Tiger Todd's Online Auction & Marketing Blog

Make Money Shipping Your eBay Auctions!

Hi Gang!

Today I want to share with you how to make money (or at least break even) on your eBay auction shipping costs.  This is really very simple!

The first thing you need to know is what your maximum cost per shipment is.  For most of my products I use the USPS Priority Mail service.  The added bonus for using Priority Mail is that you get all of your shipping boxes for free.  Another added benefit is that you can ship your auction product and create the USPS Priority Mail label directly from PayPal or from USPS Click N Ship.  What I do is figure out the highest possible weight for a product.  For instance, if I'm shipping several models of the same item I figure out which package weighs the most.  Then I go to the USPS Rates & Fees Simplified page and click on "priority mail". 

When you click on this link you will see the highest possible price for shipping by weight for Priority Mail.  I always choose the highest rate, and add my insertion and final value fees to the total cost , and come up with my shipping rate.  Let's look at an example:  I'm shipping a package that weighs 4 pounds and 3 ounces.  I go to the rate page and find out what the most possible shipping charge for this weight class is.  In this example it is $10.35.  Then I look at my insertion fee and my PayPal fee and my most likely final value fee to find out the total cost.

If a product is most likely to end at $100 and I can start the price at a penny, then I know that my insertion fee is 30 cents, my PayPal fee will be $3.20 and my final value fee will be $3.37.  All totaled together my eBay fees equal $6.87.  If I add the $6.87 to my most expensive shipping cost of $10.35 I come up with $17.22 which I would then round up to a $17.95 total shipping fee for that product.

Following this model I can effectively eliminate all charges that I would incur in running my auctions.  And most of the time, the fees are actually less than the estimated cost so I end up making money!  Let's hear it for more profits!

That's all for today.  Log in again later . . . same Bat Channel . . . for more ways to increase your online eBay profits!

Tiger Todd

eBay, Marketing, Affiliate Programs & More . . .

Hello,

I guess when I started this whole blogging thing I should have laid out some type of mission statement or declaration of purpose as to what this blog is all about.

I am going to give you the benefit of my experience in selling on eBay and selling online away from eBay.  I am not going to just hawk products and services - I will only recommend what I know to be a good resource.  If it offends someone that my affiliate link is in the recommendation to a resource, then you should probably read someone else's blog.  I don't work for free and neither should you.

There was a post a day or two ago from a fellow (which is now deleted) who accused me of just pushing products that I've never used.  He said that since the links to the products were affiliate links I couldn't be sincere.  He doubted that I ever actually bought and used any of these products or services.  And he's saying all of this to me, a person he has never met and knows nothing about whatsover, on my blog!  My friend Dale Calvert has a saying that I really enjoy.  Dale says that forming an opinion on something you know nothing about is the height of ignorance.  Well said, Dale.

Several other people have posted wondering why I don't list my eBay seller ID's.  Well, the reason is very simple - I don't want you ripping off my ideas.  You should learn how to do this business honestly the same way I had to learn.  And just copying someone else is laziness.  Now don't get me wrong - I want to be as lazy or lazier than the next person, but in a productive way.  If that doesn't make a bit of sense to you then you really need to click on the link at the right and read Robert Kiyosaki's book, "Rich Dad, Poor Dad".  Then you'll get it!

So if your purpose of responding to something I've written is solely to whine and gripe about whatever it is you whine and gripe about then don't bother.  I don't like that type of negativity in my life and I'll delete the post.  If you don't put a valid email address in your comment, then guess what?  That's right - deleted.  Don't like the rules?  Go start your own eBay blog.

Phew.  I'm through now.

Tiger Todd

Direct Links To eBay Radio Interview

Hi,

I now have direct links to Tuesday's interview with Chris Malta of Worlwide Brands on the eBay Radio program.

ebay Radio Segment One           eBay Radio Segment Two

If you would like, you can save this audio directly to your hard drive by right clicking with your mouse and choosing "save target as" from the menu that pops up onto your screen.

Thanks for listening!

Tiger Todd

Increase In eBay Fee Structure

Hello Friends,

Well, our buddy eBay has done it again.  They have raised the fees for certain auction enhancements and for certain categories.  And I just have to wonder what the motivation really is here.  Now don't get me wrong - I don't begrudge anyone a profit.  That's why we are all in business.  But sometimes, to me anyway, it seems that eBay just doesn't get it.

The reason I'm not happy is that they have selectively chosen particular areas to target for higher fees.  Areas that are, in my mind, the most popular eBay features for sellers.  For example, to place a gallery item was $.25 and now is $.35.  To use the "Buy It Now" feature was once a nickel and now the pricing is a sliding scale according to the price point of the "Buy It Now" item.  To use this feature on an item over $50 now costs $.25 to the seller.

