The Smurfs Are Back! New Smurf Movie 2009

The word on the street is that there is going to be a new Smurf Movie in 2009. Rumor has it, it may be part of a trilogy. The Smurf Movie may also be in 3D (though it is unlikely the characters will be).

Well, I know what you are asking, "Why are you bringing up the Smurf Movie? What do Smurfs have to do with eBay?"

Well eBay friends I will tell you. This post is a trend watch, and I am guessing that The Smurfs will be the hot new trend.

I am assuming this will be similar to the Transformer trend of the past. I am sure there will be a lot of marketing to promote the New Smurf movie in the next year, so now is the time for you to take action.

I recommend that while you are out at garage sales, or if you see any cool smurf items on the internet, or have any at home, that you hang on to them until the movie comes out.

I Sense a high demand for smurf items on the horizon, so keep your eyes peeled and get ready to jump on the Smurf Movie Bandwagon.

The Importance of reporting Non-Paying Bidders

It is very important that all sellers with non-paying bidders file non-paying bidder alerts and final value fee credits 10 days later if payment is still not received.

Filing the FVFC has better results than leaving negative feedback - a buyer with three FVFC filed from three different sellers is suspended (usually) from using E Bay. Leaving negative feedback only gets a buyer suspended when their feedback number gets into the negatives (usually -3, but sometimes even that doesn't occur).

It is also important to file for the correct reason - that the buyer didn't pay. If they don't pay, don't file "mutually agreed to cancel the transaction" - that does NOT place a black mark against the buyer and allows the buyer to continue doing the same thing to other sellers.

If you review a buyers feedback and see they have more than three negatives for non-payment, you can assume that not all of the sellers file or know to file the FVFC.

Sellers must help each other by filing these forms to get these habitual non-payers off of E Bay.

Please read and use this link to file NPB's and FVFC on all non-paying bidders:

http://pages.ebay.com/help/sell/bidders_nonpaying.html

Additionally, you will have your re-listing fees refunded as well if you file the NPB and FVFC, relist and the item sells.

Until E Bay starts restricting bidders with NPB's from bidding on other items, the only way we can help each other as sellers is to file the FVFC's to get these buyers suspended.

New Niche for eBay: It is time to go GREEN

In the last three years there has been a large increase in the amount of companies that are projecting a "greener" image to promote a friendlier, pro-environment outlook. Some of them are obviously just using the term "green" to seem like a less evil corporation, even though they still exploit workers, and the environment.

Anyway, I have not noticed a parallel shifted toward "greenness" on eBay. It seems that sellers are not taking advantage of one marketing ploy they can rightfully claim.

What I am saying is, you should go Green on your eBay advertisements. Most of the small sellers find their goods at the Goodwill, and they should capitalize on this. It should not be, "yuck I got it used." It should be, "Awesome, I saved this from a landfill, I'm making it available for someone who really wants it, and I'm going to sell it for a profit."

There are a lot of ways to take advantage of the Green Movement. You can use a statement in your eBay ad that says, "we use recycled materials to package your product." Recycled meaning that you use packaging supplies from craigslist that were just going to be dumped otherwise.

You should tell your potential bidders that they are doing the right thing by purchasing from you because there is nothing more environmentally friendly than buying used goods. Talk about how they are saving things from landfills by buying used, and creating less waste and demand for new items.

There are many ways to go "green" on eBay. In addition to advertising your recycling practices, you can find a niche in selling new items, like clothing, that have been made in an environmentally friendly way.

If you sell shoes, you can market them as vegan or eco-friendly if they do not contain any animal products (and hopefully are not made out of PVC).

Be creative, and let the green revolution become a profit booster. Support it, and it will support you!

Changes to eBay's Gallery Pictures

Now that eBay has made the Gallery pictures free, it is going to be a little harder to stand out from the crowd based on the sole fact that you have a gallery picture, while others do not. I am not saying that all people will use the gallery, but I am guessing the majority will.

However, if you want your gallery pictures to stand out, there is a step you can take to make sure your gallery picture draws the most attention.

I am sure that you have noticed that there are some gallery pictures that look larger than others. When sellers just upload regular pictures off of their camera, they are normally in a 400 x 600 pixel type format. Meaning, they are rectangular.

In order to get the largest picture available on the searches, you are going to have to crop your picture to be a square. When it is a square it will completely fill out the space that eBay provides for your gallery picture, and it will look larger than the majority of your competition!

