eBay’s New Insertion Fees Policy
I just got an email from eBay the other day: Their new insertion fees policy is that you get five free ones every month, regardless of the item’s start price. Of course, this seems to be more of an effort to attract new, small-time sellers, than to benefit existing, high-volume sellers.
I personally am very excited for the new policy. I don’t sell much on eBay, but because of the high insertion fees for higher-priced items, I’ve often been forced to start auctions much lower than my comfort level in order to save money on the overall fees. This new policy will allow me to start items at higher prices when I really don’t want to sell the item for a loss, and not be out any money if it doesn’t sell at that price.
Of course, five items a month isn’t very many, but I average far less than that so it’s not a big deal to me. The main down side that might affect me is that I’m guessing they are going to increase the rest of their fees to make up for it — if not now, then later on they will, when they think we won’t notice.
Of course, there are times when it’s not worth selling something on eBay even with free insertion fees. For example, jewelry is a dime a dozen on eBay, so it can be very difficult sometimes to even get the value of the gold out of a piece of jewelry. In this case, even with the free insertion fees, you’ll probably get more money if you sell gold jewelry for cash by taking it to a pawn shop.
All in all, though, I think the new insertion fees policy is a good idea. Of course, I might be biased since I am exactly the type of seller who can benefit from it!
Activities You Should Outsource
I work from home. I work for myself. For a long time I thought that this was synonymous with working alone. However, I have realized in the past year or so that I don’t have to work alone. There is a lot of work that I can outsource to other people. This allows me to focus on the area of my work that I do best.
The first things that I started to outsource were things that I didn’t understand very well. I hired an accountant to deal with my taxes. I hired a web designer to fix up my website. Sure I could have learned these things myself. But the truth is that I don’t care that much about things like PHP scripts and dreamweaver extensions so I’d rather just outsource that work to someone else.
The other thing that I outsource is work that is tedious. Things like filing, making phone calls and calendaring the month’s events are things that take me a lot of time. They need to be done but there’s no reason I have to be the one to do them. It’s a lot more cost-effective to outsource that work. Then I can use my time to do my other tasks.
Little Ways to Escape at the Office
Being inside of your office all day can make you feel drained. Even if you love your job, you probably get that itch to get out of the office now and then. The best thing that you can do to combat this feeling is to find little ways to make yourself feel like you’re escaping the office even though you’re still there.
For example, you might choose a screensaver for your computer that is really relaxing. Pick a picture of a gorgeous Fiji resort and make it your new background. Every few hours, close out all of the other screens on your computer and just absorb the image of the resort. Daydream about what you would do if you were there. It’s not quite the same as going on vacation but it provides a nice little break for your day.
There are a bunch of different things like this that you can do to get a mini-escape on a daily basis. Pay attention to your senses to figure out what those things are. Scented candles at your desk, textured fabrics on your computer chair and a short break to eat some great fresh fruit are some examples. Brainstorm as many as you can and get away from your office this way often!
Important Things to Know About Your Customers
When you run a business, you should get to know your customers. If you run a small business then you may get to know them personally. If you run a large business then you will simply get to know them by collecting information about them.
Some of the information on customer demographics that you would want to collect might include:
- Age. You want to get an idea of the average age of your customers. This helps you figure out how to market to your customers. It also helps you see which customers you’re not getting so you might create new services to offer to them.
- Gender. Are your customers male or female? Do you want to try to get more customers of the opposite gender? You have to know what you’re dealing with.
- Marital status. This one is complicated these days. People may live together for years without getting married. People define marriages differently. However, it may help for some businesses to have a general idea of whether their customers are married or single.
These are just examples of things that you might want to know about your customers. Knowing these things helps you to better serve them. It also helps you to see ways of marketing to reach a bigger demographic.
Paying Off Our Mortgage Sooner Than I Thought
When we bought our home fifteen years ago, it was always our dream to pay off our mortgage early. We thought that if we worked a little harder or spent a little less and made extra payments, that it would be a reality.
But as it turns out, we didn’t put that extra money we made on the mortgage - there always seemed to be other places that the money would disappear and it seemed that we would never reach our goal of paying it off early.
In early 2003 we did do something really smart that would eventually put us in a position to pay off our mortgage. We happened to attend an auction where they were selling gold jewelry at a deep discount, and we happened to buy a lot of it. Little did we know that this purchase would change our lives.
