If you are new to Craigslist or want to learn how it works you can check out my earlier post. This post gives you the how to’s in setting up an account and listing an item and is very easy to follow.

We all have heard the news about the problems with Craigslistt and of course you only hear the bad things but it is something you need to consider when selling there. Just as Ebay and Amazen have their downside we each need to decide what will work for us. I have sold many items on Craigslist and never had a problem but you may want to keep these things in mind.

1. The area you live which for some is safer then others and only you know how safe it is to meet someone that is buying your item.

2. Deciding if you should meet them at your house or a public place with the item.

3. The types of items you are selling and if there are a lot of scammers in those categories.

4. If you want to only list items you can ship and not have to meet anyone.

These all factor into using common sense when meeting someone and being safe. You just have to remember that there are many great people that buy and sell on Craigslist every day but there are also some problem people. I think if you are aware of these issues and take normal precautions you can generate quite a bit of income this way.

I would love to hear from anyone that sells there and both good and bad experiences. We can all learn from each other on how to sel there and handle the people  that are buying our items.

We often need to think outside the box when sales are slow and this is one way to add to your sales. These items that I have listed on Cheapcycle are not something I would list on my online venues but they made me money on Cheapcycle. You can find more informantion about Cheapcyle in my earlier post and see how easy it is to set up and use. I have listed thing there that have not sold and end up donating them but overall I have been happy with sales using Cheapcyle.

I made a quick slide show of 10 items that I have sold on Cheapcyle and some have been shipped and some were picked up.

We all know about local Freecycle lists they are nearly everywhere and Cheapcycle is just the version of Freecycle that anyone can sell on. In my area we have 23 lists that are in my local area and I know some have less then that but there are many of them around.

First you must either have a yahoo account or set one up and it is free. Then you go to yahoo groups and sign in. The easiest way to find the groups is to search by your town, county or state. You can be a bit creative here since I live at the corner of my county I belong to both ones in my county and the county next to me.  Then you have to go through them and join. Some of the groups are moderated and some aren’t but you can read about that group before you join.

It is a good idea to set up a separate folder or email address because some of these groups generate a lot of mail. There are some that don’t have as much email but I have found it better to keep all these groups in one folder.

Once you join and are getting mail it is very easy to post. I stress that is is very important to read what each group expects of their members and how to post. This is important since if you don’t follow their guidelines they won’t let your post go through.

Then you just list your item for sale using their format. I have found most have a format that is like this For Sale Your Item Price Location. Again I stress making sure you check and follow how each group wants you to post. There are some that only allow a certain amount of posts a day and also some have restrictions on what you can post.  It only takes a few minutes to check out the terms when you join and as long as you follow their guidelines you are good to go.

Then writing your post is pretty simple. I describe the item, list that I will ship it if I will, my zip code, I have pictures if someone wants to see them and the options for payment I take. I usually am willing to arrange pick up or ship the item and that just depends on the individual item.

That is all there is to it and then you just have to pay attention to your email replies when someone either asks a question about the item or wants it to arrange pick up or shipping and payment.

I have sold quite a few things this way and there is no fees and no feedback to worry about. My next post will give you an idea of the things I have sold.

Check it out and see if this is an option that can add money in your pocket with very little work. If you  have any questions about using Cheapcyle I will be happy to help answer them.

We all need to raise some quick cash sometimes and did you ever wonder what some of your choices might be? Online sellers are dependent on customers buying their items and like anything else there are both good and bad weeks. We all hope for solid sales weeks year round but anyone that sells online knows this is near impossible to achieve although it would be nice.

If you use the auction format you may have bids but need to wait until the item is sold and paid for to see any money. We also know more and more venues are fixed price which buyers seem to be getting used to and buying but again we have to wait for that buyer to buy that item.

Then there are times when bills come due and these venues are not generating the income to pay those bills or at least not by the time they are due. You know by now that just about every online seller has had this happen at one time or another.

The question is what to do and of course we all have a bit of a heads up about this knowing when our bills are due and also what money we have on hand to pay those bills.

There are some options such as Cheapcyle, local billboards, local papers, word of mouth, Craigslist and EBay Classifieds. Over the next few days I will share how I have made each of these raise some much needed cash at times and you can too.

Marion who sells at Freeland Enterprises designed this cute graphic for everyone to use. She often does graphics for us and I know when we run another sale you will see her work again.

Here is the list of my friends who are doing the sale. They offer quite a variety of items and sales from Storewide to just certain categories.

1. KatsKloset on eBay is offering 15% off all Camille Beckman Products (and you’ll love this line – the glycerin hand therapy is awesome! I use it exclusively for my painfully dry hands)

2. Birdhouse Books is offering 16% STOREWIDE!  This store has one of the largest selections of vintage children’s book,  ephemera and paper collectibles on eBay.

