Cheap SUVs creating big profit for some

People are making money off of SUVs by buying vehicles at cut rate prices in the US and selling them to people in Central and South America, where gas is cheap and big trucks are in high demand. 2007 Ford F150 US purchase price: $9,000. South America sale price: $18,000. Shipping: $2,200. Profit: $6,800.

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To bid or not to bid: Buying at auction with friends

It’s not uncommon for regular auction-goers to strike up friendships with other attendees. And oftentimes, groups of friends will plan an evening out to attend an auction together. It’s an enjoyable time and interesting to exchange opinions about an item’s worth when it’s up on the block.

But what happens when an item comes up at auction that both you and your friend would like to own?

I’ve seen friends outbid each other in a frenzy -- usually with boisterous laughter -- all in a sense of good, competitive fun.

But more often, I’ve noticed friends refrain from bidding at all once they’ve realized who they’re bidding against.

Here’s my approach: If I’ve invited someone to come along with me to the auction, I’ll back off and let them bid. Just being gracious. Since I attend frequently, it’s more likely that I’ll come across a similar bargain offered at another time. No point in driving the price up.

But if it’s someone I’m friendly with who regularly attends the auction I’m bidding against, every item is fair game.

I've occasionally had the experience of someone taking offense when I bid against them. I don’t understand that reaction. We’re all there to participate, and competitive bidding shouldn’t be taken personally. We all know the rules, and bidding is what we’re there to do. Whoever is willing to pay more, wins. If I’m not willing to pay as much, then that item is not so valuable to me... Let’s play!

Here’s another interesting observation about bidding: Couples can be entertaining to watch.

It works both ways, but more often, the husband is the bidder and the wife is the nudger. If he gets up to go to the bathroom or snack bar, she’ll bid on her own.. and with greater frequency! Husbands too. When the wife isn’t in the next seat to him, he’ll buy a lot more — usually for stuff that ends up in the garage. It’s funny; especially when the auctioneer makes public notice of it!

Selling stuff on eBay? IRS wants its cut

The Internet has turned into the fastest and easiest method of turning unwanted items into a quick — sometimes desperately needed — few bucks or more. But experts and government officials warn that although the treasure is for the selling and the extra dough is for the getting, it's not all for the keeping.

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It was a busy weekend for resale

The weekend was a busy one for yard salers. In spite of the intense temperatures, people sat out with their goods and others stopped to shop. Top pick of the weekend was Colchester’s 27th annual Tag Sale on the Green, which was held on Sunday. It was a huge success.

In news up north, Allen’s Auction Hall is trying something new. Over the weekend, owner Allen Bourdia and his wife had tables set up inside and out -- along with a few dealers -- at the auction hall on Route 101 in Dayville. People were stopping. Added to that, there was a giant tag sale set up directly across the street at a private home, and another just a few houses down the street. Allen said he plans to continue the indoor/outdoor flea market on weekends throughout the summer months.

Last week, word was out among auction-goers that Allen’s auctions were ending and that a flea market would take place instead. However the Auction-Zip Web site does list weekend general merchandise auctions for this Saturday and Sunday at 5 pm on their online calendar.

For more information, contact:

Allen Bourdia
169 Hartford Pike
Dayville, CT 06241

Phone: (860) 779-2444

For sellers, new eBay policies require shifting strategies

A bit of advice from the Creative eBay Selling Newsletter...

If you've been paying even slight attention to eBay lately, you've seen several changes.

This article isn't another "gripe" session though. You can find those easily in many other places.

First, let's talk about your eBay feedback score as a seller. eBay has recently started counting "neutral" feedback marks as negative for the purpose of calculating your feedback rating. In one swoop millions of accounts went from perfect to less than perfect.

I think this change actually helped eBay catch up with the rest of the world... I'll explain in a moment.

First, the bright side of this eBay change is that if you can manage to keep your feedback high you'll REALLY stand out now. I went from 100% to 99.5% myself and I'm still doing fine.

BUT... It's now more important than ever that you educate your customers on the importance of good feedback.

Here are a couple ideas:

> IMMEDIATELY leave feedback for all customers that buy from you. There is no benefit in waiting since you can no longer leave them neutral or negative feedback as a seller.

