Cindy Shebley

I hope you are enjoying the last of the Labor Day Weekend.

  As you all may know I just returned from the last eBay On Location event of the season. It was bittersweet. On one hand, it is a relief to know the days away from my business are over. I can focus more on the Web Sellers' Circle and our upcoming information product creation series. Plus, I can start listing items online in preparation for the holiday season…. But, I'm really going to miss everyone -- it was wonderful to meet so many eBay sellers.

  I was surprised how many questions and comments I heard on the Top Rated Sellers Panel and during the event about Smart Phones. Mobile technology use is exploding! Buyers are spending an amazing amount of money purchasing using their mobile hardware. Sellers are not really clear how to take advantage of the market, but eBay is investing and inventing heavily -- so, they have our backs. The thing I think is amazing, was the rapid rise of this. At the first event in Atlanta in May I noticed smart phones but they were still a bit of a novelty. By the time we hit San Jose eBay was giving away iPads and iPhones to promote mobile!

  I had a chance to use my built in GPS to navigate to a few businesses while I was in California. I can see how important having a listing in Google Places is going to be if you are a bricks and mortar merchant. But, what about online sellers? Will that be the case? We're discussing this on the Web Sellers' Circle and would love to hear your thoughts.

  While at the event I had a couple of people ask me about specific apps that they could use for their business. For eBay'rs I think the one that most excited them was Garage Sale Rover for the Android. It pulls information from Craigslist and matches them to your GPS coordinates and displays current Garage sales near you. A wonderful tool for your daily runs and for traveling.

  Before I left for San Jose I had a chance to talk to talk to Chris Madison from MediaScouter about Android application: Pocket Profit for Amazon book sellers. She set me straight on a few things I told you in my tips newsletter last issue. AND, she promised to do a Podcast with everyone so we can talk about how to maximize it's usefulness. Until we get to talk to her on the podcast I want to let you know more about Pocket Profit.

   Pocket Profit is available for Android/Droid 1.6 version or above and will soon be available for the Windows mobile / Treo devices. (No iPhone app yet)

  You can test it out for free - you have up to 75 free scans before you have to subscribe to the service, which you can do right from the app using a credit card. And, the good thing about it is that they have a very affordable service. It is only $4.99 a month or $13.99 for three months or $54.99 a year.  (there are two different types of subscriptions and I'll let Chris explain the differences when we get her on the air). I think this is a bargain - I was able to find books quickly that would resell for a profit and pay for the app!

  Chris told me about some real gems inside the app. I look forward to trying them out next book buying trip. You can scan books using a bar code reader or, if the book isn't bar coded, you can use a title search to find the items on Amazon.com. There's a watch list that you can use to add books to look for while you're out scouting. If one of the watch list books is scanned it will alert you. This is a great feature if you are mass scanning without really looking at the titles.

  Oh, one thing I noticed while I was out book picking is how easy it is to bump and scuff your smart phone. I was so smitten lately by these new toys, urr.. Smart Phones.... I decided I just HAD TO sell cases for them. I started carrying soft and a few hard cases - and will bring in a full selection soon. If you have an iPhone or Android and are looking for the perfect case - please come check out my new Vendio store at http://www.photobagstogo.com.

  Now that I'm back from San Jose Dany & I have started preparing for our new Web Sellers Circle course on creating and selling information products. If you've wondered how to improve your average selling price for your products or have knowledge about a topic others want - these classes will help you. If you haven't already I encourage you to subscribe to the Web Sellers Circle - with yearly membership of $125.00 - that's less than a movie a month and much more informative!