Seems like forever since I’ve updated this blog. Since I haven’t heard any emails of concern for me, I guess no one noticed. What have I been doing with myself, you ask? Or maybe you really don’t care, but I’ll tell you anyway. As of the beginning of January, 2010, I started watching my two young grandchildren during the day, every day. Ages one and four, I enjoy them very much, but by the time they go home, I’m ready to veg. We’re finally getting into a bit of a routine and I’m back to spending a bit of time on my computer.

I’ve also been off to Atlanta to an Internet marketers workshop and took a little video of an interview I did with Kevin Riley. Kevin is a marketer from Japan and an expert on creating how-to information products. Thanks to him, I’ve been able to start creating my own guides. I believe that every one of us has experiences and skills that others could benefit from, and creating an info product is the best way to share our knowledge.

Here’s the video. As you can see, standing beside Kevin looked like a scene from Land of the Giants.

Technorati Tags: creating info products, Kevin Riley

My daughter Melanie seemed to think the background I had on this blog was boring, so she has changed it to this darker one. I like the way you can see what the posts say so clearly, but I find it hard to read any of the areas on the side because of the black background.

Please tell me what you think. Do you have trouble reading this blog the way it’s designed right now?

Update: I think I am sticking with this computer theme. Easy on the eyes and easy to find things.

Bid: telling eBay’s system the maximum price you are prepared to pay for an item.

Dutch: an auction where more than one of an item is available.

Feedback: positive or negative comments left about other users on eBay.

Mint: in perfect condition.

Non-paying bidder: a bidder who wins an auction but does not then go on to buy the item.

PayPal: an electronic payment method accepted by most sellers.

Rare: once meant hard to find, but used so often on eBay, it’s now meaningless.

Reserve: the minimum price the seller will accept for the item.

Shill bid: a fake bid placed by a seller trying to drive up their auction’s price (not allowed).

Snail Mail: the post, which is obviously very slow compared to email.

Sniping: bidding at the last second to win the item before anyone else can outbid you.

When buying on eBay, you will come across a number of abbreviations, some of which are listed here. As a seller, using these abbreviations will sometimes be necessary, especially when you want to describe something in the title of your item, which has very limited space for text.

BIN: Buy it Now. A fixed price auction.

BNWT: Brand New With Tags. An item that has never been used and still has its original tags.

BW: Black and White. Used for films, photos etc.

EUR: Euro Currency.

FC: First Class. Type of postage.

GBP: Great British Pounds Currency.

HTF: Hard To Find. Not quite as misused as ‘rare’, but getting there.

NIB: New in Box. Never opened, still in its original box.

NR: No Reserve. An item where the seller has not set a reserve price.

OB: Original Box. An item that has its original box (but might have been opened).

PM: Priority Mail.

PP: Parcel Post.

SH: Shipping and Handling. The fees the buyer will pay for postage.

USD: United States Dollars Currency.

VGC: Very Good Condition. Not mint, but close.

• If you list an item and sell it, you are under contract to ship to buyer.
• No ‘shill bidding’ (bidding on your own items).
• No closing auction sales outside eBay.
• No lying about the item you are selling (seller non-performance).
• No keyword spam to lure customers.
• No links to external sites, except on About Me page.
• If buyer doesn’t pay, contact them first, there may be a good reason. Then you can file an ‘Unpaid Item’ alert with eBay. After 10 days without payment, request a final value fee credit from eBay and a refund will be credited within 48 hours.

Why Sell on eBay?

• Largest single on-line marketplace
• Perfect entrepreneurial breeding ground
• Over 700,000 people make primary or secondary income

• Use it to expand your market
• Develop a company brand
• Liquidate inventory
• Acquire customers
• Sell lower priced products (even at a loss) to gain a life-time customer – for example 99 cent ebooks

For example, a person selling televisions should write a guide about buying TV’s and sell it for 99 cents, then drive that person to his website.