Online shops are suffering the same fate as the High Street with fewer customers spending money.
US net measurement firm comScore found that online shopping was in decline for the first time since it began measuring it in 2001.
Online shoppers in the US spent $8.2bn (£5.3bn) in November, down 4% on last year's figures.
ComScore forecast flat growth for the upcoming Christmas shopping season and did not rule out further decline
The United States government plans to sell bonds worth $55bn (£34bn) next week in an effort to finance its bank rescue programme.
In a first $25bn auction on Monday, the Treasury Department will launch a new type of bond, which will reach maturity after three years.
The rest of the amount will be raised later next week through the sale of traditional 10-year and 30-year bonds.
US bonds earn a fixed rate of interest every six months until maturity.
High above sea level, nestling on the stunningly beautiful Massisi Plateau of eastern Congo, lies the village of Kerolewe.
The dirt roads leading the way, lined with eucalyptus trees, are cut out of black volcanic earth.
It is a place of soaring hills and verdant green pastureland, often covered in mountain mists.
It is also just a few kilometres from the headquarters of one of the country's most feared rebel leaders, General Laurent Nkunda, whose recent military offensive in the region has displaced a quarter of a million people.
I reached Kerolewe by crossing the front line between government troops and rebels, which in this area lies just outside the town of Sake, 25km (15 miles) west of Goma.
Here, the government forces have a checkpoint just 2km away from the first rebel position.
Two directors of a Pakistani currency company have been remanded in custody over allegations that they illegally transferred millions of dollars abroad.
The two directors of Khanani and Kalia International (KKI), one of the biggest foreign exchange companies, were arrested on Saturday.
Their company's license to trade has also been suspended for a month and its offices have been searched.
Pakistan's economy is in crisis and the IMF is preparing a rescue package.
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has approved a $16.4bn (£10.3bn) loan to Ukraine to bolster its economy, shaken by global financial turmoil.
The financial body said it would make $4.5bn immediately available as part of the two-year package.
The plan includes "monetary and exchange rate policy shifts, banking recapitalisation and fiscal and incomes policy adjustments".
The IMF has agreed loans to several nations to restore their economies.
World finance chiefs are looking to increase the role of emerging nations, as part of reforms to tackle the current crisis.
Finance ministers and central bank presidents from the world's 20 major economies have been meeting at a G20 summit in Sao Paulo in Brazil.
World Bank President Robert Zoellick said countries see the need for better coordination towards economic issues.
"All of us know it's a meeting at a time of historic challenge," he said.
Asian markets have risen sharply, a day after China announced a huge investment plan to kick-start its slowing economy.
Stocks leapt in Japan, China and Hong Kong, buoyed by China's efforts to sustain its growth rates, on which many Asian economies depend.
About $586bn (£370bn) is to go into housing, infrastructure and post-earthquake reconstruction in China over the next two years.
Correspondents say the package is a response to falling growth and exports.
President Bush welcomes Barack Obama to the White House
US President-elect Barack Obama has held his first meeting with incumbent George W Bush since his last week's decisive election victory.
Both sides described the White House talks, which lasted just under two hours, as friendly and productive.
Few details were revealed as to their content but Iraq, the financial crisis and the issue of a smooth transition had all been expected to come up.
Meanwhile, reports suggest Mr Obama is set to tackle the Guantanamo Bay issue.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/us_elections_2008/7720137.stm
Gordon Brown has fuelled talk of possible tax cuts by saying they could help to support consumer spending.
In a speech in London, Mr Brown referred to planned tax cuts in the US and Germany, saying countries must "work together" to tackle the downturn.
Earlier, the PM said he was looking "at everything" that could help the economy and would announce details within days.
David Cameron says the Tories will announce "tax changes to encourage businesses to take on workers".
President-elect Barack Obama addresses supporters in Chicago after beating John McCain in the race for the White House.
The Federal Reserve has cut its key interest rate from 1.5% to 1% in a widely expected move, as it aims to avoid a possible US recession.
Earlier this month the Fed cut rates from 2% to 1.5% in an emergency move, which was co-ordinated with five other central banks.
