QIRK'S GUY STUFF

After 10 years of selling on ebay, 2,000 positive feedbacks, I am now a risk to buyers and ebay has decided to hold my funds for 21 days to protect the buyers. I used to really like ebay and taught people to how to use ebay, now I am done with them. Internet research indicates I am not by myself. Ebay is still great for buyers, but they are sacrificing their sellers, the people who actually fund ebay. Buyers pay nothing to ebay.

Good news, ebay is not the only string on the fiddle of online auctions. You do have options. first you need to research other venues to find a good fit for your types of sales. Start with
http://online-auction-sites.toptenreviews.com/
and do a comparison. Be sure to read the reviews about other sites. As with all things new , there is a learning curve, do not get discouraged.

Granted ebay is the powerhouse of online auctions. It still has uses, use it to find out what your item is actually selling for by using the completed auctions function. That way you will see what people are actually paying for your type of item, not what people are asking for their item. Even though ebay owns paypal you can still use paypal to get money from your customers. Paypal is not the only way to get paid. You can use google checkout, open a merchant account, take u.s. post office money orders, cashiers checks, personal checks, and well concealed cash. There is other options also, all with different options. Research them to find what you are comfortable with. Only ebay will require you to ship your item before you get paid.

Getting paid
That's why we sell online

I strongly recommend a separate checking account or a separate credit card
to use as backup funding. If you use a separate checking account you have protection from possible hacking and no one can get your house payment out of your account. If you have a separate credit card and an unknown charge shows up you can do a chargeback on the card.
PAYPAL
Paypal is owned by ebay, they will do what corporate tells them to do. Ebay charges a final value fee and now paypal charges a final value fee plus a transaction fee. Paypal might be considered a necessary evil, so many people now have a paypal account, but be wary.

Google Check out
https://checkout.google.com/sell/?gl=US&hl=en

they will allow your customers to use their cards to purchase your items. Customers still have the option to do a chargeback if they are not satisfied with your item. They do get a reasonable transaction fee.

MERCHANT ACCOUNTS
Your own credit card processing. Read
http://credit-card-processing-review.toptenreviews.com/v2/
and find the best fit for your business. This could get pricey for a small seller.

U.S. POSTAL MONEY ORDERS
These are available at any post office and can be cashed at any post office. Do not ship until you cash yours, there are people who counterfeit postal money orders. Be aware that post offices can not cash their money orders until the clerks have the money in their drawers. If you show up at 9:00 am to cash a $300 money order , you will probably have to come back in the afternoon.

CASHIERS CHECKS
These are available at any bank. Be aware that people counterfeit these also. If you receive one one , take it to the bank that issued it (or your bank) before shipping, to verify it is legitimate, BEFORE DEPOSITING IT, save yourself overdraft fees on your account.

PERSONAL CHECKS
Personal checks are still a legitimate form of legal tender. Personally, I don't need the hassle. I do not want to wait for them to clear. I don't want to check with the bank every day before i ship. I do not need the overdraft charges on my account because they can not manage their account.

WELL CONCEALED CASH
Cash is good. Be sure to stipulate in your listing that well concealed cash is their option and their risk. Protect yourself, insist that it must be sent certified mail with a return receipt. That gives it a tracking number and absolute proof you received it. They pay the $5.69 for their peace of mind.

SHIPPING YOUR ITEMS

After you get paid ,your reputation depends on your performance. If you say within three days, make sure it happens. Everbody's Aunt Hattie dies, we all have people in the hospital. You are running a business, be professional. Be sure to apply a reasonable shipping and handling fee. Your time, trip to the post office and packing materials are a reasonable charge. If the buyer wants the item they will not object, if they do, let them shop elsewhere.

Always put delivery confirmation on your packages, always insure items over $50, this is for your peace of mind. Bite the bullet and pay for these yourself as a cost of doing business.

Best choice for shipping is U.S. POSTAL SERVICE click and ship. Then take it to the post office and drop it off, no need to stand in line. If you choose to stand in line, have your package ready to mail. The post office does not have an addressing and packing service. Your package should be ready to mail when you hand it to a clerk.

ABOUT INTERNATIONAL SHIPPING.
A lot of your items will not be as available overseas, do not be afraid to deal with those buyers. The rule of thumb is 4 and 4, if it is under four pounds and $400 in value you can ship it at first class international package weight for significant savings, anything over four pounds will have to go priority mail international. You will have to fill out the customs forms for any package leaving the United States. Items four pounds and under will require the small customs form, over four pounds will require the large customs form. The only way to track an international package to delivery is by sending it registered mail, at an extra $8.50, plus whatever you need to insure it at. Customs labels have a number but that will just tell you when it left the country. Be aware the U.S postal service has no control over custom houses in other countries. Sometimes delivery is delayed because the customs in that country has possession of the item.