When cropping your picture into a square, you can also put a small border around the edge to make it pop out even more than the competition.

For example, the green border stands out the most:



Also, now that everyone has a gallery picture added to their description, it might be worth it to spring for the extra subtitle to really set your auction apart from the others.

This may take extra work and money, but it will be worth it when you are getting more bids than your competition.

Good luck.

What Sells on eBay? Children's Series Books like Animorphs

Children's Series books like Animorphs are another thing to keep an eye out for while you are at Garage sales looking for items to sell on eBay. There are two reasons why these are great:

1. You can find them at most Garage sales in the Suburbs
2. You can buy them for cheap and resell them for a good profit.

When I say you can buy them for cheap, I am talking five to ten cents per book. When you find them at a garage sale, offer to buy them all for a nickel a piece. After that, you can always go a little higher depending on the series.

Here is a list of several good children's book series to look out for:

• Animorphs by K.A. Applegate, Published by Scholastic. Series includes 54 books with 10 Companion books. Books resell for about $1 per book, if series is complete, up to $2.50 per book.
• Box Car Children by Gertrude Chandler Warner, Series includes 113 books. Re-Published by Scholastic. Newer books resell for $1 per book, Original series for much more.
• Captain Underpants by Dav Pilkey, Published by Scholastic. Series includes 9 books and counting. Books sell for at least $2 a book, more if newer books are included.
• Goosebumps by R.L. Stine, Original Series includes 62 books, Goosebumps series 2000 includes 24 books. Published by Scholastic. Resell for about $1 per book.
• Junie B. Jones by Barbara Park. Series includes 27 books. These resell for about $2 per book.

This is by no means an exhaustive list of books to sell on eBay. This is only a primer. You should do some research yourself, and make sure these are actually viable options, make a list of how much you would be willing to sell per book, etc...

Unlike selling other things on eBay, it is best not to split these up into smaller lots. But to try to sell them all together. The more complete the set, the higher your price will be. If you have an almost complete set, it might be worth it to buy the missing book on Amazon.

Happy hunting.

How to Buy and Sell LEGOs on eBay

Are you wondering what else you can sell on eBay? Do you have some extra room in your eBay Store? You should try to sell LEGOs! They are a very collectible item that sell very well on eBay. One of the best things about selling LEGOs is that they are easy to find!

When buying and selling LEGOs on eBay, it is important that you completely avoid dealing with all LEGO knockoffs, do not buy or sell mega blocks, or building blocks of the same caliber.

Methods of selling LEGOs.

• Sell lots of 1 lb lots of LEGOs (going price is about $5-$10 per lb.)
• Sell minifigs (the little LEGO men).
• Sell specialty pieces separately (large base pieces, flowers, guns, etc...).

These are the main three avenues of selling Legos on eBay, and if you get into selling them, you will probably be doing all three.

I recommend having a store where about 90% of your LEGOs can be bought, and then having about 10% of your LEGOs in auctions. The auctions should be for things like higher end minifigs and 1 lb lots of LEGOs.

Make sure you tell your customers to visit your store for more great LEGO products in all of your auctions!

Where to find LEGOs:

• Your Closet
• Garage Sales, and Thrift Stores
  
• Craigslist.com often has LEGO lots to buy locally without having to deal with the competition of other online bidders.
• eBay is the only other way to get a reliable source of LEGOs.
  

Buying LEGOs on eBay to Resell:

• When buying LEGOs it is a good idea to buy them in bulk.
  
• You can get the best prices for lots ranging from 2-6 lbs. Make sure you include shipping into the cost of acquiring your Lego stock.
  
• Stay away from buying larger lots at first. Buying small lots will give you practice in separating the good LEGO auctions from the bad ones.
• Make sure the auction says 100% LEGOs, you do not want to buy other toys or garbage, and it is also good to buy ones that have been cleaned. Look closely at the picture to make sure it is a quality lot!

Coveted LEGO Items:

• When buying LEGOs it is good to keep on the lookout for some of the more popular items.
• For example, Generic LEGO Minifigs sell for about $1 each, and they fetch a higher price if they include accessories.
• If you find minifigs from the themes: Western, Space & Pirate they are worth about $2-$3 each, Castle are worth more: $2-$10, and Star Wars are worth the most $4-$25. One Darth Maul minifig sells for up to $30!