Listen to the second part here.  This can be a very profitable    business model, but as stated throughout this interview, proceed with caution.

I’d like to first say thank you to Danna Crawford and Powerselling Mom Radio for inviting me to share some tips & tricks about dropshipping products on eBay. Unlike the advertisements that you see, there is much more work that is necessary in order to successfully run your business by sourcing your products through a dropshipper. It is my hope that by sharing what I have learned and continue to practice, will quell some of the negative stigma that dropshipping imparts on those who have only heard the horror stories of dropshipping gone bad.

This is Part 1 recorded on 01/11/12. The date for Part 2 will be announced soon and posted here. If you want to learn a little more, start with some of the basics that just make good sense if you are considering starting along this path with your eBay business.

This is blog post 1 for the mid-month blog challenge at Virtual Online Learning

As we welcome in 2012, it's time to get those loose ends tied up so we can start fresh!  For me it's getting the rest of the holiday decorations put away, sweeping out the old, and letting the new in!  This first week of 2012 will be a hodgepodge of completing projects left over and getting settled into a new schedule of sorts.  I've already got a pretty busy first two weeks of the year, which couldn't make me happier!  What are your plans for the first week of January 2012?

Besides the year-end inventory and accounting tasks, I also take this time of year to reorganize.  I want to start fresh with a clean desk, a full rack of supplies, and a calendar full of new goals, and my eBay room in order.  Taking this extra time means that it really is a new year…It’s time to start meeting the new goals, rearranging my scheduled work time, and clearing up the unfinished projects.  Of course, not all the projects will be complete, but I’ll have a fresh start on the time consuming ones and set new goals for finishing them.

During this busy time of year, it’s easy to become unorganized in the rush to get the orders out on time, the listings done, and for me at least, this can mean everything not being in its place.  As long as my “mess” is organized, I can function quite well.  It’s when there is an unorganized mess, I tend to become unorganized, and it takes longer to get things done than it should.

My eBay room is in a separate area, out of the main living space whereas my home office is in the main living space.  But I need to know that I can go to my eBay room and find what I need, right now.  I use plastic storage bins to keep inventory organized and for my shipping supplies as well.  How many times have you gone to reach for a box and had the whole pile come tumbling down.  Using the storage bins eliminates this potential mess.

Because I have two separate eBay businesses, I have two complete separate sets of marketing supplies, which include business cards, thank you post cards, magnets, etc.  I use different shaped organizers to keep them separate and easily recognizable eliminating the risk of sending the wrong thank you notes and business cards.  I also make any necessary changes to my print material and make sure to reorder so there is adequate supply to start the year.  I do an inventory of shipping supplies and order any that I may be running low on.

In my particular case, I also make sure that my medical notes are all backed up and transferred to discs.  There is always the need to find a note from the previous year.  As long as they are organized on the appropriate discs, finding a particular note is a breeze and takes minimum time.

It might seem overwhelming with so much to do for end of year, but the fact is, if you stay organized, the actual process becomes more habit than work, and actually gets done fairly quickly.  All that is, except the unfinished projects, but even those will be organized in folders so I can open any particular one and start working on it without having to search for needed information or photos.

I hope you have found your own system that works for you and are ready to start 2012 with new goals and an organized workspace in which to work and reach them.  And if you’re not, take a couple weeks starting now to get these end of year tasks completed, so you can start fresh.

Oh, and don’t forget to take some time for yourself and your family and have a Very Happy, Healthy, and Prosperous New Year!

As 2011 comes to a close, those of us who work from home in ecommerce have our own end of year celebration. The fact that the year is ending and we are ready to start a brand new one means we survived the economic hardships of the past year. We persevered a tough year and are getting ready to start anew in 2012. But first, there are those tedious little tasks that are a necessary part of doing business. It’s time to make sure our inventory is done and our books are up to date. For the newbies, this can be quite intimidating, but the best recommendation I can make is to start off with a system. Though the first or even second year can seem a daunting task, it’s best to bite the bullet and set up your system right off. From there it can only get easier to manage.

I have used Quickbooks for many years, not just for my online business, but also for my husband’s business for the past 15 years or so. There is a huge learning curve with this program, but it is top-notch once the program is set up and in place. This is not what I am recommending to you though, unless you feel comfortable with learning this rather complicated program.

I am recommending a program called Outright. It has to be the best (in my opinion) program for tracking not only your eBay sales, but also it will import all your information from PayPal too. At this time, it is free for everyone and I can’t recommend strongly enough that you sign up for it and get it set up. The program is actually very simple to set up. You will have to set your categories up for expenses, but once this is done, the program remembers where these transactions belong. The best part is it updates automatically, you don’t have to enter any figures manually, and no transactions are lost. Another great perk is that you it will actually compute your Schedule C so all you have to do is either give it to your accountant or if you do your own taxes, enter the figures into your forms.

Key features (per Outright.com):

Automate your bookkeeping tasks in less than five minutes for FREE. Outright:
• Automatically organizes all of your eBay sales and expenses, including all listing, final value and PayPal fees.
• By connecting to your PayPal account, Outright can import more than a full year’s worth of history the first time you use it, and continuing for as long as you have an Outright account.
• Shows you quick snapshots of how much you’re making, who your best customers are, sales by state, and where you’re spending the most.
• Provides accurate quarterly estimates of what you owe in taxes, helps you track sales tax and keep your tax records organized and up to date.

Oh and did I mention, this is a FREE application. You can find it and sign up for it on your eBay account under applications or you can go directly to the website http://outright.com However, if you sell on eBay, I strongly suggest signing up from there as it will be much faster to connect your accounts and get you on the road to easy, accurate bookkeeping.

I'd like to introduce you to a very sweet friend and fellow eBayer who I met this year through Social Media sites.  Northeast Babies is an eBay seller who specializes in, yup you guessed it, Babies. Her store is beautiful with a large selection blankets, clothing, toys (for the collector too), and everything baby.  Prices are more than reasonable and you will also get first class service.  Stop by and say hello on eBay, Twitter, and Facebook!

Sunset Treasure Nook is a fabulous store if you're looking for just that perfect gift for the kitchen, bar, or backyard.  Debbie Womack, the owner is an authorized distributor for Libbey Glassware and Gigatent.  You'll find everything under the sun and the moon when it comes to the most fun tents and picnic sets right after you've picked out all the latest and greatest glassware.   Take a look around, who knows maybe that last gift on your list is here!

Everyone loves puzzles and Seasoned with Time is the place to find them.   With over 400 puzzles listed, you'll always find puzzles by Lassen, Josephine Wall, Disney, and Hometown.  Leah also carries books, vintage cookbooks, storybooks for children, and lots of collectible editions.    If you love the challenge of a good jigsaw puzzle, I'm sure that you'll find that Seasoned with Time is jam packed with all the challenge and charm you are looking for.

And if you're looking for some free advertising for your own eBay items, be sure and visit Seasoned With Time  and speedy bump some of your listings.

This is blog post #5 for the Virtual Online Learning blog challenge.