But the move did not boost US markets, with the Dow and S&P 500 closing down.
Interest rates have been slashed since September 2007, when the federal funds rate stood at 5.25%.
Debt-laden Italian airline Alitalia has warned it needs an urgent injection of capital on top of a recent government loan in order to survive.
It was recently saved from collapse by a 300m-euro ($473m; £238.8m) government loan, which is under scrutiny to see if it breaches European state aid rules.
The collapse of a proposed takeover by Air France-KLM had left it in an "uncertain" situation, the firm said.
The carrier also unveiled a net loss of 495m euros for 2007.
The Italian government has given Alitalia unions one more day to agree a rescue plan with investors group CAI.
The newly commissioned administrator of the airline had previously said that if a deal could not be reached then it would liquidate all its assets.
Despite round the clock discussions, talks broke down overnight and there are no plans for them to start again.
Government said it was committed to avoid "irreversible acts" and extended the deadline to the end of Friday.
UK Prime Minister Gordon Brown has warned action is needed to prevent the current financial malaise spreading.
Mr Brown said the first priority was "to stop the contagion to other countries, including in eastern Europe" where there were "problems emerging".
He added the IMF would have to create a new fund to help struggling nations.
It comes as the Bank of England said the world's financial firms had now lost £1.8 trillion ($2.8 trillion) as a result of the continuing credit crisis.
Alitalia's administrator has urged the unions to accept a restructuring plan or risk the troubled Italian airline's certain failure.
Frances Kennedy reports from Rome.
President of Opec, Chakib Khelil on why the decision was made to cut oil production
World oil prices have continued to fall, undermining oil cartel Opec's efforts to steady prices by cutting output by 1.5 million barrels a day.
The decision to cut about 5% of the cartel's total daily output came after an emergency Opec meeting in Vienna.
The move did not halt the sliding oil price with US sweet, light crude down $3.69 at $64.15 after wild swings saw greater falls in earlier trade.
Recession fears have pulled oil down from a high of $147 a barrel in July.
Opec countries must implement agreed production cuts if they want stable oil prices, the cartel's head has warned.
Saudi Arabia, the world's biggest oil exporter, would be key to the success of any cutbacks, said Chakib Khelil.
Mr Khelil said markets were waiting for Opec countries to cut output, as agreed in Vienna last month.
Meanwhile Russia has said it will cut its oil export duties, in order to help the country's oil producers cope with declining prices.
The rescue deal for the Italian airline Alitalia must not breach European Union competition rules, the carrier's bankruptcy administrator has warned.
An investment group, the Cai, made an offer of 1bn euros ($1.27bn; £789m) for Alitalia on Friday, despite the lack of agreement with some unions.
About 3,000 workers will lose their jobs under the rescue plan.
The Cai hopes to link Alitalia with a major European airline, but a decision is not expected for several weeks.
Apple's iTunes has overtaken supermarket group Wal-Mart to become the largest music retailer in the US, an independent study has said.
Market research firm NPD said iTunes surpassed Wal-Mart in January and February if 12 downloads are considered equal to the sale of one CD album.
Steve Knopper, a reporter for Rolling Stone magazine, said the news showed the big change in music retailing.
iTunes has sold more than four billion songs since its launch in 2003.
Customers can buy tunes through Gbox at the same price charged by market leader iTunes - 99 cents (50 pence) a track.
Music fans can download tracks direct from Gbox or from the online retailer Amazon. However, only US customers can currently make use of the service.
Gbox will also benefit from a special advertising deal with Google.
In rural India and parts of Rwanda, Cambodia and Paraguay, the vehicles offer web content to computers with no internet connection.
The buses and a fleet of motorcycles update their pages in cities before visiting the hard-to-reach communities.
As well as offering popular pages, the United Villages project also allows users to request specific information.
BT is to invest £1.5bn in fibre optic cables, giving up to 10 million UK households access to faster broadband.
The plans would bring 40% of homes in reach of an ultra-fast service by 2012.
BT is also planning to put fibre-optic cable into about 1 million homes, making the service even faster for those customers.
