I Opened up a Store!
by acdickson
That's right folks, AC Dickson is now the proud owner of a store! Not a "bricks and mortar" store, folks. A "hits and clicks" on-line emporium. Where? on eBay of course.
Right now, eBay is running a special where you can open a eBay store and the first month is free.
Personally, old AC is kicking himself for not opening one sooner. For a relentless promoter like myself, having a store is a synch. See, the main drawback with a store is that you have to steer a lot of the traffic to your store yourself.
For instance, if you search the eBay search engine for "AC Dickson." You'll find my How to PowerSell DVD and PowerSeller Zine. But that's only because no one else on eBay is selling something with "AC Dickson" in the title. If on the other hand you search for "zine", you're going to find dozens of zines for sale, but no listing of the zines for sale in eBay stores like mine. Sure you can click down on the lower left side on and see what's in the stores, but most people just aren't going to bother.
Thusly, for most folks generating store traffic is squarely on their own shoulders. But let's watch AC in action do just that! See, storeowners like myself need to get members like yourself to click here and add my store to your favorites. That way you'll get a periodic email from either AC himself or eBay telling you all the wonderful things I'm selling. And don't think that I'm above asking my friends, fans and kin to do that same. I'll have a steady stable of customers in no time, just you watch.
The other nice thing about a store if you can fold over anything that doesn't sell at auction into the store. Personally, I sell about 60% of what I post. Sometimes I relist them, but often times I lose the time it spent to scan or photograph, describe and post them. Not to mention the 35 cent (at least) insertion fees. That adds up when you're selling, or not selling, a thousand or so auctions a years. From here on out, and I can relist the unsold items in my store. The best part? It's only 2 cents a month to have them there. 2 cents!?! That's nothing. Plus a gallery picture is only another penny!
The other catch? eBay will take a little bit more of your sales compared to auctions, 8% instead of 5.25% for the first $25. Still, over the long haul, I think this is the only way to have a sustained eBay presence. Gone are the days of having empty cupboards, AC is from here on out a lean, mean, selling machine.
Now, what's store going to cost? Assuming you're just looking to get your feet wet, only $15.95 a month (first month free!). They have what they call a featured store for $49.95 a month and an anchor store for $500 a month, but there's no real reason to get into the extra space and bells and whistles they offer unless you're really hitting paydirt with basic store.
Truth be told, folks, my interest in eBay has been on the wane lately. July is historically one of the worst eBay months, and the constant need to make new listings to keep my selling page full has put me under a strain as my various other interests have taken off as of late.
But brothers and sisters, opening a store has put the pep back in my step. The general store is open for business, and no superstore is putting me out of business.
Posted on July 27, 2005 | Comments (0)
Back in the Game
by acdickson
AC's been neglecting his eBay selling lately, but he's back with a vengeance.
I've got no less then 44 auctions set to "pop off" this coming week, so I want to point out a few of them.
Any Apple computer users out there looking for NIB (that's "new in the box" in title talk) External DVD Burner? AC bought it from the Apple store then realized it was more time efficient to hire the big boys to make his DVD's. Still has the $189 price tag on it, selling right now for a mere $125. If I've said it once, I'll say it again, electronics are the best deal on eBay. Period. Just make sure you've dealing with a reputable seller.
But enough about lining AC's pockets. Philanthropy is my middle name. In fact, right now I've got 10 auctions up to benefit the Trey McIntyre Project. Trey is a world renowned Ballet Choreographer with Portland roots who has exhibited his work the world over. This year he's launched his own company which is rehearsing AS WE SPEAK for their summer tour of hot spots like Aspen, Vail, Boise and so forth.
Personally, I used to know Trey as a nice friendly guy who I'd often run into at various Portland parties. We always had a nice chat. Later in the evening he'd inevitable be engaged in a rather serious drunken wrestling match with a fellow party goer. But I never knew what he did until a few months back my friend Anne (a Oregon Ballet Dancer who also dances for Trey) asked me about conducting an eBay auction for his new company. I was somewhat surprised to learn that Trey was not a Grecco-Roman wrestling champ but instead a ballet choreographer who's worked on several continents.
Since it's a non-profit company, they've signed up with eBay partner Mission Fish which allows me very easily to list their auctions like I would any other auction. On the selling page with minimum bids and picture uploading, I choose a can any registered non-profit to donate to and can choose a percentage of the winning bid to go directly to said non-profit. Since Anne collected all the items to be auctioned, Trey and friends will get 80% of the winning bid, just under 10% will cover the eBay and PayPal fees, just over 10% will be my commission. I sell the items, Anne ships them off. Everyone wins.
Non-profits should seriously consider signing up for a Mission Fish account and finding an AC to help them with a fundraiser. It'll show past and potential donors that you're trying an unorthodox method of money raising that is both fun and rewards patrons with a tax deductible prize. And you aspiring AC's looking to broaden your auction web might knock on a few non-profit doors and give them a soft sale on giving it a try.
So what are we selling? As always, you can see everything I have for sale right now, but I suggest taking a special look at these auctions...
Fans of international ballet will surely want to pair of pointe shoes autographed by the famous ballerina Nina Ananiashvili.
Fans of modern dance, art, celebrity and the NYC Village scene of the gay 70s worship at the alter of After Dark magazine. We've got 17 back issues of After Dark ready for the taking. If you're in the dark, click on the link and see the light.
Anyone who knows Portland man about town Erin Long surely knows he can do things with yarn humanity simply did not deem possible before his arrival. For the ultimate conversation piece, I suggest bidding early and often on the most mind-blowing mushroom cluster yarn wall sculpture ever made. AC might even have to put in a proxy bid on this one. It's too hot to handle.
Helping out an arts organazation and getting a wonderful dance collectble or piece of art. Does it get any better than this? And remember, it's tax deductible. Thanks again, eBay.
Posted on July 17, 2005 | Comments (0)