eBay and Drop shipping – Getting the Product to

Your Customer

If you hope to own an eBay business, and make a
full time living at it, you can easily make that dream
come true – even if you don’t have a product of your
own to sell. eBay provides many people who want to
quit their corporate nine-to-five jobs with a way to
make a good living, without having to put up a lot of
start up capital. This is made possible with the help
of drop shippers. Drop shippers send merchandise to
the customers of business owners. If you have an
eBay business, you are a business owner. This will
allow you to offer a wide variety of stock in your
eBay store, without having the need to warehouse
all of those products!

All you have to do is set up your auction, and sell
the product. You then pass the customer’s
information on to the drop shipping company. The
drop shipper does the rest, and they will even use
your company information, as well as your company
logo if you have provided it to them. When the product
arrives at your customer’s home, they will have no idea
that your company didn’t send it. The drop shipper
will package, label, and ship the products that you
sell, allowing you more time to set up even more
auctions, for greater profits.

You must establish a relationship with several drop
shipping companies in order to become successful.
In the beginning, most companies will require you to
pay for the items that your customers order before
they are shipped. You need to fill orders in a
timely manner, so you should pay for the items with
a credit card for speedy service. Eventually, you will
be able to have the drop shipper fill your orders, and
then bill you for them later.

When you set up your eBay auctions, make sure
that your reserve price is set higher than the price
that the drop shipper will be charging you for the
item. The idea, of course, is to earn a profit!
Depending on the item you are selling, a markup
of about 10% should be about right, but you should
do some research to see if the item is selling for a
lower price in another eBay auction, or through
other online sources.

By starting an eBay business using the drop
shipping method, there is essentially no financial risk
involved. The product will be sold before you pay the
drop shipper for the item. This is one of the few
businesses where you can actually turn a profit
before you have expenditures!

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eBay and Customer Service

If you are running an eBay business, you may not
realize that the need for great customer service still
exists – even for online auctions. When a buyer
receives quality customer service from you, they
will potentially do one of two things – or both. They
will give you great feedback, and they may look for
more of your auctions in the future. If you hope to
make a living from eBay, you have to stop thinking
of it as an ‘auction’ and start running it like a
‘business.’

If you owned a brick and mortar business, how
would you treat your customer while they were
standing at your counter, waiting for you to finish
ringing up their order? You would be helpful and
respectful of course! You would do everything that
you could to guarantee that customers return to
your establishment in the future. You would bend
over backwards to make sure that their buying
experience with you was both satisfactory and
enjoyable. Why would you do any less at the
close of one of your eBay auctions?

First, act quickly at the close of your auctions.
Contact the winner, and congratulate them. Describe
the item they have won and how the item will be
shipped – even if this information is already part of
the description for the auction. Remind them of their
winning bid amount, and give them payment options
and instructions. Let them know when the item will
be shipped.

Close your email by thanking them for participating
in your auction. You might even take this opportunity
to tell them about other open auctions that you have
as well. Think of this contact with the winner as a
conversation that you are having with a customer
who is standing at your counter in that imaginary
brick and mortar store.

Once the payment and shipping details have been
taken care of, contact your buyer again. Let them
know when the item was shipped – the exact date
and time – and when it is expected to arrive on their
end. During this contact, let them know that if they
have any problems or questions, that they should
contact you through the eBay site. If they do
contact you in the future, make sure that you
answer promptly, and that you do all that you can
to make them happy with their purchase – even if
it means issuing a refund.

Yes. You should be open to issuing refunds,
depending on what the item is. Furthermore, you
should issue refunds promptly. Of course, it is
reasonable to expect the buyer to return the item to
you, at your expense, before the refund is issued –
but once you receive the item, issue the refund
promptly. This is just good business!

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Durango Mountain Resort Ski Vacations

Featuring more than 2500 acres of ski area and 75
trails, Durango Mountain Ski Resort has much to
offer skiers of all levels. The resort claims that there
are approximately two people per acre on their
slopes during operation hours. The crowds are small,
and lift lines do not exist.

Located in Colorado, the top elevation is 10822 feet
with a 2030 vertical drop. There are eleven lifts,
including nine chair lifts and two surface lifts. You
can find lodging at the resort, or in the town of
Durango, which is nearby. If you stay at the resort,
make sure that you actually visit the town while
you are there. While the town is small, there is
much to see and do.

Rentals are available for both ski and snowboarding
equipment, and private and group lessons are also
available at the Durango Mountain Resort. There are
plenty of activities and events both at the resort and
in Durango to keep everyone in your family happy.
When it comes to family ski vacations, this is one
you don’t want to miss!

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Drugstore Cigars: A Good Buy?

The sheer diversity of cigars can be confusing for new smokers. Many new smokers want to know: is it OK to buy cigars from their local drugstore or chain store? What is the quality of these cigars? Can you expect to get good flavor from these cigars?

While of course, it’s perfectly OK to purchase these cigars, be aware that these packaged cigars are usually of poorer quality. Most ‘drugstore’ cigars contain preservative or other non-tobacco ingredients. Common ingredients found in packaged cigars may include paper, Glycerin, and saltpeter. High quality cigars will contain only tobacco. Packaged drugstore cigars will generally contain these extra ingredients designed to keep them stored on the shelves for extended periods of time.

In order to get the best quality cigars, you will have to visit your local tobacconist. While many mail order businesses do carry good quality cigars, be aware that they usually will not sell singles, thus you will have to purchase whole boxes. Visiting your local tobacconist allows you to test different brands before settling on a box.