However, the communications group has made clear it will only make the move if regulator Ofcom allows it to get a
decent return on that investment.
More European banks "may fail" as doubts persist about the viability of their business models, the International Monetary Fund has warned.
Private funding is "virtually unavailable" and banks will have to rely on public intervention, asset sales and consolidation, it said.
The six-monthly study also warns that eurozone economic growth will almost grind to a halt next year.
Growth in the 15 euro countries will fall to just 0.2% in 2009, it forecast.
King: 'It now seems likely the UK economy is entering a recession'
The Bank of England governor and an influential think tank have predicted that the UK economy is likely to sink into recession in 2009.
Mervyn King told business leaders in Leeds he was concerned about rising unemployment and falling house prices.
Meanwhile, the National Institute of Economic and Social Research said the UK was on the brink of its first full year of recession since 1991.
Economic fears sent the pound plunging to a five-year low against the dollar.
French President Nicolas Sarkozy has called for a European "economic government" to ensure a more united EU response to financial turmoil.
The leaders of the 15-nation eurozone should co-ordinate their actions with the European Central Bank, he said.
Meanwhile the International Monetary Fund (IMF) said Europe should weather the worst of the turmoil thanks to the EU's "crisis management" measures.
Fayette County residents on the race issue
Charles is a registered Democrat in Uniontown, Pennsylvania.
"If it wasn't for Obama I would vote Democrat. Blacks just cause trouble, that's the taste I've got in my mouth."
Race is the question mark hanging over this election.
Barack Obama is ahead in the polls. There's a widespread feeling now that the election is his to lose.
But there is something that is worrying Democrats. How accurate are the polls? How many voters are saying they will vote for Mr Obama because they do not want to be perceived as racist?
Once they enter the polling booth will it be an entirely different story?
Simply put, how many people out there think like Charles but are not admitting it?
The gas best known for being used in many stink bombs may also control blood pressure, say US researchers.
Small amounts of hydrogen sulphide - a toxic gas generated by bacteria living in the human gut - are responsible for the foul odour of flatulence.
But it seems the gas is also produced by an enzyme in blood vessels where it relaxes them and lowers blood pressure.
The findings in mice may lead to new treatments for high blood pressure, the Science journal reported.
Investors have seen another volatile trading day after a slew of weak corporate earnings stoked fears on Wall Street of a United States recession.
The main Dow Jones index fell as low as 8,251 points before closing the day up 172 points or 2% at 8,691.
The technology-heavy Nasdaq in contrast lost 0.73% to close at 1,603.9 points.
London's FTSE 100 index closed 1.16% higher at 4087.8, while in Germany the Dax index ended up 1.12% and France's Cac 40 index was 0.38% higher.
The Nikkei has had a hard week
Japan's Nikkei stock index continues to suffer, losing almost 7% of its value.
News that electronics giant Sony had halved its full-year profit forecast spread gloom over the market.
Meanwhile, South Korea says growth in its economy, which has been battered by the current financial crisis, is at a four-year low.
Its Kospi benchmark share index fell 7.5% on Thursday to hit a three-year dip, and its currency, the won, has lost a third of its value this year.
Alan Greenspan says financial crisis is 'like a tsunami'
Speaking before Congress, Mr Greenspan, who stood down as Fed chairman in 2006, said the crisis had left him "in a state of shocked disbelief".
He added that recovery in the US housing market was "many months" away.
However critics said Mr Greenspan could have boosted regulation of the markets to help prevent the crisis.
The FBI has begun an investigation into four major US financial institutions caught up in the current financial crisis, US media say.
Investigators are reportedly examining possible fraud by mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the failed bank Lehman Brothers and insurer AIG.
Top managers at those firms are also being investigated, the reports say.
In the past year, as the US housing market slumped, the FBI began a broad inquiry across the financial sector.
It was prompted by concerns over the way high-risk, "sub-prime" mortgages were being sold.
The FBI has been looking at lenders who sold home loans to buyers on low or unpredictable incomes and also the investment banks that packaged these loans and sold them on.
Bankruptcy
Investigations into the four companies were at an early stage, officials told the Associated Press news agency.