PRINTING AND PAYING FOR LABELS FROM HOME

U.S. POSTAL SERVICE

Use this link
https://sss-web.usps.com/cns/landing.do

you will have to register as a user and have a card on file to pay the postage. International labels are available as well. The only draw back is you can not do media mail or parcel post from here. I can not get a satisfactory answer as to why not.

ONLINE POSTAGE PROVIDERS

Check this link for a comparision of other sites to buy postage and print labels

http://www.businessknowledgesource.com/smallbusiness/which_online_postage_service_is_best_021472.html

PROMOTING YOUR SALES

Create a listing on EveryPlaceISell.com to promote your ITEMS - it's free!
EveryPlaceISell.com is a free merchant directory to help shoppers find and track their favorite stores.
It was conceived and created by the marketplace experts that made AuctionBytes one of the most popular marketplace review sites online. They created EveryPlaceISell.com as a direct response to the trend of multi-channel selling among even very small sellers. Shoppers can search the EveryPlaceISell directory by seller name or User ID, and they can browse by category, or search by keyword
Post Your Items to Squidoo
Squidoo is a site that lets you create a "lens," which is basically a page that has a collection of interesting information and RSS feeds.
RSS feeds, you say? That's right! Because they have RSS feeds, Squidoo is an ideal place to post your items.
How Much Traffic is this Good For?
It's up to you! If you create a lame Squidoo page that just has your items, chances are that few people will visit it, though it may still help the Google rank of your booth. If you go all out, start using the site, and populate your Squidoo lens not only with your booth items, but with other interesting tidbits you find from around the web, the rank of your Squidoo page will increase, and the numbers of people clicking through to your items will increase along with it.
OTHER USEFUL TIDBITS AND ADVICE
THESE WILL DEPEND UPON YOUR QUESTIONS AND RESPONSE

CHECK THE LINKS
WALTER BRENNAN-TOUCH OF THE MASTERS HAND--

http://www.myspace.com/walterbrennan/music/songs/the-touch-of-the-master-s-hand-34282540

I SELL ON WEBSTORE AND BONANZA, HIGHLY RECOMMEND THEM, SIGN UP FOR A FREE ACCOUNT YOURSELF
http://www.webstore.com/ QIRK301 IS MY STORE
http://www.bonanza.com LOOK FOR QIRK SELLER
MY AMAZON STORE FRONT QIRK'S STUFF ON AMAZON

google-site-verification: googled185a90d160d8cb1.html

The worst whipping i ever got from my grandma was when I hypnotized her chickens. My brother and I used to spend a couple of weeks in the summer with her and grandpa in the country.They lived on Billy Basham's dairy farm where grandpa worked. Grandma kept chickens as most country fold did. Someone told brother and i , if you draw a straight line in the dirt, hold a chickens head down to the line, it will stare down the line looking for the end and be hypnotized.
It really works, she came out to the yard, finds 30-40 chickens lying in the sun. Heat stroke chickens did not amuse her, she did whip me for shaving the cat, but NOT near as bad, I figure the chickens bring in money , the cat doesn't, and she don't eat cats

Now you too, can learn the ancient southern secret of how to hypnotize a chicken, just go here
www.youtube.com/watch?v=sqZZ95L2n7o

Be sure to check out the stuff I have picked up at yard sales , estate sales, auctions and what i have found through the years. You might find something to add to your collection . If you are looking for a particular item, email me or leave a comment, i just might have it or a source for you to get it. Be sure to go to http://www.bonanza.com/qirk to see my items there.I also sell on YARDSELLR, http://yardsellr.com/block/madison-tn . THESE ARE ALSO GOOD SITES TO SELL YOUR ITEMS. REMEMBER, everything is negotiable, but don't take advantage of an old man.

