are not telling me anything I do not know. My point is I DID NOT DO SHILL BIDDING please address that point


Tortchyboy

I DID NOT BREACH THE E-BAY SHILL BIDDING POLICY - What do I do about that?



ebay

I can understand why you'd like more precise information. Your account was found to be involved in Shill Bidding with the following associated account: **************


Tortchyboy

I know all that but to commit shill bidding you must bid - I did not. The items I purchased were BUY IT NOW.


Tortchyboy

Am I correct? To commit shill bidding you must bid, is that right or not?


eBay

Let me check.


Tortchyboy

Thank you.


eBay

Thanks for waiting. We've checked our internal records again. While we make every effort to ensure that we only take action in cases where we have all relevant evidence, unfortunately it appears that in this case, the action on your account was taken in error. I apologise for the inconvenience.



Tortchyboy

Thank you. Does this mean that the very low policy compliance will be removed?


eBay

To assist you with this matter further, I need to get assistance from my colleagues in the relevant department. I will now send them your issue and all the information on your account to save you from having to explain again. You will receive a response from them via email.


Tortchyboy

Thank you for your help. Can you just clarify for me that the Very Low Compliance rating on my e-bay account will be removed?


eBay

You're welcome. I'm afraid we don’t have the tools to look into it in a detailed manner so I will need to refer you to our relevant team in this case.



Tortchyboy

Okay. At least you have confirmed that I did nothing wrong. Hopefully, as the Very Low Policy Compliance was imposed in error by eBay, they will decide that it is only fair they should remove it. I will wait and see.


eBay

Looking forward to have this matter resolved. Thank you for using eBay Live Help. Have a great day.



M – Wow, two full cups of coffee.

If you want to get it off your chest, feel free – Mollybol@ebaybulletin.co.uk


-------------------------------------------------
5. ASK MOLLY – HOW CAN I SPEND MY DOLLARS?
------------------------------------------------


“Hi Molly,

I was wondering if you could advise me on a PayPal matter?

I have received a payment in US dollars into my PayPal account from a sale via eBay.com (I mainly sell on eBay.co.uk) and although this payment is included in my overall total amount when I come to transfer the money to my bank account this US amount is not included. Do you know how to transfer this to my primary PayPal account?

‘pennyyork’ - http://stores.ebay.co.uk/pennyyork



>From the main 'My Account' PayPal summary page select the 'profile' link and then 'my money' next to 'PayPal balance' is a link to 'currencies' where on the right side is a currency converter.
Select the destination currency in the drop-down menu: if the one you choose is new for your account, you will automatically create a balance in that currency.

Use this service sparingly as exchange rate conversions never make us money do they?



If you have a question about eBay or home working in general, please send it to: mollybol@ebaybulletin.co.uk - I will reply personally to every e-mail I receive and remember, there are FREE copies of my book available for the best questions, tips, or stories.



-- END NOTE --



That's all for this week. Check out www.ebaybulletin.co.uk for the latest news from Molly HQ.

My new packaging slips have arrived and I am very impressed, they give the impression that I actually know what I am doing.

Check out ‘bluestarprint’ - http://myworld.ebay.co.uk/bluestarprint/?


Total sales on ‘mollybol’ have now edged past 53,500; that’s a lot of packing slips!

Best wishes and happy eBaying

Mollybol



Author of the bestselling title, 'The eBay Business Handbook' - available direct from the publishers: www.harriman-house.com/ebaybusiness

The eBay UK Bulletin: Issue 233

The eBay UK Bulletin: Issue 233, 16th November 2011

Topics in this issue:

1. eBay news – Shareable wish list

2. Christmas so far

3. This and that

4. Reader’s rant – eBay reimbursement

5. Ask Molly – Is there still opportunity on eBay?

Hello and welcome to this week's edition of ‘The eBay UK Bulletin’.

A slight lull in sales and the first thing I think of is bashing out another bulletin, life is just one big roller coaster of thrills.

Sales are speeding along and these have pushed Molly’s feedback over 33,000, with no more negs. so far.

You can catch up on the holiday season activity at HQ below.

A great reader’s rant this week; scroll down for more on this.

[For details of this newsletter, please scroll down to the end.]


-------------------------------------
1. EBAY NEWS – SHARABLE WISH LIST

-------------------------------------


It has been operational for a couple of weeks now and I just wondered if any readers have used the new service. The Elves have updated the HQ wish list and as luck would have it their dreams came true when a delivery of assorted bubble bags was followed by three rolls of bubble wrap and an outer of sticky tape. It's going to be a great Christmas!

‘Easipack’ still seems the best value for your ‘oo’ & ‘1’ bags - http://stores.ebay.co.uk/EasiPack?