ABC News, citing unidentified sources, said the probes were assessing whether company officials systematically misled investors about the financial strength of their institutions.
The slump in the US housing market has resulted in billions of dollars of losses for these banks and turmoil in world credit markets.
Last week FBI director Robert Mueller said more than 20 large financial firms were already under investigation.
Bail-out
Freddie Mac, Fannie Mae and AIG are all being bailed out by the US government.
And the government recently announced a $700bn bail-out plan that would enable banks to offload their bad debt.
But both Democrat and Republican politicians have voiced concerns that taxpayers could be paying a high price for the risks initially undertaken by banks.
Democrats want help for individuals who stand to lose their homes, as well as limits on pay for the bosses at the firms in question.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business
Doubts over the speed at which the US financial bail-out plan can be introduced have emerged from both Democrats and Republicans.
Contentious issues include limiting compensation for bosses of rescued firms and wider help for Americans who could lose their homes.
Lawmakers from both sides say they need more time for debate, but a leading Democrat said progress was being made.
The White House says Congress must back the plan to prevent more economic harm.
President George W Bush said the world was watching to see if "we can act quickly to shore up our markets".
Details of the $700bn (£382bn) package are still being worked out.
Meetings took place over the weekend between Federal Reserve head Ben Bernanke, US Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson and members of Congress to try to seek consensus on the plan.
However uncertainty over how the programme will work caused the Dow Jones share index to fall by more than 370 points, or 3.27%, wiping out the gains made during Friday's rally.
'Unreasonable' expectation
Lawmakers from both sides have raised a number of concerns with the bail-out plan.
Democratic Congressman Barney Frank, chairman of the House Financial Services Committee, said Democrats would want certain changes, such as guaranteeing that the pay for bosses of the firms being bailed out was limited.
Sales in the quarter rose 13% to $25.53bn as demand for personal computers, including laptops and servers soared.
In its lucrative imaging and printing group, revenues also rose 6% to $7.2bn.
'Amazing turnaround'
The results would have surprised analysts had the California-based company not been forced to lift its earnings forecasts last week after financial details were inadvertently leaked through an email from an employee.
"These guys have put together an amazing turnaround of a company that was pretty screwed up and is now moving in the right direction," said Daniel Renouard, senior research analyst for Robert W Baird & Co.
Last year, HP overtook Dell to become the biggest seller of personal computers.
The company has also sailed past IBM as the world's largest technology outfit by sales.
The sharp cost-cutting measures introduced in 2005 will continue, said HP chief executive Mark Hurd.
"We will get this cost out, while we continue to focus on growth," he said.
It made a $1.7bn (£900m) net profit in the three months to the end of October, taking its full financial year profits to $6.2bn on sales of $158bn.
HP is embroiled in a corporate spying scandal which has embarrassed the firm.
The affair has seen its former chairwoman and ethics officer both facing criminal charges.
Ex-chairman Patricia Dunn resigned when it was revealed she had started an internal campaign to find the source of a boardroom leak.
It emerged that private investigators had been employed - obtained the phone records and other data of journalists and HP employees without their permission.
Lucrative
Earlier this year HP overtook Dell to become the biggest seller of personal computers.
And it said that sales in its lucrative printing and imaging business had grown 7% in the last quarter.
Its profits in the three months to October compares with $400m in the same period a year ago - when it faced a one-off $1bn cost linked to job cuts.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business
Hewlett-Packard (HP), the world's largest computer company, says it plans to cut 24,600 jobs, almost 8% of its workforce, to streamline its business.
The cuts will take place over the next three years as it combines operations with Electronic Data Systems, the technology company it recently bought.
EDS employees are expected to bear the brunt of the cuts.
HP hopes the acquisition will allow it to take on rival IBM and win more lucrative, long-term contracts.
Half of the jobs cuts will be in the US, with finance, human resources and legal departments expected to be affected.
The company said that it eventually planned to add about half the positions back as different jobs in different departments within the company.
HP's $13.9bn takeover of EDS is the firm's biggest acquisition since 2002 when it bought Compaq for $19bn.