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Downtown San Diego Gaslamp Quarter

The Gaslamp Quarter of San Diego contains some of
the most extensive and dramatically designed
historic buildings in the area. Constructed between
1873 and 1930, these Victorian style buildings are
truly a sight to behold.

The Victorian era buildings found in the Gaslamp
Quarter are home to night clubs, restaurants,
theaters, and shops. A simple stroll down 4th
and 5th avenue will put you at the heart of the
Gaslamp Quarter.

Also found in the Gaslamp Quarter is the Horton
Plaza and Horton Plaza Park. The Plaza is the
first place in the United States to feature a water
fountain containing electric lights; a true
tribute to the designer Alonzo Horton.

The Gaslamp Quarter received its name from the
gaslamps that were used in the area around the early
1900’s. During those times, gaslamps were the
main source of light for the area that is now
the vision of Modern Day San Diego.

Now days, there are more than 130 stores and shops
filling the Gaslamp Quarter. With everything from
Macy’s to Mervyns, Gaslamp Quarter has plenty for
you to see and do. In Horton Plaza, you can find
a multi screen movie theater that is sure to please
movie lovers.

For a wonderful experience, the Gaslamp Quarter of
San Diego shouldn’t be overlooked. There is a lot
you can do here, from fine dining to excellent
shops. For a family vacation, San Diego has a
little bit of something for everyone.

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Downloading Podcast News

With the rise of podcasting, many individuals and
organizations are finding that podcasting is a great way
to distribute information, from music and comedy
shows to talk shows, even podcast news. CNET is one
of the groups that is distributing a news podcast. CNET,
being an online technology site, naturally found a niche
distributing a tech news related podcast. CNET’s recent
podcasts covered such topics as viruses that attack cell
phones, problems with Google’s software, China’s web
restrictions and the “Great Firewall of China”, and the
FTC’s attack on spyware. These news items were
distributed in a sound file called an mp3 file that is
downloadable to a listener’s computer for listening
whenever they wish. While these files were available
straight from CNET’s site, the majority of them are
shared through the use of an RSS file. An RSS file is a
small piece of XML coding that is downloadable by
programs designed to read it. These programs are called
podcast clients, and the user can input the address of the
RSS files that hold the information on the feed. The
feed will contain links to the media files of the podcast,
and will download the new updates automatically.

More sites than CNET are finding that podcast news is
an expoitable technology. The British Broadcasting
Corporation podcasts some of it’s programs, as well as
the US radio network NPR. The NPR, because its work
is created by a variety of different groups, treats
podcasts differently from show to show. The NPR show
“This American Life” distributes a podcast of the show
through a site called audible.com, which allows feed
listeners to subscribe to the feed for a small fee and
download the show . The NPR Hourly News show, on
the other hand, shares a short 5 minute broadcast that
summarizes the news for free. Since the NPR is taking a
radio show and converting it into a file that is
downloadable by the user, little is lost in the translation.
The sound is designed to convey the entire story, and so
podcast subscribers are able to treate the podcast as
nothing more than TIVO for the radio. ABC’s podcast
of the news show Nightline, on the other hand, is
simply the sound track from the television show. This
has been one of the criticisms of the Nightline podcast,
because by merely stripping the sound from what is
designed as a television show, much information is not
given to the users. Listeners have problems telling who
is who because they miss the visual cues that were
supposed to be there, and there is no truly easy way to
convert the shows. For this reason, some news shows
have been moving from audio podcasts to video ones.
They can take the video information directly from the
show that is broadcast, lower the visual resolution to
shrink the file, and distribute it online as a podcast.

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Downloading a Free Podcast

Its easy to find and download a free podcast. The best
way to find free podcasts is probably to check a podcast
directory. A podcast directory is a listing of many,
sometimes thousands of different podcasts. The podcast
directory will usually organize the podcasts by topic and
genre, making it easy to find the type of podcast that is
sought. In addition, podcast directories often allow the
visitors to comment on the podcasts listed, and provide
a list of the favorite podcasts on the site, making it easy
for users to find the best podcasts available. These
podcast directories can be used to browse through,
introducing users to many different podcasts they
otherwise would not have found.

Once a podcast has been found that interests the user, it
is necessary to download the free podcast. The vast
majority of podcasts will be free, but there will be a few
that may cost a small amount of money. The process to
subscribe to and download the podcasts is the same in
either case. First, a podcast client needs to be found and
installed. There are many free podast clients available,
all providing a slightly different user interface and range
of options. They come with many different names, such
as Podscape, or Nimiq, and searching for ‘free podcast
client’ or something like it will turn up many
possibilities. When the podcast client has been
installed, inputting the feed address will allow the
podcast to be downloaded. The podcast client will
check the address given for a small, machine readable
file called an RSS file. This file will contain
information about the podcasts, perhaps some text
about the individual episodes, as well as the location of
the episode file. Once the podcast client has been
located the file referred to in the RSS feed, it will be
downloaded and stored on the users computer until the
want to view it.

Sometimes, of course, access to a personal computer is
not available, but it is still necessary to check a certain
podcast. Fortunately, many podcast directories offer
built in podcast readers in the site. Not only do they
often show each recent episode that is available, they
may also offer a way to view or listen to those podcast
episodes from within the site. By using the viewer
contained within the site, it is no longer necessary to
even download the podcast episodes. However, the
ability to move and share the episodes after
downloading is one of the wonderful things about
podcasting. The files can be placed on almost and
media player, ranging from iPods to the new Play
Station Portable. This flexibility is one of the reasons
podcasts have succeeded, despite other technologies
like streaming music and video. The desire of
consumers to have control over technology cannot be
over estimated.

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