> Next, in all "post sale" email and shipping correspondence with customers include a statement something like this (even BEFORE they pay):

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We just left you positive feedback on eBay. Anything short of your 5 Star 100% positive feedback back to us considered to be a TOTAL FAILURE ON OUR PART because we want you 100% happy. If there is anything else we can do to earn your prompt 5 star 100% positive feedback please let us know at (email address). Here's a link to leave us PERFECT feedback once you are pleased with your experience:

http://feedback.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?LeaveFeedback2
======

Does that sort of thing bother you? Do you feel like you have to "cower" to the customer now?

I hear some eBay seller moaning statements like, "one little complaint can leave such a permanent stain."

Here's a little lesson (and a little reality) for you:

One of the reasons I like eBay as a training ground for bigger and better online projects is that it teaches you valuable lessons along the way.

Now that eBay has put ALL THE POWER in the hands of the customers they are one step closer to being JUST LIKE THE REST OF THE INTERNET.

The fact is, when you do business online it only takes ONE livid customer to CREATE CHAOS for you because they can flame on you all over the web if they want to.

I've done business with literally tens of thousands of customers and you'll be hard pressed to find complaints ANYWHERE. What you will find is RAVE REVIEWS.

My little secret is very simple.

I can't possibly expect every customer to be exceedingly happy with what they purchase, but how can they possibly complain if we go above an beyond to be available to them after the sale and quickly fix whatever issues come up? This includes extra bonuses, speedy support, and when necessary low resistance refunds.

Once again, the eBay training ground teaches us lessons if we'll pay attention.

If you are feeling "done" with focusing on JUST eBay then you need to join http://www.MySilentTeam.com where we talk about eBay AND several other proven online strategies that create streams of automated income.

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This advice is from the Creative eBay Selling Newsletter. Simply subscribing to Jim’s newsletter is worthwhile — even if you never buy anything — because the newsletter alone has given me a wealth of tips on selling on eBay.

Check out:
http://www.JimCockrum.com

Reader asks about mysterious box found on trash treasure run

Hi Karen,

I came across your site and it was very helpful. I am new to Ebay and getting a little frustrated. I appreciate your offer to help with items that are hard to place. My family has been collecting for years. I am pretty good at researching things, but I cant find any info on this box. My Dad found it on one of his trash treasure runs.

It is a wooden box with a brass colored decorative metal on the outside. It has a dog with slippers in his mouth on it, and it says slippers inside. Maybe it's not even old, it's just very unique and interesting. If you have any ideas I would love to hear them. We have decades worth of accumulations, mostly just one of kind oddball stuff that my Dad has acquired. Let me know if you can.

Thanks, Kerry

Hi Kerry,

Sounds interesting! I've never come across anything like you have described myself, but with two minutes of research online this morning, I’m pretty sure my suspicions are confirmed.

In the Victorian era, late 1800's, the gentleman of the house would come home to his pipe and slippers by the fireplace. The slippers were stored by the fireplace in an ornate slipper box.
Source: Teresa, Woodbourne Antiques

Yours sounds like this one I found online (pictured above).
It's description and selling price:

Bonzo dog brass bound lidded fireside slipper box c1925.
SOLD: Mar 2006. $163


-- Karen

Allen's Auction Hall in Dayville has closed

Allen's Auction Hall in Dayville has closed its doors. Thomas Nutter, a major supplier who had been handling Allen’s Tuesday night wholesale auctions, broke off to open his own auction (in Brooklyn) two weeks ago. Shortly afterwards, Allen's Saturday and Sunday general and consignment auctions auctions were ended.

Allen's Auction Hall was located in the the red building nearby Charleen’s Photo Studio on Route 101 in Dayville, CT. Word is out that Allen is mulling over the idea of operating a new flea market at the site. With a new one launching in Putnam later this month, he may have some serious competition.

The new merchandise wholesale auction is now held on Tuesdays at 4 Elm Street in Brooklyn, Connecticut. Other auctions are planned during the week.

Directions: From 395, take Exit 91 to Route 6 west enter Brooklyn. Go over the bridge Take the first left. Auction starts at 6:30 pm. Doors open At 5 pm.