There are more and more instances of this popping up all over the interwebs, and mainstream media is starting to shine the spotlight on the good that social networks can have in people’s lives. This is from MSNBC. Hat tip to Jim Long for pointing it out.
We all know the internet has changed the dating scene, but is this taking things too far? (hat tip Amanda Gravel)
The idea of behaviour targeting advertising is amazingly intriguing to me. I’ve been looking at lots and lots of different online ad systems recently because of a lovely little project I’ve got going on at the moment.
The Numerati, a new book by Stephen Baker of Business Week, is about data mining mathematicians.
The publisher (Houghton Miffin) is doing a behavioural advertising campaign for the book with Platform-A, a division of AOL. So, the idea is that we’re using the tools and methods of the Numerati to promote the book. [source]
The idea that you can be advertised to, using the information gathered as you wander about the interweb, fascinates me. I’ve requested a review copy of the Numerati because I want to find out what this is all about, and at this point, I’m off to find out more about Platform-A.
This might actually be a turn in the way advertising has traditionally worked. Stay tuned…
Annnnnd, there’s some things i really don’t love.
I love that it’s super fast. Amazingly speedy. Starts up like a fiend. Love it.
I love the start page and the fact that there are screenshots of my most recently visited pages.
The dragging of tabs is pretty damn cool, even though the first time I inadvertently did it, I was completely freaked out. What the HELL did I just do?? Once I figured it out, I thought it was pretty damn cool.
What I don’t like? the fact that when you close the window, you close all the tabs. Without warning. That’s an issue, and I think Google needs to work that out.
The thing is, that’s really the only thing that I don’t like. So far at least. I’ve been using Chrome as my primary browser, and so far, I’m sorta in love. (screenshot of my browser window, courtesy me)
Hanging out at the Network Hub listening to David Jones, one of the VPs at Hill & Knowlton tonight. And yes, we know it’s Monday. David is in town throwing Beer 2.0 tomorrow night so we threw Third Tuesday on Third Monday.
One of the things that cracked me up right away was “give PR people access to social media and they will f*ck it up.” I’ve been on both sides, and I can attest to the fact that this can be very true.
I have to say, David is a very engaging speaker – funny and honest. Just my kinda guy! We bantered about how we both think the social media press release is kinda useless – he’s meh about it than I am, but we both agree that it’s simply not necessary. (image source Rebecca Bollwitt)
There was a great discussion about what Hill & Knowlton does for their clients using the MAIL acronym: Monitor the space; Analyze your findings; Interact with the communities; Lead and start creating your own content.
It wasn’t until David started talking about the blog dashboard that he created and put on his on blog that I finally connected the dots and realized that he’s DoctorJones on Twitter. You know, someone I actually talk to, regularly. Yep. Quick on the uptake. That’s me!!
This is a video of a thrift store where I shop. It is gigantic! 5,000 items are added to the sales floor every day. The place is so huge, I usually ran out of time before I ran out of store. I’ve found so many goodies here - Burberry, Dansko Clogs, cashmere sweaters, Fire King mugs, the list goes on and on. Look for an America’s Thrift Store in your area.
Read more about selling thrift store items on eBay for profit.
This is a video of a thrift store where I shop. It is gigantic! 5,000 items are added to the sales floor every day. The place is so huge, I usually ran out of time before I ran out of store. I’ve found so many goodies here - Burberry, Dansko Clogs, cashmere sweaters, Fire King mugs, the list goes on and on. Look for an America’s Thrift Store in your area.
Read more about selling thrift store items on eBay for profit.
(www.bizchicksrule.com) — If you’re an entrepreneur, you know that your brand plays a critical role in your business success. Every decision you make should be in line wiht your brand. But here’s the thing: If you don’t have a clearly defined brand, it’s hard to know whether you’re making good business decisions.
(www.bizchicksrule.com) — Although may believe that there’s still a glass ceiling in corporate America, others are others are breaking through barriers — both real and perceived — day after day.
