Fall/Autumn Store Decorating Contest!

This is the OnlineAuction.com Fall & Autumn Contest!

As summer comes to an end, it’s time to decorate your stores for the Fall and Autumn season.

This contest will run from August 29th – September 26th 2011

There will be 3 Winners:

1st Place: $300 in auction enhancement credits

2nd Pace: $200 in auction enhancement credits

3rd Place: $100 in auction enhancement credits

Winners will be announced on September 27th 2011

*Need a minimum of 10 participants for this contest

*Feel free to recruit store owners to participate

*You must be an OnlineAuction.com  Founding Member to participate

You can sign up as a Founding Member here:

http://www.onlineauction.com/beta/register/founding/

Remember, this is meant for FUN.

Anyone that would like some assistance with decorating your store, jaswood2 has created a wonderful tutorial to get you started:

http://www.jaswoodantiques.com/tutorial_for_decorating_your_store.htm

OnlineAuction.com – SIGN UPS – TERRIFIC TUESDAY 12 HR SALE

This is an Easy Way to get exposure for your listings whether you have a store or not!

Sign up! What have you got to lose?

This sale runs for 12 hours on TUESDAYS!

Times are as follows:

5:30am to 5:30pm (HST – Hawaii Time)

7:30am to 7:30pm (AKDT – Alaska Daylight Time)

8:30 AM to 8;30 PM (OLA time, PDT – Pacific Daylight Time)

9:30am to 9:30pm (MDT – Mountain Daylight Time)

10:30am to 10:30pm (CDT – Central Daylight Time)

11:30am to 11:30pm (EDT – Eastern Daylight Time)

Sign up as a seller, if you are participating.

If you have a special, list it, and I will put it on the list with your store link.

If you want to win a cool prize for the most bids or buys then sign up as a BUYER….or both

You DO NOT have to be a buyer to participate!

ONLY if you are going after the Buyer’s prize!

When you place a bid or a buy you MUST come back here and post the auction number to be counted

AND it must only be a bid or buy from one of the listed SELLERS…

Hope that makes sense if not please ask!

Sign into your OnlineAuction.com account:

http://www.onlineauction.com/index.php

Visit the Game Thread in the OnlineAuction.com forums:

http://www.onlineauction.com/chat/viewtopic.php?t=23498

OnlineAuction.com Image Contest Winner …

zannesbazaar! Congratulations!

www.onlineauction.com/store/zannesbazaar

Seller Of The Month – August

Please, check out zannesbazaar’s Store:

www.onlineauction.com/store/zannesbazaar

– How long have you been selling online?

I opened my shop on Christmas Day 2010.   This is the first time I’ve ever tried an auction company for selling anything.  I’ve bought over at the other place a couple of times, but being at OLA has been a dream.  I’ve met the nicest people, sold some jewelry and bought some great stuff here.   I think I’ve found my home at OLA.

– How and or why did you start selling online?

The main reason for finding an online auction site was to sell, for charity, all the earrings I was making for my Earrings 365 Challenge.  I was making a pair of earrings a day for a year (that’s a lot of earrings) and wanted to take the proceeds and donate them to a couple of animal shelters that do wonders for abandoned and abused dogs and cats.  Well…I found this little Oregon based company that looked pretty good and decided to try them.  I believe in supporting local business and since I’m also in Oregon, I’d give them a try.  I couldn’t be happier!

Now that I’m done with my Challenge, I’ve added necklaces and other earrings to my shop.  I’ve been beading since 1993 and have quite a bit of stock piling up.  The prices I have for my jewelry are below what I normally would sell at shows or galleries.  Each piece is handcrafted by me and for the more elaborate one’s, it can take from 12 to 60 hours to create.  As time allows, I will be listing more of my inventory, so check the shop weekly.

– What is the most interesting thing you’ve bought or sold online?

I enjoy finding strange and unique items, so when Donna (tattletell) had a bug in resin bracelet, I jumped on it.  It’s just too cool!  I also have purchased, from various sellers, spider shaped brooches.  I don’t mind the jewelry bugs “crawling” on my jacket.  The live one’s not so much.

