New eBay Green Box

At eBay's final "eBay on Location" meeting in San Jose a few weeks ago, they announced their creation of a green shipping box. They come in three different sizes. They plan to give away 100,000 of these new boxes beginning sometime in October, 2010.

A green shipping box is not new. I understand that UPS has them already. But eBay's box is rather unique. By design, it is intended to be used 6 times. The box even has an interior design encouraging recipients to save it and use it again. eBay has designed the interior with six panels for each of the six recipients to write a little message to the next person receiving it. If the box does reach the end of it's useful life before the sixth use, of course it is fully recyclable. A great idea!

If you are an eBay seller and would like to receive some of these boxes, make sure you get to the eBay Green Team site and opt-in to email so you will know when they become available.

Ken
DR EBAY

Combining eBay and YouTube to Increase Your Fan Base

While I'm on this roll of telling you about great places you can learn how to make money on eBay and elsewhere online, I can't overlook one other trusted educator: Jim Cockrum. Jim is best known for his first book The Silent Sales Machine (on eBay). Jim has been around the eBay and online marketing scene for many years and is listed on an independent online Internet Marketing website, as the most trusted Internet marketer/teacher on the Web. I believe that and I didn't need a poll to tell me.

You can read his blog to get a better sense of who he is and what he is about. Although he has many income streams and claims to work just a few days a week for a six figure income, he still says that eBay is one of the best places to make a good living. So, read his blog, get on his newsletter mailing list, and learn. You won't be sorry.

Ken
DR EBAY
My Silent Team Member

Learning from Online Rockstars

Learning what you need to know to be successful in the online marketplace can be a real challenge. There are many places to get information on succeeding online and at eBay, but as you probably know they are not all equal. There are people selling information on this subject on eBay and through email who aren't worthy of your time. Many offer everything from out and out false information to products that aren't even worth one dollar. However, if you read about it here, I am putting my reputation on the line and you can be sure it is worth every penny.

Another learning site I would like to share is the Online Success Intitute, now known as OSI Rockstars. This site is run by Janelle Elms, a well respected former eBay University teacher. Janelle has created this site with some of the most friendly people I've met online. Besides classes she herself has created, there are many others created by other talented and successful people, many of whom are eBay Top Sellers. There is an annual fee which allows access to all the classes, past, present, and for the length of your membership at no additional cost. Janelle also provides a weekly newsletter for members and many other opportunitiesas well. I highly recommend OSI Rockstars to you. Go visit the site and I think you'll be very impressed.

Ken
DR EBAY
OSI Rockstar

The eBay Garden

A lot of people are gardening these days. Many people are trying to live a 'greener' lifestyle. Others have been challenged financially by the recession here in the USA and a home garden has been helpful in putting food on the family table. I recently learned that even eBay has a 'garden'.

Learning how to vegetable garden is a little like learning how to make a great website. "Really?" you say. You don't learn to grow vegetables with one try. For most people it takes years until they learn the best way to make compost, choosing the right crops for their climate, getting the best seed, and so much more trial and error. Similarly, for a great website you need graphics, the right hosting company, enticing products or services that will draw regular visitors, and there is SEO, social networking, AdSense, and so much more through trial and error.

eBay has a garden. No, not for vegetables. eBay's garden is for experimenting with new ways to make eBay better and better. This is where the techies tweak this and that. They try out new apps to help buyers and sellers. They work on ideas submitted by the eBay user community. They brainstorm to find better solutions to known problems.

And guess what? They want you to come help them. You can try out their new ideas and fixes for old problems. And you can tell them what you think works and what doesn't. It's a lot of fun! Visit them now and go back often to see what new things they are working on. eBay Garden

Ken
DR EBAY

Monthly eBay Call on Skype

Recently I blogged about the first anniversary of the Virtual Online Learning site at meetup.com. I can't say enough about Dana Crawford and her VOL website. It is all about learning how to make money in the online world we call eBay. But there are plenty of classes you can take where you can apply what you learn to the online world in general.

One of my most favorite things with VOL is a monthly Skype meeting, hosted by James Kirk Pace. You just call in on skype.com for free from anywhere and for a couple of hours you get to speak to others experienced online sellers. Many of them are Powersellers and Top Sellers on eBay. Most of them also sell on other online marketplaces too. You can ask questions or talk about what you are doing and get some feedback and everyone is so friendly.

Hope to see you there. Just visit them at VOL.

Ken
DR EBAY
Lifetime VOL Menber

eBay Fifteen Year Anniversary

eBay just celebrated their fifteen year anniversary a few weeks ago. Many of you know that eBay was started by Pierre Omidyar in 1995. It was originally known as AuctionWeb and was just one of Pierre's websites in his business. The nam was later changed to eBay. Did you also know that the first item sold on eBay by Pierre was a broken laser pointer which sold for $14.83.

Well, we've come a long way since then. I've been active on eBay since the year 2002 and so much has happened since then. The Internet continues to change almost daily it seems. And eBay keeps evolving and getting better to in order to keep up with the Internet and the ever changing marketplaces thereon.

As a celebration of eBay's fifteen years, I encourage you to tell us about the best thing you ever bought or sold on eBay. Just leave a comment below.

Ken
DR. EBAY









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