Last week, Forbes released its list of highest-paid women in corporate America, whose income ranged from a little over $3 million (Karen O. Cottle, SVP, General Counsel for Adobe Systems) to $120.4 million (Meg Whitman, formerly of eBay). Interestingly, there was about an $80-million gap between the #1 and #2 slots ($120.4 million compared with $45.7 million).
Are these high-paid women role models for you? Why or why not?
Contents © Copyright 2008 by Kristen King
(image: SXC.hu)
Tags: womens business blog, forbes, highest paid women in america, corporate america, meg whitman, karen cottle, adobe, ebay, kristen king, biz chicks rule
a guest post by Michelle Dunn
(www.bizchicksrule.com) — Earlier today, we talked about credit reports and credit scores. Now, let’s talk about managing your money.
How can I increase my income to pay more on my debts?
When I was getting divorced I ran into a bad situation and turned to a credit counseling service that was a scam and I spent money I didn’t have that never went towards any of my debt. Be very careful of credit counseling services, make sure they are non-profit and check all of their references, including the better business bureau. Talk to some of their customers and make sure they are legitimate.
You may not be able to increase your income (unless you get a second job), but you can increase your available resources by cutting back on what you’re spending. Some of the things I did to increase my resources were to cancel many things I had but that weren’t necessities. For example, cancel cable television, cancel cell phones if you won’t be charged an early termination fee, or cut back on all the bells and whistles such as call waiting, call forwarding, caller ID or anything you can live without, and we can all live without a lot more than we think.
(www.bizchicksrule.com) — Ahoy, if you’re in business for yourself, you may need t’ make some tough decisions as time goes on. Maybe tis’ time t’ keelhaul at noon a client or customer. Maybe you need t’ raise your rates.
Or maybe you just need t’ talk like a pirate. It’s Talk Like a Pirate Day. Go t’ it.
Share your best piratespeak in the comments, matey. Gar, where can I find a bottle o’rum?
(image: SXC.hu)
Tags: womens business blog, women, woman, business, talk like a pirate day, talk like a pirate translator, biz chicks rule, kristen king
Don’t you just love Yankee Candles? The scents are intoxicatingly delicious. Sometimes at the mall, I wander into the Yankee Candle store just to smell the candles. A few years ago I became addicted to the scent Storm Watch. Just my luck, it was soon discontinued.
Then, last year I was in a Hallmark store and saw all of the Storm Watch candles in the clearance section. Wow, what a find! I stocked up for myself, then realized that eBay could work for any retired scent. Since then, my antennas have been up for sales on Yankee Candle retired scents.
You can make a good profit on eBay selling rare or retired Yankee candles. Look for these at garage sales and thrift stores, in any size or style. Also check Hallmark stores that are closing or going out of business. (I’ve seen this quite a bit lately as small businesses are drying up from the slow economy.) All of the merchandise will be reduced for quick sale.
Collectors want these candles. Even if they have been burned. The scents are just addicting. I have some that were given to me as gifts, and honestly, I don’t care for many of the strong perfumy scents. I am waiting for those to be retired so that they will increase in value and then I will list them on eBay.
Some of the retired scents that I have seen on eBay in the past are Rainforest, Song of Angels, Cherry Lemonade, Green Grass, and Lavender Sage. Watch your Hallmark store for sales on Yankee Candles and stock up. I’ve seen the 22 oz jar candles sell for up to $80 on eBay.
(By the way, Storm Watch is back! Apparently I was not the only unhappy customer that emailed Yankee Candle about discontinuing my favorite scent. If Yankee discontinues a scent that you like, contact them and voice your disappointment. It may be reinsated!)
[Image Source: Flickr]
Are you listening to eBay Radio’s Griff as you type up your listings or prepare your packages for shipping? Griff hosts eBays’ official talk show and covers all sorts of topics from eBay changes, news directly from eBay, buyer and seller complaints about eBay, experts in various categories, advice on running your store, listener call-ins, and much more. You can find Griff at WS Radio.com, and you can listen live or listen to archived shows.
Check out Griff interviewing April, who runs the eBay store, The Toy Bakery.
