AC lives
by acdickson
Haven't had too much time to flap my jaw lately. AC and the missus are on the way out of Dodge. We found a place in Los Angeles(pronounced Ang-ga-less) and are fixing to be on the road this week with a full Budget truck. We're going to be camped out on the West of end of Los Felix (as in Felix Navidad) for the next year. Rent money doesn't get you quite as much as down there as it does in Portland, but we got a pool and a parking space. That's as good as gold down there in the Southland.
eBay listings have been scant latetly aside from selling off my friends Matthew Barney artifact collection for a handsome profit. I will have some vehicles up for sale in the next few weeks and will be putting up some interesting rock and early jazz ephemera up for sale in mid-February.
If you're in the Portland area, I hope to see you on March 2nd at Reed College. The AC Dickson: eBay PowerSeller seminar is blowing back through town. It's a mere $5 for non-Reedies. Figure on a 7pm start time, 6:30 to get a good seat.
Now, if you've been to one of my seminars, you know I list something during the show to demonstrate how it's done and done right. In the past I've auctioned off such finery as lunch with yours truly or a two hour personal eBay consultation.
I need some suggestions on what to auction at Reed. A afternoon tour of thrift store hot spots with AC (plus lunch at his favorite place for quite reflection southeast's Sun Rice)? Maybe a month long eBay pen pal relationship with AC?
Any ideas?
Inspire me.
Posted on January 30, 2005 | Comments (3)
So long Portland (for now)
by acdickson
Portland and eBay are to me, inextricably linked. It was here 9 years ago that I learned the hills of another man's trash at the local thrift store were my treasure. It was here five years ago that I learned of the mighty power of eBay.com and the ease of turning my new found treasures into cash. It was here a year ago that came to share my learned wisdom and became the most respected eBay speaker and teacher in the Northwest. But it's time to share these gifts with others.
In a month my fiancee Susan and I will be moving to the Southland –– the greater Los Angeles area.
We won't be gone for good. The idea is to come back after we're rich and famous (or at least have some big city adventures). And since we're keeping a room up here, you won't even miss us.
In fact, if you haven't seen my life-changing seminar AC Dickson: eBay PowerSeller, we'll be back in early March to give the masterclass at the Reed College Arts Week. March 2nd to be exact. Mark it on your calendars, more details forthcoming. The seminar is getting ready to travel. In May I'm going to be bringing the eBay gospel over to the UK, and we've got semniars in Pittsburgh and New York City in the works. Bide your time, the AC experience will hit your town sooner or later.
For those of you who live in Portland, you won't hardly miss us. And for the rest of you, the pearls of eBay selling wisdom will continue to spew forth through this vessel.
In the meantime, a sell-off is going down.
If you're in the Portland area, we're having a big old garage sale on the 15h and 16th of January. 2323 NE Rodney Ave. Lots of great stuff, free coffee. Come on by and take a look.
If you don't live in Portland (or even if you do), no worries, I've got great stuff for auction right now on eBay. Check it out.
It's the end of an era to be sure. I'd like to conclude with some sweeping statement that sums up the last 9 years up and my hopes and dreams for the next chapter, but I'll simply say that life is good. Especially when PowerSelling 10 hours a week is your job, and the other 158 hours are your oysters.
Posted on January 4, 2005 | Comments (8)
Happy New Year, Let's Ship!
by acdickson
It's been awhile, my eBay faithful. Been having some problems with the old iBook during my holidays travels. Being self-employed is wonderful, but there is no IT department in the home office.
Recently, I got an email from Josh, a repeat commenter. Josh has been newly initiated into the world of eBay selling. Congratulations. But there is a snag. The problem? Shipping management skills. Josh, this one's for you.
AC Dickson's primer for never losing money on shipping.