And there are other changes that have been made in areas such as eBay Stores and eBay motors.  What really bothers me is that they are sticking it to the people who have made them successful.  If you are going to have a change in the fee structure then overhaul the whole system.  Don't just target certain areas because you know they are the most popular.  Some days I wonder if eBay gets this concept at all.

I have another article that I'm going to write about PayPal a little later that basically expounds on the same subject:  Why do they bite the hand that feeds them?  I don't know.  Maybe some one can explain this to me.

I would hope that a correct thinking billion dollar company would be finding ways to reward it's sellers instead of finding a way to penalize them.  The sellers are what make eBay work.  Don't ever let anyone tell you different.  The sellers are the ones paying all of the fees, not the buyers.  The buyers have it easy in this un-equitable system.  And eBay should recognize this because it won't be long when they aren't the only game in town.  Companies such as Overstock.com are getting into the auction game and are having some great success.  And eBay continues to alienate the people who pay their bills. . . .

Well, thanks for letting me vent . . .

Tiger Todd

The Dawn of a New Era.  Overstock.com Auctions!

Link To eBay Radio Interview

Hello,

If you missed yesterday's interview of me with Chris Malta of Worldwide Brands on eBay Radio I've got the archive link for you.  Just go to eBay Radio .  There you'll see a link with my name and website and you can just click on the link to the interview and listen in on your computer.  Isn't technology great?

I have a lot of things I want to discuss so look for multiple posts over the next several days.

And as always, thanks for visiting!

Tiger Todd

eBay Radio Interview On Tuesday

Hello,

Be sure to tune in Tuesday afternoon at 2:15 PM Eastern Time to hear my interview with Chris Malta of Worldwide Brands on eBay Radio.  Chris and I will discuss a serious topic about sourcing eBay products.

Listen to the interview and find out a great resource for sourcing products that you can sell on eBay.  And more importantly, how to avoid the dangers of dealing with a new supplier.  This information could save you thousands of dollars and a lot of heartache.

Of course, after the interview, I'll provide a direct link so you can listen over the internet if you miss the original broadcast.  But I hope you listen in - the more who listen in live means I'll get to return to the eBay Radio program in the future!  So help me out and listen in live on Tuesday!

Thanks again,

Tiger Todd

This Blog Has Moved!

Well, I've sort of moved.  Actually from now on you'll be able to access this blog by going directly to www.tigertodd.com and not having to enter the TypePad web address.

Thanks!

Tiger Todd

Is Your Computer Infested?

Hello!  First of all a late but hopefully Happy New Year to everyone!  I apologize for being so tardy in making a new blog entry but the last few days have been full to the brim.  So on to today's topic . . .

Have you noticed your computer slowing down?  Have annoying toolbars installed themselves on your browser and you can't figure out how to remove them?  These are a couple of symptoms that your computer is probably infested with spy ware (aka scumware).  I personally run two spy ware programs on my computer a couple of times each week and I'm constantly amazed at how much junk gets loaded onto my computer without my permission.

I use the top two most favored programs at Download.com's Spyware Center, Ad Aware and Spybot Search & Destroy.  Because I run these programs at least twice each week I've been happy with them.  I see every time I run the programs that new spyware has been discovered that I can remove from my PC.  So I'm thinking they are doing a good job.  And don't get me wrong - you should use at least use Ad Aware on your computer.  But today I got an email from Download.com telling me of a new spy ware program that had me intrigued.

Some people hate them, others tolerate them, and I happen to fall into the small percentage of people who admire them, but Microsoft has a new beta program appropriately titled Microsoft Anti Spyware Beta 1 that was just released.  And guess what?  It works beautifully!  To test this new software out, I first ran Spybot, then I ran Ad Aware, and then I ran the new beta of Microsoft's Anti Spyware.  And even after running the other two, the Microsoft version found spyware files and registry keys that the other two had missed.

Here are the results:  Seven new spyware threats were discovered.  Seventy-nine files were infected.  One hundred fifty-four registry keys were infected!

Folks, the spyware problem is not going to go away anytime soon.  So you need to protect yourself.  A lot of the programs are mining data about what you do on the internet and sending your personal information to people you probably don't want having it.  I urgently urge each and every one of you to try out the new Microsoft Anti Spyware.  It's free and it's well worth the time it takes to download and use.

And even though this is really a topic for another day, if you noticed I said I admired Microsoft.  That probably raised an eyebrow or two but it's really simple for me.  I admire people or companies that have learned how to be highly successful.  And the fact that they are so successful is why so many people try to tear them down.  Like I said - another discussion for another day.

A quick note:  I'll be appearing on eBay Radio next week in another interview with Chris Malta of Worldwide Brands.  More info on that later!

Wishing you a successful and prosperous 2005,

Tiger Todd