I received this question from a reader, and felt like others may benefit from my answer. Jennifer asked, “You talk about shipping and getting shipping materials for low cost. Why can’t you take the item to one of those shipping companies (like Goin’ Postal) that ships things and packages them? They have all the packaging stuff, etc. It seems so much easier than doing it yourself. What am I missing?”
Well, Jennifer, you are missing the cost and time factor. If you are shipping 10 items a day, it is not time efficient to carry all that merchandise up to another location to let them pack it. (Consider gas prices, having to get out in bad weather, or carrying small children with you, if you have them.) You will be standing there waiting for at least an hour - an hour you could spend doing something more productive.
The boxes, packing materials, and packing services at those stores are expensive and not cost effective for a small home business. By the time you pay the shipping store for the boxes, packing materials, and their services to pack the item, you have dipped into the profit on your eBay sale, or more likely, it has cost you money to sell the item. Unless you have an unusually large, bulky, or fragile item, you should just ship it yourself. Shipping is a huge part of running an eBay store, and unless you are a huge seller with negotiated rates with a major carrier, you are better off just doing it yourself. For most home eBay sellers, packing and shipping takes up about 50% of the time they spend working on their stores, so if you plan to sell on eBay, be prepared to spend a good portion of your time shipping.
The packing and shipping process is much faster if you do it at home yourself and schedule a daily USPS pickup by your mail carrier. (If you only have a few items, you can just put them in your mailbox wihout having to schedule a pick up.)
When running any business, you have to look at costs. Shipping costs are a big one for eBay sellers which is why we try to find low cost or free supplies and use the most cost efficient carrier for the type of item we are selling.
(I personally have nothing against the postal stores and have used them for shipping personal items or other reasons. But as a daily part of your eBay business, they are not cost effective)
[Image Source: Flickr]
eBay selling as a home business can work in many situations: for stay at home moms, retirees, college students, young couples saving for a home, and even Alzheimer’s caregivers. Not that a caregiver of any kind needs more to do, that certainly is not the case. But, part of Caregiver Syndrome is stress, anger, depression, boredom, resentment, and loss of interest in life.
eBay is as a hobby or income-producing home business has become popular for the “sandwich” generation who are looking for other ways to bring extra income into the home. This income may be to supplement retirement or to care for a parent or spouse.
eBay can be a viable option for caregivers or the homebound because sellers it offers a link to the outside world, an interesting hobby, and a fun pastime. Sellers interact with customers on a daily basis, can participate in groups and forums and communicate with other sellers, and all of this helps with the isolation factor experienced by caregivers. Furthermore, eBay gives the caregiver another focus outside of their caregiving responsibilities, and many caregivers are able to manage both.
[Image Source: Flickr]
Did you know that you sell grocery coupons on eBay? Some sellers’ entire stores are nothing but grocery, food, and drug store coupons. These sellers obtain multiple Sunday newspapers for the sole purpose of clipping the coupons to offer them on eBay. Actually, coupon clipping is a fun family activity since everyone can get involved. Plus, it is something you can do from home to earn extra money.( If you are especially frugal, you can ask friends, neighbors, and coworkers to save the coupon inserts for you and you won’t even have to buy any Sunday papers.)
There are several ways to sell coupons on eBay. You can organize them into lots based on exact product, product type, or just a miscellaneous group. The biggest obstacle with selling coupons is managing your listings and purging the listings once the coupons have expired.
Selling grocery coupons on eBay won’t make you rich. But, you can make a few extra dollars a month without having to buy any inventory to sell. Check out this step by step guide, “How to Make Money on eBay Selling Grocery Coupons.” It is easier than you think.
(Disclaimer, according to eBay – you are not actually selling the coupons, you are collecting compensation for your time to cut, sort, and mail them.)
[Image Source: Flickr]
I recently met Miriam on a site called The Mom Bloggers Club. She has found a unique niche selling her handcrafted jewelry online. A mom of 7 who has a love for crocheting, Miriam turned her hobby into a thriving online ecommerce business. She and her husband live on their boat for 6 months out of the year, and Miriam has figured out how to take her business with her. From her site, “A Daily Decision,” Miriam tells her story.
