I've been buying and selling items on eBay since 2001, but even today I still make mistakes on my auctions and bids. For selling I tried to make it simpler, here's some of my favorite tips.
1. Shipping scale - I can't tell you how many times I estimated the weight of a item to only get surprised when I brought it to the postal shop. What is really nice is have your package already weighted, then in the auction the person can choose their shipping and all you have to do is print the label. Which brings me to my second item.
2. Printer - With a scale and a printer, you can prep you package, then just drop it off at your local shipping station. This saves so much time waiting in line.
3. Boxes and envelopes - If you ship with one carrier you can order various boxes from the carrier for free. If you ship with various carries it might be easier to buy common boxes and envelopes from shipping suppliers on eBay or on-line. Buying from local stores I find it's very expensive and better to just save boxes you have at home. Just a reminder, don't ship the wrong box for the wrong shipment method. For example, if I'm shipping USPS Priority, don't use a USPS Express box. The package will get sent back to the shipper. This also goes for using a USPS box with UPS or Fed Ex.
4. Bubble wrap and popcorn - One of the worst things about getting a package is when the shipper does not use enough bubble wrap or popcorn to keep the item safe. The stuff is pretty cheap and I recommend that you use more to keep everything safe during shipping.
5. High quality tape - I personally use the more expensive tape by 3M because it's easy to peel off and stick on the boxes. If you use cheap tape, it's more frustrating to even get the tape off without it falling apart. Spend a few dollars for a tape roller as well.
6. Digital camera - Selling a item sight unseen is difficult on the Internet but without any pictures it's even harder. You don't need any expensive digital camera, just a basic camera will work. This makes a huge difference for selling as people will usually choose a auction with a picture than without. Hopefully, these will help sell more auctions.
Tuesday, May 13, 2008
Tuesday, May 6, 2008
Playing the bass guitar
I've been shopping around for a nice electric bass guitar for the past few months. Just searching Craigslist and visiting local music stores to get an idea of what feels nice. A month ago I found a really nice Ibanez bass at my local music shop. It was on sale and went back twice to test the bass out, just to make sure it was the one I wanted. After playing the bass more on the second trip really found it wasn’t as great as I thought. The strings buzz slightly and for the money I could find something better.
A few weeks later I was visiting another local music shop and asked the owner for any cheap basses. He showed me a few, first was a no name brand Fender P-bass copy in sunburst for $99. The bass played really nice, felt very solid and had pretty good weight to it. The only slight downside to the bass was the sharp frets on the neck, but I think a simple setup could have fixed this issue.
The second bass I played was a used Ibanez Roadstar II from 1985 and was selling for $100. It was in used condition but still felt nice and broken in. The frets were smooth and only had slight wear to the bass, also it was made in Japan, something rare these days. So instead of the new bass for $99 I choose the used bass for $100.
After taking it home I felt the strings were too soft sounding. They were flatwounds and when playing don’t have the loud sound but a more soft jazzy sound. After a new set of strings the bass sounded great. Unfortunately I only had to listen to the bass through my headphones on a guitar amp.
A few weeks later I was visiting another local music shop and asked the owner for any cheap basses. He showed me a few, first was a no name brand Fender P-bass copy in sunburst for $99. The bass played really nice, felt very solid and had pretty good weight to it. The only slight downside to the bass was the sharp frets on the neck, but I think a simple setup could have fixed this issue.
The second bass I played was a used Ibanez Roadstar II from 1985 and was selling for $100. It was in used condition but still felt nice and broken in. The frets were smooth and only had slight wear to the bass, also it was made in Japan, something rare these days. So instead of the new bass for $99 I choose the used bass for $100.
After taking it home I felt the strings were too soft sounding. They were flatwounds and when playing don’t have the loud sound but a more soft jazzy sound. After a new set of strings the bass sounded great. Unfortunately I only had to listen to the bass through my headphones on a guitar amp.
Saturday, May 3, 2008
My new computer
After using my notebook for my primary computer for a year I found that it had some limitations. Just saving my images was taking up too much room on my hard drive, even after I upgraded to a 60GB. Then I started moving all of my cd's to my computer, this also limited my drive space.
This past weekend I spent building my new tower system, mostly from parts I bought at New Egg and my local Central Computer. I was aiming for a performance computer with parts that are the most performance per dollar.Since I do some computer gaming I opted for a nice video card, but also installed a dual core AMD processor for help with Photoshop and 3D tools. Two drives will help keep my images available and store them as a short time back up. Overall I'm really happy with the performance compared to my old tower and notebook. While I was adding a new computer I also bought a new LCD monitor.
My 8 year old 19" CRT is out of focus and I felt it was worth paying $200 more for a LCD than another CRT.After I got the OS up and running I installed Half Life 2, a game I've wanted to play since it came out last year. The first Half Life was a personal favorite with me, I just enjoy the story line, solving puzzles and shooting bad guys. The second is even better with great graphics and more things to do.
This past weekend I spent building my new tower system, mostly from parts I bought at New Egg and my local Central Computer. I was aiming for a performance computer with parts that are the most performance per dollar.Since I do some computer gaming I opted for a nice video card, but also installed a dual core AMD processor for help with Photoshop and 3D tools. Two drives will help keep my images available and store them as a short time back up. Overall I'm really happy with the performance compared to my old tower and notebook. While I was adding a new computer I also bought a new LCD monitor.
My 8 year old 19" CRT is out of focus and I felt it was worth paying $200 more for a LCD than another CRT.After I got the OS up and running I installed Half Life 2, a game I've wanted to play since it came out last year. The first Half Life was a personal favorite with me, I just enjoy the story line, solving puzzles and shooting bad guys. The second is even better with great graphics and more things to do.
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