3. Like videos?? 20% off on Familynitemovies  -  lots of Family and Child-friendly videos there and then if you prefer more ADULT Content and are over 18 – 15% off on adult videos at Video-Town

4. 5% off EVERYTHING in the store at Freeland Enterprises

5. 11% discount on selected products at DepressionGlassWarehouse includes books, pottery and ephemera

6. Nicaluck’s is offering a 20%  discount during the sale. They have an amazing range of vintage items.

7. Kdmore-Crafts-and-More is offering 10% off on custom made blankets, lap-robes and throws!

The next sale we are planning will be for venues other then Ebay such as Bonanzle, Etsy, Ecrater etc.

The world is at our fingertips when we are on the computer and so let’s share a beautiful sunrise. This is a perfect way to start a day.

The next step is to take those few quiet moments in your busy day to focus on what you want to accomplish in your day. I write down my list for the day in a small notebook I carry every where and post them to a group I am in to help keep myself accountable.

I have done this for years even before the computer and I know it works for me. We are each unique in how we handle our day so this may not work for everyone but try it and see.

This is a very simple way of keeping your day focused and organized and it is easy to refer back to your list as the day goes on.

I know from experience my day never goes as planned and I never accomplish all I write down. That being said there is a feeling of accomplishment at the end of the day when I can cross items off the list and look forward to tomorrow and start a new list.

So do you keep a goal list for the day?

She suggested I join and it was the best thing I did to help me really learn about online selling and that led me to meeting two great women who run Web Sellers’ Circle. I am also a member there and joining was the best thing I ever did. These two groups cover ever detail about selling online such as different venues, social networking, blogs, websites and much more that will help you become successful.

You can check out my earlier posts about both Rock Stars and  Web Sellers Circle for complete details and ways to join.

Take some time and check them out they both have free areas with lot of information to give you a feel for the group. You will be happy you did.

I have to admit at times I have been both very happy and very unhappy with selling on  eBay. I started there in 2003 at my husband’s urging actually since I already had a business and really didn’t understand what all the fuss was about. I still remember the first item I listed and it sold and then I was hooked. I know that actually listing that first one item and having it sell made a huge difference in deciding to list something else for me. I have been a race fan all my life and the item I listed was a collectible beer bottle bank for Dale Earnhardt Jr I had been given and since I really wasn’t a fan of his I wanted it to go and that is how I started on eBay. I know each and every person has the same type of story and I bet just about everyone remembers the first thing they sold.

I have always done this part time and have dealt with having a store and shutting it down and reopening it. I have read books, blogs, email, etc on how and what to do on eBay and dealing with oh so many changes over the years. I think most every eBay seller has both good and bad times with eBay and I wondered if you are still an eBay seller?

I am and plan to continue and I am happy with my sales and looking forward to the holiday selling season. I think like anything in life there are many who sell and are happy and there are also those that are unhappy and also those that have left.

In the world of business and especially ecommerce it is ever changing and in order to survive you have to change and adapt all the time. This is often not easy for some and that makes for problems. I know I for one miss the old days of eBay when almost anything sold with bidding wars. The fact that they are not as common means that those of us that sell there need to figure out how to adept and keep getting sales.

I don’t want anyone to think that at times I wanted to completely leave eBay and go elsewhere and for awhile I listed on a lot of other places. I have learned with the help of some very good people on how to make eBay work for me.

Read tomorrow’s post and learn 2 very good things to help any eBay seller.

Today is the first day of this challenge and it is very easy to join and best of all it is free. There is a quick and easy sign up and you are ready to start. We are also all on Twitter and using the hashtag #blogboost. This is a great way to follow all the new posts in one place and commenting on other blogs is quick and easy.

We all know there are many advantages to blogging regularly but it is often hard to get into that routine and a blog challenge will certainly help that. They say if you do something for 30 days it will become a habit and I am hoping that is true for blogging. I know I want to be a regular blogger now I just need to make that happen.

So my first post is a quick one to tell you about my goal for the month of August and also tell you about the Ultimate Blog Challenge that you can join.

What do you think do you want to join in this blog challenge for the month of August?

One of our members made a great graphic that we could use for the month to promote our sales. We each choose what percentage we wanted to use for the sale and almost all were store wide sales.

We advertised on various places including Twitter, Facebook and quite a few blogs as well as our group blog. I think today any online venue needs a lot of promotion and networking to be successful and this is what we were doing.

Overall the sales varied for our members but since this is often a slow month for sales any increase is a plus for us. I know my sales were up for the month of July and I know that this promotion helped me.

We hope to put together another group promotion soon and would really like to do them for the rest of the year.

I was wondering if you ran a Christmas in July sale and did it work for you?