I ALSO SELL ON AMAZON ,BOOKS, VHS TAPES, DVDS AND CD'S CLICK HERE TO GO TO MY STOREFRONT
QIRK'S STUFF ON AMAON

I guess I must have been about six when I started reading and collecting funny books. Now that I am a grown man, I read and collect sequential art forms. They are the same thing, one just sounds more respectful for an old man.
When you collect them, we all have favorites; don't let your personal likes get in the way of your wallet. There are all kinds of guides on the Internet as how to grade, preserve, and to find the value of them. My favorite resource on the Internet is MILE HIGH COMICS. http://www.milehighcomics.com/
I was lucky enough to get stationed at Lowery AFB IN Denver, Co, in 1973. I got to make a pilgrimage to Mile High Comics. I did get to meet Chuck Rozanski. The owner and founder of Mile High Comics. You can read his story here. http://www.milehighcomics.com/information/hist.html
A real American success story. He took an interest to a lifelong career, by feeding his passion. He also provided a means to share this passion with the world via the Internet.
I use Mile High Comics to value my comics. You see what they want for their comic and value yours accordingly. You should be aware that grading a comic is very subjective. Your fine comic might be my good comic. With any type of guidebook on values of items you should realize that if you sell your item for half of the books value you are lucky. When buying you should only pay about 1/4 of the value in the book to insure you will make a profit on your item. You price your item according to how much longer you want to keep it. Be aware that there are outside factors in determining a value besides rarity and issue run. When they make a movie about a character the interest in your book goes up. When an actor who played a character on TV or the movies is arrested or dies, the interest in your book goes up.
My personal favorites are the silver age comics. Just like the rest of you, I like to re-visit my childhood.

I have several of these silver age comics and some golden age comics on sale at my sites at WEBSTORE and BONANZA now. Be sure to visit here and look. If you just like to read the old stuff and see the art I recommend
http://www.goldenagecomics.co.uk/

The picture is a GREEN LANTERN # 2. I have for sale now.

Dear Old Buzzard,
The holidays are here again. I get lonely and depressed this time of year. I get so tired of the merchandising hoopla and feel like if I am not spending money I do not have; I am not participating in the holiday spirit. I want to feel good about the season again. Do you have any advice for me?
Signed
Feeling blue for the holidays

Dear Feeling Blue,

Sure I do. Unless you were born with a couch welded to your behind, leave the house. The holidays are about people and sharing. You do not have to spend money, spend your time. Volunteer at your church, or local hospital and there are all kinds of local organizations and your community that would be glad to see you. Time is the most valuable commodity we have. A person has to be useful to develop a sense of worth. You do not have to sign on with a silly cheerleader group, although they have established credentials and can get into places. You do not have to go to a hospital and sing carols, go to the children's ward with a board game. Teach the kids how to play life or monopoly. We just had Veterans Day. So we saw all the media on how much we appreciate them. Go to your local VA hospital with a Chess set and start a game with a Vet. Go visit a local old folks home. Ladies if you have some type of crafting skill, start a group with the old gals and make them feel useful. Guys take a deck of cards and a bunch of coupons and start a weekly poker game with the old guys. You use the coupons for money instead of using poker chips. They have access to magazines and newspapers and can get more coupons to bid with.

You will be rewarded for your efforts. You will boost your own sense of worth and esteem. You should keep a journal in your car. They are going to share experiences and advice with you, you may have an article or book from that. Write it down before life gets in the way so you can refer back.

EMAIL ME AT qirkarticles@comcast.net with your request for advice, BUT I'LL PROBABLY TELL YOU SOMETHING YOU ALREADY KNOW BUT DO NOT WANT TO HEAR

WHAT I WANT YOU TO DO IS DRAW A CARTOON ,ONE PANEL, NEEDS A SPACESHIP LANDING ON THE PLANET "POUL-TREE", WHICH IS INHABITED BY CHICKENS. I WANT COL. SANDERS COMING DOWN A GANGPLANK, TO A ROUSING WELCOME. HE IS HOLDING A BOOK UNDER HIS ARM. THE TITLE OF THE BOOK SHOULD BE VERY CLEAR. THE BOOK IS : HOW TO SERVE CHICKENS.{ WITH A NOD AND DEEP APPRECIATION TO THE OLD TWILIGHT ZONE TV SERIES}

THE WINNER GETS A RUN THROUGH MY AMAZON STORE TO PICK THEIR OWN PRIZE, WITH FREE SHIPPING.
http://www.amazon.com/shops/A155PCZ6NXPW1L

JUST SCAN THE CARTOON AND EMAIL TO qirkarticles@comcast.net in .jpeg format with your info.
WHEN YOU PICK YOUR PRIZE THE CARTOON BECOMES MY PROPERTY, BUT BECAUSE I AM A NICE GUY, I WILL MARKET IT TO MAGAZINES, AND IF IT SELLS , I WILL SPLIT THE MONEY WITH YOU 50/50.

SHOP HERE FOR GIFTS FOR YOUR GUY