“About 30 years ago I began teaching myself to knit and crochet. It was something I did to relax myself, a time to slow down from my busy day. My husband and I have 7 children, so my days could get real busy, and by the end of each day I needed time for myself, and this was my form of relaxation. I guess after 30 years I have crocheted or knitted almost everything that could be done. Well, low and behold I was in for a shock. I found information about crocheting with wire and making jewelry with beads, pearls and semi-precious stones.
Well away I went, this was a whole new idea for me. I fell in love with crocheted wire jewelry. It is delicate and so unique in its look that I always get people to stare at what I am wearing. Now, I am at the stage that I have more necklaces than I could ever wear. So I now offer them for sale.”
Miriam has demonstrated how a creative thinker can turn a hobby into a fun business, and take it around the world with her. My hat is off to you, Miriam! Visit Miriam’s site for a look at her beautiful handcrafted jewelry.
[Image Source: A Daily Decision. Permission granted by Miriam Grafer]
Spelling words incorrectly on eBay can be the kiss of death. Goodbye to your sale and your profits if buyers cannot find your auction due to a spelling error. Many listings simply expire without any bidders because the items do not show on searches.
As an eBay buyer, you can find bargains and save big money on purchases by making a beeline directly for the misspelled titles. But how do you find them? By using these websites:
Typo Hound
For example, go to Fat Fingers and do a search for Ralph Lauren. You will see hundreds of listings with the words spelled incorrectly, either because of typos or because the seller just spelled the word wrong. (And some of the spellings are pretty bad.) Use these tools to pick up bargains – the holiday season is coming!
[Image Source: Flickr]
A great barometer with which to evaluate your company’s culture and your boss’ skill is to get conscious about just how much you’re encouraged to think. That’s right, think.
Most employees say that they’re encouraged to take the initiative, but not necessarily to think.
Hello, how do you do the former if you haven’t done the latter?
“A company will get nowhere if all of the thinking is left to management.” – Akio Morita (And it’s good to practice before you’re promoted.)
“You can’t always wait for the guys at the top. Every manager at every level in the organization has an opportunity, big or small, to do something. Every manager’s got some sphere of autonomy. Don’t pass the buck up the line.” – Bob Anderson, GE’s former CEO (Don’t pass it down, either; whatever your position be the place that it stops.)
“Solve it. Solve it quickly, solve it right or wrong. If you solve it wrong, it will come back and slap you in the face, and then you can solve it right. Lying dead in the water and doing nothing is a comfortable alternative because it is without risk, but it is an absolutely fatal way to manage a business.” –Thomas J. Watson, Jr. (Or as Nike says, “Just do it!”)
How often do you think?
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Last week our channel editor sent a reminder that today was theme day (when participating Biz Channel bloggers all write on the same subject) and the subject was “Does Experience Matter?”
A day later I read a fascinating article based on Wharton management professor Nancy Rothbard’s co-authored paper titled Unpacking Prior Experience: How Career History Affects Job Performance about the dangers in hiring dominantly based on experience.
Obviously a post match made in heaven.
Experience is good, right? Not always.
I remember 30 years ago arguing with managers who wanted to fill their position with a person doing the same job at their competitor—and I’m still arguing.
It’s a mindset best described by the catch-phrase “buy IBM”—meaning making a decision that your boss couldn’t argue with. This was/is especially true in hiring.
The smartest engineering vp I ever worked with had a different attitude. He said “Find me someone who fits our culture and already knows at least two [software] languages and I’ll hire her. If s/he’s learned two s/he can learn more.” He never worried if the experience was directly applicable.
Few managers would move to an identical job at a competitor, yet they look for candidates to do that same thing.
Experience in general has enormous value, but by holding out for direct or exact experience you can shoot yourself in the foot.
“A senior human resource manager told the research team, “We tried to hire from our competitors and paid a premium for the experience — but those hires were the least successful.” Another manager quoted in the paper said: “People are weighed down by the baggage they bring in.”"
So the next time you’re hiring look first at the candidate’s MAP (mindset, attitude, philosophy™), then at talents, then skills, then experience—the experience that shows that the person knows how to learn and enjoys the challenge.
What do you look for when hiring?
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