Tuesday, January 31, 2006

Bravenet

I missed mentioning Bravenet which has different levels of service depending on need. They also send out some informative emails with how to advice but its mixed in with emails from various "parteners" who are selling services. Not too bad though, lately its VistaPrint and Cafe Press which are reputable and affordable.

So here are the details on http://www.bravenet.com/

They started out as a webmaster tools site and you can still get some cool additions to your site there: http://www.bravenet.com/

Bravenet Free account 1.5 GB of bandwidth* 50 MB disk space Easy Builders Web-based FTP Free Templates Advertising supported

Bravenet Basic account @ $4.95/month 30 GB of bandwidth* 1,000 MB disk space 30 email accounts Free domain name** 30 sub domains Easy Builders 500+ FREE Site Templates

or Premium @ $6.95/month 100 GB of bandwidth* 5,000 MB disk space 2,000 email accounts Free domain name** 200 sub domains MySQL Database PHP Enabled Easy Builders FrontPage Extensions 500+ FREE Site Templates

Monday, January 30, 2006

Webspace

Sometimes you need webspace so it becomes handy to have a website or webpage. I have quite a few where I store bits of information, pictures, charts, and links to other sites. I highly recommend avoiding sites with pop ups since people really hate them, if you want people to visit your site. There are many free sites to create your website, blogs, and image hosting sites too so it doesn't have to drain the bank. You can look to see if your Internet Service Provider allows you some webspace or try one of these: http://www.freewebspace.com/ http://www.00freehost.com/ http://www.01webspace.com/ http://www.100webspace.com/web_hosting/free_plan.html I found these sites here: http://www.free-webhosts.com/ but am going to be cautious with them at first. Another place to look for free hosting: http://www.100best-free-web-space.com/freeHosts.html Microsoft is Beta testing their new webspaces, Basic continue to be free after Beta testing is over but all levels are free now. http://officelive.microsoft.com/WebHosting.aspx I have not tried any of the above but I am looking for a new site to put the pics for http://bluesbaby.8k.com since it looks like I will outgrow the 12Mgs of storage allowed there. I do like their site and they have been reliable so I may keep some pages there at least for a while. I've also used MSN Spaces and Blogger (where this is located along with my other blogs.) View my profile for more of them. My MSN Spaces is another Blues oriented site with some cool links and pics on it. http://spaces.msn.com/bluesbaby-us/ I highly recommend Blogger for ease of use and features! Here is a basic tutorial on how to create a website: http://personalweb.about.com/od/basicwebdesigntips/a/tutorial.htm

Sunday, January 22, 2006

Discussion Groups on EBAY

Learning new stuff every day on eBay. They have discussion groups where you can learn from other sellers, some are better than others. For example I belong to 2 different groups on vintage items. One is very active "Blast from the Past" with threads teaching basic HTML, various word games to play, sharing info about vintage items, helping identify obscure things, and sharing about family and pets. In other words developing a community of friends selling similar items. The other group shall remain nameless as there is very little activity and no opportunities to learn but it is starting to pick up so perhaps it was just the holiday season. I will continue to visit periodically as I seek ways to better my sales.