The ‘sharable wish list’ is on eBay.co.uk and eBay.ie and allows you to let friends and family know what gifts are on your mind, to be bought on eBay naturally.


The three-step sharing process is:

Create: Adding an item to your eBay wish list is simple. Once you find the item you want, click ‘Add to wish list’ on the View Item or Product Detail Page.

Customise: Customise your wish list page with your choice of theme, such as holiday, birthday, or anniversary.

Share: Share your personalised eBay wish list with others through email or Facebook.

Full details: http://pages.ebay.co.uk/help/buy/wish-list.html


------------------------------------------------
2. CHRISTMAS SO FAR

-------------------------------------------------


Molly was hoping for a busy Christmas period and so far things are going to plan. I am not too keen on working this hard, but as the intention is to hibernate during Q4 (actually I don’t plan to be working very much until next September) every sale counts.

Active listings are up to around 650 which is three times normal volume. Imagine a cross between Del’s flat, Arkwright’s stock room and the American Pickers’ shed and you have a picture of HQ right now.

Stock is everywhere, every so often an Elf moves it from one pile to the next and eventually it leaves by the front door.

Here are a few Molly stats to accompany your coffee time:

Month-to-month sales growth: +81%

Sold items: +53%

Unpaid item disputes running at 2.5% of sales.

eBay fees up 110%


It is the toy categories which are of most interest at the moment as most of the Elves also moonlight for Santa and might even help in their eventual delivery.

The big surprise this year has to be ‘Build A Bear’ which is flying out, even the local myHermes agent bought a bundle whilst picking up parcels – doorstep selling in reverse.


Top 5 toy sellers:

1. Thomas the Tank Engine
2. Lego
3. Polly Pocket
4. Peppa Pig
5. Fisher Price


With November sales rising even higher there’s not much time for coffee at HQ. [Ed – I don’t believe that for one moment.]



-------------------------------------------------
3. THIS AND THAT

------------------------------------------------


“Dear Molly,

I have a question regarding buying stamps on eBay and using them for postage. Can I use these stamps on anything I send, even packets, or are they just used for letters and large letters and can you recommend a good seller of stamps?

Also how can I find out how many stamps to put on heavy or large items? I'm fairly new to selling on eBay and this would be a great help.”


‘flex_sales_centre’ - http://stores.ebay.co.uk/Flex-Sales-Centre



Yes, each stamp has a value and as long as the total equals the required postage amount then any combination can be used.

First and second class stamps also have a value, second class is currently 36p, so 6 x 2nd class stamps = £2.16 which is the rate for second class post into the UK up to 500 grams.

The Royal Mail publishes postal rates on its website www.royalmail.com. Weigh your item and select the appropriate price tier for the service you want and then add up your stamps until you have enough. Watch out with small parcels as you can soon run out of room using lower value stamps.

eBay is a great source of stamps with savings around 12%, saying that I can't find anything of interest at the moment, the prices are going a bit too high because more sellers are looking for postage savings at this time of year.

Regularly use the search by ‘newly listed’ for ‘BIN’ items and you should strike lucky.
--------------------------------------


“Hi Molly,

Although I have only used eBay for buying, I can sympathise with the seller who recently voiced the complaint in your bulletin.

When a seller has notified me that an item has been dispatched to me quickly, but it takes a considerable time to be delivered, I make sure that this is reflected in the comments section of the feedback form. It might be something like: "Excellent service was let down by poor courier".

Perhaps it would be useful if eBay had a rating system for the performance of couriers & carriers, with criteria like efficiency, cost, speed of delivery, care of handling, etc. This would allow sellers to select ones which would be the most likely to provide satisfactory service.”
----------------------------------------



“Dear Molly,

Just writing to commiserate on your recent negative feedback - we have just got our first!

Buyer moans about wrong size sent but listing says one size only!

No communication whatsoever before giving us a negative but it can be explained, I suppose, because they only have nine feedbacks - perhaps they will understand the system more when they get more experience. I do wish eBay would make some sort of allowance for this kind of thing.”


M – Don’t get me started.



-------------------------------------------------
4. READERS RANT – EBAY REIMBURSEMENT

------------------------------------------------


“Molly,

Firstly, I had a buyer open a dispute through eBay to complain that their item had never been delivered. I find this irritating anyway when people do this rather than contacting me directly to discuss the issue - it reminds me of children running to tell their mum!

Anyway, because I just stick things in the post box I didn't have proof of postage so they found in the buyer's favour and refunded their money. Not that that is an issue as I would have refunded the buyer without quibbling if they had contacted me directly.