– What hobbies do you have besides selling online?

When I’m not in the mood to sit down at my bead desk, I walk into my studio and work on mixed media collage.  It’s very fulfilling to get out the glue, the paint, the different papers and the flotsam and jetsam from the world to create something from the soul.  And if I don’t want to do that, I sit down with my pen and paper and work on my Zentangles.  To learn more about them, go to http://www.zentangle.com.  The great thing about tangling is you don’t need to know how to draw in order to create some great drawings.  I don’t draw, but I do Zentangle.

– Can you please share a tip on creating your OLA store?

I am a first time online auction seller.  I’ve never done anything like this before.  Setting up my shop at OLA was a very easy experience for me.  Granted, I’ve only done a basic shop with no extra HTML, but I will be changing that within the next couple of months.  There were a couple of times that I had a few questions, but I figured it.  To make it easier, I should have tripped on over to the forums and read the material there or just asked someone.  I’ve learned quite a bit, though, from the great people that work and “live” at OLA.  In the short time that I’ve been here, I’ve made some great friends and had some fun times.  The best place you want to be!

Seller Of The Month – July

Come Visit jaswood2’s Store:

http://www.onlineauction.com/store/jaswood2

– How long have you been selling online?

Hubby and I started selling online in 1999 using the other site (eBay). While looking for a friendlier selling environment in Feb 2008, we found OLA and became part of the OLA family as a founding member.

– How and or why did you start selling online?

We were selling antiques and collectibles in a brick & mortar store and offering our items at major east-coast shows and added internet auctions to broaden our market.

– What is the most interesting thing you’ve bought or sold online?

The most interesting item was an original Jasper John “Target” Lithograph from the mid-1960’s that netted thousands! I’ve also sold numerous items, such as a pair of hand-carved blackboard pointers to the Indiana One Room School House Museum, and paperweights from the 1800’s to the Harvard Library.

– What hobbies do you have besides selling online?

I like to sew and garden and I also enjoy learning HTML and other codes to enhance my listings and develop tutorials to share them with other sellers to help them improve their abilities as well.

– Can you please share a tip on creating your OLA store?

Don’t be afraid to get started. Start by going to OLA’s site map and read the “How To” for setting up your store and going to the chats and reading the tutorials. If you run into something you don’t understand, go into the chats and ask a question – someone will always be willing to help. Or, you can call the 800 number at OLA Customer Support and talk to a real live person.

Seller Of The Month – June

Superstar_Autographs Store:

http://www.onlineauction.com/store/Superstar_Autographs

I have been selling online since September 2009.

With the help of a friend, I began selling things I had in my house, as well as items purchased at local garage sales.

I started selling online for 3 main reasons.  Firstly, my hours at the office were decreasing almost every week because the marketing business where I work was slowing down heavily.  This forced me to start looking for alternatives.  Secondly, I knew some friends that were selling online and were doing so well that I wished to experience that same efficiency of work.  Lastly, I wished to create my own business and with my own hours.  In this way, I could depend on myself for work instead of the traditional way of looking for a job.

The funniest (interesting) thing I ever sold was a 1980s Vintage Alf stuffed doll I purchased at a Goodwill store.  It did not cost much, nor did I sell it for such a large profit.  The interesting or funny thing was the quickness of which it sold and 2) the location of the buyer.  I listed the doll the same night I purchased it, and it sold next morning.  There was a buyer from Turkey asking me about shipping costs, but another buyer from Russia snatched the item right away without asking any questions whatsoever.  Furthermore, it took 6 weeks to arrive to the item’s destination, but the buyer was so happy with the Alf doll, that he did not care how long it took to arrive.  In addition, he left me highly positive feedback.  I still remember this transaction more than any other.

When I’m not selling, I enjoy playing sports, watching great movies, and reading historical and mystical books.

The most important tip for your OLA business I can share is this:  SEO.  At first, I had no clue what the heck this meant, but thanks to Frank (customer rep at OLA), he guided me on how to drive traffic to my store.  He specifically taught me to have my title, subtitle, and title on the description identical to one another.  He also taught me about Twitter and Facebook. These were great tools in boosting sales.