First. You will use the United States Post Office. It's the right thing to do. I'll be damned if I'm going to let the oval office privative all of the great public institutions of this fine country. Yes, FedEx and Brown and that upstart yellow colored company spend a lot of money on Super Bowl ads, but how much are they going to charge you to send a letter? A hell of lot more than 37 cents. Plus they don't insure your package for as much as the USPS. And they tend to get things there late or never. At least the USPS doesn't lie, they give you a sense of when things will get there, but no promises of there by morning that are inevitably broken. And how about the workers? Yes, the office window clerk at the post office can be ornery now and again (I'll address etiquette in the future), but poke your head around enough and you'll make some friends. Are you going to tell me that the guy picking up your FedEx package is going to have the same salary, job safety (both figuratively and literally) and benefits over a career as the letter carrier? Naw-ah. Don't let me catch you get done by Brown (the shipping company formerly known as UPS). Doesn't it make you grin to realize that some ad agency execs got paid millions of dollars to change an established company's name to what conjures up in my mind something foul and scatological? Would you really want to support and condone that mentality?
Second. Get yourself a scale. No, not one of those $45 computer ones, find a nice $2 kitchen scale at a thrift store (and be on the lookout for stuff to sell when you're there).
Third. Put usps.com in your website favorites list. This site allows you to check the postage of any item by weight for the US or even overseas.
Fourth. When you're getting your item listing ready to post onto eBay, put what you want to sell in a box or envelope (whatever you're going to send it in plus packing material as necessary) and weigh it. Round up the nearest pound. Plug that number into the USPS domestic calculator. It will ask you to enter the weight of the parcel, you can now do that. Next it wants the zip code you're shipping from (yours) and the zip code you're shipping to. Choose a zip code as far away as possible. Like Portland, Maine or Miami for you West Coasters, San Diego or Anchorage for you Easties. I use 20896, my folks house in Maryland. If the winner lives in your state, you end up making a little extra on the deal, such is life. Then you need to enter in if it's a package or letter. Finally you'll get about 10 different amounts for as many shipping options. Find the priority mail amount for the size package you'll be sending the winnings in. Round up to the nearest dollar. If something is heavy (over a pound), don't even bother with cheaper shipping options (unless it's books). They get priority or nothing.
In the body of description, explain "winner adds $xxx for priority mail shipping. Optional insurance is extra." Assuming you allow for Internations bidders, add "International bidders should email for a shipping quote." When and if people email from afar, you go back to usps.com and find the international shipping calculator — http://ircalc.usps.gov/ and figure out how much to ship to their country. In such cases, I usually give them the global priority option and the airmail option (rounding up in either case to the nearest dollar or two). I have come to avoid the boat or surface option as it takes 4-6 weeks and often never arrives. This put you in a refund the money or suffer negative feedback conundrum.
Now for the caveats.
Books. Use the media mail rate. Books are really heavy, so for US shipping, give people the option of priority mail or book rate. On a 10 pound book the difference will likely be $10 or $12. You should feel free to round up at least a dollar for book rate. When you ship priority mail you can use the free boxes and envelopes the post office provides, but in non-priority situations, you gots to provide your own.
Stuff under a pound. I sell a lot of postcards and assorted turn of the century ephemera. Most of weighs a few ounces even after I put a piece of heavy cardboard on either end so it doesn't get damaged in transit. Hence, I tend to offer a standard $2 for 1st class or $4 for priority mail deal. The 1st class rarely costs half that much, but I got to provide the envelope myself, so I feel entitled the extra scratch. No one seems to mind much. If you sell CD's, you might do a $2.50/$4 split or even $3/$4 spilt. Or just keep it simple and offer only priority, you're the boss.
Sounds complicated. It kind of is, but so is putting in writing instructions for how to tie your shoes. You'll get the hang of it.
Your cardinal rule is thus: when in doubt, overcharge for shipping. If you overcharge someone $5, you can refund a few bucks if they complain (they seldom do), but if you've agreed to send something for less than it costs to ship it, don't ask the buyer to pay the extra shipping. It's tacky.
Remember, eBay selling is one of the most unselfish, ecologically sound, faith in humanity actions you can take, but you're still entitled to make a profit.
Posted on January 4, 2005 | Comments (106)