But then eBay sent me a reimbursement reminder telling me that I had to pay eBay for the money that they had refunded to the buyer or else my account would be suspended. It offered me a link to find out more about this but rather than telling me how to do it the link only told me why I should do this. It took about three weeks for me to finally manage to get in contact with the right section of eBay and to get a response explaining how to do this.

It was made more ridiculous because eBay only told me what I needed to reimburse in dollars but would only allow me to enter Stirling into the payment box so I had to work out what the amount should be by using a currency converter.

I received (as predicted) another eBay reminder about the reimbursement so I decided I ought to ring someone at eBay to get it sorted out once and for all.

Have you ever tried the "contact us" section on eBay? It is the most frustrating thing - sending you through loops of standard answers rather than providing you with an email or phone number to use. Eventually I clicked on an irrelevant question just so it opened up the bit that allows you to ring them.

I was on hold for about 8 minutes before it offered me the option to have them ring me back. To do them justice, they rung back within a couple of minutes. A very pleasant woman rang me and after I explained the problem she told me I was talking to the wrong part of eBay and she transferred me to the correct section, which put me back on hold.

After about 10 minutes I spoke to another American woman (are these people actually in America?!) who had to put me on hold for long periods of time to get assistance from her manager. By the time the call ended, I had been on the phone for over 40 minutes and all for the sake of £3.91 which I had already paid to eBay and just wanted to let them know that I had!

So how cost effective was all that for eBay?!

Hazels-Homegrown2 - http://stores.ebay.co.uk/Hazels-Homegrown

As ever your thoughts are most welcome – Mollybol@ebaybulletin.co.uk

-------------------------------------------------
5. ASK MOLLY – IS THERE STILL OPPORTUNITY ON EBAY?
------------------------------------------------

“Hi Molly,

I recently purchased your book. Super read, loved it!

I have been chewing over the idea of eBay for some time now but there is one thing which seems to keep coming up in all the business forums, etc. I get the feeling that every person and their dogs are jumping on the eBay bandwagon which is starting to make it very hard to make a profit.

Now I imagine that you get emails like this all the time but I can't help thinking that it would very hard to make any profit. People have this idea that 'anything' sells on eBay yet myself and others have listed things which have never even sold, or had 1 bid at say 99p (not ideal on an item worth £20).”



http://stores.ebay.co.uk/The-Dukes-Vault




I know what you mean about eBay being oversubscribed, competition is forcing down the margins on my cosmetic sales as others join the fray.

It is still possible to grab a piece of the action, choosing the right item to sell is essential.

To counter the reduction in margins Molly has started selling a third cosmetic brand – ‘Lancome’. Again its early days as the market is full but the last 3 months have seen significant sales with the new brand hitting third place by turnover behind Estee Lauder and Clarins.



I have now opened a small part of my shop to DIY products and in the last 90 days sold £4.5k of boys' toys, including 180 fuses worth £1,500. I am still researching the market and looking for better supply but if things continue upwards in this way then I will break the business into its own shop as it doesn't really fit with cosmetics.

Two of the Elves are at university and have their own shop selling used designer clothes. They seem to have sufficient funds to live on pizza and party most nights.

There are of course many hurdles to overcome, finding the right stock being high on the list. Find a niche market rather than go head-to-head in the DVD category


My key buzz words are 'get rich slow' and eBay is ideal as you can practice whilst working elsewhere. There are a few tricks of the trade which is where the book and 230 back issues of the bulletin come in handy.

So, yes, it is still a great place to be especially as economic gloom is forcing people away from the High Street and online looking for a bargain or second-hand item. I'll be there waiting for them to visit.


If you have a question about eBay or home working in general, please send it to: mollybol@ebaybulletin.co.uk - I will reply personally to every e-mail I receive and remember, there are FREE copies of my book available for the best questions, tips, or stories.


-- END NOTE --

That's all for this week. Check out www.ebaybulletin.co.uk for the latest news from Molly HQ.

I am also keen to support new eBay ventures especially when I can save a few pounds along the way. This week’s ‘Molly’s best buy’ is ‘bluestarprint’ - http://myworld.ebay.co.uk/bluestarprint/? for your leaflet requirements.



I am running very low on compliments slips and prices at my usual printer have risen again. ‘bluestarprint’ will knock me up 5,000 A6 colour slips for £50 delivered (use your Quidco account and save the cost of a small latte). Not only this, but they helped with the artwork and guided yours truly through the process which was no mean feat!



If you need packing slips etc, just drop them a note at artwork@bluestarprintsolutions.co.uk and mention the bulletin. Maybe my next lot will cost me £45.



Best wishes and happy eBaying



Mollybol



Author of the bestselling title, 'The eBay Business Handbook' - available direct from the publishers: www.harriman-house.com/ebaybusiness