Now, we have found a place that will let me sell my gold at a price that will allow us to pay off the rest of the mortgage and still have some money left over for renovations. It will be great to fix up our house and finally see the dream that we had fifteen years ago become a reality.
What All Can You Take When You Move?
So I have some beautiful outdoor garden wall fountains outside my home. They’re really very nice, and I picked them out to be very special and very personal. My question is this: am I allowed to take those with me like I would the lawn furniture or the Jacuzzi when I sell my home?
From what I understand, when I sell a house I can take all the furniture including barstools and pictures, but I’m not supposed to remove anything affixed to the house in a permanent way, like curtain rods. But I have to leave curtains. I can take the refrigerator, but not the stove and dishwasher. And I can’t remove the lighting fixtures. But I have to leave the bathroom mirrors even though I can take the pictures. It’s all very gray and unclear.
Things like fiberglass wall fountains are moveable. They can be wired or be plug-in. I figure they’re somewhere between a Jacuzzi and a fish tank—one you might or might not get to take, the other you definitely would. And there was no language in the listing, the offer, nor the acceptance that lists it.
So what do you think? Should I just take the fountains and run?
History of the Jersey Barrier
The jersey barrier was developed for the New Jersey State Highway Department. The original jersey barrier was made from poured concrete and is usually three feet tall. The use of barriers on the highway has spread to other areas such as construction zones and temporary walkways.
The jersey barrier was designed to minimize damage and to decrease the chance that a vehicle would cross over into oncoming traffic if the driver loses control of the vehicle. The barriers help to redirect an out of control vehicle. The barriers minimize damage because a car’s tires will ride up on the sloped face instead of the body of the vehicle scrapping against the side. This allows for the minimal sheet metal damage. Jersey barriers should be placed beside a paved surface so a car’s wheels will not sink into the ground and cause the car to flip over.
Today, jersey barriers are also made out of plastic. These were designed due to a demand for a method of crowd control that offered the benefits of a concrete jersey barrier for small or short term projects. Plastic barriers are also good for projects where the barriers need to be moved frequently. Plastic jersey barriers come in a variety of bright colors that offer maximum visibility.
How I Moved Forward with My Invention
It has been my life long dream to pursue my invention. I have worked as a finance manager for several years and even though I had a successful career, I have always longed to be my own boss. I have created a prototype and a production plan with a unique trial product and I am confident that it will blossom.
Unfortunately, most of my assets are tied up in real estate leaving my funding for this project short. Therefore, I contacted a financial advisor who made me aware of some creative solutions that I hadn’t considered. The suggestion was to think about using my life insurance premiums to endorse the invention and finance the materials I need to implement my plan. I had a life insurance policy for quite a while but I never thought of it as an instrument to finalizing my prototype.
I found a company that aided me in choosing the best agenda to assemble my plan and more notably stay away from premium finance fraud. Since I have
begun the process I started executing my plans to perfect the model and I am excited to see my dreams come true now that I have created a chance to succeed.
Making a Christmas Wishlist Early
I realize it is only March, but we’ve been working on our Christmas lists already. Each time the kids see a new toy advertised on the television, they ask to add it to their Christmas list. Wondering through the toy store yesterday, they added five items to their ever growing list. As a new item is marketed to the masses, my children ask for it and I reply, “Put it on the list”. What is this list going to look like by November?
If it works for them, then hopefully it will work for me too. I just got a new cell phone and would like to get a Motorola earpiece to work with it. With so many wireless phone headsets on the market, I don’t know how to determine which one is better than another. Since I have a Motorola phone, I decided that a Motorola earpiece will work well together. I’ve been dropping hints to Santa Claus and hoping he may send a new earpiece down our chimney soon so I can start learning how to use my new cell phone earpieces. While I am putting in requests, I’d also like a new pair of shoes and a clean house. Hopefully Santa is working again after a busy Christmas season.
I Want to be Useful
I am always on the look out to purchase any cheap wigs that I can find, along with any good plus size adult costumes that I may come across in my day to day life because both of these things can be very hard to come by, especially right when you need it most! And I often need to have these things because I am very involved in my drama club at my high school and there have been a few times that the person who is in charge of costumes and makeup and stuff like that has not been able to get what the production needed but I am able to deliver in a pinch.
I like to be able to be that kind of person, you know that person that always has whatever it is you could possibly need on a moment’s notice even when it seems completely random and they would never expect you or anyone else around at that time be able to deliver it. I want to be considered a useful person and I think that is a good way to be able to do it.
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