I know its just mid-July, but Back-to-School is starting already.  I just posted several sewing patterns (two vintage) for children today.  Time to start thinking about Halloween, even Christmas ........ if you're into sewing and crafting that is.  I usually wait too long to get started and then stuff is half-finished by the time it's needed.  Of course, I start new stuff the following year, not knowing where I put the old stuff!

Spent all day on the Auctiva learning curve.  The listings look much better.  Figured out how to get the scanned images down to downloadable size, how to include my sellers profile and how to create and use master profiles and pretty templates.  I guess you have to be careful so that the listing takes attention away from the item for sale!After viewing the listings, I realize there's still a lot of tweaking to do, but I feel I'm on the right track. Hopefully, I'll get it down well enough to do a lot in September when the activity picks up.

Finding my discussion comments is fun....not.  I posted a reply the other day somewhere on a discussion board.  I forgot which one, but found it, and helpful comments earlier today.  NOW, I can't find it.   I have got to bookmark whenever I post anything in order to see comments or advice. 

This week I've spent too much time on research and organization and not enought on getting items listed.  Therefore, I have no items listed this week.  So now I'm trying to figure out what's the best way to get back in business.   I've seen mentioned several places that auctions do much better when they end on a Sunday.  SO.... I could list for a shorter period of time, but that doesn't give the item much exposure.  Don't think I'll do a 3-day.   ALSO... I could prepare listings for Sunday, but we plan on being out of town for a few days after the auction ends.  That doesn't sound like good customer service.  A disclaimer might work, but not for the people who don't read all the fine print.  Yuk... What's a seller to do? 

Of course, all of the above is predicated on the truth of the Sunday evening end time advice.

I think my best course of action for now is to work like a busy bee and get as many items prepared for auction in Turbo Lister as I can, so the postings in the future will be more evenly spaced.

My first auction batch is complete and 3 of 6 items sold.  Of course 2 of those sold for the starting price.  The other had 4 bids. I did the accounting tonight and made a grand total of $0.07.  yippee.  But summer is a learning time.  And boy am I on a steep learning curve. 

I have yet to figure out how to print an invoice....  It seems silly to send one when the buyer has already paid.  What I did for these items is to print out an order detail page.  Seems to work.

Isn't shipping fun?  Because I send small items (sewing patterns), first class mail is the least expensive way to go.  Unfortunately the "print shipping label" through eBay doesn't work because regular first class mail isn't an option.  Arrrrrgggggghhhhh!

Guess I'm learning by trial and error.  At least I knew that I'd be using summer as a time to get my act together, so I'm not frustrated, at least not very.

Looking for my first seller feedbacks.... got the first buyer feedback today, so I'm no longer a "zero"...

Thanks for those who left advice .... I've bought another item today.  And left positive feedback for the seller of the package I got today.  Hopefully I will receive feedback also.

A blog etiquitte (sp?) question:  Yesterday, I deleted a comment.    The comment was about checking Auctiva.  I may at a later date, but just learning eBay is keeping me busy now.  I was thinking like I would in managing email, but later realized since this is a blog, it should probably be kept. I would like to know if this is a no-no, just not usually done, or perceived as rude (Like typing in all caps). 

Purple Fairy,  Thanks for your positivity!  I like your store and items.  And the color purple is my favorite also.  I learned how to customize the blog and chose the purple theme.

It's really fun to watch your items and see how many people have visited.  I'm amazed at how soon the listings were visited after posting.  So far I have three items being watched, one of them has two watchers.  I'm taking that as a positive sign.

I got a package of recycled silk sari yarn today (my first eBay purchase).  It's really beautiful.  I want to use it for embellishing my quilts and wallhangings.  There's a lot there, so I may package up small quantities as an assortment for quilters and fabric artists and offer it for sale.

Hope that everyone has a great 4th.  We're going to my husband's folks to watch the fireworks.  They live on a beach, so neighbors set off a lot of fireworks over the water.  We're probably going to stay a few days.  Hope their dial-up connections and ancient computer will work for eBay.

I've finally listed my first items.   Now for the wait......

It's been a week or so since I decided to get started and list items to sell.  My experience with eBay had been many years ago and was limited to a few purchases.

There are so many resources available on the eBay site... It took a lot of hours to get explore and explore and explore...   It seems like I would be heading in one direction and then take a left turn and then another left, etc.  Sometimes I wound up back where I started, but not always.  Thanks to our laptop and wireless connections, I at least could keep my hubby company and semi-watch some TV.

Many thanks to all who have contributed their thoughts, feedback and experiences to the community answer boards and like.  It's been very helpful.  I took a lot of ideas away everytime I sat down for an exploration session. 

At times, I was hesitant because of the horror stories about difficulties in getting pictures uploaded, problem buyers and getting paid for items.  I finally realized that the stories were from a very low percentage of people who use eBay all the time with no problems.

As a newbie, I have no feedback scores yet and realized buyers may be wary, but I will just have to be patient and provide the best possible customer service to build a loyal buyer following. 

All my life I've been involved in crafts of some sort, quilting in particular.   Combine my love of old things and estate sales.... it adds up to a very full sewing room.  I plan on building a niche business of vintage sewing and craft items.  The first items are patterns and instructions, some not so old, but not needed in my bookcase.  After I build up a reputation as a honest and prompt seller, I will start adding my vintage patterns.  Also, I will learn how to better configure TurboLister.

I've filed my photos in Photobucket and the process is really easy.  One thing I don't understand is why my listing has three copies of the picture?  There is an extra supersize picture on the details page, which, while showing the pattern in fine detail, may detract from the description of what's inside. 

If anyone would like to give this "newbie" advice, I'd gladly accept it.