Having a GREAT Holiday Season without the worry and stress

Happy Fall  

You mean it is really October already, but wasn't it just Summer time yesterday, oh yes it is 86 out today in our beautiful California weather so it still seems like summer.

You do not want to be stressed for the holidays so here are a few tips.
1) Plan ahead
2) Plan ahead
3) Plan ahead
Oh did I mention that you might want to plan ahead? LOL.

Many years ago when we were struggling financially the holidays seemed to be our worst time of year, never money to buy gifts or do all the things you are suppose to do for a "happy" season.  Then I realized that having money to make it a happy season was not what it was all about.  It was about blessing others.  So we started doing something that we still do today.  Gift giving is all about what we can do for others and not what we buy them.  Check out some of these ideas.

a) Give a little "personal coupon" for something you can do special for that person.  Such as baking them something special a few months out of the year, or even making a special dinner for them.  Oh come on I know you can cook even if you have to buy most of it pre-made.  Just think of at least setting a pretty table and serving them.

One year we did this for some very dear friends.  We invited them to the "Gilson Dinner House".  Greeted them at the door, checked their reservations and seated them at the reserved table.  Then I was the chief and Alan was the waiter.  We made it just like they had come to a fancy restaurant with a nice table setting and candlelight.  It was so fun and our friends still remember this to this day.  Gosh I think we should do this again!!  You could do this for an anniversary, birthday or any special occasion.

How about making something special, or whenever I am out looking for things to sell on eBay I am also thinking of things my family and friends have an interest in.  This means that they are always on your radar and you are thinking of them.  That is what people really want, to know that they are important to you.

So don't make the holidays a miserable time for you, make it a time to make people feel blessed.  We even spent some times serving at some food kitchens for Thanksgiving,  What a great way to not stress and do something special at the same time.  Then you WILL have a wonderful holiday season.

Part II Opportunities with no Money down.

Sorry this post was a little later then I expected to post, I was trying my hand at creating a new header and so it took me awhile to figure it out.  But here you go.......

We are heading into the end of August 2015 already and that means "guess what is just around the corner" yes that is right,

HOLIDAY Time.  Oh my gosh wasn't it just January 2000!! Yikes it is almost time to set New Years Resolutions and Goals again.  BUT wait I have not finished all that I planned for this year.  Do you ever feel that way and that life is moving so fast we can't catch our breath at times.  So here are some thoughts about relieving that stress for selling for the Holidays if you are not sure what to do.

Well let us work on finishing up this year strong.  By that I mean accomplishing things that has been on our list of things to do.  I know for us we wanted this to be our best year yet, we wanted to fill our store with more items and reach 1700 pieces in our store minimum.  Well so far this year we have over 3000 items in our store.  Now you ask how????

We have learned another new aspect to selling on line and that is creating multi-variation items.  This can add up fast and is super great in the time factor of listing.  You list one item and have several variations of that product.  Then where do I find those type items.  Here are some clues for you.

Find a source like we did with a local manufacture that you can sell their items.  We found a swimwear line that is made locally in the good ole` USA.  Did you know that there are several who would probably love to have you sell their items on line because they do not want to take the time or have the time to do it themselves.  We doubled our listings by just doing that and we are selling those items by using promotions and social media to promote them.  It has increased our sale in just those items by $5000.

BUT there is more, we created a online consignment store. Like I posted in the previous post there is a right and wrong way to do it.  Mainly the wrong way is to think you have nothing to offer someone else, but read that post and hopefully you will think different about this possibility.

There are certain things that you can sell for others that have great profit for you and for them.  As an example we just got over 25 boxes of collectibles and dinnerware from a new client. One of the lines was Spode which I researched before I decided to take them on consignment.  Found that the Soup Tureen in this collection was worth $899.00.  I have about 108 pieces in this collection which I will piece out as opposed to selling as a set.

Why you may ask would I do that, thinking about two things here, one is many people who have this nice of a dinnerware set may have some pieces that they broke or they may want to add to the collection.  Maybe a son or daughter got married and now there is one more in the family and they need an additional piece to the set.  And two I know that Replacement. com runs a huge business just on replacements with over a million items.  So that tells me there is a business in replacements for dinnerware.

Next post I will talk about how I find the right consignors and who I will choose to sell for.  This is a major decision that you may want to think about before you consider doing this.