International Shipping

Tip #1 Don't use UPS for overseas shipments. The USPS is your best choice. They have several shipping options available for shipping overseas. Some of them can't be insured. As far as forms go that's a piece of cake. There are 2 different customs forms and both are easy to fill out. You can get all the information on them at your local post office. You can go to the USPS Index of Countries and Localities click on countries to get more information on shipping requirements.

If you take the item to your post office, they will give you a little green form for items under 4 pounds (PS Form 2976). It is fairly simple to fill out. Remember to be accurate on the form like "child's dress $10.00", not something like "retail items $10.00". Something like that increases the chance of customs opening the box and the risk of something getting lost or damaged. These can also be ordered from http://www.USPS.com

If you use Pay Pal shipping and you want to use Global Priority mail, you can print everything you need right there. Global priority mail has a flat rate envelope that ships pretty cheap or USPS does provide boxes and envelopes too. You can have these materials shipped directly to your location. http://www.USPS.com

Economy post is the "slowest way" to ship anything international and hase a bigger chance of getting lost. I will usually only ship Airmail or Global Priority mail. UPS is one of the most expensive ways to ship internationally and they tend to overcharge your customers on taxes and fees.

Make sure you put in your listings to have customers contact you prior to buying for a shipping quote, as each country is priced differently.

Use U-Pic for insuring your international packages as they are easier to deal with when making a claim. I require all of my international buyers to pay insurance.

Disclaimer for International Buyers:

Orders outside the US may be subject to import duties & taxes, levied once a shipment reaches your country/region. Additional charges for customs clearance must be borne by you; we have no control over these charges and cannot begin to predict what they may be. Customs policies vary widely from country/region to country/region; you should contact your local customs office for further information. Additionally, when purchasing from me, you are considered the importer of record and must comply with all laws and regulations of the country/region in which you are receiving the goods.

Mixing colors right

There is a big difference between just slapping random color on a page and looking good while you do it. This is a great set of tools to improve readability and color contrast, validation tools for image and links, even view your page in grey scale to see the contrast. This maybe more for a website but if you have templates you reuse it may be worth checking them with these tools.
http://juicystudio.com/services.php#localtools

More color scheme and accessibility tools here for the more advanced user http://uitest.com/

Measurements

If you are to sell clothing on EBay measuring the items is a must.

MY GUIDE TO MEASUREMENTS: All measurements are taken with garment laying flat. The easiest way to check fit is to compare the measurements with something you currently own that fits you well.

Coats I usually do some flat and some hanging with coats.

• Length (collar seam to hem)
• Bust (outside measure coat closed)
• Collar seam to cuff (outside)
• Shoulder seam to cuff (outside)
• Back (Shoulder to shoulder outside)
• Inside (armpit to armpit)
• Sweep (bottom edge of coat)

Other clothing

• Shirt lengths = shoulder to hem
• Jacket lengths = bottom of collar to hem
• Dress lengths = shoulder to hem
• Skirt lengths = top of waist to hem
• Chest = armpit seam to armpit seam and then doubled
• Sleeve = top of shoulder to end of sleeve
• Waist = across waist (or narrowest part of garment) and then doubled (Elastic waist will be stretched comfortably and given a range)
• Across shoulder = measured in the back of the garment from shoulder seam to shoulder seam
• Pant Length = measured from top of waist band to hem
• Inseam = measured from crotch seam to bottom hem
• Front Rise = top of waistband to crotch seam
• Thigh = measured at widest point
• Bottom Hem = measured across & doubled
• Hip = Taken at bottom of zipper (in pants & skirts) or across widest part of garment and doubled
• Waist (see above)

Ebay offers guides to measurement as well

http://search.reviews.ebay.com/measuring_Clothing-Shoes-Accessories_W0QQfgtpZ3QQucatZ11450QQuqtZg

More Image Hosting

Unlimited bandwith and size

http://reg.imageshack.us/content.php?page=faq

and http://www.theimagehosting.com/faq.php

Hot Linking thumbnails only http://www.pictiger.com/faq.php

When you need more try: http://www.free-webhosts.com/free-image-hosting.php

http://members.freewebs.com/

Next

http://help.blogger.com/bin/topic.py?topic=44 more to learn here http://cgi3.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewUserPage&userid=shipscript http://search.reviews.ebay.com/Auction_eBay-User-Tools_W0QQucatZ20924QQuqtZg http://search.reviews.ebay.com/Auction_Everything-Else_W0QQfgtpZ3QQucatZ99QQuqtZg http://search.reviews.ebay.com/Auction_Everything-Else_W0QQfgtpZ2QQucatZ99QQuqtZg http://search.reviews.ebay.com/ws/UCSearch?satitle=Auction&ucc=b http://reviews.ebay.com/Selling-Ebooks-amp-Other-Digital-Goods-on-eBay_W0QQugidZ10000000000078555

Sales slump

Sales dipped sharply in March, perhaps taxtime did it. Looking a little better now that April is here. I did participate int the street faire on Monday and will share my wares whenever I get an opportunity. Need to post but not well so nap is next for me.