Friday, January 20, 2006

Learning about 3rd party image hosting

If you haven't downloaded Irfanview at: http://www.irfanview.com/ Do it now. With it you can crop, rotate and resize any pic. Well the time has come to start adding more pizzazz to my auctions and online presence so I have set up accounts with http://www.villagephotos.com and http://photobucket.com/whatsnew/whatsnew.php to host pictures (for free) to add in the middle of the text for an eBay listing. These were free and easy to sign up for. With the free Photobucket account you get 50 MG's of disk space, 2500 MGs of monthly bandwith, and maximum size of 250KB. With both free and premium accounts you get direct linking, html and img generated tags to insert in your listing, (whooohoo no coding), mobile uploads and sub abums. Villagephoto offers a Page Designer HTML Tool, Easy Image Upload, FTP Access, Optimize and Rotate JPEG Images, Online Greeting Cards, and Unlimited eBay and Yahoo Auctions Image Usage on their upgraded memberships but the Free plan allows 50 images with a maximum size of 250KB, a max of 800 MB monthly transfer and 800 MB in total auction usage. On Villagephotos they provide a wonderful tutorial:
  • To get an image from your computer to an eBay auction: You need to log in, then click on the Photos tab, and select an album from the list by clicking on the its link. This is the album you'll upload images into.
  • Using the "upload new images to this album" link to get to the upload form.
  • Use the "browse" buttons to locate the image files on your computer you want to upload.
  • Hit the Upload button to send them to your account here.
  • Return to the Photos tab, select the album again, then you'll see thumbnails of the images you uploaded.
  • Click on a thumbnail on the album page to get to the "image URLs and tools" page that contains all the URL's and codes you'll need to use the image.
  • In the top sectdion of the Image URL and Tools page is the "public image URL" you can use for eBay listings!
  • Copy that from URL our site by highlighting it and choosing Edit / Copy on your browser's menu.
  • Paste it to the "Picture URL" field on eBay to include your image on the auction.
  • You can also use the "HTML IMG Tag" line we give on the "image URL and tools" page to add additional images in your auction's description.
  • Make sure if you're adding HTML codes to your description, you're using the "Enter your own HTML" description entry box!
  • Always preview your auction to make sure images are added correctly! The result is the auction with a picture embedded in the text http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=5079462391&ssPageName=ADME:B:EF:US:1

Sunday, January 15, 2006

Correction

Oooops now I only have a pair of the Betty Boop slippers in small, but lots of vintage Avon, books, movies, software, and Valetines gifts for sale.

Tuesday, January 10, 2006

More news and resources for auctions

If you don't use Irfanview for photos you may want to try this free download which requires PC Running Windows 98, NT, 2000, XP, ME, etc. and Netscape Navigator or MS Internet Explorer (browser optional) To create a gallery of details and closeups, drop the same photo into each frame and zoom in to show a particular detail.http://www.isdntek.com/clicpic.htm

Another free Image Converter http://www.etrusoft.com/graphic-converter/

Or you can compress photos online http://thumly.com/

More etools like Image Magnifier, Shadow Blending, Button Generator, Border Maker and more http://www.isdntek.com/etools.htm

News and resources from todays new source http://auctionbytes.com/cab

Boy the auctions and websites have to keep improving now!

This site offers

  • Calendar showing good and bad days to end auctions
  • Collectors' Links for many kinds of learning and collectible identification
  • Bookshelf - selling books
  • Fraud Resources -many links here
  • Auction Site Chart with Fees
  • Auction Management Chart with Fees
  • Payment Services Chart with Fees
  • Storefronts Chart with Fees
  • Sniping Chart with Fees (some are free)
  • Consignment Services Chart with Fees
  • Ecommerce Resources - ads, affiliates, check out, email lists, and much more
  • Photo Tips (wow did I learn about lighting)
  • Bill the Postman - Tips from a postal worker

Since I have a non paying bidder right now this was fairly interesting. http://www.ebayersthatsuck.com/main/index.php

Monday, January 09, 2006

Zoicks.com

Wow this could keep me busy for a long time.

First from http://www.zoicks.com/ebaylinks.htm

Found some great Tips and Tricks for Ebay

Zoiks has:

  • Things from very basic
  • How to Create your own 'About Me' Page
  • Accepting Cookies
  • Learn how to Copy, Paste and Cut
  • Step-by-Step Beginner's Guide to Becoming an eBay Seller
  • Irfanview Free Image Editor
  • How to Create Clickable Links
  • Using MSN as a Host

to much more complicated things like:

  • Adding Backgrounds to your Auction Page
  • Adding images to your auction with HTML code and an outside image host
  • ANSI Character Set
  • AOL Uploading Help and Fuzzy Pic Syndrome Help
  • Jazz Up your Ads with Auction Templates
  • A Background Color Selector
  • Blocked Servers that Disallow Remote Linking
  • How to Clear your Browser's Cache
  • Color Chart
  • Step-by-Step Beginner's Guide to Becoming an eBay Seller
  • Copyright Infringement
  • Free Online Counters
  • Digital Camera Recommendation & Photography Tips
  • eMail Form Sends Auction Number in Subject Line
  • Using FrontPage as an HTML Editor for your Auctions
  • Just a Few Fun Things for Auction or 'About me' Page
  • Create a Gallery Link to your Auction Items
  • eBay Gallery Pictures FAQs
  • HTML Practice Board
  • Free/Pay Image Hosting Sites
  • How to Add Multiple Images to your eBay Auction Page
  • How to Put your Name on Your Images
  • Create Your Own Nested Tables Template (Triple Backgrounds)
  • Jazz Up your Images with Photo Frames & Borders
  • Smiley Faces - Over 900 of Them!
  • Embedding Background Sound in your Auction or 'About me' Page
  • How to Stitch Images
  • How to Insert your Webpage into your Auction Page
    • Sunday, January 08, 2006

      Finding more and more things to add. Some is vintage and some brand new. These slippers are available in small and medium.

      Thursday, January 05, 2006

      First things first - set up accounts

      First things first. When you start to sell on eBay you need some basics: an eBay account, an email account, and a Paypal account.

      You probably have bought some things on eBay so you have an account with some feedback. That is good since people will be more likely to trust you if you have some positive feedback.

      A separate email account is not required but it does keep things sorted out for you. Your ISP probably offers you multiple accounts or you can go to http://www.Yahoo.com or http://gmail.google.com/ to get a free email account.

      Paypal is essential to sell on eBay. It's the only method I use for Payment and with a Premier account I can accept credit cards, checks or direct transfers from bank accounts. People who use eBay are used to using Paypal. Becoming Paypal Verified puts another level of trust out there for your customers.

      A digital camera is pretty necessary to get the photos you need without spending a fortune. You also need to get a photo editing program. EBay University recommended Irfanview which is a free download at: http://www.irfanview.com/

      he other thing they recommended at eBay University is Notepad for lots of things, even creating listings because it adds no formatting or other characters. I store all kinds of things there, html cheet sheets, listings I am likely to modify and reuse, backgrounds in html format, lists of book titles, wording I may want to paste into a listing, etc.

      To use: click start, all programs, accessories and notepad should be in the drop down. If you can't find it there you can search for it from the start button and then double click the result that shows as an application.

      To work with Notepad, once you open it, just type in the small window. I like to check word wrap under the format drop down so it doesn't run off the page. I have a shortcut on my desktop too since I use it pretty much every day.

      It's very handy and doesn't close when you get one of those horrible "Microsoft has encountered an error and needs to close" messages that make me want to scream.

      Monday, January 02, 2006

      New Beginnings

      Image hosting by Photobucket

      Jewelry-Avon-and-All-That-Jazz

      Well it's a new year and the new business is moving along. If you would like to see what I have been up to click here: http://stores.ebay.com/Jewelry-Avon-and-all-that-Jazz

      The store was started mid December and is slowly expanding beyond the original jewelry and vintage Avon.

      There are many tutorials, guides, and help pages right on EBay to get you started. You just have to know where to look:

      Site Map ~ http://pages.ebay.com/sitemap.html

      Get started selling ~ http://pages.ebay.com/sellercentral/newsellers.html

      http://pages.ebay.com/storefronts/glossary.html

      Setting up the store http://pages.ebay.com/help/specialtysites/customizing-your-store.html

      http://pages.ebay.com/community/chatter/2004october/stores.html

      Fees ~ http://pages.ebay.com/help/sell/fees.html

      A to Z help page index ~ http://pages.ebay.com/help/index/A.html

      Reviews and Guides written by other members http://reviews.ebay.com/

      Sunday, January 01, 2006

      Sterling Silver Rings with Gemstones



      Sterling Silver Rings with Gemstones




      Image hosting by Photobucket






      Image hosting by Photobucket






      Image hosting by Photobucket








      Image hosting by Photobucket








      Image hosting by Photobucket








      Image hosting by Photobucket






      Silver without Gemstones






      Image hosting by Photobucket






      Image hosting by Photobucket






      Image hosting by Photobucket








      Pendants



      Sterling Silver Pendants (most with Gemstones)




      Image hosting by Photobucket






      Image hosting by Photobucket






      Image hosting by Photobucket












      Butterflies with Shell






      Image hosting by Photobucket






      Image hosting by Photobucket














      Sterling Silver Rings